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Kir McLinn
Kir McLinn

Kir McLinn

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Beaufort, NC – Full Circle

    11 lipca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Yes, leaving the Caribbean-blue behind and landing in Florida was a momentous occasion but anchoring in the very anchorage we embarked from on our first blue water sail together brought a whole slew of new thoughts and feelings of accomplishment. I couldn’t help but reflect on our journey.
    We left these shores with little expectations except to get to Bermuda then start the Caribbean as far East as possible. We had prepared and stocked our boat to the best of our abilities. We had gizmos and gadgets that worked (maybe not so much towards the end). We had emergency plans. We had us and Gaia. And so we sailed with the unknown ahead and a knowledge that it could…/probably/would get rocky….

    After sailing THOUSANDS of miles (that’s multiple amounts of 1,000!) for 10 months we made a full circle. We were proud. We had overcome adverse circumstances, fears, really big waves, sea serpents, trifling rainbows, unruly groups of friends (as pictured to the right), and wild and untamed fresh fruit from the Leeward & Windward Islands! Good Grief!

    People told us we were brave… but you don’t feel brave when you’re three days out at sea, it’s 2300, and you poke your head out of the companion way hatch to see black walls of water on either side of you and a dark grey sky. You feel small and alone. And once you remember how overbuilt the boat is and how much preparation went into this journey… you smile for a weary second and think ‘Cool!’ before the motion of the boat whirls you around and your aching muscles remind you how sick and tired you are of this.

    We had so many memories now – good bad and funny (see above picture) and they weren’t without cost. Over the years, we gave up countless weekends working to the midnight hour at times. We gave up comforts of living on land, we gave up having a savings account, heck, we gave up our jobs to pursue this agenda of life. And we were blessed to have friends help us along over the years. It was an entire community who encouraged and inspired us; who worked on Gaia with us and toyed around the Boston harbor with us. Even our families didn’t fight our love of the ocean but gave us warm hugs and wished us well… (for the most part…I’m looking at you Dad! – but you did come around).

    Yes, when the anchor was well-driven into the muddy bed in Beaufort, NC, I took in the surroundings with a new perspective and it was great.

    Once we had our moment of, “we’re back”, we opened up beers, jumped into the dinghy, and dinghy-ed over to a floating concert. Near a sandbar, a dozen poorly-anchored motor boats clustered around a stationary barge with a full reggae band playing. A bud light gripped tightly in every hand, drunken girls yelling about pointless things, grown men with beer bellies talking about fishing or doing backflips off transoms, and a goofy smile on everyones face – it was a beautiful summer day in Beaufort, NC.

     11 July 2016 marked our one year anniversary as a married couple. We spent the day perusing local shops, eating at Clawsons, and settling down in a coffee shop to get wifi. We made a reservation at a nice restaurant on the water then returned to our boat to write our vows….

    It may seem a bit late to write vows one year after the fact…. for some people… but for us it was just right. The night before our wedding day we were both tired and realized neither of us had taken the time to sit down and write out some heartfelt promises. So we jointly decided to punt on it… and in the ceremony we honored the traditional Lutheran liturgy and recited a version of what my parents and my parents’ parents vowed on their wedding days. I also found out the first year anniversary should be commemorated with paper… (seems odd to me… considering the properties of paper and its ability to be torn in half or easily tossed into the trash) but we bought a pad of sketch paper and wrote our vows of marriage on that paper, thereby keeping that silly tradition alive for us.

    Our late night dinghy ride back to the boat. Dolled up and all, I can still operate the dink and climb my transom.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Camp LeJeune and Really Bad Music

    10 lipca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    The great Intracoastal Waterway, serene, beautiful, idyllic. Just mind the gun fire. Camp LeJeune is a Marine Corps training base located on the edge of the ICW in North Carolina and from time to time holds target practice… alarmingly close to the ICW. So alarmingly close, I grabbed a few shots of the targets. The exterior had thousands of indentations giving the metal a rough swiss cheese appearance. We cruised on by with no problem but if the lights are flashing, cruisers are not permitted to continue towards the firing range.

    Mike and I stopped in the adorable town of Swansboro and tried alligator bites for the first time. It kinda tasted like calamari. Apparently eating alligator is no big deal in North Carolina. The gentleman next to us gave us an elaborate explanation of the culture of fishing and hunting. We grabbed ice cream and strolled through the entire downtown area (Main Street). We returned to the boat and enjoyed downtime sitting out in the cockpit. But with our leisure time we endured the town bar expel some odious sounding tunes.

