Sailing

Cruising Friends

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

#sailing It’s Wednesday again and time to post about cruising in the Bahamas.

I thought it was time to share some other boats that we cruise with. Buddy boating is a lot of fun, and we tend to meet with different friends on and off throughout the season. Here is Jabulani (Africat 42) chasing us into an anchorage after a beautiful day on the Bahama Banks.

We have a Lagoon 380, S2, but hang with all kinds of boats. The power catamaran can blast past us if they want, but they like to be social too. Part of the fun of being in the isolated anchorage is bringing our own friends with us.

Someone always catches a fish, and then they get to provide dinner.

Guests on a Cruising Catamaran

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

#Sailing  Keeping guests entertained is easy on a catamaran, especially it the guests are adventurous. This was the first time spearfishing for our guests and they loved it. Not only was it an adventure – they brought home dinner. Lucky for us we had an excellent chef visiting too.

Other things to do with your guests . . . beach walking, playing the surf, swimming, kayaking, windsurfing, shell collecting . . .  You get the gist of it.

Happy Spearfishing!

Dogs, Snow and Cruising

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment
Farley, Panorama BC

#sailing Does your cruising dog miss home?  I have no idea if mine does. I sometimes wonder if Farley remembers snow. It’s been three years since he’s seen it, but he sure seemed to enjoy it. I’ve gone from removing balls of snow from his fur to removing sand burrs. Neither is much fun.

Farley seems happy on the beach or in the snow.

Farley moved on board when he was 9 months old and had no problem adapting to a boat life. I think the younger a dog is when it makes this transition, the easier it is for the dog. Or . . . Farley is just a really happy dog and doesn’t care where he is.

How did your dog do when it first moved on board?

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Tides and Cruising

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments
Sand Dollar Beach, Bahamas

#Sailing

This is what happens when we don’t pay attention to the tides.

The tides affect our lives every day on a cruising boat. Our Lagoon 380 draws 4’. It’s a shallow draft that’s great for tucking into anchorages in the Bahamas, but we still need to know what the tides are doing when we anchor.

Anchoring at low tide is great because we always know there will be enough water below our keels. At any other point in the tide cycle we need to make sure the water will be deep enough at low tide. This includes knowing the water within our swing range. A middle of the night squall can swing the boat 180 degrees and there better be enough water. I don’t know why, but squalls always seem to hit in the middle of the night.

Sailing through cuts is another time the tides are important. Wind against current is a bad thing in a narrow cut.

Back to the dingy . . . does my husband actually think he is going somewhere in the beached dingy?

Cruising and Exercising

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment
Stocking Island, Bahamas

#sailing

Keeping fit while cruising is sometimes a challenge. If you’re a runner, you can find beach in the Bahamas that will fill your need to run.

The photo is of my favourite beach on Stocking Island. It’s 2.5 K each way, meaning I can get in a 5K run. (10K if I’m feeling ambitious and the tides are right.)

The tides are a factor when choosing what time to run. Low tide is the best. High tide is a slog. But everyday the beach has a different surface so it’s like getting new workout equipment at the gym.

Ankles and knees can be a concern on the angled slope, but the calves really get a workout.

Typical of this beach, there is no one on it. It is one of my favourite spots in the Bahamas.

The little dot beside us is my wheaten terrier, Farley. He loves an off-leash beach run.

Related articles and other ways to keep fit . . .

Writing or Laundry

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments
Farley hinting it's time to do the laundry

#writing #sailing

Why is it that when something is hard to write, doing the laundry becomes imperative? Since I live on a sailboat, laundry can be an adventure on its own.

I can do the laundry by hand (not my favourite).

I can go to a laundry mat.

I can drop my laundry off at a laundry service.

The last two are harder than you might think. First the laundry has to be bagged and loaded into a dingy. Then I have to drive the dingy to shore (where I am currently anchored this is across a couple of miles of open water).

The next challenge is to carry the laundry across a dock and through town, avoiding the local dogs and fast moving cars that drive on the left side of the street.

Phew! Made it. The drop off is my favourite. Somehow it takes a long time to get the laundry done, but it certainly helps me procrastinate.

Snorkelling from a Cruising Catamaram

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

#sailing Oops. Dropped my snorkel.

The Aquarium is located in the Exuma island chain of the Bahamas and is a spectacular place to snorkel. It’s in a protected area, a land and sea park, making it a must see if you are cruising these islands.

This is a no take zone, meaning no spear fishing, lobster or conch hunting.  We had to dig into our freezer for dinner, but the snorkelling was worth it.

Cruising Dogs and Weddings

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

#sailing #dogs Being a cruising dog, our wheaten terrier has all kinds of adventures. Farley loves to go to a wedding. Our friends got married, barefoot on the beach, and they invited our dog to be part of the party.

Farley caught the bouquet, but hasn’t found another dog to marry yet. Maybe this year he’ll meet someone nice and settle down.

Conch For Lunch

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#sailing Anyone hungry?

These queen conch make a fabulous conch salad but take a lot of work to get into a bowl. The easy part is finding them.  The folded over lip means they are old enough to be harvested, otherwise they need to left alone at the bottom of the sea.

How does one make a salad?

  • First use a hammer and screw driver to make a hole in the shell.
  • Proceed to get the conch out.
  • Clean the skin off. (a slimy messy job)
  • Hammer until soft.
  • Soak in lime juice, to make it softer.
  • Cut into small cubes.
  • Mix with tomatoes, red pepper, lemon, lime, onion, and touch of hot sauce.
  • Get some crackers, invite your friends, and yum yum, it’s lunch time.

Where’s Farley?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments
Star Fish Beach, Bahamas

#sailing #dogs

Sailing with dogs is sandy business if you like to go to the beach. Farley, our wheaten terrier, is the colour of sand, and maybe we should have called him Sandy.

He loves to dig a hole and hide in it. He’ll sit perfectly still and make us play the Where’s Farley game.  I think he might actually be making fun of us, but who knows?

If you’re thinking of cruising with a dog, an outside freshwater hose is a must. Ours is on the back step of our catamaran. Farley gets a rinse before he’s allowed passed the stairs. Then he gets a rub down with a towel. That’s the other item we brought . . . Farley has his own set of towels.  One more little thing to keep us all happy.

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