Computer troubles

Well, we have recovered the hard drive on the computer but the computer's power supply and parts of the screen are "toast" and our 'mouse' has gone to electronic heaven. We will try to put some things on the web but it is very hard to do much of anything without a working computer. Keep on eye on this Blog and I'll try to update it every week or so.

Thanks for watching our travels!

Rich and Anna

Computer troubles

Our computer has crashed so the blog is now on hold.... Hope to have it up and running soon. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Rich

Walking

Just a note: Internet is hard to come by and that's why we don't post everyday. Rich


We went for a walk today and I thought that I’d show you some of the different things that you see around the island.
I wonder if the Navy knows that a vehicle is missing?
this hand cranked winch was sitting in the weeds by the road.
This rusty old thing was by the airport and I think it was used to grade the runways.

This guy must like airplanes for these were at the start of his driveway.
You know that your not in the US when this is the warning sign concerning the runway!
Look close, this was a piece of large chain! Amazing what salt water can do.

And finally, for the John deer tractor fans I've included these pictures. Hope that you've enjoyed the walk around the island.

Another Wreck

A hurricane must have had something to do with this one ending up on the beach. From all of the rust you can tell that it’s been here for awhile. Lets go inside.

The crews quarters.

The main engine and the generator.


They built a walk-in refrigerator in the deck to store their catch in.


With every wreck that I’ve been to I always wonder what the back story is behind these old boats... it’s a mystery that I’ll never solve.

Close encounters of the sailing type

The 5F sailing regatta (First Friday in February Farmers cay Festival) was held on Friday and Saturday at Farmers Cay. Part of the festival is two days of “C” class sailboat racing. The boats would start miles away and head right for the anchorage (filled with over 20 cruisers). The boats had to sail right through the anchored fleet on their way to the finish line. Some came so close to the anchored boats that you could have jumped off the boat and landed on the passing race boat. The crews were hiking out on long boards (pries) to counter the tremendous size of the sails that the race boat carried, it was both exciting to watch and a demonstration of gymnastic skill as they moved back and forth on the pries to counter the effects of the wind gusts.



After the race they brought in the all Exuma marching band for the award ceremony and awarded trophies!

Racing
I went out onto the finish line on the race course to take pictures of the boats as they cross the line. There were several other dinghies there doing the same thing and as the boat crossed the line they would round up towards us.
The last boat rounded the line and headed in our way... a bit too close in our direction. Here’s a series of pictures of what happens when you are too close to someone else.

They round the mark

They notice that they are getting a bit close to us

They look down at my dinghy just as the trailing balancing board touches my dinghy and pulls the board right out from under the man sitting on it
Into the water!

He climbs out of the water and down comes the sail. What a finish to the race!

Old dreams

Some person had a dream, a round house with an arched walkway that circled the main house. Their dream lasted just long enough to pour the cement and start the roof. It could have been a really unique house with a killer view, now it’s just another ruin like the others that litters these Cays. Whether it was a hot summer that killed the dream or no water or no money know one knows. A lot of work went into this dream only to become a resting place for the lizards and birds.

Dock too small

The mail boat arrived and it had a PU truck on deck but the dock was too small to off load it. So, they just spanned the corner of the “tee” dock with two 2X8’s and swung the PU out onto these boards! Someone then climbed into the truck and drove it down the dock and to shore. Anyone from OSHA would have had a heart attack!

More pigs

As we were ridding back to our boat we saw another couple in their dinghy a couple of hundred yards off from pig beach with pigs swimming after them so we went to investigate.
The pigs had followed them out looking for a handout. When we got closer they turned and started swimming after our dinghy!
We had nothing for them so after circling them we headed back to the Goose. It sure was strange to see pigs swimming by... maybe on the next island we will get to see them fly! You never know what you'll see in the Bahamas. PS...(I love this picture)

Dinghy storage

Using a dinghy for your family car presents a real problem of where to put all of the stuff that you want to carry with you; the air pump, life jackets, extra rope, a night light, small anchor, etc. All of this little stuff takes up room and end up being under foot all of the time. So, I decided to sew up a bag to put it all into. The front of the dinghy was a perfect place to put the bag.


We had a bit of left over cloth that a friend had given us so I laid out the dimensions for the bag and cut out the pieces.

Sewing it up took a bit of effort but the end result turned out to fit the space perfectly and it held all of the gear that we need for our everyday journeys.

The lifting eye for the dinghy goes through the top of the bag for hanging the dinghy at night on the davits.