My brother and his family are visiting and I lend my windsurfing gear to Peter. Off they go . . .
My husband and brother go out for a day on the water.
All is good.
And then — not so much.
Thanks for reading . . .
Windsurfing: The Crash
Bahamas
Cruising and Blogging
As we travel through the Exuma islands, we get a lot of this . . .
But not a lot of internet.
I can blog ahead of time and upload my posts — as long as I’m organized.
I can usually find a connection that’s strong enough to support an email connection, but not strong enough to post or reply to comments.
I love to get comments on my blog, and I try to respond to each one, so I have to say it can be frustrating when I receive a comment via email, know it’s on my blog and I can’t respond.
I guess like many, I’ve become accustomed to the immediacy of our lives and when I don’t have it, I feel disconnected.
Then I remember where I am and what I’m doing and laugh at myself. Life is pretty good in the Bahamas.
Thanks for reading . . .
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Farley’s Friday: Where Are My Puppy Friends
Farley here.
I have lots of friends, but sometimes they disappear. Where do they go? Do they live on sailboats too?
Take Piper for example. I met her the same day I met my owners. She has different owners and she has an attitude.
Piper is a border terrier, and she’s cute, but really, look at her whispering in my ear. She told me her owners were nicer than mine. Ha! I don’t think so. We’d only been with them for five hours, so how could she know?
I’ve travelled across Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. I don’t think she’s done that.
I’m with my owners most of the time. I get walked at least twice a day and sometime more. I get real meat added to my dog food.
I may have to live on the sailboat, but she has to live in a backyard. So I ask you, aren’t my owners nicer?
I spent 5 weeks with Piper this summer, and we went camping together, with both our owners, so I have to admit hers are pretty nice too. Piper still has an attitude, but she quickly learned Kristina spoils all dogs and settled right in with us.
Woof Woof.
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Afraid of Heights: Try Repairs on a Sailboat Mast
Every sailboat needs repairs or maintenance sometime. A small event like sail tape coming loose on a spreader means a trip up the mast.
When sailing the in Bahamas, there are enough calm days to ascend the mast in safety. This weather came right before a cold front.
Safety being the key. The work has to be done, but it doesn’t have to be dangerous. A good harness and bosuns chair, two halyards, two people manning the halyards, tools tied to the belt, and up you go.
Thanks for reading . . .
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Farley’s Friday: Cold Front Happiness
Farley here.
I love a good cold front, but Jasper stole my stick. I want to run with it and he wants to pull at it. We both have lots of energy because it’s cold. So not cold really, but only seventy degrees instead of eighty.
“Let go!” I bark.
“No way, dude,” Jasper barks back.
I get my teeth deep in the wood and pull hard.
“Yikes,” Jasper barks. “Where’d you go?”
I run behind a tree, dart to the side and behind a another tree, but whoa . . .
There he is, waiting to take my stick again.
“No. No. No,” I bark, but he gets it and takes off.
The chase is on. Gotta love this cold weather.
Woof Woof.
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Cold Fronts In The Bahamas
It’s not all sunshine and warmth in the Bahamas, although you might think it is when looking at the photos I post.
The clouds roll in, the temperature drops, and we have to get out the warm clothes. Then it’s time to switch from water activities to land activities and take the dogs hiking.
We don’t go in the water, but the dogs do. On this hike, Jasper, the springer spaniel, was stung by a spotted eagle ray. Really it was his own fault, since he picked it up. The ray escaped unhurt, but Jasper needed treatment, and I think it was painful.
But back to cold fronts, the wind clocks around so it can be hard to find a protected anchorage. When the trade winds blow and the wind comes from one direction, it’s easy to drop the hook in a safe place.
When the wind is going to come from more than one directions, most annoying at night, it’s more of a challenge to hide. Sometimes we just have to suck it up and take the wind and waves, but usually we can tuck in and be mostly protected.
On the good side, rain can come with a cold front, and it’s a free boat wash for us.
Thanks for reading . . .
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Farley’s Friday: Shady Beaches?
