After a few fun days at anchor off Chub Cay we took the one calm day in the forecast to make a run to Nassau, about the only place to hide out from the winds for the next week. Not where the kids wanted to be, and not where Ali and I wanted to be, but Nassau is sort of like a necessary evil when traveling through the islands.
We pulled into a marina, where I got my first chance at really maneuvering the boat since leaving the dock in St. Augustine. Happy to report that, now that I’ve got the hang of the controls on this boat, it handles almost exactly like the catamaran with the twin engines—maybe even better since the weight of it helps it track in a straight line.
Off the boat and wandering around town. Not a lot to see or do here, but a handy place to get groceries and whatever random boat bits are needed. Kind of amazes me that cruise ships call in here—I can’t imagine what 10,000 tourists would do.
Must have been a serious problem to warrant a sign.
I’ve got five boards and 4 nails to lock up with. Ali and I love walking around the old run down neighborhoods with the kids and talking about fixing up some dilapidated house. It’s always fun to hear their thoughts.
Making flower necklaces.
Lowe had six bucks burning a hole in his pocket. We denied him the dagger, which looked more like a prison shiv, but he was plenty happy cutting up shrubbery with this one.
The road to the glittery Atlantis resort.
You can take the girl out of Mexico, but you can’t take her guacamole. Ouest still eats entire bowls of guac by herself. That tomato cost $4.00, providing clear evidence that we indeed are no longer in Mexico.
But then I get attacked by the Lucha Libre wrestlers, and get confused again.
After a week in Nassau there was a mass exodus the minute a moderately good one-day forecast came along. We saw at least 30 boats leave that morning and cross the 35 miles over to Highborn Cay. Sailboats even had their sails up! I was as shocked as they were. I was laughing at the chatter on the VHF as they all rambled on and on with each other in giddy excitement that they were actually sailing.
Looking back at life on the monohull now, I realize how much we missed out by not having a swim platform. Greatest spot on the boat.
25 Comments on “Highbourne Cay”
Those lawn ornaments look so real!
Wonder how they taste, maybe a bit like a sandhill crane?
Funny I always wanted a few outside the Airstream, but they would have never looked this good.
Our visit to Nassau came at the end of a winter in the Exumas so we thought prices quite good and even went to Outback for dinner. It was a good transition back to the States as it cushioned the culture shock! Your photos are great!
Yes a few comforts after fending for yourselves in the islands for weeks/months is always good. Went to the Staniel Cay groceries yesterday and really wanting to go back to the Fresh Market in Nassau now!
Man, before this leg of your adventure I’d never even considered the idea of a motorboat, I was always dead-set on a sailboat. After seeing your sweet GB life I am amazed and converted.
I love sailing, but the difference in living conditions of trawlers vs most monohull sailboats of a comparable length/cost is night and day. I’m on yachtworld looking at trawlers all the time now.
If you feel like it at some point, would you mind sharing your thoughts and experiences so far on the maintenance and operating costs/considerations of a trawler? I’d also love to hear your experience in the boat search and decision process, like that awesome post you did for the Travelall.
Following your adventure lately is getting really dangerous. I’m desperately trying to remind myself and my fiance that there is no such thing as a cheap boat.
On a separate note, the emerging financial personalities of Ouest and Lowe are awesome and hilarious.
I know, weather this season has been crazy! We’re up in the Abacos and I feel like all we’re doing is dodging system after system. I think we’ve had three good days of sailing in a month.
So glad we both picked the same (windy/cold) season to visit the Bahamas. 😉
Looks like things should be getting better this weekend. Let’s hope it sticks.
Enjoyed this, thank you. After living at Ghost Ranch for two years, in a county in New Mexico with seven people per square mile, am recently in Houston with seven people per acre – or something like that. Not crazy about the density, but have a lot of family here so am too for a while. My family moved around a lot when I was a kid, and I think that fosters closeness. Another plus, maybe, is that I’m online more these days and following these posts is back on my list of things to do.
Keep ’em coming. Best wishes.
Hi Tom, it’s good to hear from you again. Happy you are with family and enjoying Houston (as much as one can – I joke! sort of). 🙂
We are so glad you are traveling by boat again. We will be going to the Exumas next June so we are especially interested in your current adventures. And, yeah, Bahama prices are pretty high. My first grocery run there was a shocker. This is definitely your finest nomadic home yet. Keep the posts coming. We love sharing your adventures.
Hi Franci! You and Stephen will enjoy the Exumas. So many islands and pristine beaches. Maybe you could even bring a hermit crab on board to take care of for a few days. (By the way, Crabby is still crawling around with us.)
