Monthly Archives: March 2016

New Family Vehicle

One of the many things we decided prior to departure was to replace our old dinghy, a twelve-foot fiberglass-bottom inflatable AB, with a 2001 Mercury two-stroke 25hp. We were finding leaks and having to pump it up every few days. Because its days were numbered, we opted to buy a new one before leaving for an extended voyage. We eventually decided to go with the thirteen-foot aluminum AB, and bought a fuel-injected four-stroke Suzuki 30hp to power it.

Some of the differences are that the Suzuki has a lever shifter instead of the Mercury’s twist-shift, it doesn’t have a tiller extension, and you don’t have to mix the gas with the oil. Our motor is one of the newer models, with a built-in computer that tells us when to change the oil, and when it is getting too hot. It doesn’t get on a plane as easily with the whole family aboard (even with a hydro-foil), probably because the old dinghy had a custom prop. The new dinghy has more internal volume, and can carry all the necessary groceries, laundry, or snorkel gear wherever it needs to go. It can go at greater speeds through rougher seas than the old dinghy could, and instead of slamming, the deeper V-shape of the hull helps cut through the waves and makes the ride more comfortable. We have yet to try taking the hookah in the dinghy, but so far, it has proven itself worthy of the crew of Take Two.

Dive Boat

Geography Report: Bahamas

This is the first entry of a new series of posts based on my independent homeschool project for the year. For every new country we visit, I will be writing about geography, history, people, nature, and fun things to do.

BahamasMapFlag

Basic Facts

Capital: Nassau
People/Customs: population is 29,000, mostly descendants of Loyalists and their slaves
Language: English
Religion: Christian
Food/Farming: most of the Bahamas are not ideal for agricultural opportunities
Government: Constitutional parliamentary democracy, independent from England since 1973
Currency: Bahamian dollar
Art/Music/Culture: The Junkanoo is a popular Bahamian holiday occurring on Boxing Day (Dec 26) and New Year’s Day. Bahamians are famous for their basket weaving, which can be found at straw markets. Rake n’ Scrapes feature loud music and dancing.
Area: 5,358 sq. mi.

History

The first inhabitants of the Bahamas were the Siboney people, a peaceful fishing tribe, but not much is known about them. The name Siboney means “cave dweller”, and some evidence has been found in caves throughout the Exumas. The Lucayans were also natives of the Bahamas, though in a later period. The Lucayans were part of a tribe called Arawak, which means “meat eater”. They survived mainly on fish and plants, eating some hutia. When Columbus arrived in 1492, the “Indians” were very hospitable towards him and his men. The Europeans thought the Lucayans were simple and had no religion and would be easily turned toward Christianity. They were wrong, though, as the Lucayans had a very sophisticated creed involving gods, an afterlife, and many spirits they called “zemis.” When the Spanish explorers could not find the gold they were looking for, they began enslaving natives and treating them cruelly. As a result of these antics, the entire civilization was destroyed by 1520.

The English started settling Eleuthera and New Providence and in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Bahamians began to salvage goods from wrecked ships going to and from Europe. The Spanish then started to steal Bahamian ships and take prisoners. In retaliation, the Bahamian governor commissioned privateers to keep the Spanish out of Bahamian waters. Captains of ships found ways to avoid the wreckers and became more skilled in navigating around reefs. Buccaneers were meat farmers who sold meat and other goods to sailors passing by Hispaniola, but the Spanish disposed of them because they needed supply ships to go back to Europe. The Jamaicans were annoyed by the amount of French ships surrounding them and attacked, doing severe damage, and the English came to help the Jamaicans. The English started calling their own people “pirates.” By 1713 there were at least 1,000 active pirates in the Exumas alone.

The 1765 Stamp Act was the beginning of the end of the British colonial era. During the American Revolutionary period, 20% of the American population was loyal to Great Brittan and hostile to the American cause. They were called Tories. Tories were ostracized, lost land and businesses and were sometimes killed. When the treaty of Versailles was signed, the Bahamas went back to England and Florida went to Spain. Lured by rumors of commerce and agriculture, many Loyalists moved to the Bahamas, bringing their slaves. The abolition of slavery ended cheap labor and the plantation lifestyle; slaves became farmers and fishermen, and worked in the salt industry. During the Civil War, steamships became popular transportation options for the wealthy, and the wealthy were numerous, because the blockade running of the 1860’s was a lucrative, if dangerous, source of income for Bahamians.