Farley Here,
If you’ve been to a lot of beaches like I have, you may have noticed there’s not a lot of shade. I spent the day on a sand spit with my humans while they went windsurfing and kiting, and found it kind of hot. While I life guard most of the time, I do get to relax too.
My human loves me. She used her windsurfing board bag to make a shady spot for me. She uses the gear for sports, I use it for comfort.
I got to spend the day chasing kiters and windsurfers along the beach, and when I got tired, I retired to my special spot, had a drink and napped. I can’t be life guarding all day.
Woof Woof.
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Location, Location, Location: Details for a Manuscript
Do you create your location first or do you write a scene first?
For a novel, I decide on the location before I start writing. My first three novels take place in a fictitious ski resort in British Columbia, Canada. The fourth novel takes place in the Bahamas. I chose the location first because I wanted to write about people who live in isolated places.
Some scenes dictate a location, but for others, I might write the scene and then chose a location. I keep track of locations in a spreadsheet. This helps me avoid using one place to often. Believe it or not, in a ski resort not everything happens on the mountain.
If I have a scene written and haven’t chosen a location, I do this by looking at the mood of the scene. Is is romantic, frightening, funny, awkward? I think about where in my created world the scene will have the greatest impact. Then I add the details.
When reviewing a manuscript, I check for the empty stage syndrome. Did I get carried away with action or dialogue and not describe the location? If I did, I work on describing the location. Sometimes at this stage I drop a clue or a red herring based on location.
Do you decide on location first or write a scene first?
Thanks for reading . . .
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Keeping Fit While Cruising: Lobster Hunting
So many ways to keep fit while cruising – so little time 🙂
If you want to keep fit while sailing either you must sail in crazy weather or you must find other things to do. Me I choose to sail in favourable conditions where I don’t have to exert myself in dangerous situations, so that means I must find other ways to stay in shape.
Hanging out with active friends, all who have different interests, is the best way to find things to do. There’s always someone around to push the gang to get moving.
So this week, the activity to keep fit: Spear fishing for lobster.
I’ll just say outright, I really suck at this. In fact I’ve never caught a lobster. My spear likes to head for the sand and rest on the bottom. My husband and friends all seem to have the skill required.
It doesn’t matter. I can still swim and search. Swimming with fins is great for the calves and quads. Diving until you think you’re lungs will explode is great for the cardio. The adrenaline rush when you think you see a shark . . . enough said about that.
The salt water bleaches your hair, the mask strap breaks it and the wind tangles it, but hey, you can’t have everything.
Oh, except to eat the delicious lobster.
Thanks for reading . . .
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Farley’s Friday: Dog on Guard
Hello, Farley here.
Sometimes I wonder why my humans don’t listen to me. I know things they don’t know but have a little trouble getting my message across. They just don’t get what all my barks mean.
A case in point. You see me below. Clearly I look concerned.
We’ve been deep sea fishing all day. I’m the first one to let everyone know when a fish is on the line.
Zing goes the rod.
I’m up like a shot. “Fish on,” I bark. That get’s everyone’s attention. Human’s get so excited about catching a fish. They’re weird that way. This bark is me telling them the fish is there.
After a long day of fishing, the humans drop the hook and all go for a swim.
“What are you doing?” I bark at them. This bark means don’t go swimming.
“There could be sharks here,” I bark again. This bark means I really don’t want you to go swimming. There are sharks around.
No one listens. They all go swimming. Then one of them notices there is blood on the stern of the boat and decides to wash it off.
“Stop,” I bark. This bark means you are going to attract the big guy. But, hey do they listen to me? Nope. At least all humans are back on board at this point.
Now guess what happens. The man in the grey suit visits us. I swear is wasn’t more than a few drops of blood, but within minutes the shark was at the stern of the boat.
“Step back,” I bark, and this time they listen. Now it wasn’t the same shark that bumped my kayak. I know this because it was too small. No big deal really for a shark experienced do like me.
Somehow, I have to get my humans to stop swimming and to learn my barks.
Woof Woof.
Farley.
