The Exuma chain

I don't want to spend too much time apologizing for not writing. These islands do not exactly have computers on every corner, but that is why I went sailing right?

So lets see where did we leave off.....We sailed from Miami over to the Bahamas on Valentines day. Arriving in Bimini, we passed through customs and obtained our fishing permit. That was our green light to finally become the hunters and gatherers that we had dreamed of since our childhood. After a few days letting things sink in we made our way towards Andros where the new owner of Moxie, Geo, was finally able to see his E-bay purchase. It was a good couple of days. We were on the US military base there, cheap gas, free food, unlimited ice (luxury), etc..... Geo was so excited to see the boat. He is going to be a great owner and has decided to keep the name Moxie.

After leaving Andros it was on to the Exuma chain for more adventure and better fishing. Our first stop was Highborne Cay, where lobsters were a plenty and calm anchorages made for early evenings and peaceful sleeping. A short sail down the chain took us to Normans Cay. After spearing a few fish, a weather front came over the horizon and brought with it a shift in the wind direction. We decided to harness the wind and headed out of the protected water where the wind was blowing 20 kts and sending up some solid chop. We were only making a couple of knots motoring against the winds and waves when out of no where the engine died. We were in the middle of setting sail, and the main halyard (the rope that pulls up the big sail) was taut and leading directly under the boat. No problem I thought, we've been through this before ( think NYC). I pushed the engine into reverse and forward a couple of times and manged to free the line. I can't thank Bob Gerwig enough for convincing me to beef up the prop shaft and then teaching me how to do it. Bob if you are reading this, THANK YOU.

With the sails set we absolutely flew, covering 80 miles over night and arrived in Georgetown, Great Exuma, the cruising capital of the East. There were literally 500 boats here. We arrived one night too late, the pirate party had gone off without us. Luckily we managed to stumble upon our friends Dan and Laura on Barely Twisted. Anchoring next to them we were finally able to hang out with some cruisers our own age. Moxie first met Barely Twisted in Bimini as we checked in. It was great to see some friends and they had met up with John a friend of theirs from New Zealand, who was on his own boat. The three boats set off in convoy to buck the trend and beat the crowds that never seem to venture further south. In all we spent a week together exploring uninhabited islands, diving and sailing down the Ragged Island chain. We spent our first four days together without seeing another person or boat!

There are numerous stories from that week but I think Mac may have experienced the greatest thrill. One afternoon Mac headed out spearfishing with Sam. I hung back to have a beer with Dan and John. The drink of choice was Milwaukee's Best, John had loaded his boat with 150 cases before leaving the states! (Moxie had loaded down with 4 cases of Bud) As we cracked in to our first beer we were surprised to see Mac spring up on John's boat, his eyes as large as light bulbs. SHARK, SHARK, he muttered out of breath. We were all concerned for Sam so Dan, John and I grabbed out spears and jumped into the dingy to head out and look for Sam. I was scanning the horizon looking for a plume of blood or one of Sam's arms floating on the surface, when we heard some yelling behind us. Looking back we saw Sam sitting in the cockpit of Moxie. Relieved we cruised back to the boat and checked in with Sam. "Daytime poker anyone?" Sam asked between sips of his afternoon mocha. He had gotten out of the water a little while before Mac's traumatic encounter and had no idea what had happened.

We raced back to Barely Twisted to check in with Mac and get the full story. Mac had speared a Grouper for dinner and was swimming it back to the boat, when all of a sudden he felt a hefty tug. Gripping his spear he turned to see a reef shark swipe the fish off the barbed tip in one bite. With his heart racing he continued to make his way to the boat before realizing the shark was circling back for a second look. He recounts the shark charging at him four or five times before he could lodge his spear tip in to the sharks head. As a small trickle of blood appeared at the tip of the spear, the shark realized there were better places to lunch and swam away. Just another day in paradise....

As I write this update the fuel tanks are topped off and water filled. Food shopping is complete and we are ready to head toward Nassau where Mac and Sam will depart for additional surfing adventures in Panama. I have some more guests coming to finish up the last leg with me, but the trip is far from over. There are no doubt plenty of adventures still to be had. One thing that we are planning is a two and a half day solo. We will each spend several nights alone on an island with no one else. We will have plenty of water but little else. No books, no food, no radio.... simply a journal to record our thoughts and reflections. This is an Outward Bound tradition that will be challenging and down right miserable. So why do it? I think I will better be able to answer that question after completing it.

I will update this blog again on April first or second when we are in Nassau having completed our solos. There will also be more pictures up on flicker. A link will be posted as soon as they are available. Stay tuned and thank you again for your continued support and encouragement.