Salty Dawgs

Scott found a big boy

Omg..having so much fun with our family visiting. Luckily, we've had amazing weather & have been able to play every day. 1st stop was Hopetown....

Danny & Kyung

After Hopetown we sailed to Treasure Cay which turned out to be an all time favorite....

Who's that hottie Sailing to Treasure Cay

 

Play time for Kyung & Jib at Treasure Cay

 

Here comes Jib!

 

Awe....

Good times. The islands are always amazing but, when family gets to share....it's epic.

Love, Michelle, Scott & Jib

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Marsh Harbor Junkanoo!

We had the BEST time last night at the Junior Junkanoo in Marsh Harbor. We skipped this event last year for some reason..I'm not sure why. So, Friday night was Junior Junkanoo....Saturday night is Senior (grown ups only) Junkanoo. We opted for the junior Junkanoo mostly because it started fairly early. It was scheduled to start at 6pm. Which in Bahamas time, that means maybe 7pm. It actually started at 8:30pm. Senior Junkanoo is scheduled for 9pm. Which means maybe by 11:30pm, the parade will start. 11:30pm...We're done. We don't start our evenings at 11:30pm anymore. So we made the right choice last night cuz' we had sooo much fun. The kids were adorable, the costumes amazing, the family atmosphere....priceless.

While Scott & I both agree that the New Year's Day Junkanoo in Green Turtle Cay is "overall" the best....the costumes at Marsh Harbor junkanoo are AWESOME!!

 

You can make anything with a few pieces of PVC pipe.

 

Poor kid.. So sick of posing for pictures!

 

 

My favorite little pirate

 

Junkanoo.... No matter where you are..it's amazing. The costumes, the drums, the dancing.....Welcome to the tribe...

Love, Michelle, Scott & Jib

 

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Road Trip!

I have been a very bad blogger this week. Sorry everybody. It's been a busy few days. I aspire to do a blog At least every other day but sometimes, I'm just not in the "zone" to write. And sometimes...what we're doing just isn't that interesting. For example, "Today it was raining all day so we sat around and read our books for the entire day." Boring. Anyway...this past storm was very windy but passed without any incidence. Despite sustained 35mph winds with gusts over 40mph (for almost 24 hours) all boats stayed anchored & secure. Yay! By Monday morning Mother nature was all calmed down & we could get off the boat. Our friends Dana & Matt from s/v Corsair rented a car for the day & invited us to come along to tour the island. There are several places in Abaco that we are not able to go to because it's too shallow for our boats so this was such a great opportunity. Thank you so much Corsair for inviting us! They even invited Jib. :)

Our 1st stop was Cherokee Sound. A quaint little fishing village that is famous for having the longest dock in all of the Bahamas. And that's pretty much it. Not much going on in Cherokee Sound but the dock is stunning & worth seeing.

 

 

Stairway to a little piece of Heaven

Next stop was Little Harbor. We have anchored near Little Harbor several times but we are not able to bring our boat inside the harbor because again, it's too shallow for Malaika. Little Harbor is a pretty popular destination here in Abaco & is home to "world" famous Pete's Pub.

My boys at Pete's Pub

Here are some more scenes from Little Harbor. It is also a quaint little village that seems to really cater to cruisers.

Don't see this sign in too many places!

 

Sea Grapes. That is really the name of this plant. It's everywhere in the Bahamas but Little Harbor was the 1st place we actually saw the grapes.

The ruins of an old lighthouse

A room with a view

We had a fabulous time on our road trip. It was awesome to see parts of Abaco by land. It felt a bit strange to be in a car. It's been awhile...plus, they drive on the left side here. It definitely takes getting used too!

So the past few days we've just been plugging away at our chores getting Malaika ready for our family who will be here 48 hours from now!!! Sooooo excited!!

Scott & Jib out for a test run. Yay!!! It works!!!

I am so happy to report that Scott successfully fixed our dinghy motor and we can finally go faster than idle speed. Now we can almost keep up with all the big boys in the harbor. :)

Love & Miss everybody!!! XXOO

Michelle, Scott & Jib

 

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Storm's Coming!