Patrick, what marina did you enter, trying to find it on Google Maps, just for my own curiosity. Those pics of half submerged boats and trash are not very appealing!
We were at Bay Street Marina, Roland. And sad but I don’t think they have the funds to clean up all the garbage in Nassau. With all the huge winds they have been having most garbage cans were empty (into the streets/water).
Boat is beautiful. Does main salon/galley in cabin get hot with all the windows? Or is it not warm enough for you to notice it?
Thanks, Mike. Yes the front windows seem like a windscreen on a car (and nav like the dashboard). Hot when directly into the sun. There are covers for them for at marinas (or at anchor, I suppose) but they are the super thick ones that we would only use when leaving her parked for a bit.
$4 tomatoes! You can tell you are back in the Bahamas. We do not miss the extraordinarily high grocery prices there. But we do miss the crystal clear waters and white sand beaches. Enjoy!
Mark and Cindy
Yes we are trying not to stress too much, but after living in Mexico all these years, it can be tough. Our fruit eaters are costing us a small fortune. Island life and good eater problems.
Haha! I love how Lowe is using your head as a handrail. 🙂
Me too!
Hi
Just a short note to say we have enjoyed reading your blogs, posts and books for almost 15 years… We still have our catamaran we got at the same time you guys got that south African cat back in 2003, And missed meeting you in Sidney harbor by 1 day… Anyways, we are really interested in the costs of your boating around with the kids and how you handle home schooling. Our daughter is six and we are thinking of headding down to the bahamas and doing the same thing, just hanging around boating…cruising.., We are hoping that your guys make it all the way to New England or maybe we will cross paths down south someday. Anyways, enjoy the exumas and I’m sure your will enjoy the conch salads, kalik and the sand… Have fun, Walt and Carolyn.
Ps, we went to Mexico a year ago and our older daughter loves the guac also..,..
Hi Walt and Carolyn, Wow that has been a long time. Costs are nothing compared to a family of four living in a normal house, with normal expenses. We have stopped keeping track of every penny we spend, as after so much time living this lifestyle we are pretty good at keeping our spending in check. Maybe for the month of February we should do it, just to see where we are at for a month of island living. It would be interesting to see where the money is going.
As far as homeschooling – we are pretty relaxed on it. Everyday living, exploring new cultures, animals and our world seems more important to us. Passion-based learning is what we are thriving for. I think we are going to nail it!
We are sure a lot of people would be interested in the dollars… Besides us. Ok on the home schooling… We have seen all kinds of ways to go on this and are trying to figure out the best way for our daughter (and us).
Ali and Pat, Good morning. I’ve been thinking of writing this email for a very long time. So here it is:
I got up early one Saturday morning and put a pot of coffee on and jumped on the computer to catch up on things I was interested in. It was December 2006 and cold outside. The house was quiet as my four kids and wife, Mary were all still in bed. After surfing my normal web sites some how and in some way I could never recreate I stumbled on to a web site of this young couple sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in a boat named Bumfuzzle. I was intrigued immediately. I did not have a clue about sailing or boats. After a quick run through of the Bumfuzzle Blog I was captivated. I thought about it all day. The next morning, following my same early morning ritual, I put the Bumfuzzle Blog into my favorites page and over the next few month proceeded to read every single entry of your voyage. By the end of it, I was all in. I’ve never stopped thinking about it since then. I brought the idea to Mary that we too could do something like that one day. She was immediately unimpressed and asked if we could focus on finishing up raising the four kids……and so we did.
Along the way we found time to learn to sail, took a few trips, read a zillion words on cruising and boats systems and the lifestyle. In the end we both found the calling or perhaps more accurately were infected with the desire to go. This week we will close on our boat and start the final transition from the terrestrial world to a nomadic life of cruising. The kids are all gone and on their own and the two of us will do our best to find our own adventure in ways that we were unaware of 12 years ago. The spark that started this fire was Bumfuzzle and Ali and Pat.
You touch people in ways you never know. I wanted you to know this. Best to you both and your beautiful young family. If we have the opportunity to cross paths we will certainly swing by to say hello.
Greg and Mary
S/V Remedy
Thanks for that! It really means a lot for us to hear those sorts of things. It’s funny how sometimes it justs takes that one germ of an idea. For me, it really started with a backpacking site where I saw all these kids younger than me out traveling the world and having a ball. It evolved a bit from there, but before then my world view was too confined to even recognize world travel as a possibility. Anyway, we’re happy we could be that site for you. Thanks for sharing. And congrats on the new boat!