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What a wonderful Sunday…  We  sailed up the Southern coast of Cat Island, then decided to go to Staniel Cay the next day so we backtracked a bit.  I wasn’t aware.. But this is Memorial Day weekend….. The big event on Cat Island this weekend is a sport fishing tournament.  Maybe that’s why prices at Hawks Nest Marina are sky high… Maybe not.  Anyway, as we were heading back to our staging point for Staniel….. I decided to do some fishing since we are not always in the out islands… (The fishing grounds) And what do you know, I caught a bigger Mahi than we caught yesterday on the Tartar Banks.  This one was over 48″.

We now have more fresh meat on the boat than we brought from Texas, except we caught it instead of bought it. We are anchored for the night at the SW tip of Cat so Staniel is only 51.2 miles away.  Linda got her shower and is down in the kitchen making something wonderful with the fresh Mahi…..  This is what cruising is all about.  As remote as the Exumas are…….  You can’t catch fish like this (or we haven’t) so the early part of this 2014 trip has been quite special for us.  I can’t wait to see what Linda brings up from the kitchen….. It smells marvelous.

Paul on sv Cool Cat told us about a sea glass beach close to Staniel, so that’s where we are headed tomorrow.  Today I did some snorkeling, Linda was worried about sharks so she didn’t go,  I saw many different varieties of fish and picked up some sand dollars under the boat In about 7′ of water.  She’s anxious to get back inside the Exumas so she can “bob”under the boat without the fear of larger marine wildlife taking off a leg or two.  Today when I snorkeled I took my spear to ward off any unwanted guests…… But there weren’t any so all was well.

We have heard that the best trolling speed for big game fish is 8 to 14 knots.  Yesterday and today I caught Mahi at 4.5 to 5 knots.  Today when I reeled the big one in, there were two other Mahi following him to the boat…..  I have heard they congregate and often follow a caught fish to the boat, but this was my first time seeing that happen.

Well, Linda is clean and cooking something superb, I need to shower and change to be ready for the feast so I’m off…..  Sea Yawl Later !! Rusty

I have to say the evening meal was better than expected.  Fresh mahi only 3 hours from the ocean, 1 1/2 hours of that marinating in Linda’s special sauce.  We also had fried rice with sweet peppers and onions, Linda reduced the marinate to a glaze we put over the rice and fresh fish…….  Yeah…. We eat good.

Cleaning a big fish on deck is a messy ordeal, especially when your on the fishing grounds watching the line for another strike!  After watching the fellow on Rum clean his fish, I had a better idea of how to master “big fish” preparation so it didn’t take long.  Needless to say a shower was in order after cleaning the fish on the flat deck on my knees.  I know… Not a pretty thought…. But it was well worth the effort expended.  “Man stuff”

Our little corner of the ocean is calm tonight.  I’ve tucked in close behind Dolphin Head point.  The prevailing wave/wind is SE again, so we are barely sheltered by the small but convenient point.  This is the closest anchorage I could find to the store, we may go tomorrow….. The bottom is pure white sand that’s holding my anchor like a newborn babe…… carefully and sure.

Not knowing the lay of the land yet, there may be better options, but I liked this spot after studying my Explorer chart book and it did not disappoint me.  Sometimes a spot looks better on paper than it really is……. with a rocky bottom or unmarked coral heads but tonight I did good finding a nice anchorage for the evening.

We like to arrive at new locations with plenty of sun left overhead in case we need to move, and it makes it easier to pick our way in between the coral on shallow spots if we have good sun.

I called the “Hawks Nest” marina on the radio to inquire about dockage tomorrow, it was easy to make that decision……  It’s a sport fishing marina….. $2.50/ft for a slip, water cost .35 cents a gallon and I’m sure you have to pay for your electricity separately as well.  Nope… I’m not interested in spending over $100 dollars a night to park my boat…. It’s free right here behind my own anchor.

I thought about splurging if it was $50 bucks or so and free water……. But nope!

I have been reading books a lot, today I finished Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karinina.  I guess I’ll wrap up and go look at some new books below, see what I want to read next.  Night all…. R

Our refrigerated meat coffers are filled for a while anyway.  We have been eating fresh tuna since we caught so many in Rum Cay, then today I caught a nice Mahi Mahi on our way to Cat Island.  Actually I intentionally strayed off course to go over a rise in the ocean bottom where it goes from 9,000 feet deep to only 34 feet of water.  About a mile from the hump I caught the 38″ Mahi.  You know it’s a dolphin (Mahi) when he runs 90 miles per hour across the surface and jumps 6′ in the air.  It was an exciting catch.

