We're still here in the Ragged Islands, Bahamas watching the weather, enjoying time with friends, sailing between Double Breasted and Hog Cays, snorkeling, kayaking......If you've looked at the SPOT link you'll see Hog Cay and Double Breasted as beginning and ending points. We can't sail between the two cays in a straight line. We sail out to the west around Margaret Shoal and then sail back to the east to the cay to anchor. If you zoom out on the SPOT page you'll get a better idea of where we are in the Bahamas.
The 20 some boats down here are like one family and living in a virus-free bubble. We live on our own boats and get together for activities with no worries. We've all been down here for a month or two or three or more. None of us have had contact with anyone else. The 20 some residents on Ragged Island, the only settlement nearby, have been isolated for 6 weeks as well. I know you are living in a different world. Every day we talk about how lucky we are to be here in this unique virus-free community. Here are some pictures of what's going on.....
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| The mailboat Captain C at the government dock unloading supplies. The cruisers arrive by dinghy to pick up boxes of groceries we've ordered, gasoline, diesel, or whatever else has been ordered. Some cruisers got together and bought some goats from the locals. The ambitious doctor/dentist/surgeon took care of skinning, cleaning and slicing up the meat. |
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| Everyone wears facemasks as we wait for the boat to be unloaded. The captain and crew on Captain C are from Duncan Town here on Ragged Island. They don't go ashore when in Nassau and take special precautions to keep everything clean. The boxes ride on the mailboat for 4 or 5 days before arriving here. I suppose just like you, we sanitize everything we receive from the mailboat. |
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| I sailed from Double Breasted to Hog Cay aboard Avalon, Andy and Charli's 55' catamaran. |
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| Andy is Captain Morgan - he's running the spinnaker and we're going fast! |
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| Cruisers gather at Hog Cay for a birthday party for John on Long Reach. |
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| The Hog Cay "yacht club" hut is at capacity! |
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| Sunset at the birthday party. A cruiser planted 3 coconuts a couple years ago. Fencing to keep the goats from eating them! After the sun set the bonfire was lit and we played guitar and sang songs until wee hours of the morning. |
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| Back to Double Breasted where Jerra, Jerry and I shuck coconuts aboard Persephone. |
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| Jerra, Jerry and Ryan with the tree Jerra and Ryan dragged to the beach, planted and built into a throne. |
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| A view of the "yacht" club at Double Breasted (aka TTYC). Everyone is ready for Andy's 50th birthday party. His theme - wear something you found on the beach. Jerra, in the picture, is wearing a dress I found on the beach. Jerry has Mickey in his pocket. The Mickey Mouse we found on Buena Vista years ago. |
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| Here's my Haitian shirt I found and a skirt made from plastic bags found on the beach. The plastic bags were water bags distributed for hurricane relief which found their way to the ocean. The beach is littered with thousands of them. Brian of Delos is wearing a vest he found on the beach. |
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| Karin, wearing her Haitian beach dress with Sierra who is loving the pork butt Ryan cooked in a pit on the beach earlier. |
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| Andy, whose birthday we're celebrating, with his pants and shirts from the beach. Charli is wearing shorts, a belt and a scarf fashioned into a top all found in an area where Haitians were camping after their raft wrecked back in February. |
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| Andy and Charli are from Australia. Here Andy is cooking "snaggers" on the barbie, sauteed onions are in the pot, tomato sauce (aka ketchup) and bread on the table to make proper snaggers. Crikey! They were bloody good! |
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| The table is a wire spool dragged from the ocean side of Double Breasted and dinghied to the yacht club. We have music and christmas lights powered by a solar panel and battery. The 12 volt fridge/freezer you see under the table and the two ice machines are powered by a Honda generator. |
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| Jerry with ice at the TTYC. |
We plan to stay here keeping a close eye on the weather as hurricane season approaches. Hopefully the virus situation will improve in the US for a return at some point. The Erie Canal will probably not be open any time soon due to construction and maintenance projects delayed because of the virus. Please keep in touch! We love to hear from you!
