Bahamas

Why Did I Ever Watch Jaws?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Is there a movie you wish you’d never seen?

Mine is Jaws. Even though I watched the scary movie a long time ago, the dreaded music sounds off in my head – and you know the music I am talking about – as soon as I swim laps. I like to watch a scary movie, something like Aliens works for me. I know I’ll never have to face an alien the way Sigourney Weaver did – at least I hope I won’t. But sharks? I’m in the ocean most days. I love to swim laps, but I’ve yet to make it through a session without thinking of Jaws.

Below are two dolphins swimming along my favourite beach for laps. A mom swimming with her young one. A lovely sight. An amazing opportunity to swim in the wild with a wild animal.  A big grey creature, but not the kind to be afraid of.

Dolphins at Sand Dollar

My only close up and personal encounter with a shark happened while I was kayaking. Unlucky for me, I got between a shark and its lunch. The annoyed shark bumped the side of my kayak. A good message to tell me to get away from the buffet. All the food was spoken for. Was I scared – yup. Did I go right back to the same spot the next day – yup. Somehow I feel safe in the kayak, but not while I’m swimming.

Someone please turn off the Jaws music so I can swim in peace.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: A Wheaten Wears A Collar

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

Farley here,

I have a little cut on my leg. How I got it, I don’t know. Kristina cleans my wound and rubs on something she calls antibiotic cream. Not so bad really, but then I see her sneak back into the my medical kit, yes I have my own medical kit on Mattina, and I know what’s coming.

I run along the port side of Mattina and jump on the tramp.

“No, no, no,” I bark.

Kristina is coming with the dreaded cone of shame. She reaches the tramp . . .

But I’m faster. I run along the starboard side, jump into the cockpit, scamper into the main salon and launch myself onto the port bed. Now, I’m not allowed up there, so I know I’ve made mistake. I’ve cornered myself.

“Stop,” I bark. “I won’t lick my cut. I promise.”

But nope, Kristina grabs my front paws and drags me off the bed.

“Pretty please,” I whine in my nicest voice. “Don’t make me wear that.”

Well, you can see how that worked out for me.

Here I sit, looking silly.

Farley with cone

Don’t tell Kristina, but this thing is actually pretty comfortable when I’m lying down. I have my own personal pillow that goes everywhere with me.

Woof Woof.

Mahi Mahi: Fishing off a Catamaran

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Sometimes life offers a bounty.  Mattina is equipped with two stainless steel rod holders, one off each hull, and we love to fish while we’re sailing. Sometimes we catch a Mahi Mahi . . .

Mahi Mahi
Mahi Mahi

Sometimes we catch a shark. The trick is to get the lure back without hurting the shark. This shark snagged a homemade cedar plug, and lucky for us, it popped out of the sharks mouth and we got the lure back. The shark swam happily, or maybe grumpily, away and all was well.

Shark 1

 

And sometimes we don’t catch anything at all, but we still got to sail.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: One Tired Wheaten Terrier

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Farley here,

Kristina is crazy. She made me run 12 km. I told her I wanted to nap in the shade, but she ignored me.

Now look at me.

Farley 12 k run

I need a long, long nap to recover. Luckily, I got to the best seat in the cockpit first. I have my own towel to cover the seats, like I’m sandy or something, but once I’m settled, it’s pretty nice.

Kristina’s napping too, so I don’t feel guilty at all. And if I have to run with her, the least she can do is let me sleep later.

Woof Woof.

Wind sports in the Bahamas

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

While we sail around the Bahamas, we are always on the search for places to windsurf or kite board from. We carry two windsurfers with us, and our friends  carry kite boards.

The sand bar below appears at low tide and gives everyone a launch pad for their sport of choice. This is just south of Big Farmer’s Cay. Playing on the sand bar keeps us on our toes as far as the tide is concerned. When the water comes up, it’s time to head back to Mattina.

Sandbar for Windsurfing

If we can’t find a suitable beach or temporary sandbar to launch from, Matt rigs on the trampoline and windsurfs from the back of the boat.