We just put down the anchor on the South end of Cat Island.  Linda already has the first batch of Mahi marinating.  It’s got basalmic vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, honey and garlic in it.  I suspect out dinner will be sensational.  I tell you what……  This country boy has been converted, I love tuna sushimi….  (Raw tuna) with wasabi and soy sauce.  It’s pure protein and flavor!

We don’t normally cross paths with such good fishing grounds as you find here in the Bahamian outback.  Today as we approached Cat there were 4 sport fishing boats trolling just outside the harbor.  I felt like telling them to go 10 miles out to Tartar Banks…… The Mahi are running, but sport fishermen are not likely to take advice from a sailboat. They are a testosterone filled big money crowd.  If your not a “self proclaimed superman” who acts like an 8th grader, you won’t fit into that crowd.

Sport fishermen are cave men with money……   Hunter gatherers of the sea, not for meat but to prove that middle age hasn’t claimed their testicles.

Enough about that……   It’s just that when the sport fishermen move into a marina like Chubbs in the Berry islands, it’s ruined for cruisers.  Suddenly the marina is crude, expensive and has nothing to do with you if you don’t buy 1,000 gallons of diesel a day.

Anyway I have been finally catching fish!  The deal is…. We have been where the fish are lately…. In the outback.

Cat Island is pretty big.  It appears they have a supermarket and quite a few services.  Dave Calvert lives here on Cat as well.  Dave is my sail maker.  I called him earlier, and expect to meet up with him before we go.. Find out what there is to see here on Cat.  From here we will probably go to Staniel Cay, back inside the well protected and warm Exuma Chain.  I suspect the water is just about warm enough….. It’s lost the cold shock value when you first enter that it had when we came thru when we arrived.  My plan all along was to do the out islands, see new places then come back inside the comfortable Exumas and soak in the water under the boat.

In the out islands sharks are numerous so Linda hasn’t been interested in bobbing under the bow.  I suspect next week we will be back home in the protection of the near Bahamas islands.  Near meaning closer to the USA.  I’m ready for some lazy.. Less wild and remote locations myself.  The Exumas are not “crowded” but the frequency of cruisers that pass thru have pushed the wild creatures (sharks) out to more remote areas, like where we are now.

Linda is about to cook my catch of the day, I can hear the pots and pans rattling in the kitchen.  Today while underway in short following seas, I fixed our ice machine.  It’s been on the fritz for a while, it seems to be working OK for now.  Today started out with speeds of about 5 knots…. Then bumped 6 for an hour then the wind all but stopped.  If not for a following sea and 1.5 knots of current, we would have been sitting still.  I waited for a couple hours before starting a motor, but we didn’t get wind until we were 4 miles out.  We did get to sail in so that was nice.

Tomorrow we find out what there is to do on Cat Island.  Until then…

Sea Yawl Later!!  Rusty

We met a guy named Victor that came into the Rum Cay harbor yesterday.  He’s been coming here for years, originally from South Africa.  He told us about so many things on Rum we didn’t know about so we stayed another day.  I suspect it will take at least 3 more days to see everything he told us about… sea glass….. snorkeling….. fishing.  Speaking of fishing I went with Victor, Jeremy and his dad Bobby Little deep sea fishing today.  OMG…………..  we caught 3 blackfin tuna, 8 yellow fin tuna and two bonita.   yeah.. I know!  (I caught the most and the biggest fish)  I brought in a nice 20- 25 pounder.  We caught a lot of 15’s and had two big wahoo cut our line.  What a phenominal fishing trip!

After cleaning the fish we ended up with a 5 gallon bucket overflowing with pure tuna meat.  The two bonita were cleaned for Bobby’s animals.  He said they make fine cat food.  Luckily we have soy sauce and wasabi on onbard so tonight we had the freshest sushimi anybody ever ate!  My heavens it was good.   If we were at Tokyo’s Sushi restaurant in Beaumont….. the meat we ate would have cost us $100 bucks.  We ate until we absolutely had enough…. that’s never happened with tuna sushimi before because it was cost prohibitive.  You eat until your not hungry at a sushi bar… tonight we ate until we were full!

Tomorrow night Bobby is cooking us dinner, sushi, sashimi, some other words I’ve never heard before but they sound delicious.  Linda is making cookies and her wonderful cold slaw.  Suddenly Rum Cay is very attractive and we aren’t leaving soon!

