As I peruse the e-mail I've sent from the Bahamas and study the photos I notice the ideal life depicted...fresh seafood, beach walks, bonfires on the beach.  I won't spoil your image of our life aboard by including pictures of fixing, taking apart, repairing, maintaining and cleaning gear on board from toilets to inverters to outboards and sails.  Salt water, sun and corrosion take their toll on a daily basis.  Instead, I'll continue to send pictures of beautiful places, seafood (minus the cleaning the catch then the boat scenes), parties, and beaches.  It makes a much better story.
For the last month we've been in the southern Jumentos of the Bahamas.  Between Buena Vista to Double Breasted to Hog Cays shown in some of the pictures I sent a few weeks ago.  Only a short sail to hop from one to the other. We've been enjoying the company of many sailors but mostly our friends on Bluejacket, Jerry and Donna.  Dinners together, conversation, games.....    Jerry and Jerry LOVE to hop in the dinghy with their flippers, snorkel gear, wetsuits, and spears.  They dinghy from the protected western side of the island to the eastern shore and the cuts between the islands.  The "big water", where the seas drop off, there are many reefs, and current.  Habitat for fish and lobster.  Or hunting grounds for the Jerrys.  The Jerrys make a good team spending hours diving on reef upon reef and coming home with smiles and buckets of seafood.  Donna (who loves to pamper us "kids")  and I have had chances to visit, take walks, and work on projects together when we can meet during hunting.
All the fishing necessitated a trip to Duncantown for more gasoline for the dinghy's outboards.  We sailed to Southside, the southernmost anchorage in the Jumentos, and hiked up the hill about a mile with computers and gas jugs in hand.  The pink building, the Bahamian government administration building for Ragged Island, is the place to go with your computer to check e-mail.  Charlene, who works there, came in to check on us and cranked up the ac for us. A little later she brought us water.  How's that for service!?  People are friendly here and eager to help out and take you under their wing.  As we walked out of town with full loads someone was yelling to us.  We turned and waved back shouting hello.  In a few minutes a golf cart arrived and Sam introduced himself and told us to have a seat.  He kept saying, "You're my people.  My people don't need to walk."  So Jerry, Jerry and I took a seat with the full gas jugs and computers overloading the cart making the tires squat.  It was a white-knuckle ride as Jerry Luh and I sat in the back facing aft and my Jerry sat up front talking with Sam.  Every time Sam turned to look at Jerry to say something he'd veer off the hard dirt road, swerve off to the shoulder, and then back.  It was a much appreciated ride nonetheless.
The big social event of the season down here at Ragged Island/Hog Cay is the Valentine's Day Party hosted by Maxine who operates Maxine's Food and Notions Store (a total of approximately 125 sq. ft. of store).  She's the one who has enabled the cruisers to come and stay in the area.  The boaters call or visit Maxine with their grocery and supply list.  She takes the lists, calls her daughter in Nassau who goes shopping on her day off for the things on the lists. The items are loaded onto the mailboat and delivered on Thursday (or there abouts) to Ragged Island.  Maxine takes all of the supplies and stores them until the boaters pick them up.  Any extra supplies are added to her store inventory for the rest of us, who haven't called with a list, to purchase.  She charges whatever the price was on the receipt from the store in Nassau.  Hard for us Americans to fathom such a generous practice!
Maxine throws a party for the cruisers on Valentines Day.  This is the third year of the event and she invited the cruisers and the locals at Ragged Island and the school (all 9 kids plus the principal/teacher and other teacher who happens to be the principal's wife).  There were a total of 38 boats all anchored at Hog Cay for the party - the most boats they've ever had at one time down here.  Junkanoo costumes and goat-skin drums were shipped in from Nassau for the occasion.  As you'll see in the pictures, the event was a huge hit!  Maxine had cooked (mostly by herself) turkey, ham, chicken, fish, peas and rice, mac & cheese, coleslaw, bought beer and soda and all the accessories to serve and eat.  Wow!  The party was big hit.  The cruisers also conducted an impromptu auction and raised $700 for the Duncantown School.
The winds, which have been predominately northeast, were forecast to be southeast for a while.  A number of sailors, including ourselves, took advantage of the wind-from-the-right-direction and ended our visit to the Jumentos by sailing northerly.  One day from Hog Cay to Buena Vista, another from Buena Vista to Water Cay, and the next day from Water Cay to Thompson Bay, Long Island.
Long Island is  60 miles long and only a few miles at its widest point.  The beaches on the eastern side of the island are lovely - Jerry and I spent the day walking in the soft sand and hiking up and over the sharp craggy sections. Today we're sailing north from Long Island up to Georgetown, Exuma under full sail, bright sun, and southerly breezes.  Wish you were here.