We have the routine mastered, so it doesn’t really matter where we are, as long as there is wind.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: A Wheaton Gets In Trouble

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Farley here,

If you’ve been reading, you know I’m a good dog. But don’t all dogs have issues once in a while?

I don’t beg. I don’t jump on people. I don’t bark often, okay I bark when I see a dolphin or a turtle. I also bark when Kristina goes swimming. So it’s a water thing with me.

Anyway, I’ve lost focus already because I don’t want to tell you I misbehaved. Kristina told me I had to since I only write good things about myself.

I was innocently digging in the mud when I spotted something bright yellow. Now, you say to yourself, at this point, I should have taken stock and chosen a different path forward.

Farley and Bag 1

Good thought, but not what happened. The next thing I know, I’m biting and tossing Kristina’s water proof camera bag. Not good, I know. I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Even with Kristina telling me to stop, I just couldn’t do it.

Farley and Bag 2

The best thing about my human is even when she’s not happy with me, she’s smiling at me. The worst I get is, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Not so talented with discipline, is she.

Woof Woof.

Windsurfing in the Bahamas

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

What does a sailor do when their boat is for sale? 

Enjoy the Bahamas of course.

But first, Matt must know what the wind strength is.

Matt cheking for wind

Then, off with our kiting friends to enjoy the water.

Matt ws

Thanks again to everyone who has helped us get the word out and to those who have contacted us about Mattina.

Thanks for reading. . .

Farley’s Friday: Dogs and Sticks

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 11 Comments

Farley here,

You might remember, I live in Bahamas on a sailboat, and my human sadly explained to me that when I ruined a toy, she couldn’t buy more. Well, I fooled her.

Check out my FFL (Friend for Life), Tanga. She’s a fast little Australian Doodle.Very Cute. I kinda have a crush on her.  Her human, Ann, found us a new toy. We didn’t even have to go to a store. She pulled it right off a tree and threw it for us.

Tanga and Farley

Tanga is faster and gets to the stick first. I follow with the bump and twist and rip it from her jaws. I know, not nice, but hey, I’m a dog and can’t help myself.

Sometimes I can out manoeuvre her and get to the stick first, but usually I have to fight for it. She’s tougher than she looks.

Woof Woof

Rain in the Bahamas?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Rain doesn’t happen often in the Bahamas, at least while we’ve been here, but the skies can dump a large amount of water in a short period of time.

What do we do when that happens?

Sometimes, I’m caught out on the beach, usually running with Farley, but that’s okay. The rain is warm and often a welcome cool down during a work out.

Sometimes, we’re on board. Then we hide. The main salon windows mean we get at 360 degree view of the anchorage and can keep an eye out for moving boats. 

Our cockpit enclosure keeps us dry and warm, so we have an extra room if we want to be outside while the weather decides to soak us. 

Enclosure SB View

Mattina is for sale and we updated the photo gallery yesterday if you’d like to see more pictures.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: A Dog’s BFF or FFL?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Farley here,

Now I’d say I’m not a dog that’s good with words. I do better with hand signals, but I want a new term for BFF.

How can a dog have only one BFF? I have so many friends.

For instance, here’s my pal Tico. He loves to go snorkelling with his human, Dan. He’s a little too adventurous for me. I like to watch from shore.

Dan and Tico

“Don’t you know there are sharks in there?” I bark.

Tico swims farther out.

“What if Dan spears a fish and a shark arrives?” I bark.

Tico must have his ears turned off, because he’s not listening to me.

“TICO,” I howl my loudest.

Farley barking from shore

You can imagine me, barking from shore, my front paws lifting off the ground, water splashing around me. I glance at Kristina, but she just laughs. All she does is laugh when I think I’m being serious and she thinks I look silly.

Finally Tico gets a little too close to Dan, hits the flipper with his nose, startles himself and turns back to the beach.

He’s safe and I can relax.

Now back to my new term. FFL. Friend For Life. That means I can have more than one. Best does imply one, and who can have only one friend?

I’m adding Tico to my FFL list.

Woof Woof.