Pixie Dust

[Zen]

The lastest From SailFar's own Connie the Wandering Gaget Girl aboard s/v Pixie Dust
have been posted in the blog section.

New entry starts with 6/15, stroll down til you see it.

Fair Winds

[AdriftAtSea]

Thanks for the heads up Zen.  :D

[Zen]

She is really having a FUN time!

[Captain Smollett]

I've never been to the Abacos, and thus I was having a bit of trouble picturing the journey of Pixie Dust.  So, I broke out a chart image and followed her track over the last two months.

Below is my interpretation of her travels so far.  I make no pretense that this is 100% accurate, especially the dates and actual paths.

First the chart:  (Click Here, then click the image itself to open a window with the image full size)



Route Plan, with dates only shown where I was reasonably sure.  Color of text keys roughly to path on chart above.

North Bimini (4/28)
West End, Grand Bahama
Little Bahama Bank

Great Sale
Double Breasted
Great Sale
Foxtown
Cooper's Town

Double Breasted (not shown on chart, I may have misunderstood this part).

Crab Cay/Manjack Cay
Green Turtle Cay (5/14)
Whale Pass/Whale Cay (5/18)
Great Guana Cay
Marsh Harbor (5/18)
Great Guana Cay (5/28)
Elbow Cay (5/31)
Tilloo (6/9)
Little Harbor (6/10)
Lanyard Cay (6/13)


Marsh Harbor (6/13)
Great Guana Cay (6/17)
Manjack Cay (6/19)
Cooper's Town (6/22)
Powell Cay (6/22)
Allen's Pensacola (6/24)


Manjack Cay (6/24)
Green Turtle Cay (6/27)


I will try to update the chart as we hear more from Connie.

[Zen]

The latest info has been posted, received via Connie's travel companions on s/v Naked Lady

[s/v Faith]

Pixie Dust... the voyages
Our friend Connie's Sailing adventure...

some of these post are direct from her others are 3rd party from her sailng partners on Naked Lady...

4/18/07 - Bahama Bound:

Hi Everyone. I know I am behind on the journaling, but lots going on. I am in Boot Key Harbor, Marathon. Planned once to cross to Bahamas, but turned around due to weather. Planning on leaving in the morning around 7:00 am and heading to Rodriquez Key for the night, then leaving 2:00 am and heading to Bimini to clear customs.... providing the weather does not turn into winds from the north.
All filters are changed, water topped off, fuel topped off and provisions stored. It has been beautiful here the last few days, but still had to wait for the front to move out.
I will be traveling with Rick and Audrey Shumaker from Panama CIty on Naked Lady. We are excited and ready for the next leg. If weather deters us and anything changes, I will let you know. Hopefully we will be waiting out the next front in Bimini.
Today while getting the boat ready, I had 4 manatees playing beside of the boat. I also had a`sting ray fly out of the water about 4 ft off my beam. Another beautiful day in paradise. I have 2 boats on each side of me from Pensacola. There are about 6 boats here in all from Pensacola and Panama City. All going different places.
I hope all is well with each of you. Find your dreams and live them folks. It is all good!!!
Love and friendship.

False Alarm:

False alarm!!!!
Updated forecast for next several days is now wind out of North 10-15. We do not want to be in the Gulf Stream with north winds blowing. Seas would be a might uncomfortable. Guess I will have to suffer here in Marathon just a few days more. Not sure I can take it.
I might get a chance to catch up my journal and fill you in on all the fun I have been having. Tomorrow I plan on going dinghy exploring in the canals and then to the beach. If seas are good, a group of us may go to Sombrero Key and go snorkeling. Supposed to be a beautiful reef.
Sorry to send another false alarm. As you can see, weather can change plans pretty quick. We may be able to get out of here around Tues.
Stay tuned.  )

4/26/07

Bon Voyage again... I think.  It looks as though we are going to get there this time. Winds are finally clocking to a favorable direction and according to weather forcasts, seas are subsiding. Plans are to head to Rodriquez Key early in the morning, anchor over night and then on to the Bimini to clear in. Should arrive Sat. afternoon or early evening. I will be traveling with 2 other boats, Naked Lady and Ecstasea. We will probably stay there 2-3 days before moving on.... of course, we could get winded in again and who knows. Not 100% sure of next island, but will probably be Chub Key. We are excited!!
I am also the new proud owner of a macerator.  This means I can now pump my own holding tank overboard when needed. Awesome, especially since pumpouts are not always convenient and can be a little costly. Rick on Naked Lady installed it for me yesterday morning. Thank you Rick!!!
Life is still great on Pixie Dust. Having a great time., nonstop smiling. I was able to talk to my boys and see my new grandbaby on Skype this evening. Ethan was not sure what to think about seeing Mimi on a computer screen. That was a definite highlight!!!!!!!!! I miss my babies.
It will be good to have a new anchorage to hang out in, but it is always tough to say goodbye to your new friends. I am sure many of us will cross paths again.
I hope

