December 18, 2010.

Hi, my name is Bill and I’m a chocoholic. *Hello Bill*. Thanks. Anyway, my chocolate of choice is M&M’s. They taste great and don’t melt which makes them the perfect boat chocolate. We bring a half dozen of the giant sized 45 ounce bags to last me through the Bahamas. With Christy’s “help” I limit myself to a bag a month. We have this small metal replica of an M&M. It holds about a shot glass worth of M&M’s which Christy doles out just about every day. So on the evening of our crossing I ate a few of these tiny, tasty treats and stuck the half full container in a cockpit cubby for safe keeping. Unfortunately, I forgot that they were there but Tucker found them for me while we were off the boat in Morgans Bluff to check into the Bahamas.

They say that a Schnauzer’s nose is delicate enough to recognize and record 800 different smells.
Evidently, chocolate is one of Tuckers 800. We came back to the boat and found him cupping the metal container in his paws after having worked unsuccessfully towards chewing his way through to the chocolate. I was left with no choice but to show off my thumbs and pop open the tin and eat the balance of the M&M’s in front of him.

While still in the South Beach anchorage we watched as several window washers hung in bosuns chairs and cleaned windows in 35 knots of wind. If it was me I would have been up there forever cleaning my own shit off the windows.
Forget that crap, 14 stories up in 35 knots of breeze.

So we did finally escape Miami and cross to the Bahamas. We left as soon as the forecast looked the least bit optimistic. We all raised our mainsails and then the hooks at 1130 on Wednesday morning and headed out into the Atlantic. It had been blowing stink outta the north for a few days so we were waiting for the seas to moderate a bit.


We had to motorsail in light northerlies in about a 5 foot swell out of the north. We reached North Rock at 2000 hours after what proved to be a very comfortable and easy crossing. Since we were across the stream and onto the relative safety of the banks we killed the engine and sailed for the next 6 1/2 hours until the wind clocked onto our nose. The wind was light at only 7 knots and we motored the rest of the way to Morgans Bluff arriving at 1100 hours on Thursday.

We’ve since left Morgans Bluff and now sit anchored in Nassau Harbor waiting for the squalls of a cold front to pass through tonight.

The rest of the boats traveling with us opted to take slips in a nearby marina. The marina is nice, although a bit rolly, with a beautiful waterside pool but I think it’s the laundry room that Christy covets.

The internet here requires taking the laptop into town to sit in a coffee shop or pub. I thought that since we’re anchored in sight of several cruise ships that I’d jump in and borrow some of their wifi from the comfort of our salon. If I paid thousands on dollars to take a cruise I would be shocked to find that shipboard wifi was pay per view. Expensive pay per view.
24 dollars an hour, are you kidding me? Screw that, I’ll grab the laptop and walk to Starbucks.

Christy and I went on walkabout today and asked several people for directions including a kid of about 17 who was pumping gas at a filling station. Each person we encountered seemed very happy that we had chosen them to ask. It really is a pleasure being here and I can say that Bahamanians are just the nicest people. And then theres the French…..

Today I jugged some fuel to top off our tanks and there was a 52 foot “French” catamaran at the fuel dock. I don’t understand the whole French Canadian thing. born and live in Canada, never been to France but they’re French, get over it, you’re Canadian. I just don't see whats wrong with being Canadian. I chatted with the owners a bit while the attendant had to run up the dock to the marina for a moment. It was pleasant enough and when the attendant returned he exclaimed that the “French” had used 400 gallons of water and that they were expected to pay for it. He had let them use the hose to top off their tanks for free since they had purchased a decent amount of fuel. He had no idea that they would continue to wash the entire boat including an entire trampoline covered with rugs from the interior while he was away. All of a sudden they were unable to comprehend English and left without paying for the water with the attendant loudly announcing to them the next time they showed up at his dock they’d be paying for every drop they used.

They motored out into the anchorage and dropped the hook near us. Karma reared her head when shortly afterwards a German catamaran came in and dropped the hook nearby. I’m sure that even the fake French start to sweat a bit every time a German moves into the neighborhood.