Sat. June 10, 2017  – Great Sale to Mad jack Cay in the Abacos islands of Bahama

This morning I was greeted by the sight of 3-4 dolphins swimming near the boat and a beautiful sunrise.  It’s so peaceful at anchor.   While the boat was being commissioned in Florida, we were advised to purchase a couple of bean bag chairs to use on the decks or on the trampoline (thanks to Lauren and Chris for the suggestion and to Amazon Prime for fast delivery). FABULOUS ADDITION!!!   I take my coffee and IPad, sit the bean bag chair on the front hull, in the breeze and ENJOY (for you non-sailors, when a boat is at anchor, breeze is always at the front and hopefully, early morning mosquitoes are not).

Today was a nice, easy sail, with some motoring, – heading from Great Sale to Mad Jack Cay to meet-up with Mark’s friends, Lon and Rosie.   Doug was in 7^th heaven puttering around on the boat, adjusting sails, etc. playing with the electronics (trying to trouble shoot issues which do not fit into the ‘7^th heaven’ feeling).   It is rare to see him sit down and relax.  I know because I keep track of him from my relaxed perch.

We had a WifI connection most of the sail so I spent a good portion of the day creating our blog – my first ever attempt at blogging.  If you are reading this, you’ve stumbled across it and you’ve come back for more.

Once anchored, Lon and Rosie joined us on the boat for happy hour.  Such nice people and long-time sailors and friends of Mark.  They spend half the year in New Zealand, where Rosie is from, and half the year in the Caribbean – most recently in the Bahamas, where they live on their boat, Flying Circus.

Shortly before Lon and Rosie arrived, I managed to bump my head on the Martingale strut up front (no – I do not know the correct terms for all the boat parts – I just asked Rowland) and put a gash in my forehead along the eyebrow line.  A quick band aid applied stopped the bleeding temporarily.  When it started to bleed again later, Doug applied a compress and wrapped my head in an ace bandage – a bit of overkill, but effective for sleeping.   So far everyone on the boat has had an accident or ailment:  one finger cut with a knife; one toe cut somewhere on deck; and Doug contracted a major case of hives which had to be treated with heavy doses of  cortisone at urgent care.  Source of hives is  a mystery but the rest of us suspect it was brought on by the stress of  delays in casting off from the marina in Florida.

Sunday, June 11, 2017  Mad Jack Cay, Bahamas

I love mornings on a boat that is anchored in a quiet bay, enjoying my cup of coffee, while the boat rocks gently, even when it starts at 4:00 a.m. like it did this morning.   I am particularly a sucker for a full moon.  I have been known to sit on Zeeto’s deck for hours, when we sailed on Lake Superior, looking at the moon and stars.  A beautiful full moon is what greeted me this morning when I stepped onto Minnehaha’s deck.  Unfortunately, the mosquitos also enjoy the early morning, but a bit of repellent and I’m left to relax.  My enjoyment continued with a beautiful sunrise.  You may see quite a few pictures of sunrises on this blog- I don’t get to appreciate them in our condo in Minneapolis so I can’t resist capturing and sharing them.

Today was ‘laundry day’.  Yes, the mundane chores of laundry and housework continue even in paradise.  We have a washer/dryer on board which is a huge plus.  I took advantage of the washer (so much easier than a pail and washboard) but decided to conserve energy and hang the laundry on the boat’s lifelines.  No respectable sailboat would be seen without some item of clothing or towels hanging out to dry.

Mark left us today to join his long-time friends, Lon and Rosie on their boat Flying Circus, for a few days before he flies home to Newport Beach.   It was great to have Mark onboard with us.  Besides enjoying his company, he was very helpful with learning about the boat as well as figuring out how to make our modem, our lifeline connection to the outside world, work.  Safe travels home Mark – probably see you in Annapolis in October.

Many thanks to Rosie, who patched up the cut over my eye with a butterfly bandage (lesson learned: include butterfly band aids in the first aid kit).  To attach the bandage she had to pluck the eyebrow a bit – bonus for me – it needed it.

We continue to have issues with various systems on the boat – small things such as the water maker not working (it is OK to drink salt water, isn’t it?) or the propane system shutting off (no cooking, yay!)  Doug and Rowland spent a good portion of the day troubleshooting and trying to get things back online.  It’s a very complicated boat- very sophisticated electronics (technology – we all love it and hate it at the same time) and component systems.  We have been told that this is not unusual on a new boat – ‘teething pains’ was one phrase used though at the moment, ‘tooth ache’ seems a more apt description. For us novices it is becoming very frustrating.  Fortunately, both Rowland and Doug have the skills and know-how to do the work-arounds and I know how to stay out of the way.  The boat is under warranty so we see work by HH in our future.  We’ll have to figure out at what location they can come to us.

Doug’s day was brightened by the opportunity to snorkel around the small bay where we are anchored while I elected to keep my ‘wound’ out of the water for a few days.  The beach is beautiful and there are numerous sting rays and nurse sharks that will approach visitors that are snorkeling or just walking or sitting in the water.  I had several sting rays swim up to me or follow me as I walked along.  Doug had his GoPro and captured video of rays,  nurse sharks, a sea turtle, and puffer fish.  Life was good.

Tomorrow we are sailing out in search of a marina where we can get fuel and water.  It has been suggested we visit Man-o-War  (about 25 miles  from here), where Lon and Rosie moor their boat.  Flying Circus is a very charming, 60 year- old wooden boat that was built on Man-o-War, so it is very special.