5-8-07 Tues night
Sorry for so long in between postings, but I have not had internet since the states and my phone cannot be a modem in the Bahamas. Life has been great and so much has happened. I will try to summarize and hit some of the highlights.
I am currently in the Bahamas!!!! WOOWOOWOO J
3 boats left Boot Key Harbor Marathon on 4-28-07. Extasea, Naked Lady and Pixie Dust. We sound like a Rave Party with these boat names. J It was difficult to say goodbye to many new friends we had made at Boot Key, but it was time to go. I had been there 3 weeks and Naked Lady for a month waiting on a good weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. While there, we had watched manatees daily, gone to the beach, walked numerous miles to West Marine, Home Depot and Publix, dingied to Dockside and Burdines and had lunch at Keys Fisheries. We took one day and road the bus to Key West. $2 bucks each way, 1 hr ride and gorgeous scenery. Fun day in Key West, then back to our boats for a quiet night of rest. I needed to leave Marathon or I was going to run out of money before my time. The day we left, conditions were a little uncomfortable for ½ a day from Boot Key to Rodriquez Key which is close to Key Largo. Midday, the seas laid down and became much more comfortable for us. 9hrs later we anchored off the Key and watched a beautiful sunset. Water was gorgeous here and the seas became still as the moon came up. Millions of stars were out and I was so excited about my crossing that I had trouble sleeping. This time I felt very good and excited about the crossing. It felt right. We had anchors pulled by 6:00 am the next morning and as we were leaving the anchorage, we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise. Coffee in hand, snapping picts over my shoulder, and watching the depth sounder, we all set out for the next leg of our adventure.
+++Insert pict of sunrise here+++
All the sudden, 1 hour out, the depth sounder went from 80 feet to blank. We were now in the Gulf Stream. You could also tell because the paddle on the knot meter registered 5.2 but the GPS registered 7.5 and eventually 8.2. WOW, Pixie had never gone so fast. The stream has a very strong current going from S to N and will really give your vessel a lift. Nice way to save on fuel. The Gulf was flat calm, small amount of wind and the water was the most beautiful sapphire color I have ever seen. It looked as though lights were shimmering under the water. I put up my jib and was able to catch a little wind to assist. 9hrs later, I could see the makings of land in the distance. Bimini was appearing. Funny thing, I never got bored or felt intimidated. It was exhilarating. Nothing in site but water and the 2 other boats. I did not actually show depth again until right before we were entering the new channel into Bimini and then it was 70'. That quickly shallowed up to 12' as we entered the channel into N. Bimini. We got slips at Bimini Bluewater Marina. This is the first marina I have stayed in since Bradenton March 9. Customs prefers this.
Very intimidating going in with the current and unknown territory, but my anxiety level dropped to ½ when I saw the security guard "Big C" standing there waiting to grab my lines. Another nice sailboater also assisted and all 3 of us were tied up by 5:30. Our trip was close to 10 hrs. We immediately got our things together, paper worked filled out at the marina and went to customs and immigration. I was so excited just raising my quarantine flag prior to coming into the marina, but I was extremely excited to raise my Bahamian courtesy flag on my starboard spreader after clearing customs. I could not believe that me and my little boat had actually came from Panama City to the Bahamas. Clearing customs was a breeze and for all of you questioning the pistol issue, no problems Mon. It is considered part of your boats equipment.
We all got together on Extasea and celebrated my first single handed crossing with Pixie Dust!!! I cannot begin to tell you how I felt. What a cool high!!!!
The water here is amazing. Crystal clear, you can see bottom everywhere you go. I could see sea urchins and fish under my boat in the marina. As we came in, some guys were cleaning fish and conch and a huge nurse shark was in behind the boats snatching the left overs. A huge ray would glide through periodically as well. The next day, Bubba Shark must have gathered up his buddies, because there were 3 in the basin, just nonchalantly gliding through. They really are beautiful creatures to watch swimming, although, they do tend to give me goose bumps when I see them.
We enjoyed 4 days in Bimini, sight seeing, eating lots and lots of cracked conch and conch salad. I also experienced End of the World Bar, owned by Sara. The place had to be torn down due to termites, but when they rebuilt it, they wanted it to be like the old one, so they put concrete floors down, then poured sand over. It is basically a wooden shack with sand floors, small inside, music playing, bras and underwear hanging everywhere and names on the boards of visitors. My name, boat name and date are now on the wall along with thousands of others. That is where I tasted my first conch salad and it is delicious. It is raw conch chopped, marinated in lime and lemon juice, hot sauce and then onions, tomatoes, celery all mixed together. YUM.
The next day, we located some conch to buy from a local. $1 a piece, cleaned. What a good deal. 24 is enough for almost 3 meals for all 3 boats. We had a feast on Tues night, Rick and Audrey made cracked conch, Gigi made Conch Salad and I made Black Beans and Rice. It was a meal fit for a king. I also quickly located how to score loaves of Bahamian Bread. I could not wait to get some loaves of that. The coconut makes wonderful French toast. I also bought white and raisin. You have not had bread until you have had Bahamian Bread. I hope to discover their secret ingredients.
We have found that everyone here is extremely friendly and helpful. Did I mention how wonderful the bread is here? J Election day was coming up and lots of golf carts with loud speakers, mopeds running the streets, group gatherings and politicing. They do not allow any drinking on election day until 6:30 that evening when the polls close. The day before election day, the streets started becoming very loud and noisy. Apparently it gets really crazy on election day. With that in mind, we decided it was finally time to move on, so we headed back out into the stream to head up to West End on April 28. We had planned on going to Chub Cay (pron Key) in the Berries, but the winds would have made that a miserable trip, so we altered course for the Abacos. A very long day we had anyway. The seas were about 5-6 rolling and breaking all day long and again, deep, deep water. Winds were more than predicted, imagine that. J Made for an uncomfortable 11 hour day. Another one of those all engine days since the wind was not favorable for sailing. I had trouble in sitting without hanging on to something for support. We dropped anchor behind the marina on West End of Grand Bahama. Strong current, scoured bottom made for light sleeping that night. Luckily, none of us dragged anchor this night. All of us had to set anchors x2 to get them to hook.
We left early the next morning and that was a different day altogether. When we hit the Little Bahamas Bank, I could not believe the beauty. It was calm for us, but better than that, the water depth was 10-12 feet, crystal clear, turquoise water and you could see starfish, fish, urchins, sea cucumbers, etc on the bottom. I put the hammock up on the bow, (thank you again Kurt) brought my remote up with me and rocked to the rhythm of the sea while heading on. I now had my second wind. The beauty is indescribable. Another 9 hour day, but it went fast. I read, watched the bottom and just thanked God for this glorious experience. We anchored in Great Sale which is a great anchorage with lots of room and good holding. A little tour of the area revealed a small beach, but mostly mangroves. The next day we left and headed for Double Breasted which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Rock outcroppings all around, beaches that are covered and uncovered by the tides and the water is the most brilliant combination of hues I have ever seen. Again, you can see bottom at all times. We had the anchorage to ourselves except for one other boat. I had a barracuda hanging underneath my boat for 2 days, a large orange starfish under my stern. We went snorkeling and spear fishing (Hawaiian slings). Jimmy snagged a hog fish and a snapper. We would do drift dives pulling the dinghy behind. I found my first conch! We got 14 and Rick and Audrey gave me conch cleaning lessons. Trust me, 1 buck for cleaned conch is a deal. What a job!! Worse than cleaning scallops by 1000x., but worth it!!!!!
I also picked out a beautiful one and Rick and I worked on it and made me my very own Conch Horn to blow at sunsets. It is gorgeous and I was able to blow it right off the bat. I need to practice on holding the sound though. When I get back to the states, I will let all my friends have a hand at it. J Rick says all cruisers have to have a conch horn on their boat, so I guess that makes me a real cruiser. I look at it with great pride. That night, Audrey made conch fritters for all of us and we all brought side dishes to go with it. As you can tell, nothing has changed. I still love to eat and we are all eating very well. We often get together and everyone brings something and we end up with a meal to die for. Rick, Audrey, Jimmy, Gigi and Danielle have become like family. I cannot tell you how wonderful they are. Everyone watches out for each other and being a single female, it really is comforting to know they are within yelling distance or radio distance. I am so fortunate to have met them and they are so much fun to be around. Rick is the jack of all trades and I think he can fix most anything. It is not unusual for him to hear someone on the radio having a problem and he is right there to help them with it. Danielle is being home schooled for the rest of this year and I think I am going to start helping her grandmother with this. Maybe my teaching skills will be put to good use and it will give them a break from each other. I think it would be fun to "be back in the classroom" in this environment.
I am getting my experience at setting 2 anchors. Not crazy about it since it is a challenge from a single handers point of view. It puts me through a workout, but it is necessary in some cases and in the long run, you can sleep easier. So far so good from this standpoint.
Rick heard strong winds were headed our way on Sunday night possibly, so we reluctantly left Double Breasted and headed back to Great Sale so we could have a safe anchorage. We got in late afternoon, set 2 anchors and spread way out, let out lots of scope and it is a good thing we did. Around 1230, all heck broke loose. Winds blew 25-35 from the N and NW for 2 days. As of this evening, it is finally laying down and now I have soft lapping against the hull of the boat as opposed to the pounding we have been enduring. I got a lot done though. I finally got weather fax on my computer and got it to working, I did laundry, cleaned the boat and did some more organizing. I made soup and successfully cooked cornbread in my pressure cooker. I worked on my charts, read some more in the cruising guide, cut my hair, downloaded pictures and caught up on my journal. I never seem to get bored. As for laundry, let me give you a brief description of doing laundry on your boat... Take a large dark garbage bag, put clothes in, small amt of laundry detergent and enough water that they will slosh. Tie it and throw it in the cockpit. The wave action rolls it around and the sun heats the water. I then have 2 buckets and I rinse, wring out and hang to dry. With the winds blowing 17-28 today, that part did not take long. I know some of you are now saying... "She is crazy!" Yes, I probably am, but I am a happy crazy. J
The places we have been other than Bimini are uninhabited, so no access to computer, phones etc. The internet café at Bimini was closed due to family emergency, so I apologize for the delay in communication.
All is well and I am having the time of my life. The surroundings are beautiful, the villages colorful, the people are friendly and cruisers are the nicest folks I have ever met. We are headed to Fox Town tomorrow, Hawks Bill Cays and gradually working our way down to Green Turtle, Marsh Harbor area.
I know this is long, but I want to put you here with me, if not in person, then in your imagination and daydreams. So many of you are at jobs and computers and hopefully this may take you away for little bit from the reality of what I have come to call "the real world." It is really going to be difficult for me to check back into the real world. This is a wonderful place to be. I have now been gone 2 months as of May 5 and it seems like yesterday. The days fly by, the nights are incredible. I watch the moon rise often since I can look out of my hatch and see the sky, I am amazed at the number of stars in the heavens on a dark night, I love to hear the water lapping the boat hull, the soft gentle rocking at anchor, the group gatherings in a cockpit to share a glass of wine, a glass of rum and to watch the sunset and share food. I love to see the sun come up and each day the sky appears to be a different hue as it rises from the earth and sinks back in at the end of the day. I love to hear the wind in the sails and the wonderful silence when you can turn the engine off and just let the sails glide me and Pixie across the water towards the next destination. I love the anticipation of the next beauty awaiting me at the next Cay, the next underwater exploration, the next land hike. I love meeting nice people and I trust me, the world is full of wonderful people. We hear so much bad in the news, on TV and talk radio that I think we forget how wonderful, helpful and interesting the majority of people really are. I cannot tell you how many unbelievable nice folks I have met in just the last 2 months. J
Carpe Diem my friends.
Love to all,
Connie

[s/v Faith]

5-15-07
Thought this would get to go the day after I wrote the entries above however, once again, no internet access at Foxtown, Coopers Town, Double Breasted or Crab Cay. The first 2 are settlements, very small, but full of smiling friendly folks. Saturday off Coopers Town on Great Abaco Island, we watched what looked like all the towns children swimming all day in the Sea of Abaco. They were laughing, splashing and climbing on the dinghy dock roof and jumping. 2 were little girls!! 2 little girls went up to a sail boater and asked for money and when a local man was walking by and heard them, he sternly told then NO, do not let me catch you doing that again. The children wave and smile and call us white people. J They are adorable.
We had an awesome day the 13th, snorkeled in the Atlantic on some gorgeous reefs. Saw Bonefish for the first time and saved a baby bird floating in the water with twine all around his little leg. Yesterday we high tailed it for Green Turtle to weather yet another front and low. Winds have been holding at 17-27 East since yesterday afternoon. 2 anchors holding well!! I dive the anchor at every location to ensure good setting. We are in a very safe anchorage off Settlement Point at Green Turtle. I love this place! Bright painted houses, great cracked conch, and the best Bahama Bread I have had yet. I got a loaf of Coconut that had just come out of the oven yesterday afternoon. Rick, Audrey and I started eating it immediately. I have finally found internet access!! $10 unlimited. I have not been able to find it since I left Rodriguez in the states. Now that I am in the central Abaco's of the Bahamas, I should start finding it is easier to locate. We have had issues even getting good weather reports in the N. Abacos and out islands. We have spent a good bit of time getting to good anchorages to weather different wind directions. This is supposed to continue until the weekend. L Next stop when the weather breaks will be Marsh Harbor. I cannot express how beautiful the town of Green Turtle is. I love it here!! It is a growing community too with good grocery stores, hardware stores etc. McIntoshes, Ms Emily's and Laura's Kitchen!!! Best cracked conch you will find in the islands except for what we fix on Naked Lady.  
All is still good!!!!!! I am fine and I am so sorry to have so many of you worried. Just unable to get word out as often as before.
PS- Mike, I tried to go to Complete Anglers and have a drink for you, however, the only thing standing is the fireplace, some concrete block walls and the door. It burned 1 yr ago. I had a cold beverage on the steps of it though. J
Ahoy All!!
Here is another book exert for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully it is more exciting than your day at work.  

