In Charleston

Today, we docked early to spend some time investigating Charleston. I started out with a snorkeling adventure.

Okay. The truth is that we went to the South Carolina Aquarium. It is a lovely aquarium with some really great fish tanks. Many of the exhibits were focused on sea conservation. They do have a sea turtle rescue lab here. The special exhibit was on life in Madagascar. It was a small exhibit, but very nicely arranged. And, it had two lemurs! 

The aquarium also works on wildlife rescue. They had a good number of shore birds. One was our favorite, the Great Blue Heron.

And, just for Susan, they had a pelican that liked to pose.

Both were obviously rescue birds. They even had an eagle with a damaged wing. It was nice to see that they all had a great retirement home.

Toward Charleston

We're on the ICW headed toward Charleston,  SC. As you can see, the photo is from inside the cabin. We are still in the Lowlands. It is still buggy. So, Dear Readers, I will not be going outside to take that perfect picture.

The plan for today is to arrive early in Charleston. We will stay at a marina near the aquarium. When today's rain shows up, we plan to be inside enjoying DRY fish shows! It will be another great day near the water- just not wet!

Moving On Northward

We left Beaufort, SC around 10:30. Yes, we had a great afternoon and morning in this great town. We had wonderful ice cream at Sweet Treats. Some of us had a light dinner at Panini's on the Waterfront. And, we all had the opportunity to do laundry! YAY! Clean clothes day. Beaufort is a great place to spend the afternoon.

Today, we had an interesting example of the power of AIS- Automatic Identification System. Our ship name is broadcasted out in the general area, as are all the other ships so equipped. We were called by a tug with a barge coming around a tight corner in a narrow, dredged channel. He told us his intentions, and he asked us about our intentions. Ah, Dear Readers, we know the Law of Mass Tonnage. In other words, big ships ALWAYS have the right of way! We offered to stand by until he negotiated the corner. Good day on the water.

Morning on the Vernon River

It's 6:45, and we are already on the move. It appears to be another pretty day. However, you will notice that the picture is shot from inside LUX.  It's still Georgia. It's still buggy. Everyone is involved in our major activity - killing little no seeums. Ugh! The picture of Mike killing bugs on the screen was taken from inside LUX. I'm not going out there until much later!

Traveling in the Lowlands

We had a lovely day on the water today. The sun was shining. It was warm. And, we moved along. That is, of course, until we got to Hellgate.

Ah, my Dear Readers, the reason to get up at the Crack of Dawn is to make sure you make it through Hellgate as close to high tide as possible. We were just on the edge when we were brought to a halt. No, we did not run aground. The sailboat in front of us did- right in the middle of the channel. So, we had to pull off and drop the anchor for a bit.

But, we are in Georgia. The tides are a change of 9 feet. This tide rose. The sailboat floated off. We went by- and reported back to them about the depths we encountered as we went forward.

We are anchored on the Vernon River. Yes, Dear Readers, it is buggy here. We are shut down tight with all hatches closed. Anything to protect us from the nasty no seeums.

In Georgia

We are headed up the coast in the Lowlands of Georgia. Carol got the anchor up, but she has decided to attend to the finishing details later - that would be when the bug population goes off for its midmorning nap! Yes, Dear Readers, they lie not when they say it is buggy here.

Today's goal is Saint Simons Island. There, Peggy and Terry will rejoin the crew after a short sojourn in Orlando.

Leaving St. Augustine

Sadly, we are leaving St. Augustine. As you may know, it's one of our favorite places. We spent yesterday just touring- more on that later.

Today has the promise of being a lovely day. We left at the crack of dawn today in order to make good time.

Great Day on the Water

Thursday, March 3, was a great day for us out on the water. We took the outside passage from Ft. Pierce to Port Canaveral. It was a little bit of a rough day, but the weather was pleasant.

It was a great day for wildlife. We saw a large pod of dolphins. One even leaped out of the water right in front of the boat. But, the most exciting part of the afternoon occurred at 2:45. Michael spotted a whale. At first, he was unsure. But, he called the crew out. And, the whale performed on cue. It spouted and it leaped out of the water. He jumped out, did a pirouette, and fell back into the ocean on his back with a big splash. It appeared to be a juvenile, because it was not all that big. But, it was impressive. Too bad the crew was so awestruck that no one thought to take a picture.

The approach to Port Canaveral is quite exciting. It's narrow, and lots of boat traffic can be found plying its waters. It's also quite the industrial area.