    Night fell and we watched a few lightening cloud clusters move near our anchorage. One of those storms hit us dead on and the boat healed over in the booming gusts. The current was pushing the boat perpendicular to the wind and it felt like a bad game of tug of war between the wind and the current. We anchored close to a shallow sandbar and amongst all the surfing back and forth, we ended up going aground in a 4.7 ft patch of sand. Mike and I begrudgingly pulled on our foul weather gear and went above deck to re-anchor in the 20+ knots of wind and the rain and infrequent flashes of lightening. Well… at least the bad music went inside and was one less nuisance to handle. After multiple attempts to set the anchor, I backed down and finally saw an OK sign from Mike and also concluded we weren’t dragging or in any danger of swaying into shallows, lobster pots, or channel markers.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Then It All Went Black … ICW In Summer

    9 lipca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Along our passage we saw temperatures reach well into the hundreds. The person off duty would sit under a fan in the salon (on the couches) and read, write, or, if you’re Mike, code. Every once in a while it was polite (aka humane) to pop your head up and ask if the helmsman needed a drink with an ice cube in it.

    One morning after breakfast and coffee, I had the first watch starting at 9:30 AM. I felt fine and was steering by hand. We had just made the umpteenth turn of the morning and were set for a wide-open straight away (finally! I could put on Otto VonPilot and relax).

    But it happened all very suddenly.

    I felt something I had never felt before… my knee gave a slight involuntary jerk. It was very subtle but felt awkward enough for me to glance down. In the time it took to look back up, the blue water in front and yellow grass horizon to the side no longer existed, instead I saw nothing but blurry stars. My vision had completely given way. And that’s when my knees felt like jelly. It was unsettling to feel your body simply fail you. I saw nothing but blackness and felt myself begin to drop against my will. A second later I was crumbled on top of the seat cushions to my left. Half of my body on the floor of the cockpit and my upper torso neatly folded on top of the cushions; my right hand was still precariously on the helm. I yelled for Mike immediately and instantaneously he appeared at my side. My vision was still blurry and I was dizzy. I felt weak. Not tired or sweaty or achey just weak as if I had been fighting a cold for weeks on end. I knew enough to put my head between my knees and breathe deeply. Meanwhile Mike throttled back and took over steering.

    This experience brought to attention the need of safety in a form I had never considered; the importance and responsibility to keep yourself healthy. So often, captains focus on safety of passengers & crew, weather, the performance of the boat, safety features… What about keeping yourself hydrated and well fed? If the captain fails to be lucid, is there another person on board? Are they trained well enough to perform simple operations (like throttling back and hailing help)? Thankfully Mike knew what to do. Thankfully Mike heard me when I yelled for him. I don’t know what would have happened if he had his noise canceling head phones on and was unable to hear my call for help. Maybe I would have risen to the challenge by standing up and throttling back… maybe… but maybe… I wouldn’t have been able to regain my composure…

    Along our travels Mike and I learned a nonverbal communication for various situations, the most important being that look of when to leave a boring party. No, not really, (we still stink at that signal) more like anchoring. One of our tools, if motoring, is to throttle back. The sound of the engine is a bit loud on Gaia and if I were to throttle back it would signal to Mike, I wanted his attention on deck. Most of the time, it was to slow down for some motor vessels wake or to allow someone to pass… but that was infrequent.

    After I regained composure I went down below. Once I was awake enough, I did what any sane kid does… I googled ‘fainting’. And the first thing that popped up on the google search was something called ‘fainting goats’ which ended up being a set of youtube videos of, you guessed it, goats keeling over and fainting… it was oddly adorable. But after I learned of fainting goats, I learned what happened to me was called Vasovagal syncope – Fainting due to lack of blood flow to the brain; usually brought on by standing for long periods of time, heat, or standing up too quickly. Once you experience fainting, you become more susceptible to it. If you’re fit and in good health and you faint more than twice in a month… you should see a doctor… it might indicate a larger risk at hand. Just to be clear I am in no way a doctor. This is simple information gained from googling ‘fainting’.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    We aint home yet, we goin to CharlesTON

    3 lipca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We left St. Mary’s inlet in GA and had a nice current helping us along.
    We departed Cumberland Island at 10:00 AM and started off at a strong 9 knots from the inlet. The wind was lighter than expected so we motored/motorsailed most of the day. Then a string of storms began chasing us.
    This is the second round of storms; not particularly scary. This brought winds up to 25-35 knots

    At least we had a beautiful sunset. Mike was down below cooking. :)