5-24-07
On 5-11 when we left Fox Town, we thought we would scoot over to Allens Pensacola for the day/night. Weather was not great, but did not sound like it was going to be too bad. Well, it rapidly got too bad. We got into Allens Pensacola and by the time we started to set anchors, the winds had rapidly increased to 20 knots and were rolling into the anchorage. This location does not have good holding or protection from N, NE winds and that is exactly what we had. We all finally got our anchors down, but no one was comfortable. The beach was in the lee shore, just a short amount of yards from our sterns. The boats were rocking hard and porpoising and I was just not comfortable leaving the boat in these conditions even to take a walk on the gorgeous beaches behind us. We all voted and immediately decided to pull anchor and locate a safe harbor to ride out, yes, another N, NE high wind adventure. I had some challenges with this little activity. Pixie just has a 10 hp diesel; winds were running hard through the cut I had to go out, rocky lee shore and now 20-23 knot winds on the nose heading out. Pixie was struggling to get any speed against those conditions. I pulled the anchor up and got most of the rode into the locker, except for the 30' of chain. I had to get back to the helm due to the small area I had to maneuver in and figured I would tend to it as soon as I got out of the anchorage. Bad move on my part. When I started through the cut, Pixie was riding high up and down and rocking hard. I was trying to get far enough out, that I could put out some jib to help the engine out and gain some speed, when the chain decided to roll off the port side of the boat. *&^% I got far enough out that I felt safe enough from the rocky shore, pulled out some jib to stabilize the boat, put on life vest, tethered myself to the boat and headed to the bow. I was not a happy girl to be up there.. I had water coming over the bow, boat was heeled way over, about 15-20 ft of chain hanging over the edge of my boat. I braced myself with one leg on a stanchion and wrapped an arm around another one while I pulled up chain and safely secured it in the chain locker. WHEW... I will sleep well tonight. It was a bit of a challenge. That day, we had 17-25 knot winds. I sailed with Jib and again was making 6 plus knots. Too much again for the autopilot (Tracy, steering mechanism that keeps the boat on course for you J), so I actually was the autopilot that day. We headed to Coopers Town and
anchored off the beach of Coopers Town for 2 days. Lots of fires burning on Great Abaco Island. They have really been dry and there are fires burning on each side of the settlement. Nice little town. Good grocery store within walking distance of dinghy dock but no fuel or water in close proximity. Hurricane took the docks and they have not been able to rebuild them. The service station/liquor store was closed because the owner went out of town and did not have anyone to mind the stores. J Only in the Abacos. After 2 days, we finally had a wonderful calm, no wind night and we all rested peacefully. Prior to, the winds were strong, but the shoreline provided great protection from the swells for us with good holding. Plus, if you dragged anchor, you would just keep dragging into the Sea of Abaco, so "no worries Mon!" Lots of poverty here and in Foxtown, but folks are smiling, warm and friendly.
Left there on Mothers Day 5-13 and headed to Manjack Cay. Anchored between it and Crab Key. Great little protected area with good holding. Great little spot to snorkel in. Went to the Atlantic side and located some reefs, toured the little creeks that run through the island and saw baby conch. They were so cute and bright bright pink. Saw some nice fish on the reef but nothing to spear for dinner. Mostly pretty reef fish. Did not see any Bahamian Bugs either, of course they are out of season right now. I loved this day. I definitely want to come back here and spend more time, but weather is once again steering us in a direction to find really good holding and protection due to yet another weather front. We opted to be in Gr. Turtle for this one so we could at least get off the boat and do town stuff if needed.
Did I say in the last posting how much I love Green Turtle? Great little settlement town to spend time in. It is a little town with so much character, beautiful scenery, friendly folks and great food of all kinds. Tues 5-15, I had homemade mango ice cream, home made coconut cake, conch fritters at the Wrecking Tree and then we walked to McIntosh's where they were just taking fresh coconut bread out of the oven. I bought a loaf of that and had them slice it so Audrey, Rick and I could have a piece right then. Amazing that I have not gained weight with the amount of food I consumed in Green Turtle. We took the dinghy into White Sound and spent some time. We then walked up to the Bluff House and met up with other boaters where we enjoyed the incredible view of the sounds and Sea of Abaco. We saw the House Boat titled Stranded Naked. It has a sign that says, "Don't laugh, your daughter may be here." It is owned by the lady who owns the line of bathing suits titled Stranded Naked and hosts the Stranded Naked Party during the Sailing Regatta the first week of July. On the way back to the boat, we saw a kids float toy floating off the beach. We decided to rescue it and take it in to the child. That led to us going to Pineapples for a water front happy hour while watching the sunset. Fun, fun day. We ended up boat bound on Thurs 5-17. We had rain all day long that day. Islands across and to the south of us did not see a drop. I put out my rain catcher in the cockpit and caught 7 gal of fresh water for the tank. This was a good relaxing day of reading, boat cleaning and cooking. Nothing has changed for me, I still like to cook and eat. Being on the boat has not slowed me down at all regarding that.
5-30-07
The next day Friday 5-18, we decided to weigh anchor and take advantage of calm water and light winds. We have not seen much of that since arriving in the Hamas. The water was crystal clear that morning after a day and night of rain and squally conditions. My anchor chains looked like snakes circling around on the bottom. I was floating over top of one. Those babies had really dug in with all the wind we had the 2 days prior. It is so easy to pull up 2 when the wind and seas are calm and one is lying right underneath your bow. J. I almost forget the fact that I would appreciate a windlass on those days. (Tracy- a windlass is mounted on the bow and electrically pulls up your anchor lines for you rather than you sitting on the bow using your own muscle power. J) After weighing up 2 anchors with 100' of line and chain each, I am usually ready to eat again. LOL
We headed towards Whale Pass. This is a Pass that you have to leave the Sea of Abaco, go on the outside into the Atlantic for about 2-3 NM, and then cut back into the Sea of Abaco. These passes can get quite rough and dangerous and need to be treated with utmost respect. People can wait long periods of time to get from Central Abacos to Northern Abacos due to the conditions of these passes. There is Whale Cay on one side of the pass where water crashes into the shoreline and on the other side is a barrier reef that you can see water breaking over if seas are up. We expected it to be swelly due to the weather we had been having and it did not let us down. We were just praying it was not breaking and it wasn't. We had pretty large swells, but no breaking seas thank goodness. It was interesting to say the least. We did lots of rocking and rolling, but Pixie handled it beautifully. Long periods in between gave her lots of time to ride them up and surf down them. Once you get to the other side of the cut, it is marked with a buoy system. Disney for a short period of time brought a cruise ship into Bakers Bay in Guana. Everything was marked great for it. Due to the unpredictability of Whale Pass, they stopped coming in and just left the markers, docks, buildings etc in place. I felt very pumped after making my first pass through this often talked about cut. We dropped anchor at Bakers Bay which is the N end of Guana Cay and it looks like an island paradise. Palm trees line the shore, beautiful pink sandy beaches, tall rocky shoreline behind the beaches, and sapphire blue water with a reef that runs off the beach with rollers breaking on it. Nice grass beds in area which made for some fun snorkeling. Where you anchor, you can look down and see sand dollars, seabiscuits, starfish and urchins on the bottom. The starfish are very large and deep red. We saw some baby conch, still in the growing stages. After a great lunch, we pulled anchor and headed on down to Fishers Bay for a safer anchorage for the night. Did a little more snorkeling, mostly to verify setting of the anchors. Anchorage here has a grassy bottom with hard bottom under, so anchor setting can be a bit of a challenge. There is a little coral reef right in the middle of the anchorage marked with a pole in the ground and a radar reflector tied to the top. This anchorage is beautiful too. We dinghyed to shore and visited Grabbers, checked out Orchid Bay Marina, met some other cruisers and went to Nippers.... Now Nippers. It sits on a bluff and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It has a reef running along it, large rocks along the coast and a wide sandy coastline. Did I say Gorgeous?? It is gorgeous. They also have 2 saltwater pools to play in while you relax and laz your afternoon away. They have a vonnage phone were you can call from for free if you can hear over top of the jammin music playing. On Sundays, they have a pig roast that really brings in the hordes of cruisers. On the way down the hill from Nippers at a new little establishment (name skips me) I got to talking to some folks whose spouses were from the Panhandle. They had spent lots of time in the Destin, Panama City and Pensacola areas. Another fun day and fun to talk with folks familiar with home stomping grounds.
Once again, winds picked up and had us rocking in the morning, so we weighed anchors and headed for Marsh Harbor. Forecast was not sounding pretty for the next several days and little did we know how many days that low pressure was going to affect us.
We arrived in Marsh Harbor on Friday 5-18th and anchored in the bay off the docks. I filled up with fuel here. Extasea, Naked Lady, Carefree II and I are all anchored in fairly close proximity. We made reservations at the Jib Room for Sat Steak night. OH MY awesome meal. They only serve dinner 2 nights a week and Sat is steak night. Delicious!! I met a whole table of folks from WV, my area, west side, Belle, Sissonville. They were Jones', but not related. For my WV buds, they know Burl Jones well. They were here renting a house for a couple of weeks. Small Small world. We knew the same areas. The Jib Room had music and limbo going on, so we did a little limbo until we realized we were too old and lacked the flexibility to keep up with the Limbo King of the island. We let him win the kitty that night. Marsh Harbor is an area that is like a big city harbor. They have everything here that you need or want. They have very well stocked super markets, an airport, shops, motels, marinas, etc. It also has a very large anchorage with good holding..... Thank goodness. We have had 20-30 East, NE knot winds sustained, gusting higher since arriving. I have my little delta out with about 8-9 scope and it has held great. As long as I have held, I am sure there is no reason to put out 2 anchors. My new motto is "Why use 2 if one will do?" Everyday I think it cannot get worse, however last night and today has been 25-30 consistent. This is thanks to a trough sitting right over us. They are not expecting this to let up until Sunday or Monday. That was wishful thinking. Sea of Abaco is too rough to go anywhere in. A sailboat that was on an outer island broke loose last night, engine failed and they ended up over here on the beach at Marsh Harbor on their side. We walked over there today and watched until a squaw chased us back to the boats. They have a beautiful boat with teak decks and my heart was crying for them. There was a young couple on board. They were waiting on high tide and 2 boats were supposed to come out at high tide and try to help pull them off. They had a stern line out attached to a wench to keep them from going any further onto the rocky beach. We were all praying for them. I got a thrill later that evening when I looked out and saw the 2 power boats leading them into the anchorage. They were ok, the boat was ok!!!! Looking at that beautiful vessel laying on her side at the mercy of the 30-35 knot winds out there, breaking seas, wind increasing and squall approaching was just heart wrenching for me. My heart went out to the couple trying to save their boat. Happy Happy ending to that story.
Weather is very unusual here for this time of year. Even dingy rides to shore are rough at best. Everyone here is ready for summer weather to arrive with gentle winds. The marina's and anchorages are full of boats trying to get back to the states or further south. I talked to 2 boats trying to get to Bermuda and the Azores and have been waiting on weather for a month.
We all loaded on Extasea and Naked Lady 2 days ago and just went out around the corner outside of the anchorage so they could make water in cleaner water and fill their tanks. They also made Pixie about 10 gals to top her tanks off. Their water makers are great. The water tastes great and is about 98% pure. The water here in this particular anchorage is very dirty so they cannot make it in here. We took a dingy ride into a protected beach cove and you could almost forget the wind was blowing in there. It was still and calm. Nice reprieve from the singing rigging and howling winds taking place just 300 yds away. In this kind of weather, you clean your boat top to bottom, I even oiled all my interior wood, did some boat projects, read and J caught up on journaling.
Winds here continued to howl for 10 days. In the interim, Audrey and I both caught a little flu bug that lasted about 36 hrs. We were not our perky little selves for a couple of days. Those of you who know me well, when I cannot eat, something is definitely going on. J 2 days of sleeping and then all was well again, just in time for the weather to let up so we can finally get out of Marsh Harbor.