But, it is also renowned for being a cruise ship departure port.

Luckily, they were still loading passengers when we passed them. We were at the bridge when the Carnival ship started out. We could hear the partying as we went through the opened bridge.

We had decided to get to the ICW for the passage today. The weather out on the ocean was not going to be favorable for our route, so comfort controlled our plans! Yay for that bit of reasoning!

Once you pass under the bridge, there is a lock in order to get into the canal. Rest assured that the lock is closely patrolled.

While waiting for the lock to fill, we were privy to a white pelican meeting!

They were all huddled together, discussing the day- or some other weighty topic. They did not share. In fact, they seemed to think we were eavesdropping, so they took off walking up the hill.

Once in the canal, we were treated to another wondrous sight. OMG! We thought we saw a space shuttle!

No, Dear Readers, it was merely a replica that used to be in front of the Astronauts Hall of Fame as a display. It has been taken to be refurbished. It will live on the barge, and it will travel the waterways as a floating educational exhibit. In this fashion, people of all ages might have the opportunity to explore the space shuttle and to learn about what it meant to space exploration.

We anchored out last night. This morning, we were up bright and early to get on our way north.

Back to the States

Yesterday, we bid a fond farewell to Bimini Sands- but not before Terry got to complete one more item on his checklist for this visit. He speared a lionfish! Of course, in usual LUX style, it was not strictly according to plan. It seems that young lionfish liked to hang out around the docks at Bimini Sands. So, Terry walked along the dock and landed two of them. Unfortunately, he did not get to clean them for dinner- they were too small. They ended up in the trash. Terry's official count is 2.5- he believes he mortally wounded the third, but he was unable to retrieve it.

Even with the lionfish adventure, we were able to leave at the crack of dawn.

It took no time at all for LUX to reach the waters where the depth sounder reads ----. Since we were in really deep waters, Terry asked if we were interested in fishing on this fine day. Alas, Dear Readers, poor Terry is stuck on a boat with crew that look at him blankly when he asks about fishing. After a moment, we regroup and say the same phrase each time that question is asked - "If you wish to fish, go right ahead and do it." The words had barely escaped our collective mouths before Terry had the gear spooled out.

And so we waited for a while. Those of you that know me realize that patience is not my strong suit. So, I wandered out and tugged on the line. Let us take a moment for a flashback--  When we caught the Mahi, I received a lot of grief. I had been asked, as you might remember, to call the fish. The crew appears to be under the misapprehension that I have mystical fish powers. I don't think I do. However, I no sooner gave a tug on the line than something happened. I turned to Terry, who was at the helm. I tried out this line, "Okay. Would it be better if I said you appear to have a fish on the line on this side of the boat."

Excitement broke out on LUX once again. However, the fish on starboard escaped. But, the port lure had picked up one in the meantime. It did not escape.

Terry had captured a tuna. 

Once on board, Carol threw the towel over it. We then learned that tuna do not fall for the towel trick as easily as the Mahi. In fact, I have a great video clip of the fish literally drumming on the deck with Terry's arms vibrating along. So, we also offered it a shot of vodka. That went a long way to calming it down. It worked so well that Peggy offered the suggestion that we buy some cheap fish booze to have on board in the future. 

Yes, it is a good size for a tuna. That looks like several meals. Terry cleaned it up, and we tossed it in the freezer.

We finished the crossing in time to prepare some of the tuna for dinner in our anchorage in Lake Worth. (No, Dear Readers, our freezer does not work that fast. The tuna was not frozen yet.) We fixed the tuna in aluminum foil packets. It had the tuna with pineapple on top, frozen veggies on one side, and some leftover couscous on the other side. It was topped with Asian Sesame Marinade from Safeway. Even the non fish person (that would be me) thought it was tasty.

We left the Lake Worth anchorage around 8 this morning. It's obvious that we are back in the states. There may still be palm trees, but the architecture and population density has certainly changed.

Today, we are motoring up the coast of Florida toward Ft. Pierce. Yes, Dear Readers, we are back on the ocean. However, it is a Peggy and Gee kind of day. It's flat out here. We should reach Ft. Pierce by this afternoon.

The Looky Bucket- Not Just for Fish!

Since we are having a down day here at Bimini Sands, we've all worked at cleaning or maintenance. Terry worked on his engine sensor.