Jerry and Jerry's catch one day.

This fish came with its lunch poking out - lobster.

Lobsters for dinner again?!

Judy the resident Ragged Island nurse on left with Genesta at the party.

Genesta dances with the Junkanoo costume and bells.

The goatskin drums and costumes are entertaining.

Donna holds a tired party girl.

The kids get to leave school early - here they arrive by boat for the party.

The kids and staff of Duncantown School, Ragged Island.

From our Long Island beach walk.

Jumentos, Bahamas

Funny how a couple of weeks just slip away onboard Persephone.  The weather here has been exceptional - for us that means the winds have stayed from an easterly direction and of course the sun is out.  Have you looked at an atlas and found the Ragged islands in the Bahamas?  These small islands offer anchorages with protection from wind and waves from easterly winds but we're exposed to the west.  The last time we were in the Jumentos we appreciated the isolation felt being the only boat anchored in the lee of an undeveloped, uninhabited island, hunting for food on the reefs loaded with fish and lobster.  This year we have joined a group of about 30 boats bopping from one small island to the next down here.  More boaters looking for that off the beaten path experience.  

Upon arrival at Hog Cay we joined a group headed in their dinghies for the 3 mile trip to town.  Duncantown School - enrollment: 9 - was having a fund raiser, a $10 lunch.   Chicken, coleslaw, conch & rice, mac & cheese and more.

If you were sitting at the table near the window, this is the view under the hurricane shutter and out to the ocean.

 The playground.......   

Just behind the playground there are salt flats that are still in use.  The flat land is flooded, it dries out, the salt remains to be harvested.  

A picture of Duncantown.........  
About 60 people reside here.   Most make their living on the water catching fish, lobster,  and conch.  

So, what do we do down here?  Jerry has been out in the dinghy with his buddy Jerry from Bluejacket.

    We've been eating a lot of seafood!

Boats anchored together = lots of visiting; onboard and at the beach.

Pot lucks........

Sing- a-longs.......  

Bocci......

And walks on the beach.

(which require walking sticks)   

and searching for "treasures" - sea glass and sea beans.

The ocean side of the islands are often all coral with a few patches of sand. 

  You can see where the water is shallow in the back of this last picture where the light blue shows up.

Best wishes & thanks to those of you who wrote a few lines of what’s going on at home.  Always love to hear from you.

Karen and Jerry

PS  Every morning we plug in our single-side band radio and listen to a guy in Florida who forecasts the weather from the east coast to the Virgin Islands and beyond for boaters.  Last week, we not only heard the forecast for our region but he also mentioned that the entire east coast had a big weather system that brought ice, snow, wind with record snowfalls to some regions.  Hope you are shoveled out and are enjoying clear skies and warmer temperatures this week!

While I spent a month with my sister Susan and her husband Tom and family in Maine...........

(Sydney, Owen, Karen, and Kira)........ 
Jerry continued the journey south from Jacksonville to North Palm Beach. 
He spent some time in Stuart with his sailing buddy, Dale and Dale's "new" boat (in the background).

