While we watch the winter weather reports for northern climes, we are enjoying the pleasant Bahamas weather while swimming, snorkeling, reading, eating, sleeping (and a little home schooling), and then getting up the next day to do it all over again. This will probably get old in a few weeks but, for now, it feels great.
We are currently in a pleasant marina in Lucaya, which is on the south side of Grand Bahama Island, and have been taking advantage of our time here in a relatively developed area to restock and recharge. One great advantage of being here has been the opportunity to spend more time with our friends from Wyoming. Their daughter, Harmony, and Amelia have been spending most days together and have also had rotating sleepovers – a nice break for the parents. We’ve had a chance to explore some beautiful beaches here, as well as to kick around town. Our marina is particularly nice, with great lap and kid’s pools, beautiful grounds and a picnic area. There is also a shuttle boat to the Lucaya town center, which has numerous restaurants and bars, a host of small shops and a bandstand which features local music on the weekends. Earlier this week Amelia and Harmony stayed up far too late eating ice cream and dancing to a local beat. Harmony has been a great influence on Amelia, encouraging her to be more serious about her schoolwork and contributing her second-grader’s perspective on everything from kite flying to art.
Last week when we went out to dinner with a couple of families, and the most experienced cruiser there posed an interesting question: “What have you learned on your trip so far?” It was interesting to reflect on this, and I think that by far the most rewarding thing has been getting to know our daughter so well. It has also been an opportunity for Dave and me to connect and cooperate nearly full time. Back in Winchester, with two demanding careers and a full schedule of school and activities for Amelia, it seems that we spent much more time handing off Amelia and moving between planned events than we spent together as a family. Now, for better or worse, we need to engage on issues as small as how we keep our small living space habitable and as large as how we safely manage our passages. While the challenge of living together in such intimate and immediate circumstances isn’t trivial, the benefits are enormous.
I’ve also been experimenting with local cuisine. Earlier this week, we went to a fish market, which had little to offer except conch (pronounced “Konk”), a staple in the local diet. I ordered some, and also received some preparation tips. The women weighing the fish slyly mentioned that conch is especially good “for the man”, referring to its reputation for enhancing virility, and laughed when I then asked for another pound. So far, I’ve experimented with making conch salad (a spicy ceviche) and conch chowder, all with excellent results.
Our plans for later this week are to sail about 60 miles to the southeast to a protected anchorage in the Berry Islands, provided the winds turn to the southwest as predicted. The prevailing winds blow quite strongly from the east or southeast and generate substantial waves in the open areas. As a result, to sail with any degree of comfort to the southeast, we have to wait for weather fronts to pass through causing the winds to turn to the west or north. This only occurs for a day or two out of every ten days and we plan to take advantage of the next weather window to travel southeast to the Berry Islands. Several other boats in this marina are waiting for the same weather conditions and the talk dockside each morning revolves around the latest weather predictions (as well as the usual complaints about boat equipment breakdowns and repairs). There is a popular saying in the boating community that cruising on a sailboat is just “repairing your boat in interesting places.” We have been fortunate in that regard and are pleased to report that, since our six-week delay in Annapolis, we have had very little breakdown and repair experience. We hope that this good fortune continues.
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