Morning Tea, Georgetown, Exuma Island

Morning Tea posts are a brain dump of thoughts I have about where I am and what I'm doing at the time and anything else that happens to pop in there and then make it to the keyboard. Some days I do not have enough energy or material for a whole blog post and so I just spill it all into a post and see what happens. It's not always related to sailing or cruising. Sometimes I go way off the tracks.







Windows open. Windows close.

Weather window. Is it a Bay window or a frosted bathroom window. Can I fit through it?

Haweshole. What's a Haweshole?

Such a large amount of water for such a small hole

Remember to plug your hole in big waves

I should read more sailing books

I still have Dennis Conner's Sail Like a Champion book

Sail Like a Slacker. Anyone write that?

Hatch seals get pushed open by waves.

Wave breaks in front of hatches are not standard on sailboats.

Don't know why I'm on anchor watch all night after being in a blow all day. Obviously we aren't going anywhere.

It's the other guy

Mega yachts do drag.

Anchor alarms. Even our old Garmin 128 has one.

I love the Abacos...in the Spring.

Chicken Harbor, Chicken Harbor, Bawk bawk bawk!

Trying to live cheaply.

We should motor less. Repeat. Repeat.

Sailing always seems to be close hauled so the thorny path should be more of the usual. Right? Hahaha  I know.

Rolly Rolly Puke Puke. Exuma anchorages.

Spare pump parts would be handy. Who stocked this boat?

Try not to think about how "on your own" you really are in the Bahamas.

Name the places to haul out in the Bahamas

We have learned to avoid moorings

Some people can't resist a mooring.

Some people never pay for a mooring

There are fewer moorings

I have never been interested in blogging about our daily activities

I think we're hermits

Doc said walk more.

We walk everywhere when on land.

Deb hates the dinghy

Fresh vegetables. Why so scarce?

Apparently it's easy to confuse zucchini and cucumbers.

Greek Salad. My kingdom for a Greek salad...with cucumbers

I miss Olives

I paid $8 for a can of peanuts. $5 for olives seems reasonable.

Every time the engine is running I cross my fingers.

Arthritis hurts

We are salt encrusted. We glitter in the sun.

Every tool in my possession is getting rusty. I know what you're thinking.

The pointy end should not be the heavy end.

Aluminum toe rails are great for strapping things down.

Why do we strap things down near the bow?

Start the motor, then untie the dinghy. Duh.

Less beer. More rum

Make Mayan a Hawaiian

There's a method to my madness. No. Maybe madness in my methods.

I should write a book. Diary of a mad....no, that's been done. Diary of a smirking paranoid. There we go.

They do not put enough ink in pens.

I would read your blog but it gives me a migraine. Its not your writing.

Some blogs have white text on a black or blue background. Sorry, but it's a migraine trigger for me. Weird huh?

Why are pens so expensive? Ahh, nobody writes anymore.

Cheapest keyboard I could find is still working.

Power over patriotism. The flag casts a shadow over the solar panels. Flag less

We are not radio professionals. If I am on land calling the boat my handle is not Kelly Nicole Mobile. I am Jetpack! Long story. Deb is usually Laundry Lady.

Batteries spoil quickly in the heat and humidity. My Sony SSB receiver knows all about this.

My Sony SSB Receiver is toast.

We are kind of leaving a trail of hardware along the way. A trail of batteries anyway.

So far assholism has been kept at bay.

Stupid still reigns

I need to put a lock on those cabinet doors before the next beer storm hits

I need to snorkel more.

Every time I snorkel my left ear plugs up for weeks. What the hell. Does that mean there is seawater teaming with Copepods near my brain?

You ever see the movie Body Snatchers? The one with Donald Sutherland who points and shrieks at the woman at the end. Still scary.

The evening feeding frenzy under the boat is not a good bedtime lullaby.

Kids living on boats are amazing to see and hear.

I miss my grandsons




What's a Derecho? You don't want to know.

We have an awesome anchor

We have some anchor chain that just got introduced to saltwater

Anchored in 17 ft of water. Add 5 feet from bow to water. Multiply by 7 for stormy weather else 5. Easy eh? Don't forget the tides.

Anchor buddies. Why so close? Why such short scope?

We will miss the Bahamas.

Will we ever escape the Bahamas?

30 gallons per minute. It only took 1.5 yrs to get there.

The aft cabin is like a cone of silence for Deb.

A watermaker is expensive but I can't imagine being out here without it. Wait, yes I can.

I'm back on the coffee again. G-g-giddyup!

I talk quite a bit when under the influence of the bean.

I have no one to talk to once Deb is in the cone of silence. I should call people on the radio. "Magnolia, Kelly Nicole." Magnolia Here. "Sup dude!" Go away. Magnolia out. "Odin, Kelly Nicole" Odin, go ahead Kelly Nicole. "Hows the weather over there?" We're in the same harbor. WTF over! "What's for breakfast?" Ended 3 hrs ago. Odin out. "Dos Libras, Kelly Nicole. Dos Libras, Kelly Nicole. Dos Libras, Kelly Nicole"

Getting older ain't so bad when you are on an adventure

Adventures are not all day everyday. Thank God.