And later with Bob in North Palm Beach swapping sailor stories and enjoying meals together.
When I arrived we took off for a day sail to Fort Lauderdale and another sail to Key Biscayne just south of Miami.  Beautiful days of sailing along the Florida coast with a gentle breeze and fair seas.
And, the weather was perfect for our sail from Florida, east across the gulf stream to the Bahamas.  The forecast called for southwest winds the next day - just what we wanted for heading east.  Jerry had the anchor up at  3 am and we picked our way out the shallow waters of the Key Biscayne area to the ocean.  I forgot to mention another bonus - an almost full moon.  So picture us leaving, the temperature is about 68 degrees, the breeze is just enough to push us along without knocking us over too far and the moon is full.  It just don't get no better than this!  (Remember that last picture I sent of me reading in bed in Jacksonville?)  Life is all about balance - we were now being rewarded for those many days of sailing down the coast from NY to FL in the freezing cold temperatures, sleeping fully-clothed with wool hats on, and being careful not to slip on the ice on deck in the mornings.  The conditions held as we crossed the gulf stream and the 10-12 foot Bahama banks to Nassau and on south.  Here we are ghosting along on the banks with the sun beaming down........

After 55 hours of non-stop sailing in idyllic conditions (although we did have to run the motor toward the end - no wind) we arrived in Georgetown in the Exuma region of the Bahamas.  How many of you know where this is?  The Bahamas span a 700 mile line of islands from east of Florida and to the southeast.  Take out that atlas or go online and find a map showing the Bahamas.  It's really fascinating.  Our goal this year is to continue our trek south and east to the smallest of the Bahamian Islands.  The Ragged Islands or the Jumentos.  Only one of the islands in this chain, the southern most island,  is inhabited.  Only 60 mies to the eastern tip of Cuba.  The sea life is abundant.  We'll be spending most of our days in the water or walking the beach.

And, our stories wouldn't be complete unless it included a picture of master fisherman Jer with the catch of the day.

 I imagine it will be a while until I have the opportunity to write again.  We'd love to hear from you and what's going on in your life - please send a note when you have a chance!
Karen and Jerry

Back to the Boat

1/10/111
Well, I have my ticket and I'm sitting here at the airport in Portland, ME.  My flight has been delayed.  After a wonderful 4 week visit with my sister, Susan and her family, I'll be back on the boat. 

Let's see....it's about 25 degrees here in Maine and it will be in the high 70s today in West Palm Beach.  Talk about a temperature change!  Our plans are to head to the Bahamas when the winds are right.

Jacksonville, FL

For those of you who have this picture of us sitting on board with a fruity drink, the kind with an umbrella sticking out the top, here's reality......

Here I am in bed with 2 pairs of pants, a turtle-neck, fleece jacket, wool hat and gloves reading before lights out.  Yup, it's been cold in Jacksonville. 
Our friends who live in Jacksonville, Chris and Amy, have entertained us at their home, carted us around the town, and took us to Bistro Aix (www.bistrox.com).  It's a pretty fancy place for sailors like us.  Thankfully Chris, who works at Bistro Aix, guided us through the menu, making selections and providing information on where the ingredients came from, how the food was prepared, the whole shabang.  It was a fantastic meal!  We also were able to borrow a car to stock up the boat with provisions and to make a trip to the airport.  Jerry said goodbye to me on a frigid Jacksonville morning.  I boarded the plane for Maine to spend the holidays with my sister Susan, her husband Tom, their 3 kids and 2 dogs.  (It was warmer in Maine than FL when I arrived.) 
So I'll be north for the next few weeks (hoping for some snow to go skiing) - Jerry will take the boat south (hoping for warmer weather) to hang out with his buddy Dale in Stuart and then to West Palm Beach.  Happy Holidays to all!

Charleston, SC

We had a fast sail from Beaufort, NC to Charleston, SC.  20+ winds from the NW to start, then variable from 10 to 20, going back to 25 knots!  35 hours to the inlet in Charleston.  Now we're anchored across from Isle of Palms waiting for winds to settle down a bit tomorrow.  We're off to Jacksonville, FL...

Elizabeth City to Beaufort, NC

11/26/10

Yet again, our trip down the Dismal Canal in NC proves that the canal is inappropriately named.  I suppose to a land surveyor and land speculator, such as George Washington was back then, the area was not hospitable.  His crew used the water to transport timber.  We use the improved waterway here as a pleasure trip.  The sun was shining as we motored our way through the swamp and 2 locks.  A few brave turtles came out to sun themselves in the brisk 40 degree air.  An otter cruised the shore amongst the herons.  No signs of civilization until we near Elizabeth City and pass by the hospital and college.  