[s/v Faith]

On day 10, 5-28-07 we excitedly weighed anchor and headed back to Great Guana to anchor off Fishers Bay. For the next 4 days we snorkeled, explored, walked and fished. We took a day and went dingy exploring down the beaches on the Abaco side. I picked up some really unique pretty shells that I hope to make some jewelry out of later. The water looks just like bath water and we took the time to just enjoy the beautiful paradise surroundings. They will not allow you to walk to the interior of the island in this area. They are building a new resort, golf course and marina. The locals are very much up in arms about this and a legal fight is in the works. Some local islanders are arguing pollution and ruination of the reefs, developers are forging ahead while both parties wait for the judge to make a ruling. Signs against the development are very visible all around the island settlement.That afternoon I went fishing from the dinghy with Carefree and we caught enough grunt, porgy's and triggers for a fish fry for all 4 boats. Easy to catch on conch parts. We just fished along the rocky shore and looked for rocks in the shallow water to fish around. Another fun evening was had on Extasea before Mark and Katie on Carefree were heading back to the states the next morning. We really hated to see them go. They have been a lot of fun to have around. As of the next morning, we were back down to the 3 musketeers. They circled us before leaving using the air horn to let us know they were off to the states. Story is, they are going to get the boat upgraded some, add a water maker, generator etc and then head back over once the house sells.
The next day, I cleaned my boat bottom and then snorkeled the reef which was awesome. I had a beautiful sea turtle that seemed to have no problem swimming with me. I hovered over him/her as it glided along gracefully. The sunlight danced off the beautiful golden brown designs on its shell. It would stop and hang on the bottom eating grass, then gracefully glide along again with me right there with it. I loved that. I also saw a large mangrove snapper, a school of grunt hanging in a huddle on the bottom, a school of ballyhoo, numerous tropical fish of all kinds. The reef was so colorful with the sunlight reflecting off its many shades of both plant and animal life.
My day took a little turn for the worse when I rode into shore with Audrey and Rick to go walking. I had my big back pack on and on my way up a very tall ladder at the dinghy dock, I lost my balance and fell all the away to the bottom (as if there is any where else to fall) onto a cross board that supported the ladder. Yes, I am very black and blue, luckily I did not need stitches or worse yet, break my pelvis. It was a little tense and very painful until I could assess the damage and apply lots of ice to various locations. Being able to walk was a blessing. I think my guardian angel helped with that one. It could have been so much worse. We even ended up taking a shortened version of our walk a couple hours later. For those of you wondering, the answer is "NO, I had not even had 1 beer that I could use as my excuse." This was all me.
Hello Everyone:
Here is the latest update on Connie's travels.
Sat,6/2/07,11:15AM
It's been almost 2 weeks since we have bored you all with email from the
Bahamas, so-o-o here it is! After a week & a half in Marsh Harbour (MH) the 4
boats in our little group were ready to go elsewhere (needed to be able to wake
up in the morning, walk out of the cabin, & be able to see the bottom in
beautiful water). About an hour across the Sea of Abaco we reanchored at
Fisher's Bay on Great Guana (much prettier than MH). Carefree II (with Dad &
Daughter-Mark & Katie) deserted us last Tues
AM to go back to Stuart to that "job" thing. Those guys were great fun & we
miss their smiles (& M ark's fresh fish & seafood). We'll meet up again sooner
than later hopefully. The forecast of TS Barry carried the other 3 boats of us
to better anchorages on Thurs (Extasea to Treasure Cay, Pixie Dust to Hopetown &
Naked Lady to MH again). We are anchored (Connie moored) & all safe &
protected. Our winds in the harbours have only been up to about 30 & it is
rather wet today, but the Bahamas need
the rain as much as FL does. We're hoping by Mon or Tues we'll have calmer
seas. Pixie Dust will join us again Mon & after we hear on Tues about water
maker parts that we ordered, we'll be out & about to other islands in Abaco
paradise. We're great as we hope you all are - talk again soon.
Audrey & Rick
PS-We filled our water tank from rain water today (great new tarp Bruce with
Rick's PVC additions, tie downs, etc.).

