She was barely noticeable in our rental car headlights as we pulled into the marina, but there she was, stumbling forward aimlessly, desperately searching for even the smallest morsel of food in the dirt in front of the guard station. Kimberly jumped out of the car and picked up the tiniest baby puppy we have […]
Author: John-Michael
Dominican Republic – Episode 1: Marina Madness!
After eighteen exhausting hours of motor-sailing into the trade winds and bouncy seas, we reached the Dominican Republic, our home for the following month. Just as we crossed the border, a huge pod of Spinner dolphins raced, leaping, toward Pura Vida as if to welcome us. Shortly after the spectacular greeting, we arrived to the […]
The Forbidden Coast
When we got our boat insurance, it had a clause prohibiting us from going to Haiti. Asking most cruisers about Haiti, we heard “you can’t go there!” The reasons ranged from crime, personal safety, health, lack of facilities for cruisers, and the simple fact that almost everyone heading to the Eastern Caribbean goes straight from […]
Sailing Down the Spiral
We left the safe anchorages of Georgetown for the last time, heading to destinations less traveled by most cruisers. Extending south for 75 miles along the eastern edge of the Great Bahama Bank is a chain of a couple dozen small cays and islands that are uninhabited, except for a small settlement at the very […]
Out Islands
The “out islands” is a term generally used in the Bahamas for describing the multitude of islands east and southeast of Great Exuma that used to be off the beaten path for most cruisers, but are now excellent destinations for those venturing beyond the comforts and safety of Georgetown. Some islands, like Long Island, Rum […]
Trouble Child
“There’s a dinghy missing!” someone at the bonfire shouted, cutting through the darkness, and instantly halting all conversations. We looked over at the dimly lit beach where we had “parked” Lagniappe, and were relieved to see the shadow of a tender that looked a lot like ours. Kimberly and I immediately felt for the people […]
Paradise Found
After the fiasco in Bimini, we were ready for some smooth sailing and fun in the water. Once we got everything ready, we did an overnight, 110 mile crossing to West Bay, near Nassau, arriving at 8:30 in the morning to a beautiful, calm anchorage. We were one of only three boats in the entire […]
Bimini Blues (The dumbest thing we have done aboard…so far)
I think Kimberly jinxed me by complaining that I always get to write the glamorous entries in the blog. Our return to Bimini was supposed to be an exploration of all the wonderful dive sites we had seen when we first came to the island group in 2001 aboard a Black Beard dive boat. We […]
Island Hopping Back to the U.S.
This entry starts where we left off in The Whale and the Abacos, as we were preparing for the passage south from the Abacos to the northern end of Eleuthera. We slipped from our mooring in Little Harbour early in the morning to beat the incoming weather front that would make the winds higher and […]
The Whale and The Abacos
This blog starts where we left off in “Stuck” in Paradise, as we were awaiting the right conditions to depart Green Turtle Cay, and continue to the southern Abacos. It was the morning we had decided to go through the potentially ominous Whale Cay Passage. The eastern winds had been howling for several days well […]