Bahamas Bound!!!!

[David Rock]

We (me, my beautiful wife and...well the dog) will be leaving on our sailboat for the Bahamas in a couple of weeks.

We intend to be there for for 4 months.

Any posters in the Bahamas? I will sail to meet you at your island.

Regards
David Rock

[reeve21]

Awesome, David. My boat will remain buried under 80 pounds of canvas for the next couple of months, unfortunately, and about 1,000 miles north of you.

We also cruise with a dog, but I envy you, 4 months at a time! That is a lot of trips ashore with Fluffy/Fido. Does he/she shed?

Bob

[fazool]

Just got back from New Providence, Paradise and Exuma

[amyFB]

Dang, I just got back from a 10 day Bimini to Eleuthera sail.

I want to go back to the Berry Islands and spend more than one day there. Blue hole at Hoffman Cay (if you aren't already in the know!)

Will be looking forward to seeing photos and hearing stories.

Sailors have some of the best stories; bring back some for us!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GHS]

Any ocean voyage when you are your own captain/navigator/crew is pretty cool no matter how far you travel. One time when the wife and I were having dinner in Camden Maine we engaged in a conversation with the table next to us. Seems the couple were sailing their own boat and tied up nearby for a few days. He took us down the to dock to check it out after dinner. It had the name of the boat and "Honolulu" painted on the transom. Now they must have some stories to tell.

[sled]

Not a member of the sailing community, but I have a question. Do you worry at all about pirates? (not the Long John Silver or Jack Sparrow type obviously, but the "come on your boat in the middle of the night, cut your throat, throw you overboard, sail off and sell you boat and all your belongings" types) It's not something you hear about in the news, but I hear it happens, and the boats are presumed lost at sea.....

[David Rock]

I didn't know there would be so many cruisers on this forum, but glad to know. Yes the dog sheds...a lot. She is a mini Australian Shepard (why do they call them Australian if they were bred in the US?). Her name is Gypsy Jazz Rock. She is 10 months old and in training as the replacement for the last toy sized Aussie -- Jazz, who happened to be just about a perfect dog.

Part of that training is getting Gypsy to "go" on the boat via astro turf. It works she does, no problem. But she has TONS of energy and really needs a good run or walk every day. We are exercisers so we want to be off the boat too.

Pirates? No, no worries. I am more concerned with the "pirates" back in the states on land -- if you get my drift. We love the Bahamas. We found what we were looking for. Yes bad things happen (mostly in Nassau, which we avoid like the plague), but we feel safer at anchor anywhere in the Bahamas that walking to an open mic event in (name your choice of town).

The Bahamian people are fabulous. We have made quite a few friends in the 5 seasons (typically 6 months) we have spent there.

We are getting a late start this year as last summer my pretty wife was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes. Ugh. So we are learning to deal with the 4 shots a day and what not. We are a little nervous about this trip, but it is what we love. Do what you love!

I don't know how to insert photos or I would give you a little taste of the life...

I have had many great musical experiences on our trips. I have met some good musicians and the rest. Everybody is LOW KEY even if they are OFF KEY. Ha!

Here is a soundcloud of a song I wrote after a pretty long passage (Bimini to Charleston about 450 miles). I wrote it a couple of years ago and it is a blast to play and to see people respond to. Many people don't really know much about instrumental music, much less guitar, so I introduce it as "How my guitar sees the water".

Done on my Taylor NS72ce with Audacity. I don't have a "recording quiet" spot on the boat (we live on it full time), so I just plug into a digital recorder and take what I can get.

Regards all!
David

[GHS]

Originally Posted by sled

Not a member of the sailing community, but I have a question. Do you worry at all about pirates? (not the Long John Silver or Jack Sparrow type obviously, but the "come on your boat in the middle of the night, cut your throat, throw you overboard, sail off and sell you boat and all your belongings" types) It's not something you hear about in the news, but I hear it happens, and the boats are presumed lost at sea.....

According to my NJ boater experts, yes, it does happen, mostly in the Caribbean. Seems the waters around Florida are so heavily patrolled and the air monitored the by Coast Guard, DEA, etc that there are other places with easier pickings. The guys I know who have moved down to Florida never go out without being armed...just in case.

[rokdog49]

We've never had any trouble when we travel around the coastal waters near Florida. Good ol' 840 never let us down