Some observations...

Well we've been in the Bahamas now for 4 days and have made some friends on another trawler heading pretty much the same way we are going. Today we are on a mooring ball (we caught it on the first try!) near Chub Cay.  Winds are are bit blustery so we will stay here and finish up some boat projects and move on towards Nassau hopefully by Monday.

So..... Some observations to date....

1. Not all mooring balls are particularly good for "mooring". After one night of being supposedly moored, we have untied and are now securely anchored. My captain spent a very unrestful night being awakened constantly by the anchor alarm. You see  even though we weren't anchored he still set the alarm for the spot where we were moored, so as the mooring ball was being dragged across the sea floor his alarm was going off (I slept right through it all, thank goodness I'm just the 1st mate). Anyway, he decided it wasn't worth another night's lack of sleep, so we pulled away and are now safely at anchor with our big ass (excuse my Cajun) Mantus 125 lb. anchor.

2. ‎ A first mate's work is never done: After cooking a fabulous breakfast of BLT sandwiches on Ken's homemade bread, I did a load of laundry on the bow using my 5 gallon bucket and my plunger thingee, (I'm going to have to go to my amazon account and see what it is really called!), wrung out and hung out the laundry. Hey, I just created a new phrase! "Wrung out and Hung out", now that one is mine so don't try to use it without giving me credit!  I cleaned the rug and puppy pad from the cockpit, fixed lunch, albeit just left overs...cleaned the galley again and the rest of the day I just make sure that the captain has food and beverages when he needs it.  I also have time to relax and read my kindle up on the flying bridge in the hammock.  So.... All in a day's work.

3. ‎ In the Bahamas, they "call it like it is". So, Shark Creek really has sharks. We took a dinghy ride there and saw several sharks, one of which was a six foot nurse shark. It was a beautiful sight to behold! From there we entered Turtle Creek and lo and behold there were big sea turtles everywhere. They would "shoot out" and swim away as we approached and boy let me tell you they are fast! Turtles definitely swim much faster than they walk. When we visit Staniel Cay later in our journey, we will go to Pig Beach. And guess what we will see there? Yep, Pigs.... Swimming pigs. They swim right out to your dinghy as you approach the beach. They are used to being offered food and can get quite aggressive I am told.  I was in Paris in 2011 and visited "Le Rue de Rosiers" or the avenue of roses..... Not a single rose in sight on the entire street.  But in the Bahamas, what they call it... is what you get.

4.  Just like not everyone should have kids or pets because they just won't be able to sacrifice their own selfishness to do it right, I have come to learn that not all boat owners should be out there on the waterways.  I think that many people just think "Oh, let's get a boat and take off in the sunset". They don't have enough knowledge about navigation abilities, proper anchoring and docking techniques, boating etiquette which includes being respectful of no wake zones, slow passing other vessels when you throw a big wake, not "snuggling" in an Anchorage... among other things. I could write an entire blog entry about "snuggling" (seems to be a bigger issue with sail boats). 

Cell phone wide angle lens shot.
He's much closer than it appears in the photo!

5.   ‎ A month spent without watching TV does not cause withdrawal symptoms. Since watching the Saints vs Minnesota Vikings playoff game on January 14th we have not watched TV on the boat, or anywhere else for that matter.  And surprisingly, I have not started twitching everyday at 6:30 pm when the Wheel of Fortune airs. At that time I am usually sitting on the bow watching the sun set over the water, sipping on a glass of good "boxed" wine (a cruiser's staple) while discussing with Ken what our plans are for the next day.  Those plans are always dependent upon the wind and wave forecast which he stays on top of daily.  TV is available, we have a satellite receiver and can get Direct TV from anywhere but we just have other things to do. I think I might like to watch a movie every now and then and probably will,  but the old habit of sitting in front of the TV for the entire evening is over and done with.  Last night we sat on the bow and looked at the night sky. Ken has a great pair of astronomy long range binoculars and is very knowledgeable about astronomy (it was a hobby back in the day... But he still has a couple of serious motorized telescopes which, sadly we couldn't use on a moving boat) and was pointing out the constellations (Orion, Big Dipper, Pleiades) and named stars.  Sirius, or the Dog Star, is actually the brightest star, not the North star as most people think. You can find it by following down the line of the 3 stars of Orion's belt. The Milky Way was visible too which is not usually seen too well except in the summer months.  The sky here is so dark without the competing light domes from cities that we could see it!  Just beautiful!! 

Orion Nebula 

So I am sure that when we get home I will watch my favorite shows again, I kinda need a "Chopped" fix, but for now I am overwhelmed with just watching the Creator's channel. 

Watching the Saints playoff game. It was the last time I watched TV!

That's all for now, well really there's sooo much more but I don't want to burden you with too much at once. Suffice it to say, I have many many observations.... Here are just a few. 

Thanks again for reading and please don't hesitate to comment. I would love to hear what you think about all of this. 

And if you do comment, I will read you "Lima Charlie"...... Loud and clear.