Naps are awesome

We could be heroes

I wish I had the power for a kick ass sound system

I tend to say hi to everyone. Not everyone replies.

I was told not to trust someone who smiles all the time. What about a smirk?

The pressure cooker did not explode

You can always find root vegetables in the Bahamas

Tofu has also been readily available. What!? I know, pretty cool right?
Why is it called Tofu? Poor marketing. Compressed brick of pureed Soy sounds way better.

Jolly Ranchers melt even when kept in the fridge.

Sweets are scarce and expensive. So are dentists.

Whenever I get into Debs chocolate she gives me the stink eye.

I need new glasses.

My good glasses broke about a year ago. I'm wearing my old safety glasses from work.

Procrastinators unite! Tomorrow!

Our cabin sole is hosed from all the water and beer floating over it

I have never been happy with our boats interior.

Our cushions look like they were made from fabric recycled from your grandmothers couch circa 1940's that survived 10 yrs of a college dorm.

Our dinghy has to be the wettest ride of any.

I could stand up while riding the dinghy. I could fall while riding the dinghy too.

We can only get the dinghy on plane if we fill it with helium. That will not work so don't try it.

We learn as we go, until we can't go anymore. Then we tell others how to do it.

Some cruisers are just plain miserable.

Some cruisers can't stop smiling, or smirking

But honey we already survived a Derecho so how much worse can it get?

I'm getting diesel soot on our hull. Injector issue I think. I have new injectors.

The shower drain pump fails sporadically. Needs a joker valve. I have no joker valve.

I always thought it was a choker valve which makes sense because it chokes flow in one direction. Joker makes no sense at all.

All the salt we have onboard is melting. Rice does not help.

I see cruisers walking around with black mold spots on their clothes. Years ago I would be grossed out. Now? Meh.

My Keen sandals are totally trashed yet still functional. If we survive the Mona Passage I am buying a new pair. No sense getting them now if I'm going to wear them to the bottom of the trench.

I have a slightly more positive outlook on life lately. Not sure where that's coming from.

Stupid me buys a 3 gig data plan and then at the end of the month it expired with 2.5 gig left. I thought we had it until it was gone! So I sign up for another 3 gig. Daughter Kelly calls on facetime and we pull down 1.5 gig instantly. Doh! Old people and technology.

As an old gray white guy I am embarrassed to be associated with other old gray white guys from time to time

Some old gray white guys think they own this town. No excuse for being rude to the awesome Bahamian people. We are their guests. Start acting like it.

We always lock our dinghy. I used to think this was terrible. It's not just Georgetown. We locked it in the states as well. Especially Florduh.

To not have a dinghy is a total pain in the ass.

I like how cruisers help one another. Some people are saints.

You ever think of owning a trawler?

You ever think of getting a more modern sailboat?

You ever think of just dropping anchor in another country and staying a long time?

You ever think that all your money will evaporate (stolen by banks) in the next depression and all the previous thoughts will vanish except the one about living in another country?

How far is it to social security? Oh.

I ate all the olives but I want to do something with this brine.

The cruisers net is insane in the morning. Who talks to anyone before 10 am?

Cruisers are a fun bunch but I have yet to talk to anyone at length about hockey or anything science related. Hockey and science. That's right.

I'm not missing Lake Ontario much.

I miss Sunfish racing of all things

There is a Sunfish dagger board in our salon. Thanks Don

Ever have any of those awkwardly quiet moments among cruisers you just met? You kind of stare off into space wondering what to say next? Try this, "The Mantus anchor is the best. Everything else sucks." That should get something going.

Talking boat projects can be tiresome. Doesn't anybody talk about fun stuff anymore? Like Superman VS Batman. C'mon. Man of Steel against a dude in a bat costume with cigarette voice and a cool utility belt. No contest. X Ray vision alone would end it. "Hey you're billionaire Bruce Wayne! Hey everyone Batman is Bruce Wayne! Hey Bruce, why the lace panties that say Boy Wonder?"

Whats the bat gonna do? Punch him? Unless he's got Kryptonite in his utility belt it's over. Total humiliation without any violence. "Oh I found your cave under your mansion. I bored through the earth to get to it and came up under your batmobile. Sorry dude. That transmission is guano."

I should probably go before this gets weird.

What? Too late?

OK that's all I've got for now. The stuff in my head right now is just too weird even for you guys. There are chores to be done and places to see. Thanks for stopping by.

Sporadic and untimely blog posts will continue. I might have something to say about the Derecho but we came through better than most for some odd reason. Some folks ended their cruising afterwards because of boat damage or because they got the shit scared out of them. Sorry to see this happen but sometimes we forget how truly dangerous this lifestyle can be. Everything is great until that freak storm punches you in the face and sends you home, or that corroding thru hull finally lets go while you are at the Rake and Scrape. Sorry, I should stop that. This life is much safer then riding in a car on any US highway and if it was so wonderfully easy everyone would be doing it. So enjoy it out here. You're special.

See. I can be totally positive and encouraging. Better check those thru hulls though.

On a more positive note, we are having a blast and meeting cool people and seeing amazing places. If we could do it over again we would do the same thing only sooner. We were in the rat race too long.

Cheers People!

PJJB