There was a post-Civil war depression caused by the crash in the economy from the end of the war, but soon steamships were operating regularly between Nassau and Florida. The Development Board was charged with increasing tourism in 1914, but the main industry after WWI was bootlegging during the Pohibition period in the U.S. Tourism thrived again after WWII, because of the advent of air travel. After the Bahamas achieved independence on July 10, 1973, there was an influx of money from a new source. Marijuana and cocaine for the American market was smuggled through the Bahamas. There was a DEA raid on Norman’s Cay in 1979, because Carlos Lehder was smuggling Medellin Cartel cocaine from South America into Florida and Georgia. The Bahamas now has a flourishing industry in tourism and real estate development, as warm breezes and clear turquoise waters attract people from all over the globe.

Land Forms/Flora and Fauna

Most of the islands are limestone (from ancient reefs), scrubby with salt-resistant plants like palms, mangroves, sea purslane, and casuarinas. Common animals are dolphins, sharks, rays, crabs, lobster, eels, reef fish, barracuda, mollusks, lobster, conch, coral, echinoderms, rock iguanas, sea birds, and hutia (a large native rodent), turtles, jelly fish, and swimming pigs.

Things To Do

Snorkel, dive, hike, explore, swim, and fish.

Bibliography

Pavlidis, Stephen J. The Exuma Guide, 3rd Edition. 2015: Seaworthy Publications, Cocoa Beach, FL. Random House World Atlas and Encyclopedia. 2007: Random House Reference, NY, NY.

Rachel’s Bubble Bath

Last week we swam in Rachel’s Bubble Bath, located at the north end of Compass Cay, for the first time. Though we had already been here on a previous trip, it had been too cold to swim. It’s kind of like playing in the surf at the beach, only without the beach.

Bubble Bath

It happens in a place where ocean surge comes through a low place between rocks on the shore and flows into a tidal basin. As the wave crashes over the gap, it forms a large foaming pool, hence its name.

Bubble Bath

The cool thing is that when you jump in while it’s foaming, you sink, because it’s more air than water. Luckily we brought the GoPro, and I got a video of dad jumping in, as well as one showing how the whole thing works (coming soon to a blog near you). Unfortunately, we went at mid-tide and the Exuma Sound was relatively calm, so there weren’t as many big waves, or as much foam, as we’d hoped. So far it is my favorite thing that we’ve done.

Bubble Bath

On Lobster, Lion fish, and the Land and Sea Park

The lobster in this place are wondrously large and virile. The natives hath given us a number of them, and my men are most excited to learn the ways of catching them.”  So wrote Christopher Columbus in 1492, during his sojourn in the Bahamas, or so he would have written if he had known what a lobster was, and if the natives had given him any. The lobster in the Bahamas, at least in my experience, certainly are large and virile, if scarce near populated areas. Lobster season lasts until the end of March, and we plan to make the most of it.

We do not have the traditional lobster hunting implements (hand net, tickle stick), but we do have pole spears. And, fortunately, you are allowed to spear lobster in the Bahamas. This adds the complication of having to kill the lobster before measuring it (its carapace must be at least three inches), but I haven’t had too much trouble. All the lobster I’ve seen were well over the size limit. Many of you no doubt think spearing lobster is cheating. While I agree in principle, the pole spear gives us the advantage of flexibility. With a net and tickle stick, you can only hunt lobster. With a spear, you can hunt anything. At least we’re not fishing with hand grenades!

Langosta Killa

Lion fish are also excellent for spear fishing, for a number of reasons. First, they’re instantly identifiable. Second, they’re slow moving–an easy target. Third, there is no minimum length; you don’t have to worry about shooting one that’s too small. Fourth, they’re delicious. Just remove the venomous spines before eating. And fifth, there is no bag limit. Fire away!  The Lion Fish Epidemic started when people set their pet lion fish free in the Atlantic Ocean, far from their natural Pacific predators. The invasive lion fish thrived in their new environment, gobbling up baby reef fish, and multiplying like crazy. Eating them does everyone a favor.

