George Town to Puerto Rico

Wahoo!

A typical Pacific crossing from Panama to French Polynesia takes 20-something days. So theoretically our seven day passage from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico (or specifically to the Spanish Virgin Island of Culebra) was about a third of a Pacific Ocean passage in time if not distance. Last year, when our longest passage was three days, spending almost a month at sea seemed impossible. Now after surviving seven days, it seems doable - not fun or easy, but at least doable. This is probably not welcome news to our parents, who noticed the unfortunate failed attempt by Rebel Heart.

The people you meet

We gave the mahi mahi some coconut rum that
worked great to calm it down for a few minutes. This was taken
 after it started wearing off and the fish began thrashing again.

There are lots of great things about living aboard and cruising: scenic views from your home, gorgeous sunsets, the freshest seafood you can get. But the best part for us has been the people we have met. We have made fast friendships that we hope will last a lifetime. Many of the people are from different geographical locations or have had vastly different careers than us, so its always interesting to get together.  So many people have had way more interesting lives than we have. It's both inspiring and (at times) somewhat depressing.

We have also been blown away by the generosity and kindness of strangers (both cruisers and land-based folks). It's enough to bring a tear to the eye of a cynical recovering attorney from the big city.

Nya-nya-nya-nya Nassau

Mark, Alexis, Nicholas and Conrad enjoying sherbet in
downtown Nassau. Yes, they voluntarily chose fruit ice cream.

We had passed up Nassau multiple times in our previous trips, avoiding the city based on other people describing the city as dirty, noisy and crime filled.  But there was no escaping it this time. We were meeting friends who were staying in Nassau for a week.  So off we went.

In less than 8 hours, we had had our fill of Nassau and it had nothing to do with the State Department warnings about increased crime in the city. So what was problem? Let me count the ways...

Zen and the art of waiting for wind

 

Little Farmers Cay--One of the friendliest and most
charming settlements we have visited.

Although you wouldn't know it from listening to us at certain times (like when we yell at the boys for quiet when they're going crazy right around the time we're doing something critical like anchoring or maneuvering in tight spaces), Matt and I are becoming more patient.

Safety measures

We finally used the new asymmetrical spinnaker we bought over 6 months ago. The spinnaker was just one of a number of purchases we have made that were somewhat "unplanned." From my perspective, that meant that I wasn't considering them in the costs of the boat and was surprised and unhappy to find out that we had to spend the money.

Long Island, Exumas

One of the caves near Thompson Bay

Although we weren't planning on it, we ended up leaving for Long Island on the same day as the rally of 70 or so boats from George Town. The winds were excellent and the seas would have been fine if we had gone downwind towards Thompson Bay with everyone else. Instead, we decided to sail northeast to the northern part of Long Island so that we could troll along the deep water line.

Homeschooling update

Yes, he's reading a comic book. It's high brow stuff.

One of the most common questions we get is how the homeschooling is going. Honestly, we won't know how the boys compare to traditionally schooled kids unless they get formally tested because we're not following a regimented program that has its own testing. Instead, we wanted to let the boys focus on subjects that interest them, while trying to make sure they learn the core skills they will need.