Sea Ywal Later !!   Rusty

Tonight we are in bug /mosquito paradise….  Still in the harbor at Rum, tonight just before dark the wind stopped……

Luckily I bought a 5 gallon can of gas today for the generator ($8.00/gallon) but that just means we will spend $8 bucks tonight being bug free and dry.  That’s cheap, but the problem is finding gas here in the out islands.  $40 dollars for a 5 gallon can of gas……  OK, I admit it…. Being in America has certain advantages.

In the remote out islands weather plays a much bigger part in your travel plans.  Every move from island to island is an open ocean voyage.  That means the possibility of big swells even on a good day.  If there was a storm 1000 miles from here……. The big waves eventually show up.  A tsunami is a radical example of open ocean waves…. But you get the idea.  In the Exumas you can sail almost any day in the lee protection of 300 islands strung tightly together.

It may be wise to not do all the out islands in a row…… Just hop out to them from the Exumas several times in settled weather.  We have enjoyed the dead calm of this little harbor…it was good for us after a couple big wave crossings in a row.

Well I’m about to step outside and see if the  mosquitoes have gone to sleep yet.  They are most prevalent at dusk….. Hopefully they have gone away.  I’d like to open the boat up tonight…… But I’m about to find out if that’s possible.

Shoot! no bugs and a bit of a breeze.  Not much reason to run the AC now.  I thought I’d find it buggy and make the decision easy.  We have trapped more bugs inside than I saw outside.  We are turning off the AC and giving Mother Nature a try.  If it gets too still I’ll get up and get the AC going again.

Goodnight all.  Rusty

We have shamelessly ignored our blog…..  To catch up on our travels, lets start with some logistics in reverse chronology and go from there.  SYL is sitting calmly on Rum Cay this morning.  We exited Crooked islands for the second time yesterday and made a decent 60 mile crossing.  The unsettled weather of late has made  departure from the Crookeds quite a challenge.

Yesterday there were no squalls so the trip was doable.  It is fortunate that winds and waves were on our starboard rear quater because the open ocean swell ran 5 to 8 feet all day.  Winds were 15 and as I said dry with out the thunderstorms we have been having most every day.  The trip was not a postcard 10%er but overall not too bad.  About two hours before we left a couple british gents on a Prout 37 Snowgoose named “Snowball” left the anchorage.  Once we picked up our heading it was evident they were also heading to Rum, so that added to the enjoyment of the trip.

We passed Snowball just before the halfway mark to Rum.  Winds were almost too directly behind us…. the trick of the day was keeping the jib full, not letting the main steal all it’s air.  After passing our boat buddy I headed up as high as I could to keep the jib puling in case the wind changed. It turned out to be a good move.  Winds went a little South of SE and I was able to come up enough to fill the jib.  Naturally before the shift there was a settling… winds dropped to under 10 knots.  That gave the advantage to Snowball because of his large genoa.  I was no longer gaining ground in the “undeclared” but always present race when two boats have the same destination.

Winds did go more south and picked back up to a useable 13 knots so I headed up to use that slack I put “in the bank” earlier in order to use all my cloth (keep the front sail full).

After a bit I looked back at Snowball and he had taken down his big genoa and hoisted a parasail!!!!!!  This thing goes dead down wind like a runaway train.  It was beautiful to watch as they got closer and closer to me…. lol.   Luckily winds stayed high enough for my boat and I made landfall first.  Had winds gone light he would have made ground quickly on SYL having only a jib and main.

Rum Cay is plesant so far.  We slept well without a swell, having anchored as deep in Nelson Bay as we could.  Snowball continued into the old harbor (it’s closed without services but still has the docks) so I’m sure they rested well in the calm water as well.  I took the dinghy in yesterday to check out the harbor and help our new buddy tie up.  I think we will move into the marina this morning as well.  Normally a harbor gets hot without a good breeze.  We will see during the day today…. if there is no breeze we’ll come back on anchor.

We did move into Sumner Point Marina, and docked alongside with Paul and Tony, our new friends.  They were out most of the day with “Big E”… the local color commentator/snorkel guide/fishing expert and overall loud goodfella here on Rum Cay.  I understand he did the grandtour with his guests….. allowing them the opportunity to spend money with everyone on the island.

This afternoon I got some time with the guys after Big E left.  The advised me not to enlist his services unless I wanted to spend the whole day with the loud somewhat overbearing guide.  After a quick tour of SYL, Paul talked about sailing in Greece.  He showed us the prime areas and was very helpful having spent several years in the Med.   We have often thought of flying over and chartering a boat to sail Greece….. interesting.. but not in the cards right now.