6-6-07
On Thursday, I headed to Hope Town located on Elbow Cay, one of my favorite locations. Welcome back 20 knot winds!! I had 18-20 on the nose, stiff chop and sea spray all the way there for 3 hours. I also entered the harbor on extremely low low tide which I do not recommend to anyone other than a planing boat or a dinghy. How I ended up not grounded was once again sweet luck. My depth sounder registered 2.7 at one point and I need 3.6. I utilized the ferry wake and throttled up to get past that hairy location. I made it in, but I was kissing the bottom in some areas. I snagged a mooring ball on the first attempt, cleaned up the boat and made ready for some more nasty storms headed this way.
I love Hope Town. As you enter the Harbor, there is a red and white candy striped working light house that sits at the mouth of the harbor. You can even go up to the top for a wonderful view of the island and surrounding waters. Inside, the harbor has brightly painted houses and restaurants all around the perimeter. Hope Town Lodge sits up on the hill overlooking the harbor and the Atlantic. As you walk up the stairs to it, you have the sweet smell of various flowers greeting you. I have always wanted to stay there, and I had the opportunity to do so this trip. It was fun getting off the boat, having nice hot water whenever you wanted it and as much as you wanted, being in a nice room where you could look out and watch the storms, knowing that your boat is safe on a mooring ball and no worries about anchors dragging. When you are doing it, you really don't realize how nice it is to just have that little break from the stress of being on the boat in heavy winds, storms and on the hook. The room had a little porch off it with Adirondack chairs overlooking the pool and the Atlantic. It was a full moon weekend which made all tides extreme. I am so glad I had this opportunity to enjoy this beautiful establishment for longer than just an afternoon at the pool. A day of dinghy exploring of tidal creeks, the harbor etc took place in the rain on Saturday. Even in the rain, it was fun. I located another Com-pac 25 anchored in a little hurricane hole, but no one was on board. Sunday entailed a long walk to Turtle Hill for a beachside restaurant lunch, then onto White Sound to check out Abaco Inn and Sea Spray. A few games of backgammon ended up with Pixie here being the hands down champion. J
Back to Hope Town, this time via van, for yet another wonderful meal. Food in Hope Town is wonderful. If you ever get a chance, spend some time in Hope Town, grab a mooring ball, get off the boat and explore Elbow Cay. You will not be disappointed. It is a great place to meet up with family or friends for a vacation like atmosphere in beautiful surroundings. It also is a hot spot for weddings. Several were taking place during my stay there. The golf carts were decorated with flowers, white sheets and or coconuts. Everyone was smiling, even in the rain on Saturday.
Things happen in 3's and on Thursday, I had a very sore little knot on my back, but by the weekend, it was terrible. Large, painful, and obviously infected. I immediately started self medicating with antibiotics, warm compresses, and antibiotic cream, however, it was not improving. All clinics were closed in Hope Town until Monday morning, so I went first thing. The nurse tortured me and then recommended I see an MD in Marsh Harbor. I really wanted to be a sissy girl and cry, but kept telling myself that it would do no good and would not make it hurt any less. Long story short, I have been bitten by a spider, assumed to be a recluse. That darn thing must have gotten me good. I have a lot of necrosis and the MD is not pleased with the looks of it. He has changed my antibiotic, tried to clean it up, but it is too much for a clinic. He is giving the antibiotic until Friday and if not improvement, he is sending me to Nassau for surgery to remove the necrotic tissue. L It is a very large place and he is concerned about the outcome without surgical removal of the damaged tissue and poisoned area. This is such a bummer, because right now, the winds are wonderful, the sun is shining, the seas are calm and I am ready to go, however I have to stay in Marsh Harbor until Fridays verdict. I am not allowed in the water, so even swimming is out. The weather has definitely changed and instead of the N, NE cool winds and cool nights, we are having S, SW and muggy hot days. I could at least be content if I could get in the water. I am not the happiest of girls right now. Again, crying will not change the course of events. The bright side, Naked Lady is making plans to stick with me through this. I keep telling I will be OK, but they are wonderful and caring and I could just cry thinking about how lucky I am that Jimmy Bus put me in touch with them. It sure makes my family feel better and I feel as though I have family here with me. If I have the time, we could have the boats to Nassau in 3 days, otherwise, I will have to fly in for the procedure. More to come on this one. Since this is #3 ordeal in the last 2 weeks, this should be it for a while. J I cannot complain, it could always be worse. This is just a little life challenge, nothing major.
Hope all is well with everyone. Here is hoping I am heading towards the Berry's soon for swimming and diving and not towards Nassau for the knife.
Love and Friendship to All
6/8/07
Pixie is getting back on top of her game!! Wonderful News!!!!!! He said it is 1million x's improved. He cleaned out some more necrotic tissue, (torture was much less today- anesthetic actually took) feels like he is fully into good tissue now and my body will continue to heal it from here. I will remain on Cipro, stay out of the water, clean and dress it 3x's per day and it should be fine. Swelling and redness is 95% improved just since Tues night. He wants me to go to an MD immed if it takes a turn for the worse or stops progressing. I really do not think that is going to happen. WOOOWOOOWOOOO
I am so happy to get this news. I felt certain it looked much much better, but was not sure it was going to be enough for his approval.  Who would have thought a spider bite??? Shark, jelly fish maybe, but not this. He said that spiders are prevalent down here.
We are pulling anchor tomorrow and heading further south. YIPEEE. Rainy day today, but that is good. I have my water catchers out for some much needed tank topping off.
Jeff True, an MD from the states will also be flying in this afternoon to go to his home on Guana. He is going to take a look at it for me too. 
All is good again in Abaco.
I want to thank everyone for their wonderful emails, prayers, good wishes and additional contacts for information. I am lucky to have all of you as friends!!!!

[s/v Faith]