    During our night watches, we could make out large storm clouds passing around us. On my 1 AM – 5 AM shift I felt the winds pick up and a torrential downpour hit. For the umpteenth time I hid my chin under the fuzzy collar and internally thanked Mike for buying me a new set of foulies before we left Boston in 2015. The waves were rocking the boat at an uncomfortable angle. After slipping a few times and having a hell of time jibing, I called Mike up for another set of hands and as encouragement. After experiencing the lightening back in Georgia, I hit my ‘sailing wall’. I knew where I drew the line and that was at lightening storms. It was only raining at that moment but I still felt rattled and insecure, knowing that lightening could strike at any moment. It was pitch black and all I could see were the running lights on cargo ships coming in to port and black masses of clouds that moved in giant herds overhead. I was on my feet for my entire watch. I was so relieved to see Mike appear on deck early and say ‘tag’, our term for ‘okay, I’ll take over now, you’re watch is over’.

    Mike must have downed an entire pot of coffee because he took over from 5 AM until we anchored in Charleston. It was fun coming into the harbor… oddly, there were a lot of similarities between Charleston and Boston…     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Cumberland Island – A Step Back In Time

    1 lipca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Cumberland Island….is a hidden gem, still unbeknownst to the masses. And that’s a good thing.
    As a self proclaimed melodramatic curious wanderer interested in history…. upon first sight, this place ensnared that child-like wonder in me. You’re first view of Cumberland Island is overgrown webs of Spanish moss which carpet the overarching limbs of giant oak trees. (Side Note: Super fun fact about Spanish moss… it’s not moss! *gasp* I know! if you’re as over-caffeinated as I am right now, you too are egregiously concerned about this deception…. it’s not moss it’s a bromeliad which makes it closer in taxonomy to the pineapple and succulent families.*you’re welcome*). Light trickles through the canopy of Spanish moss as timid mammals scurry under the protection of endless green ferns and in the midst of this welcoming forrest are neatly carved walking paths…. but mind the horse poop. If you walk from one end to another you’ll stumble across vastly changing environments ranging from an endless salt marsh, to sand dunes that best resemble a heard of oversized camel humps, and one hell of an expansive beach. And the clincher that really made me love this island, is the crumbling ruins of a mansion and traces of personal stories left to decay in the elements and history books.

    Cumberland Island was first inhabited by native americans, the Mocama people. The Spanish arrived in the 1550s and built a settlement on the island and they named the island San Pedro. Historical records show in 1681 there were as many as 300 Mocama and Spanish missionaries living on San Pedro. In 1683 French pirates looted the island and the following years were nothing but pirate skirmishes between the French and Spanish. In 1733 English General James Oglethorpe of Georgia arrived in on the scene and the island was renamed Cumberland Island. Oglethorpe built a hunting lodge on the island and named in Dungeness. Two forts were erected on the island and a small town came to fruition. Over the years, the forts and towns were abandoned and washed away in time. Revolutionary war hero Nathaniel Greene and his wife Catharine lived on the island until Nathaniel’scumberlandcarnegiefamily death in 1786. Ten years after Nathaniel’s death, Catharine remarried Phineas Miller and built a 4 story tabby mansion complete with 4 chimneys
    and 16 fireplaces. Catharine named the mansion Dungeness, after Oglethorpe’s hunting lodge. Further in the life of Cumberland Island, Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew Carnegie, brought his wife and 9 children to live on the island. The family moved out in 1925. And in 1959 a fire destroyed Dungeness.

    The island was a great stop. We were excited to see a submarine skulk by up the ICW and soon after have a refreshing storm pass over while we safely remained on the hook. Mike and I enjoyed Cumberland Island but in the end we decided…. The South is too hot for us northerners in July… we soon left for Charleston, SC.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    The devil storm

    1 lipca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    The day we motored through one hell of a devil storm we were snaking our way around a very flat and shallow salt marsh. The air was humid and tall seagrass lined the channel, neatly outlining our path northward. The wind was light coming in from the East but an encompassing dark mass of storm clouds were coming in fast from the northwest. I buttoned up the hatches and Mike stayed at the helm. The air suddenly died and a gathering breeze took its place from the opposite direction. And as quickly as the wind had shifted so too did the pelting rain. Fat rain drops clobbered the boat and we watched in giddy curiosity. That giddiness was smashed when lightening began to strike all around us. We put on pfd’s and I turned on the steaming lights and put on my foulies, joining Mike in the cockpit. At this point rain was darting into our faces making it near impossible to see the channel ahead. We slowly crept along, relying solely on the GPS and pressing buttons on the autopilot to turn left and right. The idea to drop anchor in the channel and wait it out on the hook was not lost on me… but it also encouraged a whole slew of different concerns. A boat stationary at anchor is a likelier target to be hit by lightening, we didn’t know what the bottom consisted of, and if we dragged – we’d certainly be pushed far onto a muddy shore.