Lionfish

The Exumas Land and Sea Park is a large tract of islands stretching from Shroud Cay to Rocky Dundas. It contains a number of pristine beaches, coral reefs, and, except for a few movie-star-owned islands and the park headquarters, is uninhabited. You are not allowed to take anything out of the park, but this is mostly left to the discretion of the visitors. You’re also not permitted to fish, hunt, or lobster in the park, although enforcement is difficult because of the park’s large boundaries. However, it must be working, because while snorkeling at Warderick Wells, I saw at least six huge lobster hiding under coral heads. I also saw just as many lion fish, more than I’ve ever seen on one reef. This may be another result of the no fishing policy. You would think that killing lion fish, even in the park, would be a public service, right? At least people are respecting the no-take policy. The park is doing something about the lion fish. When I reported sighting a lion fish in a creek to one of the rangers, he said he would take care of it.  When we moved out of the park, I noticed a severe lack of edible sea life, evidence of fishing. I hope that visitors to the Exumas are supplementing their diet of lobster with lion fish!

The Staff of Life (Bread Recipe)

Bread is emblematic of our way of life. It is simple and self-sufficing, but not easy. It is flexible, can be made in many different ways, and is affected by environmental changes, more art than science. It is warm and welcoming, and, broken together, forms the center of a table of friends. In short, it is good for the body and the soul.

Fresh Bread

I love eating bread, kneading bread, baking bread, buttering the hot-from-the-oven heel of the bread. People sometimes ask how we feed this large family of ours. The truth is that we bake a lot of bread. Banana bread, pumpkin bread, whole wheat bread, multi-grain bread, raisin bread, zucchini bread, coconut bread, apple-oatmeal bread, pita bread, pizza crust, pancakes, biscuits, muffins, waffles, tortillas—you name it and we have probably made it. I have spent a lot of time reading both sides of the bread debate (about whether it’s good or bad for you) and I have decided that home-made, from-scratch breads are fine for our family.

In order to do this kind of baking, you have to have the right ingredients and the right tools. We carry about 200 pounds of grain under the starboard aft berth (either in vacuum-sealed THRIVE containers or in 5-gallon pails with Gamma-Seal lids to keep moisture out). About once a month, I go rummaging under the bed and refill my quart-size mason jars with red and white hard wheat (for yeast breads), spelt (for quick breads/pastries), 9-grain mix (for cereal or multi-grain bread), and oat groats (for cereal, oatmeal bread, and pancakes). I then use my Vita-mix dry pitcher to grind the desired amount of grain into flour. It takes about a minute, and produces a fine flour with some texture left—not the super-fine you get in store-bought varieties. If you run it for less than a minute, you get a coarser grind, which I might want for porridge, for example. For pizza dough or burger buns, I usually go with a half-and-half dough, using white and wheat flour in equal amounts to get a fluffier, lighter bread. So I carry some white flour, as well. I use honey to lightly sweeten, and sea salt, as well as yeast, buttermilk or yogurt (which I can culture from fresh or powdered milk), and butter or olive oil. And that’s it. No long lists of ingredients with dough conditioners and preservatives to keep the bread from molding. I hand-knead, and bake in cast-iron pans which are non-toxic and non-stick and produce a great crust.

Note for those interested in milling their own flour: we have both a Vita-Mix (2 hp blender) and a Family Grain Mill from Pleasant Hill Grain (hand grinder). The Whisper Mill is another good brand. Whole grains can be ordered from online purveyors (I use THRIVE or Tropical Traditions) or co-ops like Wheat Montana or Bread Beckers, and purchased or ordered in bulk from health food stores. Grinding, then soaking the grain in an acidic solution (like yogurt or buttermilk) increases the availability of nutrients in the bread, and also gives whole-wheat bread a really good texture. I order yeast by the pound online. My recipe follows, with the quick version following the slow one!

Tanya’s Whole-Wheat Yogurt Bread
Prep time: 24+ hours*     Makes: 2 8” loaves


Ingredients:
2 cups hard red wheat berries + 2 cups hard white wheat berries OR 5 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup yogurt OR buttermilk OR kefir
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions:
Grind 2 cups of hard red and 2 cups of hard white wheat berries and combine in a glass bowl, setting aside about a cup of flour (4 cups of berries should make about 5 cups of flour). Melt butter and add to flours. Add yogurt and water and mix until a soft dough forms. Cover the bowl and leave on the counter (at room temperature) overnight, or for 6-8 hours. After soaking, add yeast and honey to warm water in a glass measuring cup and stir. Add salt and 1/2 cup of reserved flour to dough. Add yeast mixture and knead on floured surface until smooth ball forms, about 10 minutes, adding water or flour as necessary until the texture is “right” (not too wet, not too dry, tacky but not sticky). Place dough in covered bowl to rise. Rise until doubled, about an hour. Knead again, briefly, and divide dough in half. Shape each half into a loaf and sprinkle with/roll in flour and place in oiled 8×4” loaf pan (ceramic, glass, or cast iron work well). Rise, covered lightly with a towel, until loaves reach top of pans, about 30 minutes, then bake side by side for 35 minutes in a 350˚ oven. Remove from pans immediately and cool on cooling racks, covering loaves with a towel. Use within 3 days (or use one loaf and freeze the other).