6-15-07 Friday
Ahoy!!! A rainy day in Abaco.
Well, since last posting, Naked Lady and Pixie Dust left Marsh Harbor on Saturday June 9th in the morning after a wonderful doctor report on Friday and lots of rain in the harbor. We both filled our water tanks with wonderful fresh rain water, topped off fuel and was ready for another adventure. We had planned on attending Junkanoo on Friday night, which is a Bahamian Street party, but the rain ended up canceling the event. It is a parade with lots of colorful costumes, dancing, street bands, and local food. They were flying entertainers in from other islands. Touted to be a very fun and lively event. We were disappointed, but maybe next week.
We headed to Tilloo which was about a 2 hour run. Wind of course was variable and on the nose as is so often the case with us sailors, but the run was beautiful. We skirted the edge of Great Abaco gliding along in the Sea of Abaco, enjoying the beautiful coastline, colorful homes and gorgeous, gorgeous blue water of varying shades. It took about 1 ½ hours to just get around the corner coming out of Marsh Harbor to Boat Harbor on the other side of the Island. The scenery was lovely under the beautiful sunny blue sky. As we neared the anchorage at Tilloo which is an out island, we looked back and it was rainy and stormy on the island we had just left. We watched the storms on the other side of Sea of Abaco all day while we had sunshine and sweet breezes. The anchorage at Tilloo is beautiful. The water is clear and the bottom is active with sea life and grass beds. A few private homes is all that is on the island. We took dinghy's into shore for a nice walk on the beach and then a dinghy exploration ride around the rocky coastline until we came to a reef that opens into the Atlantic. That night, it was a moonless sky and the stars were unbelievable. No ambient light to distract from the starlight glow in the sky. It just takes my breath away to lie on the cabin top and just look at the night sky when you are in a secluded area and the night sky has the opportunity to show its true designs.
The next morning, I took the dinghy to shore for a wonderful adventure. I still cannot get in the water and swim until this little hole in my back heals, but I waded to my knees in perfectly clear water. I watched as baby barracuda swam close to shore. Thousands of little neon minnows surrounded them in a circular pattern, leaving a wide empty circle between them and Mr. Cuda. It reminded me of kids in a school yard with the "it" in the middle and how they circle calling come and get me, but skirting just far enough away to provide the safety zone so they don't become the "it". It was funny to watch this game of cuda and minnow (cat and mouse) J I saw bright red starfish about 10" across lying in the calm shallow surf. I watched 2 huge fat sea cucumbers inching along. I saw lots of trails in the sand, tiny little holes in the sand trail line. When I followed it, I came upon baby queen conch, the size of the palm of my hand. The little holes are the spines that they have to pull. I watched it inch about ¼ " then stop to rest, another ¼" then stop to rest. Very, slow process. These were everywhere. Sea urchins were prevalent with their long black spines and other little fish darted in and out of the soft surf. On the beach, folks had left seats of boats and old rattan sofas to sit on. There were also volley ball poles, home built table tops on stumps and grills. This was all sitting under a pine grove area overlooking the beach. This was a nice way to spend my morning coffee time.
At high tide, we weighed anchor and headed to Little Harbor, passing N. Bar Channel, another opening into the Atlantic. The water here is the most beautiful shade of turquoise I have ever seen. I am not sure the crayola box has a color to match this beautiful shade.
We anchored outside around the edge from Little Harbor where we would have some breeze. You could hear the surf breaking against the rocky jetty that separated us from the harbor and the Atlantic. Audrey and Rick draw a little too much water and would need a really high tide to get in the harbor. We jumped in the dinghy and headed to famous Pete's Pub. Pete Johnston is the owner and also does bronze work. He has a gallery there and a work shop for his bronzing and jewelry making, a trade he learned from his father. His parents came here, lived on a boat and they even lived in the caves on the island until they were able to build a home. Quite a story and quite an interesting man. We had the opportunity to chat with him at his beach side establishment. He had on a very large sharks tooth necklace which was set in a shark at the top. The gold chain was large with a shackle connecting the shark and tooth to the chain. Quite an interesting piece. Pete's Pub is an outdoor little restaurant and bar with fun written all over it. A big traffic light hangs off the front of it with numerous tee shirts and under garmets hanging from the rafters with lots of boat names and memory events. We ran into some friends, Cyndi and Eddie on Cyrano from Marsh Harbor who had driven down for the day. They introduced us to some locals and the conversation was lively and very interesting. Talk of hurricane shelters, island history, boat names and of course, spider bites were just a few of the topics.
The next day, NL was waiting on a little water to float her boat again, J I took off for shore to explore the island. I walked up to a high point on the harbor (Little Harbor is also on Great Abaco) This is where the old Pete's Pub and home used to be as well as the old lighthouse. Now it is a lighted tower. The walls of the old place are still standing with some roof structure. The walls were about 12" thick with tall skinny windows. The cistern is still there as well as an off structure with a fireplace. Over the point, the Atlantic has dug way back into the rocks creating a cave like appearance as the water rushes in and crashes against the rocks. On my way down and walking along the harbor, a local the we met the previous evening came by on a 4 wheeler and offered me a tour of the island by ATV. That was fun and I got a little more island history as well as some beautiful scenery of the beaches and hilltop sights. Larry is a treasure hunter during the winter months and offered me a position on his search boat if I chose to be really adventuresome. All dives are mostly in 40' or less of water. Maybe I will have a new career.... Treasure hunting on sunken Spanish Galleons. (it is ok Mom, I don't see me doing that just yet J) NL finally was floating and her team came to shore where we had an awesome lunch at Pete's Pub. The tuna and the grouper sandwiches were the best that I have ever tasted anywhere!
We stayed there 2 nights. We took the dinghy and explored creeks, tidal areas and mangroves. There is supposed to be a blue hole too, but we did not locate it. Lots of wonderful sea turtles and many, many of the bright red starfish were seen in this location. The water again was crystal clear. You get up in the morning and see what is under your little floating home. It is like being on the surface of an aquarium.
Wed. afternoon 6-13 we headed for Lanyard Cay, a whole 40 minutes if that, cruising back over to the other side of Sea of Abaco to another out island. Lots of corals around this anchorage and poor Naked Lady discovered one around midnight when their boat shifted and the tide dropped. No problem, just pull anchor and move the boat out a little further. Next day, Audrey and Rick snorkeled the anchorage and I dinghied and looked over the side at the fish and underwater scenery. It is killing me not being able to jump in, but by Monday, I should be good to go. Later that day, we fished the coral heads and caught enough fish for a great little fish fry that night. At 4:00, we weighed anchor due to shifting winds and the need to not be on a lee shore. We were going to Snake Cay, but when we got there, the wind was a little more than anticipated so we decided to go ahead to Marsh Harbor. Rick has parts coming in and I need a couple of parts as well as changing engine oils etc. 4 hrs later, we entered good ole Marsh Harbor, 8:00 at night, anchored up and fried the fish with some cheese grits and bean salad. YUM!!!!!!!!
Thurs 6-14, spent time doing engine work on the boat and searching for a new thermostat. No luck yet, but I have not given up. Today is Friday, 6-15 and we are going to hang here tonight and try the Junkanoo again. It is rainy today, so we shall see if they get to have it or not. It is supposed to be squally this weekend, so as soon as that is past, we are headed to the out islands and probably up around the Whale again to enjoy the snorkeling on the areas we missed coming down. I promised myself that I would go back and enjoy them under more favorable conditions and the summer weather has finally kicked in to allow this. Life is good in Abaco. I keep hearing the song in my head, "It is all right now, I learned my lessons well, you can't please everyone, so you gotta please yourself." That I am doing! All smiles on this end...plus, I got to talk to Ethan this morning. I love and miss my babies. Hugs and kisses to all!
Love and friendship!
Connie
Sat,6/23/07,9:30AM
Another week has gone by since our last email update (my, how time flies).
After all these years of cruising the Bahamas, we finally made it to the "pig
roast" at Nippers on Great Guana last Sunday (great friends, great music, great
food, great fun). Naked Lady & Pixie Dust have been enjoying some of the outer
islands since Sun. Baker's Bay on Mon - Rick & I snorkeled & tried to find the
honey hole for seafood but failed (although we did see a lot of fish life off
the reef area on the north end
of the island). Can't remember whether we stayed anchored at Baker's Bay 1 or 2
nights (that's what happens whe n you're on island time). Our trip out in the
ocean around Whale Cay was uneventful - nice sailing all the way to Crab Cay.
Pixie Dust did a sail into the anchorage since her boat would not crank after
strictly sailing for a while (just a broken wire on the starter - Capt Rick to
the rescue). We're having a great time - caught a few little fish, even though
we were hoping for bigger
ones. The anchorage at Crab Cay got pretty bouncy on Thurs but calmed down for
some good rest during the night, then Fri AM we woke up to winds & bounce again
so pulled anchor & headed to the other side of the islands to Cooperstown for
protection from the west winds. A local Bahamian (with lobster for sale)
visited us Fri afternoon - guess what we had for dinner Fri night (6 for $20 &
we ate the "whole" thing). Lobster & our few little fish we had caught made a
great dinner - man, can't get any
better than that. Our plans are to go to Allans-Pensacola today - the weather
forecast is looking OK. The sailing regatta will begin at Fiddle Cay on July
3rd with the kickoff party, then for the next week it will be all sailing &
partying (with local foods, drinks, etc.) so we're in this area for the next 2
weeks. Talk again soon.
Audrey & Rick

[s/v Faith]