    The boat heeled over in the gusts, now ranging from 30-43 knots. Incessant cracks of lightening were coming down all around us and booming thunder rattled me to the bone. I did not feel safe; not with one but TWO aluminum masts sticking straight in the air. With the boat as safe as we could make it, all that was left was to sit tight and hope the storm didn’t get any worse. I looked up at Mike, hoping to see some form of resilience that we were fine but all I saw was the same damn fear and uncertainty as I felt. And that’s when I knew what fear was. Fear was complete and utter lack of control in a perilous environment. The only thing that gave me comfort was from watching the storm earlier. It had ascended upon us quickly, which meant the storm was moving fast….to my logic that meant the storm would continue at its clip and it would end soon. The rain let up about 40 minutes after it began and just in time, we were approaching a bridge with a narrow channel – visibility would be nice to pass through it.

    Our next big destination was just over the boarder of FL, Cumberland, GA. And unfortunately, not without peril. Up until this point, we had really only one hard blow (see the Abacos and how we dragged – post), sure there were the crossings and sustained 25 knot winds and 10-18 foot seas… but our boat was built to sail that caliber of seas. And besides, you can only be so terrified for your life for so long before you realize (on the second day) you’re actually fine… Keep a sailors eye out and you’ll be fine, period.

    The afternoon brought sun as we passed by the industrious part of St. Johns inlet and St. Mary’s. We made anchor by the southern end of Cumberland Island, GA and relaxed in the stifling heat for the rest of the day.

    Next post… Cumbiiii! I want my cheap quality Cumbi coffee….. no not that Cumbi as in Cumberland Farms…. Cumberland Island, GA – Cumbi.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    St. Augustine and then came the storm

    30 czerwca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    From Fort Pierce inlet we traveled 160 nm (184 statute miles) up the ICW to St. Augustine FL. It took us 3 days of motoring 8 hours each day (motorsailing with minimal sailing). We gladly took a mooring and didn’t think twice about the splurge, anchoring anywhere else looked painful.

    St. Augustine is the oldest lived-in city in the contiguous US. It was founded by the Admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles of Spain in 1565 and has a killer oceanview sidewalk. St. Augustine in a nutshell has a long and turbulent history, grand and beautiful architecture,and that beautiful seaside walk. sigh… so nice. St. Augustine holds its’ history front and center. This is clearly seen as you walk through the forts and stroll past well-preserved buildings. It would be a great place to visit again… Mom, Dad… you mentioned retirement, you really need to look into St. Augustine.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    ICW FL – we just wanted to see a rocket

    25 czerwca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We timed our trip with an upcoming Atlas V rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. We did our research on different places to anchor and chose to stay on the “outside” in the Indian River, just north of the NASA Causeway. We could have taken the canal to a closer anchorage but decided it wasn’t worth the trip for us and our draft.

    Like all great sailors do, we made a plan and it was flawless. We were going to dinghy up to land, lock the dinghy, then walk or hitchhike to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the rocket launch. Fast forward 30 minutes after we left the boat…. So, we were in the back of cop car when we learned our plan was flawed….

    The causeway is a high speed 4 lane road with a grassy median and sides. We dinghy-ed slowly up to the causeway looking for a place to keep the dinghy for the day. Eventually there was a tree close enough to the water to lock the dinghy. And there we were, on the grassy side of the causeway. We were on the causeway for about 30 seconds when a cop car stopped right in front of us. He strolled out of the car and questioned what we were doing and nodded his head knowingly. He had been watching us for a while. He then patiently explained we were trespassing onto Federal property and couldn’t land our tender here. As we continued to explain we were going to be on our way and walk or hitchhike to see the rocket launch, he stopped us and said it’s also illegal to walk along the causeway (for safety reasons). Great, we’ve been in the US for 24 hours and we’ve already broken 2 laws. The launch was in 45 minutes and our hopes of getting to the Kennedy Space Center was looking further and further away from fruition. We must have looked innocent and desperate enough in our neediness he turned a blind eye and showed us some downright good Southern compassion. He radio-ed his ranking officer and informed him of our dinghy and location, once he received acknowledgment and approval of our unlawful arrival, he nodded. He let us know what we were doing was not okay and then gave us a ride to the Kennedy Space Center. Yeah, this is where we all say ‘aww, what a sweetheart/nice guy’. I was never a rebel in my high school days and not rowdy enough in my college years to earn a space in the back of a cop car. As we sat in the hard plastic seats with cramped leg room and no door handle to let ourselves out of this mini prison, Mike and I both smiled….. this was both of our first time in the back of a cop car…. AND we were en route to see a ROCKET LAUNCH!!! – how sweet.