There's a dock available at the Elizabeth City town docks and we enjoy being able to stretch our legs and walk to the grocery store without having to launch the dinghy.  In the evening the "Rose Buddies" and the tourism department of the City put on their regular wine and cheese party for the boaters.  We hear stories from other captains of their journey to here and count the number of repairs they've had to do on the way....sails, engines, transmissions.  We feel lucky to have nothing to add to this conversation.  

Our friend Bob arrives on his boat "Scoot-N-Clan" from Long Island, NY.  He's been hoping to catch up with us so Jerry can install the autopilot he purchased during the summer.  Jerry spends the next two days with Bob preparing to install the autopilot.  Bob's friends, Jon and Nora who live in Elizabeth City, take us to their home for dinner a couple of times and another friend of Bob's, Pat, drives us around for parts, groceries, laundry, propane.  We've been spoiled!  Thanks!

Jon, Jerry, Pat, Nora and Bob

Jerry completed as much of the autopilot installation as possible.  One part has been ordered and shipped to our friends D and Don in Oriental.  He'll have to finish there.

From Elizabeth City we had a glorious sail down the Elizabeth River and across the Albemarle Sound on a close reach in 15 - 20 knots of wind and down the Alligator River.  At the end of the day we anchored on the Pungo River, the wind stopped and we enjoyed a perfectly still evening with a gibbous moon overhead and the smell of Carolina pines in the air.

The next day brought light air and we leisurely sailed the rest of the way to Oriental.  There is so much happening in Oriental!  D and Don live here and cousins Dick and Georgette are a short drive away.  Bob, Jerry and I felt like royalty as Dick and Georgette arrived with their van and chauffeured us to New Bern and dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant.  Our evening included a tour of downtown New Bern sparkling with Christmas lights.  Then apple pie aboard Persephone back at the dock.

D and Don, in addition to providing bikes for transportation around town, made dinner another night - topped off with a campfire and roasted marshmallows in their backyard.

Jerry and D

Don whittling sticks  

In between dinners, a movie, wine tastings, and visiting with other boaters, Jerry finished Bob's autopilot installation.

The autopilot will make traveling easier for single-hander Bob.  Especially those long passages where he sits at the helm for 24 hours +/-.

D loaned me a table and chairs to set up my sea glass jewelry and watercolor notecards at the Farmer's Market in Oriental.  Yup, I sold some.  Thanks, D.

And, our friends Mike and Liz (usually traveling on their sailboat) arrived in Oriental aboard their friend Joe's boat.  They've traveled from Oneida Lake in NY to here in Joe's 34' Rinker powerboat.

Dinner with Joe, Mike, Liz, Don & D (left early) and Bob at the Oriental Grill.

We love Oriental - it would be great to stay and visit more but we have to keep our track south to try to stay ahead of the cold.  

The sun goes down in Oriental.

Off to Beaufort.

Here in Beaufort we find our friends Ryan, Kari, Shawn and Haley aboard "Valkyrie" at the docks.  The winds aren't favorable for leaving so we plan a Thanksgiving dinner with them and a couple from New Zealand.

Kari and Karen in the galley of Valkyrie as Haley looks on.

Shawn fills his plate with the turkey I stuffed and baked in our oven.  (Yes, stuffed.  I took a tape measure to the grocery store and bought the largest turkey I could. 12.5 lbs.  Rubs on the top of the oven as it cooks.)

Kari's home made cranberry sauce (Jerry's mashed potatoes in the background.)

Haley's pecan pie with the turkey on top.  She made the crust, cracked the nuts, the whole kit-and-kaboodle!  Yum!

Shawn, Jerry, Karen, Pete, Kari, Ryan, Haley and Raewyn.

At the end of the evening we accept a tow from Pete and Raewyn back to the anchorage.  

Four-stroke outboards are very fuel efficient - but we do need to add some!

From here we go out on the ocean and head south............

Happy Thanksgiving!

Karen and Jerry

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