6-15-07 Friday
Well it rained and we did not get to go to Junkanoo. They had it anyway this time because we could hear the music from our boats, but it was raining a little too much to make the trek across the sound. Besides, we were busy catching water for our tanks. This has become a thrilling challenge for us, to see just how much we can catch. LOL
6-16-07 Saturday was a good day. Weather was a little unsettled and rained a good bit so we opted to stay in Marsh Harbor another day and wait for better weather to move. I was able to get a little running around done in the morning before the rains came. That evening, we went to the Jib Room at Marsh Harbor Marina for their awesome steak night. Those folks do it right! We had a table full of friends anchored in the harbor with us and a good time, great meal was had by all. The rains quit that night and allowed a sky full of stars to shine through. On sunny days, my 165 watt solar panel keeps up with the Engel refrigerator, VHF, stereo etc, however on cloudy and even partly cloudy days, I have to run the engine in the morning and sometimes before bed to charge the batteries. I have a Microlog battery monitor that Kurt installed for me before leaving PC and it has been great to keep me apprised of my battery situation. Easy to install, affordable and gives me all I need to know for both the starter and house batteries. Simple system and simple to use. My boat has not been hooked to shore power since the 2 days in Cortez back in March, so the solar and engine has been my total battery charging source. I have learned that when cruising, it is necessary to run the engine, sometimes even when under sail to get the batteries charged back up where they need to be. I have also come to really trust my Delta Anchor. 30 ft of chain is plenty for my boat and with me pulling anchors, it is really plenty! J I have not had to put out 2 anchors in quite some time. Even in Marsh Harbor, winds at 20-35, the delta held beautifully. I am a firm believer in methodically setting the anchor and allowing 5 to 1 scope, but usually having out 6 or 7 to 1 if the anchorage allows the luxury. It is amazing how much better anchors hold if enough scope is allowed. The boat that ended up on the rocks only had about 50 ft or so of anchor line. No wonder they dragged that night. We saw them at the Jib Room and they are doing fine!
6-17-07 Sunday- Day to relocate! YIPEE. Early morning phone calls from shore to wish everyone a happy Fathers Day, then back to PD to weigh anchor. Winds are sweet, Sea of Abaco is calm, and Great Guana is calling our name. Naked Lady and Pixie pulled anchor and headed to Fishers Bay where we anchored, then went to Nipper's for the famous Pig Roast. Oh My. Great place to people watch. Lots of Marsh Harbor folks had the same idea as us, so it was like old home week on Guana. We met Susan and Tom on Soon Reach out of Ft. Lauderdale and I ran into a couple I had met in Maxwell's while grocery shopping in Marsh Harbor on that rainy day. She laughed when we saw each other and told me I cleaned up well. I met their grown children and grand children who are here cruising with them for a couple of weeks. Food was good and lots of it. They had live music, lots of dancing, 2 pools and a gorgeous beach to look at. I am avoiding spiders hopefully. J This is the island I had my encounter. We left late afternoon and Audrey and I found a little shop where the few things left were ½ price. We both got a sarong and top outfit for a whopping $12.00. We were happy girls. That evening we dingied around the anchorage and met our neighbors. Another fun day in Paradise.
6-18-07 Monday- Audrey and I had fresh hot cinnamon rolls calling our name, so I picked her up and we dingied into shore to the bakery. They were still making them, so we sat in rocking chairs on the front porch and enjoyed the peaceful view of the harbor and the breeze. We watched a beautiful sunfish close to shore. They swim with their pectoral fin slapping the top of the water. They make quite a noise and splash while doing this. They are pretty good size. We waited 1 hour for our cinnamon roll, but my, my it was worth it. Every Bite!! Another fresh loaf of Bahamian bread for the boat and we headed back. We weighed anchor and headed a whole 2 miles up the island to Bakers Bay to enjoy paradise. I encountered some engine issues, leaking radiator cap, but Capt Rick had an extra on board and it is working fine. Thank goodness. I had fluid leaking out even when the engine was not under load. Once I got that issue resolved, I headed to shore for a wonderful long walk along the pink sandy beach. I also took sand and cleaned a little soft growth off the dinghy bottom. I cooked a nice dinner and watched a tow boat and barge entertain me as it pulled it away from shore and then spent about 1 ½ hours getting it prepared for moving around Whale Pass. This anchorage is right at the Whale. This is the area they are building a huge resort and marina. Should be open Nov of 08. I love this spot of paradise. Again, there is no phone reception, towers, stores and very few boats in the anchorage.. Stars are brilliant in locations such as this.
6-19-07 Tues I went under the boat (bite is all better and I can now get in the water) and had a heart attack when I saw all the growth on Pixie's bottom. I had never seen my bottom so encrusted, which is no wonder I was going so much slower. It was horrible. I worked a good while on the hull /rudder area, but will need to put on the tank to complete the job. Thank you Boot Key Harbor Marathon for this nasty bottom growth.
Late afternoon, we headed around the Whale, out into the Atlantic and back in heading to Manjack Cay. I could not believe how much more speed I had with just the belly of the boat being cleaned. I actually turned off the engine and had a wonderful soft easy sail with winds actually somewhere other than on the nose. I loved it. When I went to head into the anchorage, my engine would not start, so I let NL know that I was coming in under sail. Winds were perfect for it, anchorage large and not crowded. Once in, anchor down, the problem was quickly found and resolved. I had a wire break on the starter. My mechanic, Capt Rick, came over and confirmed my findings and before you could open a beer, he had a new connection made and bingo!!! The engine fired up.
6-20-07 Wednesday What a cool day. Took a dinghy ride to a hiking trail on the North End of Manjack in a little cove and walked to other side of the island where a gorgeous secluded beach was found on the Atlantic side. Lots of beautiful white sand and you could watch fish feeding right off shore. Then back to the anchorage and snorkeled a sunken sailboat and barge where lots of fish were observed. Had my pole spear, but there was too much rusted structure to get into where the "good" fish were hanging out. I think they knew they were in safe territory. Got my fishing pole out and caught several small grunt, but the larger snapper were not coming out of the rusted structures. There was also a decent size Cuda hanging out around the area. Audrey, Rick and I got a little skunked this time. Oh well, hamburgers tonight and more bait to fish with.
6-21 Winds kicked up again and it was overcast, but a good day to clean stainless. It was not too hot and it was too bouncy to go running in the dinghy. I started to just do the bimini frame, but being the type A that I am, I could not stop there. I ended up cleaning all the boat stainless and even some of the brass. No more rust spots! Rick radioed me and said I was wearing him and Audrey out just watching me. J. Later that afternoon, I went dinghy riding anyway and got to the backside of the Cays in the creek areas and was able to play a little there.
6-22-07 Headed over to Coopers Town to get a better protected anchorage from the wind direction. Coopers "Town" is a bit of a misnomer. The guide book says there are lots of things there, however, most of it was destroyed in a hurricane and has not been rebuilt. There is not one Batelco pay phone on the island that works. All the locals use cell phones. There is a laundry mat, grocery store with very marked up prices, a gas bar, liquor store convenience store all in one. (Yes, the sign says Gas Bar). Still the people are very friendly and the Bahamian children spend all day swimming in the Sea of Abaco. Mostly unsupervised. They are full of laughter and big smiles. A small boat came up to Pixie with a very smiling Bahamian who had fresh seafood for sale. What a deal and meal we had. 6 nice big lobsters for $20. He also had conch, $2.00/each. If any of you have ever cleaned conch, that is a deal!!! They are not easy to clean. Yes, the lobster is out of season, but he says they do not go after the small guys making a little extra money, they go after the big guys, Pirates, as he called them. I sent him over to Naked Lady and he and Rick had a long conversation. Rick was probably thrilled to have an opportunity to be a boy rather than one of the "girls". J This guy had been in a bad auto wreck in Nassau where he used to live. He has lost total use of his right arm, it is basically just a hanging limb, but this obviously has not dampened his spirit or willingness to work. He relocated to Coopers Town where he had some family. He had a nice little boat with a nice outboard and he was working hard. He also had an award winning smile. Rick introduced him to a Hawaiian Sling and gave him some ideas for gathering the lobster from under the traps without having to chase them down. Here, they put out big "doors" which are basically large wooden structures for the lobster to house in. They lift these boards and begin chasing the little Bahamian Chicken Bugs all over the bottom. Rick suggested a net at one end and use a poker to run them into the nets. The guy was quite interested in that idea. We had just heard on Radio Abaco 93.5 (that station is a story all in itself) that a guy on Grand Bahama had been arrested for having 80# of lobster in his fish house. The fine for 1 lobster or 80# is $2000 fine and/or 1 yr in jail. We cooked (microwaved and fried) and ate the lobster immediately and then threw the shells overboard. No evidence unless they pump our stomachs and then they would have had lots of it!
That afternoon I donned dive gear and cleaned the bottom of the Pixie good. YUK. Those guys who clean bottoms deserve every dime they get. Her little bottom was the worst I had ever seen it, thanks to Boot Key Harbor, Marathon. I think that basin is a fertilizer for bottom growth. She looks good now though. I had to use the whole darn tank of air just to get it all done. At the very end, I am taking off my gear in the water and look over and there is a nice Barracuda, just checking out the neighborhood around my boat. I picked up at least 1 knot of speed just by getting the growth off. I will keep up with it now!
6-22-07 Friday Headed to Powell Cay for a beautiful anchorage that we had all to ourselves. The wind was blowing 17-19 knots out of the W, so we were now getting pounded in Coopers Town. You are anchored right on the Sea of Abaco at Coopers Town and so you also get all the big boat wakes as they go by. Groups of &%$# Sea Rays with their bows in the air and there sterns in the water throw huge wakes that travel for miles, especially when there are 10-12 together. I will spare you the ranting and raving on that issue. J ANYWHOO Great little sail across the Bay to Powell and lots of good snorkeling here. This Cay has great protection from the East. Nothing here but nature. Gotta Love It. We found a sunken sailboat right off the beach and saw lots of fish including a lion fish. They are not native to the Bahamas but several have been spotted. These fish are dangerous and should not be touched, but they are absolutely beautiful to see and watch. Check them out on internet if you do not know what they look like. Gorgeous piece of God's creation. There is also beautiful snorkeling at the N end of the Cay. A great beach and reef area with a nice drop off. Powell is now one of my most favorite places to be. The sunset that night was spectacular. The Cay is relatively high with some nice rocky cliffs along it. It is a wonderful place to dinghy explore along the rocky coast. Again, the water is so clear, you feel like you are looking into an aquarium. Next time I go back here, I want to take the dinghy around the SE tip of the island and go to Soldier and High Cay. Looks like there may be some good reef snorkeling there too.
We also did a little pole fishing here and got enough little stuff for a fish fry. I love these areas; we do not spend any money and still eat well!

[s/v Faith]