Sunday:

Snowball left this morning before we got out of bed, they are heading to Cat Island, and the USA.  Thier intent is to leave the boat in North Carolina, buy a couple motorcycles and ride across America.  I wish them well.

Yesterday we rented a golf cart from Josie around noon and I returned it today.  The golf cart trip made our Rum Cay experience doubly memorable.  Yesterday we skirted the beach road so that it was easy to stop and discover many remote beaches along the way.  We picked up some nice driftwood and some new (old) colored rope to hang on the front of our dinghy.  Another spot we visited was absolutely magical… they call it North Beach.  Its remote and very picturesque.

Last night the wind was dead and it had been raining so the boat was damp.  When the wind drops out the bugs come out….  so we closed up and turned on the AC for the night.  Unfortunately,  I set the Honda out on the dock for the night… about 2AM the bottom fell out and it rained for quite sometime.  At 2:30 the generator got too wet and quit.. so I got up in the rain to try and restart it without success.  I went back to bed around 3AM and didn’t work on the Honda until noon.  I cleaned the carb, but I knew that wasn’t the issue… I just did that waiting for the generator to dry out so it would fire again.. the spark plug wouldn’t spark.  I kept checking fire, to see if it was thru complaining yet but alas… it was not.  After the carb refresh I started unplugging wires looking for moisture.  I had opened 4 connections and found them dry as a bone so I almost skipped that one on the bottom that’s so hard to get to.  Good thing I didn’t skip it….. there was water inside the connector.  After flushing the connection with carb cleaner to get rid of the water I dabbed it out with paper towel and a tooth pick.  I couldn’t wait to check fire after I got it back together!  It fired nicely so I knew it would run. With a fresh plug and clean carb it fired up on the first pull.

Adding AC power to our boat is pretty important.  When the sun is out we can make water on the solar panels… but no 110 volt power means no oven and no way to recharge the batteries unless we are in a marina.  Our plans are to not see an active marina for weeks.  Sumner Point where we are now is closed… you can tie up but there are no services.  The mail boat came in yesterday so I was told gas is available again.  Josie told me he couldn’t rent me his cart because he didn’t have gas….  I told him I had a little so he rented to me at a discount, my maintanks are almost full and I have two 5 gallon cans full, but as I said we expect to be remote for a while so having an extra 10 gallons for the generator might allow more nights of air conditioning than we otherwise might choose.  We don’t run it much… but after a soaking rain it’s nice to dry SYL out.

RUM CAY:   We like the little island.  Linda found out there are 35 local inhabitants and they are noted to be most friendly.  The remoteness is the attraction, not many folks hanging out here…..  The waters aren’t particulary clear….  but hey we have been on Crooked Island for 3 weeks and there are no cleaner waters anywhere I know of so that may be an unfair comparison.

Many sport fishermen use the closed harbor to come in and clean fish…  that means there are plenty sharks swimming in and out looking for a cheap meal… this must be the McDonalds of the Bahamas.  I have seen as many as 6 under the boat at one time.  They are primarily nurse sharks… but there are also Bull sharks and several other species so swimming in the harbor is not an option.  Thats unfortunate too because there is a nice little beach right in the harbor.

The harbor is a nice option primarily because it’s free and protected from waves at almost every direction.  Having done the golf car tour and seen much of the island we will leave for Conception Island tomorrow weather permitting.

We have not had internet for several days.  I am currently sitting in our dear friends house, Jim and Lynne, in the Crooked Islands.  We have had a great few days.  We decided rather suddenly to leave GT and head for the Crooked Islands.  The passage to the Crookeds is rarely fun.  You notice I said passage not sail.  We motor sailed to Rum Cay where we stayed a couple of days.  The path from GT to the Crookeds and beyond is called “the thorny path” for a reason.  It is usually a difficult passage because you are fighting a 1.5 knot current and prevailing SE winds.  We went to Rum Cay to try and get a better angle to the Crookeds.  We anchored in the middle of coral reefs and it was cool to be able to just jump off the boat and go snorkeling.  We were in about 7ft of water.  The coral heads around us came almost to the surface and we were deep in the bay so it made really nice, comfortable with a lot of choices close to the boat.  We found the sunny side of the reefs had most of the fish.  It was fun.  We stayed two days and we were the only ones in the bay.  We enjoyed our solitude after the craziness at GT.  