Hints and tricks:
Brick-like bread results from a dough that is too dry, from under-kneading, and from old yeast. Yeast should be stored in the fridge, and not for more than six months. Dough should be soft enough to stick to your hands, but not so sticky that it leaves residue on your fingers. Knead the dough until it is stretchy—one test is to take a small ball of dough and stretch it into a “window” of dough. If you can stretch it thin enough to see light through, without it tearing, then you have kneaded enough. Bread that is done baking will sound hollow when thumped.

*If you’re short on time: If you don’t have time for an overnight soak, you can do this in a few hours. You can also use a combination of commercial whole wheat and white flour (I recommend Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Organic flours). Mix all dry ingredients and then add wet ingredients. Stir together until a ball forms and then knead, rise, and bake according to the instructions.

The Island of the Overpriced Landing Fee

Highborne Cay is a big H-shaped island in the northern Exumas. It is also entirely owned by the Highborne Cay Resort and Marina, meaning you can’t land there without permission. We anchored there last Monday. Dad needed the internet for work, and we wanted to explore, as we had never been ashore there. And for good reason too, as we found out when Mom dinghied over to the marina. The landing fee for non-marina patrons was $25 per person (that’s $150 for the six of us)! However, if you pay the fee, you get access to all the resort facilities (bikes, Hobie cats, beaches, kayaks, bathrooms, etc.).

Despite the cost, we all (dad excluded) decided to land. After paying the (exorbitant) landing fee at the Ship’s Store, we headed out to get some bikes. The bike rack looked like someone had gone into the bike section at Walmart, bought six or seven bikes at random, and let them sit for several months in a humid environment. In spite of appearances, they were in good working order.

I opted not to ride, and instead walked with Mom and short-legs (Rachel), while the others biked on ahead. I soon tired of walking at Rachel’s slow pace, and went exploring. Before long, I saw a side road named “The Spring”. Interested, I decided to follow it. I knew there was some fresh water in the Bahamas (otherwise, how would the Taino Indians have survived?), but I didn’t know about Highborne. The road led down the hill to the beach off of which our boat was anchored. I followed the periodically-spaced signs advertising “SPRING” into the woods. And there it was. The Spring of Highborne Cay: a three-foot-long metal spring hanging from a tree. Disappointed, but not surprised, I returned to the beach. After carving my name in BIG letters in the sand, I went to find the others.

We spent the rest of the day climbing on the rocks on the shoreline, picnicking, biking on the trails, playing basketball at the “basketball court”–a post with a board and hoop nailed to it–and eating over-priced ice cream from the Ship’s Store. Late that afternoon, we went back to the boat, feeling like we had gotten our money’s worth.

Highbourne Swing

Rachel on the swing at Highborne Cay

Iguanas at Leaf Cay

We have visited Leaf Cay before in past trips to the Bahamas, to hike around and try to catch the iguanas. We would use lettuce to lure them in, and then grab them. Three years later, as we pulled our dinghy up onto the beach, the iguanas emerged from the woods and began advancing on us expecting to be fed. At that moment we realized how wise we were to have eaten our lunch at the boat. Frequent tourist trips to feed the iguanas had accustomed them to human presence making them unafraid of us. They were especially interested in Sam’s shoes (which were green), our turtle sand mold (which was green), and our tennis ball (which was, needless to say, green). To avoid further attraction, we hid the various green articles in the dinghy, or under buckets. I made a quick run back to the boat to retrieve our GoPro to take some footage of the iguanas’ hilarious antics, which you may see posted here soon, as well as a funny picture of mom sitting in her beach chair brandishing a toy shovel, surrounded by a crowd of hungry iguanas. My favorite video depicts Sarah holding out a shovel full of sand, while each iguana in turn runs up and takes a huge bite of sand, thinking it food, then retreats, opening and closing its mouth, trying to get the sand out. Yesterday we moved back to Highborne Cay to anchor in calmer water, still laughing at the stupidity and single-mindedness of the rock iguanas at Leaf Cay.