 

Scott & I left Treasure Cay 2 days ago. The weather forecast said things were going to get a little gnarly for a few days and while Treasure Cay offers a well protected anchorage, we needed to be settled in Marsh Harbor by Sunday/Monday to finish a few last things before our family comes next week. So...farewell to Treasure for now. We're safely tucked in Marsh Harbor for tonight's big blow. The weather has been crappy for 2 days already but tonight we're expecting 40mph north east winds. A good old Nor' Easter...Bahama style. It's been raining for 24 hours & the winds will be kicking in anytime now.

Rut Roh.

We were able to get some errands done Thursday when we first arrived, thankfully. We've been kinda stuck on the boat since yesterday. So...these are great days to do boat projects!

Scott re-wiring our macerator. AGAIN!

So, the macerator wiring is still giving us trouble. Scott has figured it out and now we're just waiting for bigger better wire from the U.S. We could get it here but it's 3X the price. We are still very undecided if the macerator was worth it. More gadgets...more problems. I guess it gives us something to do when we have bad weather.

Malaika's nervous system. Scott's in charge of that.

 

Rainy days are also a great chance to fill up some water jugs for FREE with our awesome collection system.

So, it's going to be a long night tonight. With 40mph winds, it's pretty much a sure thing that some boats will be dragging in the anchorage. Since 3 boats have already dragged down on us this season, Scott & I will probably be awake most of the night doing "anchor watch". In the wind & rain & darkness. Can't wait. However, it's still worth it to be here. :)

Dreaming of beach time

 

Fruit bowls are all stocked up! Just in time for the big storm.

Hope everybody is having a wonderful weekend with lots of good weather! :)

Love, Michelle, Scott, & Jib

 

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Treasure Island

Actually, it's called Treasure Cay...they don't call them "islands" here in the Bahamas but this place is a stunner! A real treasure. No wonder it makes the "Top Ten Beaches in the world" list every year. We've been here several times now & it never disappoints.

The water always has the most amazing blue hues....sometimes it doesn't even look real. Kinda like when you stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon...it seems like a painting at 1st glance. The sand is so powder soft it actually feels like flour. If you're ever in Abaco, Bahamas this is a place you don't want to miss!

Definitely one of Jibs favorites!

 

Jib is so fascinated by the fish but he won't eat fish. He ate some of the Mahi Mahi we caught last year but none since.

Scott went spear fishing today with our friends Bob & Monique from s/v Last Waltz & speared this awesome "amber jack" ( we all looked it up in a fishing book.) He was delicious & fed all 4 of us. We had such a lovely evening enjoying Scott's catch of the day. Safe travels Last Waltz! We'll miss you two!

Tomorrow's plans are etched in jello. Maybe we'll stay here in Treasure...maybe we'll island hop somewhere else. We haven't decided. We are out of water so that is a priority. Luckily, here in Treasure there is a very easy fuel/water dock and the water is pretty cheap here (for the Bahamas.) $7.00 to fill the entire boat. 150 gallon tank plus all our jerry jugs for 7 bucks....not bad.

 

Yesterday we were just chillin' in the cockpit & a sea plane landed right behind our boat. Awesome.

 

Yesterday we also got to take "real" showers for the first time this year. Our last real shower was New Year's Eve. We do bathe...with our solar shower but nothing can replace the real deal. I am pretty sure when I pulled that shower curtain back & turned on that hot water...I heard angels start to sing. It was a Hallelujah moment.

Love & Miss everyone. XXOO

Michelle, Scott & Jib

 

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"Head" Aches

Scott fixing the Head

Today was not a fun day on Malaika. As I mentioned in the last blog....we have some chores to do. Unfortunately, one of those chores involves one of our toilets. Except, when you live on a boat it's not called a toilet. It's called the "head". Whatever you want to call it.....rebuilding it sucks. It was so gross. The whole process took 6 hours, a couple pairs of gloves, & some bleach. Yuk. Scott literally replaced every nut & bolt, every rubber ring, hose, etc. Who knew how complicated a little boat toilet could be. Now we know.