Rusty here: We left for Crooked Island early Monday morning. The easting that we took going to Rum Cay was intended to set us up to be able to sail without engines to the Crookeds.  What I forgot was there was a 1.5 knot current in my face so when the winds were low I had to run one or both motors from the first half of the trip to maintain passage speed for the 60 mile trip.  As is it turned out the second half of the journey and it helped my apparent wind drive the boat without motors.  Suffice it to say the rain we got when we arrived to the Crookeds was welcomed to get the salt spray off the ROOF of the boat.

Linda here:  It was a rodeo!!!

Sea Yawl Later!!

I just got back from watching the big “A” Class race from the dinghy.. great fun.  “Tida’ Wave” from Staniel Cay is quite the favorite…. I didn’t see the end, but she started third and by the first turn she was in the lead.  The first leg is upwind and she outpointed all the other boats.  The boat I picked to do well was “Red Stripe” from Black Point.  They build great boats there… but I’m afraid I’ve never seen a keen skipper from Black Point that could bring home the bacon.  The top of Red Stripe’s sail laid off badly upwind, even though she was close hauled….. she gave a lot of her power away up high.  She started first by 3 lengths.. at the first mark she was 150 yards below the windward mark when “Tida’ Wave” rounded.  Sorry I didn’t have the camera for the “A” race.

It was quite the worry about having enough wind to complete the 4 day event…. so far the only race that suffered was yesterdays “C” race.  I was at the line when the Race Commodore said… “gentlemen all I can tell you is be ready… when we get a little wind we are going to start you.. whether it’s upwind or down”….  WOW, I just heards the cannon fire for the end of the big “A” race.  “Running Tide” took the fleet.I took this immediately after the “A” race from the boat.  I can hear hollering and jubilation across the water 200 yards away from the finish.  It appears “Tida’ Wave” and “Rupert’s Legend” finished 2nd and 3rd..  Funny that the first 3 boats are painted white.  There are boats of every color out there making the race quite the visual spectacle.  “Running Tide” took a unique line thru Kidd Cove and all the cruising boats that must have netted him some real estate.  He made up quite a bit of ground on the leaders to pull off the win!

The previous race allowed me some nice pictures that tell the story of how the races area run.

The race begins by jockeying for position, lots of yelling with bull horn replies from the race committee. When the committeemen are satisfied they shoot a cannon and they are off!

At the start they have an anchor set about 40 yards out in front of the boat…. they get up to speed by pulling hard, then raise the sail.

This race was the second of the day, the “B” class.  I was on the line when “Lady Sonia” pulled off a fine start and held it to the end.  I got some great pictures of the race and took a congratulatory picture after the win.  The skipper gave me his email so I was able to share his victory with him and his shipmates via email.  I’m sure I was the first to inform his wife he had won… because of the lighting speed of email and his holding up a single “first place” finger in the camera shot after the race was over……

Iv’e often wondered just how fast these boats are.  Its forbidden to have electronics of any kind on any of the boat even for practice.  The purity of the sport is regarded as almost sacred.  Following along in the dinghy, I can report that with the light to medium winds, I didn’t have to get on plane to keep up with any class of Bahamian Sloop today or yesterday.  I haven’t put a GPS on the boat, but my RC boat is about the same speed.

I need to get up early and listen to the weather.  Soon we will be heading South/SE toward the Crooked Islands.  The prevailing winds are also SSE.  Lately fronts have been coming thru about every 6 1/2 days.  If that holds true, I need to be ready to move out after the Norther passes in about 4 days.  Some nice following North winds would be nice!

All I need is a couple more cans of gas.  There aren’t many places where you can put $63 dollars worth of gas in two 5 gallon cans!  But it’s easy to do in the Bahamas.  There is no opportunity for gas for the next 100 miles (to the Crooked Islands) so it makes sense to fill all my extra cans in GT before we leave.  You can go on the opposite side of Long island and buy gas, but the most direct (and probable route) is pretty remote.

Sunset is an hour away….. almost horn blowing time.  I can hear the huge speakers at regatta point (the zoo) boom boom… boom boom.  There will be a high time ashore tonight!  Glad I went ashore earlier to pick up my event tee shirt.  I’m all set for the night.

I heard something strange today…. Linda said “I think I’m ready to go sailing soon”  She’s always the one that wants to put the anchor in the sand and stay put for days on end.  Which we have done lately.  I’m glad to hear she will be ready for the next leg of our trip to the Crooked Islands.  I’m hitting the sack early tonight so I can get up and listen.. maybe talk to Chris Parker about my next leg.  He will be the best resource to say when to go down the “thorny path” so it’s called toward the Caribbean.