Tanya, Queen of the Iguanas

Catching Fish Heads

Yesterday we came to Highborne Cay in the Exumas. On the way, my mom and I rigged up a dead flying fish we had found on deck after our Gulf Stream passage with a hook and leader and threw it in the water. Later, it started to whiz. We reeled it in until the fish got away and the line went slack. It bit off the body of the fish, leaving the head to cut loose and throw back. Then we fished with a plain fake squid and we got to reel in a barracuda until it got away. Luckily we kept the lure!

Fishhead

Crossing the Gulf Stream

 

Long, over-night passages like crossing the Gulf Stream are, for me, cause for celebration. With the other kids conveniently sea-sick and incapacitated, I can do whatever I feel like. I have (fortunately) never (so far) been afflicted with sea sickness, air sickness, space sickness, or motion sickness of any kind. Even so, three-to-five-foot seas severely limit what I feel like doing. During long passages, I mainly spend my time in my cabin reading science-fiction (currently 2010 Odyssey 2), sitting in the captain’s chair doing nothing, or playing video games. What better way to appreciate Mom’s decree that there will be no school on passages, than to spend uninterrupted hours in front of a screen flying F-15s and driving T-90s? With no competition for the computer, and Mom safely napping off-watch, I get to play as long as I want.

This time was no exception, even though the seas were more like two-to-four-feet. As usual, we attempted to catch some kind of fish, and, as usual, we failed miserably. After the sun went down, Aaron and I kept Mom company while she was on watch. Being on watch is easy. All you have to do is make sure the autopilot doesn’t hit anything. Also, don’t fall asleep. The penalty for sleeping on watch is public flogging, or hanging, depending on whether the autopilot hits anything. Nah, not really.

The next day was more of the same, although Sam overcame his seasickness enough to provide competition for the computer. That evening we watched a movie. We watched Captain Ron instead of carrying on the tradition of watching The Swiss Family Robinson on night passages (although why we would want to watch a movie about a shipwreck is anyone’s guess).  Except for a light rain, the night was uneventful.

The next morning, I woke up and we weren’t underway. We had anchored at Chub Cay to check in to the Bahamas. I was also late to breakfast. Again. While we ate, Dad dinghied ashore to check us in. A few minutes later, he returned. It turned out that we needed to take the boat to the dock for some reason. It also turned out that we had to pay $100 check-in fee, or buy $100 worth of fuel. It seems like a ridiculous trade, but we didn’t mind. We got the fuel. We then proceeded to do nothing for the rest of the day, while we waited for good weather. The next morning, we weighed anchor for Highborne Cay, or the Island of the Over-Priced Landing Fee (coming soon to a blog near you).

Passage Notes

This is the best passage we have ever made. Aside from finally perfecting the medication for kids who usually get seasick (after all the natural remedies failed to prevent misery), we had great sailing weather. Not that this was the predicted pattern—we were supposed to have a boring motor- crossing of the Gulf Stream. Instead, we sailed most of the time, even utilizing our spinnaker and new code zero. Of course, sailing weather means rougher seas, but also shorter passages. We dropped our mooring ball in Marathon at 4:30 pm on Thursday and dropped anchor in Chub Cay at 4:30 am on Saturday.

After resting up and going ashore to check in, we enjoyed a celebratory steak dinner (probably the last for a long while, as there are no cows in the Bahamas and only skinny little frozen strip steaks at island markets). The next morning, we sailed from Chub to Highborne Cay in a record 10 hours, averaging 7.3 knots! Again, this was supposed to be an easy day across the banks, but the wind cranked up so that we had to sail with a reefed main and switch the code zero for the jib at the half-way point. We arrived in light gale conditions and felt grateful to find a little cove to snug up in out of the wind and waves.

This trip also marks another turning point for our kids: all of them took a watch. Eli and Aaron stayed up late with me the first night, enjoying their first cups of on-watch coffee. Sam and Rachel stayed up the second night, sharing the captain’s chair, and Sarah manned the chair during many daytime hours. All of them participated in record-keeping, something at which we have historically been very bad. Our logs are in a disgraceful state, something we don’t really notice until we try to remember where we went when and how long a certain trip was. Of course, in the event of an electrical problem, you’re supposed to write down latitude, longitude, heading and boat speed so you could do dead-reckoning if necessary. Complete dependence on electronic charts and navigation equipment does not demonstrate good seamanship. To counteract our bad habits, I have printed up a log sheet to make keeping records a little easier. I submit a few samples so the reader can fill in what he might see when looking at the map of our passage.