Carol and Peggy decided to try out the new sunshade Carol constructed before we left on this adventure. Today was the perfect day to work on fitting the sunshade. It has been barely breezy and occasionally cloudy. Off they went to try it out.

Of course, what is the first thing to happen? Carol drops the scissors overboard. In the process of trying to fish out the scissors, Carol goes for expensive. She drops a piece of one of the lifelines overboard- the gate part. We were willing to let the scissors go, but the lifeline cost a bit more. Carol went looking.

She then went fishing with the crab net attached to the long boat hook.

We all watched and called out encouragement.

Finally, Carol found it. Success!

Just another fun day on LUX!

Leap Day!

Today is February 29 - Leap Day. It's the day where salaried employees work for free! It can be considered a day out of calendar time. With that in mind, we decided to spend another day here at the Bimini Sands Resort.

This is actually an amazing marina for the Bahamas. It is not expensive. For example, water is only $.35 per gallon! The docks are all floating docks. And, just for Linda, the water is deep here in the marina.

Like Highbourne Cay, the docks are not right up against the land. There is a space that makes a natural habitat for fish. We saw more fish yesterday and today than we have seen on the whole trip. We even saw three lionfish! It is like snorkeling here without getting wet. The water is so clear that viewing the fish is akin to visiting the aquarium.

Today started like most of our days -the sailors were gathered around the radio to listen to the weather report from Chris Parker.

This report encouraged us to stay the day. It appears that tomorrow will be the best day for crossing over to Florida. Once that decision was made, we all went out to breakfast at the small cafe here in the marina.

It's a nice little place that offers the usual fare as well as some Bahamian specialties.

Note that one specialty is sardine salad served with grits. And, look, you could have steamed bologna! Needless to say, we skipped right over that option. We went for omelette or Bahamian bread French toast. We have fallen in love with the Bahamian breads. It is no surprise that we made a purchase at the little marina store.

Yes, indeed, we bought both raisin and coconut bread today. On top of everything else, this marina offers the best prices we have found here in the Bahamas. The bread was only $4.50 a loaf! We've never paid less than $6 a loaf to date. We really like this marina.

Sunday Morning

It's almost 7 AM here, and we are already on the Tongue of the ocean. Yes, Dear Readers, it truly is called the Tongue. We can tell we are here because the depth sounder officially reads ----. In other words, it is too deep here.

Yesterday ended on a high note. Gee had taken a nap while the crew sailed on. When she got up, Mike announced that he was glad she was finally up. She was needed to call the fish. You see, Gee loves to sit out back playing with the fishing line and calling, "Here fishy, fishy!" Yes, not a single fish had been caught while Gee was napping. So, Gee heads out. Before she could even unzip the enclosure door, she turns and says, "What about that splashy thing?" As usual, they all ignore her. She asks again. She asks a third time. Carol yells, "It is a fish!" And the excitement began.

You could tell when it leapt out of the water that it was a Mahi Mahi. The colors on that fish are so beautiful and distinctive. And, they do put up a good fight. But Terry wrestled it on board. Carol threw a towel over it, and they Terry gave it a good drink of vodka (we're out of cheap rum). 

After we reeled in the catch of the day, we continued on to Chub Cay- a private island with a fishing resort marina. The marina itself shows the signs of extensive investment.

As you can see, there are floating docks with water and electricity hook ups readily available at each slip. There are beautiful villas to rent all along the protected entrance.

But the facilities were not as nice. The fuel dock itself is nice, but it is surrounded by ramshackle run down warehouses. The transient bath house for men was just a step above primitive. Terry wouldn't use it. He thought it was not worth the effort. He did try to check out the female side, but it was locked. And, no, we were not given a key. We were told the showers were open 24/7. And, the prices were at the high end of the marinas her in the Bahamas.

As you might guess, we had baked Mahi with a Parmesan breadcrumb crust for dinner. To accompany it, we had a Mediterranean couscous salad. It was made by adding pistachios, craisins, and a vinegar honey dressing to the cooked couscous. It was a very yummy way to serve couscous.

This morning, we were off again at COD.

Saturday

This morning was a COD adventure- COD meaning Crack of Dawn! We are starting the first leg of our journey back to the states today, so everyone had to be up bright and early so that we could get in a nice long day.

We managed to leave the marina right around 6:30.

Highbourne Cay has a very interesting entrance. They put a fish cleaning station right at the point where you enter. And, it attracts lots of interesting wildlife.