Oh..thank goodness for these oh so easy directions.

There were so many intricate details....I felt like I was in an operating room watching Scott do surgery. I sort of knew what he was doing but mostly...I just tried to hand him the tools he asked for. I'm so proud of him for figuring it all out.


Anywho....while Scott plugged away at the toilet, I cleaned up the rest of the boat. By the time 4pm rolled by we were both ready to just go have some fun. We took Jibby to the beach & then met our friends for happy hour. Proving once again that our worst day on the boat....is still better than working.

Love

I sure do love this guy....he even fixes my toilet. You know it's love when....

Love, Michelle, Scott & Jib.

 

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Cruisin' Abaco

The blog says this posted on Feb 5th. Tried to correct it many times with no luck. The true posting of this blog is Friday, February 8th, 2013. :)

Tahiti Beach

Hey everybody! Sorry no blog for a few days...our Internet has been a little sketchy while cruising around Abaco. I LOVE our set up this year with the iPad & Betelco (the Bahamas phone company)...$30/month for unlimited Internet....however, sometimes there just isn't enough juice to do a blog. Downloading pictures requires a strong signal. Anyway...we've had a lovely few days just hanging out near Hopetown, Bahamas.

 

Perfect. Those of you who follow our blog might remember a similar picture from last year but I just couldn't resist...

We anchored at Tahiti Beach for a couple of days & then moved closer to Hopetown. We have never actually brought the mother ship into Hopetown. It's very crowded, you have to take a mooring ball (which costs money) and it's very shallow. It's just easier for us to anchor outside & take a dinghy ride in. Even with our crappy dinghy motor. Yes, it's still giving us trouble. As long as we go extremely slow (like idle), it's fine. We have a Tohatsu motor & that's like a dirty word around these parts we've discovered. Nobody sells, works on, or will even talk about fixing a Tohatsu. We've learned from friends & Scott researching the Internet that Mercury & Tohatsu motor parts are completely interchangeable. There is a Mercury dealer here in Marsh Harbor but they basically told Scott last week "Tohatsu...sucks to be you. Can't help ya". The good news is that Scott got a new impeller today & we're crossing our fingers that once he puts that in, the motor will run better. Of coarse, Scott's never changed out an impeller before but I have every confidence that he will do a fine job. He's smart like that. :) Grrr...It's always something when you live on a boat!

Sunrise this morning outside of Hopetown

For some unknown reason, Scott & I woke up at (as our friend Dan likes to say) at the ass crack of dawn, and discovered that the wind had shifted more than we anticipated & we were a little more close to shore than we prefer so...anchors up @ 0645 and headed back to Marsh Harbor. We had a beautiful sail this morning. Engine off...sailing with the sun rise. We had planned on returning today anyway...the weather is going to be pretty unfavorable for a few days & Marsh Harbor is a good anchorage to wait out weather. The holding is good & there is pretty much protection from all directions. It's also a great place to work on some of our chores before our family comes to visit. Want to get motivated to get your boat in tip top shape? Invite people to come visit! All the little "projects" you've learned to live with or without, all of a sudden become a priority. We are so super excited to have our family come & want Malaika to be as comfortable as she can be for them. That said...we've got some chores to do! And we'll be working on those things in between island hopping. As soon as the weather permits we're sailing to Treasure Cay. One of my all time favs.

Love & Miss everyone. Hope all is well at home. XXXOO enjoy some more pics for now...

Holy Hermit Crab! We met this guy at Tahiti Beach. Biggest we've ever seen. I should've put something there for scale but if it helps...that's Jib's paw print to the left of the crab.

 

Up, Up, & Away to the top of the Hopetown Lighthouse

 

Looking at Malaika from the top of the lighthouse

 

The view from Malaika

Love Michelle, Scott & Jib

 

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