Sunday 6-24-07 We pulled anchor and headed North again to Allen's Pensacola Gorgeous Here!!! A must see location. This is the island we went to previously and the winds were so bad, we immediately pulled anchor and went to an anchorage where we could have better protection. Trust me, going in with no winds is very different than going in with 23 knots of rolling and breaking seas. The water color here is dynamic with multiple shades of blue, aqua, turquoise and brown green and white. You feel like you are looking at a paint palette. We jumped in the dinghy with snorkel gear and went on the N Side between AP and Guineamans Cay to the Atlantic Side of the Cay and found a big rock where we snorkeled it, and then did a drift dive down the rocky shoreline to the other end of the island. Rick had the dinghy in tow. We saw grouper, 2 barracuda, a nurse shark about 4 ½ ft. and a wonderful kaleidoscope of tropical fish. I saw the largest file fish I have ever seen in my life. It must have been 2 ft. long with lots of blue markings. I watched it for the longest time. I also saw huge red parrot fish. As I am watching these barracuda swim along with us, I realize I still have on my gold jewelry. Not sure how much of the gold on, cuda curiosity, missing ear is true, but it made me breath a little faster thinking about that than the shark we saw. The shark was in a very big hurry to keep on moving past us. The Cuda liked hanging with us, either below or beside us. I kept a wary eye on their positions. This has been the best snorkeling yet! As we rounded the corner between Guineamans and Umbrella Cay to come in the pass, the current was letting us feel as though we were flying. Audrey and I kept looking at each other wondering just how fast we were cruising while Rick was trying not to get ran over by the dinghy he was pulling behind him. Then they appeared!! Bahamian Chicken still in the shells. YEE HAW We quietly, sneakingly collected 12 for our dining pleasure. Quick!!...to the beach, hurry and clean them before anyone spots us. While cleaning them, we had a huge ray that just loved our company. I think he has been lonely for some time because he just would not leave the premises. He wanted a mate and he was not picky about it being the dinghy, Rick, Audrey or me. He was not even eating the conch, err Chicken parts. We were in ankle deep water and he kept coming right up to us... which made us skedaddle out of his way. He had no fear of us, that is for sure. Days like this are at the top of the list of being awesome. We had conch salad for dinner, the folks from Wenches, Peter and Anna joined us and a good time was had by all with another beautiful sunset in the background. Wenches brought fried Mahi Fingers that were great!!
Monday 6-25 Still in Allen's Pensacola We fished the rocks today and caught enough for Rick Audrey and me to have a little fish fry. J YUM We walked to other side of the island on the Atlantic side, literally running from the biting bugs. This is the worst we have seen yet. For the most part, it has not been a problem. It was worth it! We found the swing, took lots of picts, walked the beach and read all the buoys and hanging artifacts with all the boat names and dates of folks who have visited the location. Often folks pick up trash on the beach, turn it into works of art by placing their boat name, dates of visit etc on it, then hang it from the trees for everyone's viewing pleasure and photo opts. It is really quite cool and looks neat. Some folks really go all out. I have photos for later. We knew wind and squalls were coming, but was not sure when, so we opted to just continue to enjoy this day in this fabulous location for all it was worth. What a beautiful day and night it was, but by morning the winds were picking up fast and shifting so we knew our time had come to weigh anchor again. Plan was to head to Coopers Town for laundry, but the wind and direction became too much for this to be an area of any anchoring at all. We headed back to Manjack, our favorite anchorage for strong winds out of the N, E, and SE.
Tuesday 6-26-07 WOW 20-23 knots on the nose and the Sea of Abaco gets nasty quick. You can not run down the lee of the islands in this area due to sandbars, so we had to go out to the W. side of the bay and take quite a little pounding. We went through a few small rain showers, nothing major, bounced a little bit, but sailboats really handle this stuff pretty well, just slow! Top speed in this mess with my little engine was only about 3.9-4.1 knots so it made for about a 5 hr run to go 21 NM. Once inside the anchorage though, it was quite nice and protected.
Wed 6-27 To Green Turtle from Manjack to do laundry and get some groceries and diesel. Very squally, rainy windy. Was able to get some diesel in Black Sound, did laundry at Abaco Yacht Club which is a boat yard with 2 washers, one dryer and very costly. Nothing like spending $20. to do 2 loads of laundry. YEP, back in civilization. Trips to shore over the next 3 days were very limited due to the continued rain, squalls and dreary conditions. Days like this, you read a lot, clean the boat from top to bottom, put on foul weather gear and clean your boat deck with soap in the rain, look for little leaks that pop up, fix broken items and nap. When you get breaks, you run into shore and take advantage of whatever quick chores you need to do on shore. It has been too bad to take the computer in to the lab. I can honestly say, Pixie is clean from her bilge to her topsides... oh yeah, even from the bottom of her keel from the other day. I even got into the dinghy and scrubbed it in the rain and while I was in Powell, I snorkeled Tinks bottom and cleaned it too. My little vessels are Mr. Clean clean. NOW bring on some sunshine so my solar panels can keep up with the Engel Fridge. I have had to run the engine 2x per day to keep the batteries charged in this weather.
Friday- Donned my foul weather gear and headed to town, just to walk a little, look in some shops and pick up some fresh vegetables and fruit. I found a great Bahamian cookbook with lots of dishes in it I cannot wait to try. Rick and Audrey got here today from Manjack and we were visiting last night when all the sudden, the storm clouds started parting and left us with a gorgeous red sky shining in part behind the billowing white thunder clouds. There was even a rainbow off to the SE amongst the darker clouds. It was like the sun was trying to remind us that it was still there and brighter days were right around the corner. It was a wonderful glow of all dimensions covering a variety of sky. A nice rainless night with calmer winds. The squalls have really not been too bad here. We have had lots of rain, but no lightening or thunder and winds have not been above 30. Very manageable in safe anchorages. I remember when I would have been stressed to the max in 30 knot of wind, now, it is just an inconvenience in paradise. You just prepare. I have my second anchor ready to drop if needed, I let out lots of scope, make sure my anchor is set, and keep an eye on what is going on when the squalls run through. You also have to watch for other boats that may break loose, but mostly all is fine, with a few occurrences that give you stories for later. Amazing how your comfort zone changes with different experiences. As oif this minute, the sun is shining and I am excited about seeing the full moon tonight! Supposed to be viewed as the largest of the year. We can all see it and think about each other looking at it at the same time.  Maybe we won't feel so separated.
That is the latest!! Hope all is well in everyone's life. To my family, the pay phone in Gr. Turtle is out of order, so as soon as I get to a working phone, I will give you all a call. Miss and love you greatly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are headed around the the island in the next couple of days for the Regatta Race week, so not sure about phones in that area. Miss everyone!!!!

Love and friendship!!
aHar
- Connie
Sat,7/7/07,10:30AM

We hope everyone's 4th of July celebration was great! We have had quite a bit
of rain in the Abacos, but it is never an all day affair so it hasn't been too
bad. The Stranded Naked (this is a sportswear company that puts on the party)
kick-off party at Fiddle Cay for regatta week was great. There were less people
in attendance than in previous years & it seemed there were more power boaters
involved but everyone had a good time - cheeseburgers (Rick actually lined up
for food this year Espen)
were wonderful & beverage refreshments were grand as usual. Naked Lady crew
called it an early day (with thoughts of e vents from previous years). Pixie
Dust hung out a little longer & enjoyed greeting & meeting new friends from the
Bahamas boating world. We were still able to enjoy happy hour on the Naked Lady
in the evening. There were only about 30 sailboats racing on Wed the 4th but a
good time was had by all & the street party that night in Green Turtle Cay
turned out some great local food
& drinks (on the house). Enjoying old & new friends is always fun (even ran
into a few girls I went to high school with in Lake City - what a small world).
There are always things on boats to work on - our new battery charger purchased
in Marathon has quit charging so we are charging batteries either by running the
engine or solar panels - & on our trip around Whale Cay Channel Thursday our
temperature gage started reading 220 degrees. As we turned back to get away
from the channel rocks we had
a couple of squalls hit us - proved a l ittle exciting since our engine was
running hot. Come to find out, as we turned the engine off (for about the 5th
or 6th time since we needed it for the squalls) & put up our head sail, Rick
worked frantically to discover that it was actually the temperature gage & not
the engine running hot - so we proceeded around the Whale Cut again & anchored
at Baker's Bay for the night (not with the regatta partying crowds). We
encouraged Pixie Dust to continue around
the Whale Cut as we were having our boat problems which turned out to be better
for her since the one squall she was in didn't have the higher winds. She
continued with the regatta crowd & even crewed on the Bahamian race boat on
Friday (we have yet to hear her stories on that one - will catch up today).
Parties will continue this week & we are in Marsh Harbour again to enjoy. Naked
Lady will have to start thinking about our trip out of the Bahamas in another week - we're thinking through the
Berry Islands (any suggestions in the Berries?). Here's hoping you all are
having a great summer. Talk again soon.
Audrey & Rick

[s/v Faith]

Fri,7/13/07,10:30AM
The parties are over & most people are headed home. Naked Lady is fueled up &
ready for some outer islands again (non-civilization). It has been another fun
year with old & new boater friends. Naked Lady & Pixie Dust left Marsh Harbour
again (about the 5th exit from there) yesterday AM. Both boats of us are
hanging close to this area & maybe visit Nippers on Guana Cay for their pig
roast on Sun then maybe Mon or Tues head south toward Little Harbour to get
ready for our trip to the Berry Islands.
It sure would be nice if we could have good winds (like Jimmy & Gigi had) for
our sail across the N ew Providence Channel. We'll keep you guys informed about
our route home. You know, once you start back to the states you're listening
for that weather window & when it happens you make decisions quickly. All
"plans" can change drastically. Our plans are still to be back in the states
maybe the 1st week in Aug. We look forward to a few more exciting days in the
Bahamas. Talk soon.
Audrey & Rick

[Zen]

do you know we are double posting?  ???

[Zen]

the latest from Connie on the sailfar  blog

stroll down to : 8/15-posting

[Zen]

New blog entry on the Voyages of the Pixie... this time put into a general post with date, the other is getting too long.  :D

[AdriftAtSea]

thanks zen. :)

[Zen]

New Pixie Dust update in the Sail Far Blog

[s/v Faith]

I have had a change in plans....big time.  I am not coming back to the states yet with Pixie.  I have found paradise in the Exumas, esp. Staniel, Sampson area and I love it here.  I have been dragging my lower lip at the thoughts of returning home with regards to returning to the rat race and I have just decided to stay here longer and see how it goes.

Congrats Connie!

Woo HOO!!!  Rose and I hope to corss some time within the next week or two, we plan to go down to the Exumas with just a couple stops in the Abacos so we hope to see you soon!

[s/v Faith]

Has anyone heard from Connie?

[Zen]

Glad you are doing well and enjoying. Nothing from Connie lately