Two mail boats brought bahamian race boats from all across the Bahamas for the big event

Regatta Point is a great viewing area for the big race that lasts 3 days. Bahmians talk smack like you can’t believe about his favorite boat or against his buddies team.

This is a “B” class, the smaller boats do not have a front sail.

The cloud patterns that make pretty sunsets also make a nice scene with the regatta boats mast straining against the wind.  The cloud pattern closely resembles the shape of the land mass below.  What happens is…. clouds form from the rising air off the hotter land mass.  The clouds drift down wind and it forms sort of a trail of clouds spawned from the island’s mass.  If your’e ever lost at sea and can’t find land……. look for clouds, chances are there is land under them…

This boat “SV COOL CAT” came in and dropped the hook next to us. I went over and talked to the owner. This thing is all carbon fiber, boat, mast and all.. it’s 47′ long with a rotator mast and dagger boards. Paul, the owner said his average cruising speed under sail is 14 to 16 knots. When it pipes up he can hold over 20 knots but according to Paul “it gets a little fidgety” sweet boat!

The water in all the Bahamas is exceptionally clear. It’s hard to forget, yet it surprises you how pretty it is when you come back.

There is not an abundance of space on any sailboat but I found a good place for my toy while it’s set up. I only took it apart once while we were in GT due to expected big winds.

Iv’e had lots of fun with my RC boat, kids want to sail it, adults want to buy it…. The water here is so clear it looks almost like it’s floating in the air. This is about 11′ deep.

My little ship

She sure looks sweet on the water. After finding all the bad power and signal connections and bare wires that caused malfunctions…. I don’t have to keep the dinghy handy to go get the boat anymore. Once I let the batteries get too low on the boat and had to go pick it up.. but that was my fault. It’s nice to sail right up to SYL and pick it up off the stern. Yesterday I took the boat and it’s stand to the “zoo” at regatta point where the carnival atmosphere of the race is centered. I set up next to the first beer joint / food stand I came to and sat on the rail talking to passers by and answering questions. By this time many had seen the boat on the water and wanted a closer look. It was fun to be part of the attraction for a while.

When the wind lays to 10 knots or less… it’s perfect weather for sailing the AC replica….

Sunset over Regatta Point at Kidd Cove in Georgetown.

A closer shot thru the trees looks altogether different than the wide shot above.

Sunsets in the Bahamas always have character… I imagine it’s due to the island terrain that forms unique cloud patterns.

What did we all do before internet and Facebook?  We did not have internet for almost three days.  I must confess that we could access the net on my iPad but on it I can mainly read because I find it hard to negotiate around on the iPad.  Rusty went into town on the Monday after Easter and the town was closed up tight.  Someone told him that everything is closed the day after a holiday….good to know.  We have been without milk, eggs and bread for several days.  I didn’t realize how important those items were if you wanted breakfast.  I tried graham crackers and peanut butter………nope, then graham crackers and cream cheese which was ok by be but a negative for Rusty.  Finally I have resorted to protein bars and coffee.  Not very satisfactory.

Today being Tuesday after Easter, Rusty was able to go into town and get our laundry……….$56.00…….I know, I know…….but I really, really HATE laundramats.  Even when we were at the RV “resort” which had a nice laundry room, I would wait and wash when we went to the lake.  I don’t mind doing laundry at home but doing it all at once, hauling it around………it was worth $56.00.  In my defense, over half of the laundry was laundry that was already onboard when I got on SYL.  Most of it is towels, sheets etc.  I have been keeping a budget since we got onboard.  Once you get here you really don’t spend much money even with cokes $3.50 each.  I now have milk, eggs and bread………Yeah!

The weather yesterday was very, very windy with sustained winds around 20 knots with knots probably approaching 40 knots.  Needless to say I stayed onboard.  Rusty made that run into town and went over to the dock where they were unloading some of the boats for the Regatta and help bring one of them around.

It was so rough I couldn’t get in the water which I like to do everyday.  Today the water is still unsettled but I imagine I will get off the back of the boat.  Rusty has a water hammock installed on the back of the boat so I get my water saddle and bob around and do a little water aerobics.  Rusty is reading a lot but tomorrow the races start.  We are hoping we are in a good spot in Kid Cove to see the races.  I am sure Rusty will get in his dinghy and follow the activities.

Sea Yawl Later!!

Linda