Happy 2024! My first post for the year. I'm going to rewind back to Dec. 19th when I flew out of Georgetown - what a spectacular view of the Bahamas by air! It was a perfect day for flying.
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| Above the clouds and the beautiful blue of the Bahamas |
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| You can follow the deep dark blue of the sound on the right side of the photo and follow through a "cut' to the shallow light colored water on the banks side. |
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| Flying above Andros. |
I spent the holidays with Mom and Dad in Newfield, NY where it was seasonally warm the entire time I was there. No snow....until the day before my flight back to the boat.
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Dad, Mom and I having a toast on Christmas Eve with my brother Brian's homemade Baileys.
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My brother drove me to Pennellville and almost got back home before the snow started. (He doesn't mind the snow! Thanks Brian P!). This is the Oneida River and the dock in front of our friends Brian and Debbie Date's in Pennellville.
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| This is where we usually spend the summer aboard Persephone. You can see why we don't winter over onboard in Pennellville, NY. |
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| Brian and Debbie took me to their family distillery, Lock 1 Distillery in Phoenix. They have a tasting room and kitchen with excellent food! |
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| A fancy drink! |
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| A little fun in the snow before heading to the Bahamas the next morning. Brian D. got up early and I was at the airport at 4:30 am. Thanks Brian! |
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| Arriving in Philadelphia from Syracuse just as the sun was coming up and the moon and stars were still visible. I love flying and always try to get a window seat. Syracuse-Philly-Miami-Georgetown. A full day of travel. |
As usual, Jerry had the boat ready to go when I arrived in Georgetown and off we went to the Ragged Islands. Jerry had sailed the 100 miles down to the Ragged Islands the day I flew out and spent a couple of weeks before sailing back to pick me up. The first video Jerry took heading to Georgetown to pick me up.
And another video on our way from Georgetown back to the Raggeds.
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It was a good day for fishing! We caught a 4' mahi! |
We anchored at Johnson Cay for a couple of days enjoying the water and hiking around on the island.
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| Persephone anchored at Johnson Cay. |
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| You can see the bay where we're anchored at Johnson Cay. A good place to anchor when the winds are from the south but exposed to the N and NE. |
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| 2 Hallberg Rassys anchored at Johnson Cay! Persephone and Tenacious. A 53' HR with a wonderful family from Seattle onboard. |
This video is taken on a hike around the island. The easterly swell coming in crashes against the rock and the cave underneath has a hole at the top. We call it a blowhole.
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| 20 pound mahi from the trip down, 2 hog fish, lobster....we won't starve. |
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| Yup...and more lobster. |
We sailed from Johnson Cay down to Hog Cay. We've been working on maintaining the many trails we and other cruisers have created over the years. I don't have pictures because we were too hot, sweaty, and dirty as we pulled up grasses, moved rocks and cut branches. We've been walking about 5 miles each day.
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| I found a new "baby head" on Johnson and brought it back for the Baby Head Trail on Hog Cay. |
Walking and snorkeling are the main activities other than some boat projects. The weather has been hot, sticky with light winds which we've taken advantage of before the winds started to howl today.
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Mutton Snapper! My favorite and a challenging fish to get with a pole spear. And more lobster....which we gave to Sam and Cindy on Booke End. The freezer is full.
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Hog Cay has always been a favorite spot because it is remote, beautiful, there's a shelter on shore, it's away from all conveniences, and there are usually at the most 5-10 boats anchored here at this time of year. Yesterday's boat count was about 35! We've had that many boats here in the past but only for the big Valentine's Day party in February. This is the best anchorage in the Raggeds for protection from wind and waves when the wind blows from the NE to the SE. The forecast is for the wind to be in the 30's for the next couple of days....so maybe that's why so many people here?
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| Today's modern cruising boat: a big catamaran. As far as the eye can see. Most of these catamarans have watermakers, washing machines, ac and all the luxuries. Floating palaces that sail well downwind. |
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This is Susan from C-Language's coconut head that was hanging in the Hog Cay "Yacht Club". The coconut had fallen - the head was splitting in half for some reason. I brought it home, glued it up, added a headband and it's back up in the hut for all to enjoy.
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Join us in our next installment as we welcome our best and most favorite crew member. My sister Susan!
Karen & Jerry