If you can't really tell, that dark shadow in the water is a shark. This morning, there was only one shark there in hopeful anticipation of a fisherman who was so successful that he could come back before midday. When the shark saw us leaving, he followed us for a bit hoping we were at least dropping off treats. It took not long for disappointment to set in, and he headed back to the fish cleaning station.

This was a good morning to be up early. The sky was incredible- full of clouds of all textures. 

We'll be moving along for most of the day today. The goal is to get as far north as we can. Once again, the weather is unstable. Yesterday, we had on shorts. Today, four of us have on long pants. Yes, Dear Readers, Mike remains the only one still in shorts. Peggy and Carol have added long sleeve tops, and Terry is back in his fleece jacket. It's often hard to believe that we are in the Bahamas.

Finally, I thought to take some time to give a wildlife update. Traveling in the Exumas has been somewhat akin to traveling on a wet desert. Science often points out that the desert is not devoid of life. But, life is very scarce. During this month, I have felt that way about the Exumas. We would catch mere glimpses of wildlife- a turtle, one osprey, a few fish. These two days at Highbourne Cay have been great for wildlife sightings. The ends of the docks do not go all the way to the land. There are areas of beach that you can see opposite the dockage areas. When the tide is high, water fills in there, and the fish come. The water is so clear here that you don't even need a Looky Bucket. We saw lots of small brightly colored fish, several parrot fish, and even a young barracuda. As the tide ebbed, sandpipers would come out to check the edges of the water for treats. Doves cooed in the nearby trees. And, a local fisherman pulled up to the dock to sell his catch. He had the largest lobsters I have ever seen. Mike offered to but one, but we don't have a pot big enough on board! He also had conch with beautifully dark colored shells, and one big fish he was busy cleaning for a customer. This morning, as we were leaving, don't forget that we saw that shark. And, Peggy sighted a dolphin!

Friday, February 26

We will spend the day here in Highbourne Cay. The weather reports continue to talk about waves, wind, and squalls. We'll just avoid all that by staying here at this lovely dock.

That gives me the opportunity to talk a bit about Highbourne Cay Marina. This is a most upscale marina. However, it is the only marina in this corner of the world, so they could actually be rather run down and still get away with the prices they charge. Just to give you an insight to shopping in the marina store - we bought a regular sized bag of Doritos for the low price of only $8.50.

The marina has a protected entrance, so it is also a great place to hang out in bad weather- as we are doing.

And, as noted, it attracts a rather interesting crowd.

But, it's not only yachts who show up here. We are currently docked behind Beacon Won.

Beacon Won is run by Seven C's Charters. The boat is considered to be an adventure charter. It not only does visits to cays with snorkeling and other activities. It also tries to do service activities such as beach clean ups.

This morning, the local freight boat showed up. 

As you may know, not many things are produced or grown on these islands. Almost everything is brought in. Today's freight boat may look familiar to you because the Yamacraw started life in the Chesapeake as a buy boat! Now, it delivers goods to several islands in this area. You never know who you will meet or what you will see here in the Bahamas.

Thursday, February 25

Yesterday was a red letter day for the crew of LUX. We saw our first dolphin here in the Bahamas on this trip. Yes, Dear Readers, the waters have been scarily empty of interesting fish and dolphin. The Looky Bucketeers would see some small fish near coral outcroppings, but the amount of fish was never near the number seen in past voyages.

As you can tell, the sighting of our dolphin was a big deal. However, the dolphin was too far away to get a decent photograph. Our dolphin was also more like the dolphins we see in the ICW- it was moving slowly and making lazy loops to the surface. It barely broke the surface of the water. We caught sight of it as it meandered in the blue green water. It moved over to the darker areas, and it was gone from sight.

Terry and Mike went ashore to go walkabout, and had the opportunity to see more wildlife. For the first time, they actually saw lots of conch all in one place. The conch were feeding in the tidal pools. Terry took videos of them. Tip of the day: When you have the opportunity to see one of the videos, don't ask if Terry is running the video in slow motion. Conch really do live life in the slow lane.

Today we read a great beauty tip from Real Simple magazine that is perfect for boaters. Skip the blow dryer. Mist salt spray on damp hair, and twist into a bun. Then, shake out when dry for loose waves. Seriously. It really said that. At this moment, we have an inexhaustible supply of salt water. However, the humidity is really high. We'll probably never get to the point where we can shake out our dry hair!