Name Aaron                      Date 3/3/16                        Time 2130           

Sail Jib                      Motor Port     

Wind Speed/Dir 15kts ESE Wave Height 2-3 ft     Depth 600ft

Heading 90°        Course (COG) 85°             Speed (SOG) 5.6 kts

Latitude 24° 41.3’N          Longitude 80° 39.7’W

Notes Cruise ships everywhere. Raised jib to sail. Tricolor not working, so we’re using the steaming light.                                                                                                                                                                

Name Eli                              Date 3/4/16                        Time 0000           

Sail Jib                      Motor                                     

Wind Speed/Dir 23kts SE Wave Height 3-5 ft        Depth >600ft

Heading 90°        Course (COG) 85°             Speed (SOG) 7.5 kts

Latitude 24° 43.9’N          Longitude 80° 30.4’W

Notes Sailing in Gulf Stream. Seas rougher. Took an unusually large wave over starboard bow. Salt water leaked in master cabin, waking the captain. Also splashed in galley, flooding countertops.        

Name Tanya                      Date 3/4/16                        Time 0545           

Sail                            Motor Port          

Wind Speed/Dir 10kts W Wave Height 2-4 ft        Depth >700ft

Heading 90°        Course (COG) 70°             Speed (SOG) 6.7 kts

Latitude 25° 36.9’N          Longitude 79° 50.9’W

Notes Due to rough seas and wet bed, Jay and I are taking naps in cockpit in short shifts (2 hours).         Waning moon. Seas becoming more comfortable.                                                                                    

Name Aaron                      Date 3/4/16                        Time 1200           

Sail Spinnaker       Motor                 

Wind Speed/Dir 12kts W Wave Height 2-4 ft        Depth >700ft

Heading 85°        Course (COG) 85°             Speed (SOG) 5.5 kts

Latitude 25° 13.0’N          Longitude 79° 13.7’W

Notes Land sighted (South Riding Rocks. Sunny and pleasant. Fishing with squiddie. ETA on Great Bahama Bank around 1220                                                                                                                       

Name Sarah                       Date 3/4/16                        Time 1445           

Sail Main/Code Zero          Motor                 

Wind Speed/Dir 9.5kts WNW Wave Height <2 ft Depth 13ft

Heading 77°        Course (COG) 69°             Speed (SOG) 3.8 kts

Latitude 25° 17.3’N          Longitude 78° 58.0’W

Notes Calm, sunny day on the Banks. Mom playing ukulele. Dad making power and water.                                                                                                                                                                                              

Name Tanya/Eli                                Date 3/5/16                        Time 0030           

Sail                            Motor Stbd     

Wind Speed/Dir 30kts E Wave Height 2-4 ft          Depth 13ft

Heading 96°        Course (COG) 85°             Speed (SOG) 2 kts

Latitude 25° 28.3’N          Longitude 78° 12.1’W

Notes Squalls and rain. Got Jay up early because of weather. Almost to waypoint. ETA at Chub Cay 0430.                                                                                                                                                                  

Name Sarah                       Date 3/6/16                        Time 1230           

Sail Main/Code Zero          Motor                 

Wind Speed/Dir 15kts NE Wave Height <2 ft        Depth 70ft

Heading 117°      Course (COG) 117°          Speed (SOG) 9 kts

Latitude 24° 59.7’N          Longitude 77° 32.1’W

Notes    Chub to New Providence. Sailed across the tongue of the ocean. Sunny, cool, gorgeous day. Sam using a flying fish as bait for trolling. Just arriving on banks—depth went from 7000ft to 70!         

Name Tanya/Rachel                       Date 3/6/16                        Time 1630           

Sail Reefed main/Jib           Motor                 

Wind Speed/Dir 25kts NE Wave Height 4-6ft        Depth 21ft

Heading 120°      Course (COG) 115°          Speed (SOG) 9.7 kts

Latitude 24° 44.9’N          Longitude 76° 58.2’W

Notes New Providence to Highborne Cay, Exumas. Screaming fast “sporty” sail. Seas becoming                 uncomfortable. ETA Highborne at 1730. Teatime with Jay in the cockpit (thank you, Megan!)