    The Space Center greeted us with the feel of a nerdy adult version of Disney Land that also happened to be kid friendly… :) We had time to spare and walked along the ‘rocket garden’… as you might imagine it’s a bunch of rockets with all sorts of great information. There’s even a F-1 liquid fuel engine on display, which I found to appreciate far more than I expected. After reading about diesel engines and looking over Mike’s shoulder on our own Beta, I have a decent understanding of how these beasts operate. I thought it was pretty cool how similar it was to a rocket engine…. a super powerful rocket engine at that.

    As the countdown crept closer, we made our way to a comfortable grassy patch. We had an idea of where the rocket would blast up into the sky and in our moments of waiting…. Mike decided to watch the countdown on TV from his iphone. I looked over his shoulder as the video announced the preparation to the ‘official’ countdown. I looked up just as everyone around us gasped. The rocket launched! There was a rocket hurdling through the air. The video had a 30 second delay. Mike looked up as I ‘awww-ed’ along with the crowd. ‘Damn video delays’ he muttered. I would have laughed more at the irony of Mike’s almost-missed launch but the sound of the blast captured my senses and my eyes were glued to this massive aeronautical feat of human ingenuity. I think my heart may have skipped a beat as my senses dulled and a complete sense of aww struck a cord that left a dumb-founded smile on my face. I felt an overwhelming sense of pride mixed with inspired curiosity as we all watched the rocket arch into the heavens, disappearing into a mere dot within seconds. I’ll admit it, I got a bit teary-eyed, I was moved. I looked around at all the parents with kids now skipping at their heels announcing to anyone & everyone that they had just seen a rocket launch. I looked at Mike and could tell we both felt the same as all the kids -invincible.

    Foot long hotdog for lunch
    Vehicle Assembly Building - Largest building in America, they build rockets in there
    The american flag is huge, the stripes are 9 feet wide, the blue part is the size of a basketball court, and the stars are 6 feet big.

    Atlantis - you can see the scorch marks on the protective quilt layer

    So we had our space-dog, our space ice-cream and had our fill of inspired and overly energetic background music, we were ready to head home… We ended up asking strangers for rides and it worked out really well. A couple gave us a ride to our dinghy and it turns out they’re both sailors. We jumped out quickly and launched the dinghy as soon as humanly possible and before you knew it we were kicking back on the boat again.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Back in the USA (contiguous)

    23 czerwca 2016, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The sight of abundant hotels and a developed coast line greeted us at the Fort Pierce inlet into FL. It was hauntingly familiar yet staggering to see so many tall buildings after… not for so long.

    After our overnight motor/sail of 120 nm we continued further up to Vero Beach. Situated behind a fun bar & restaurant and close enough to dinghy to the other bank and walk to a nearby Publix Supermarket. For everyone not from the South, Publix is a phenomenal grocery store; affordable, fresh, and a ridiculous volume of variety. Really liked our welcome back to the US so far.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    The last sail in the Caribbean.. for now

    21 czerwca 2016, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Goodbye Bahamas – Goodbye Caribbean

    We took a risk. We uplifted our lives in search for something new for different and wild places. We experienced everything from the surreal and eye opening unexpected experiences to the horrendous and brutal seconds that went on for days of discomfort. It is with a deep and heavy heart I leave the Bahamas, for me, our departure of the Bahamas recognizes the end of our Caribbean adventure. And what an adventure it’s been. We’re so grateful to have danced under the stars with friends new and old, to have explored both deserted and beautifully populated islands with new and beautiful customs. The food could have been better but what are you gonna do :) . We both have a new found respect for the environment and complicated infrastructures that allow for necessities like potable water, waste management, and transporting goods. The Caribbean is a vast and changing nook in the world, it’s definitely changed me and I hope we can share our experiences in how we live and what we do going forward. Thank you Bahamas for the all palm trees, white sand beaches, the wild life conservancy agencies, and thanks for all that clear water and fish. Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Great Abaco part V - Sale Cay

    21 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Allans Cay was intriguing but the wind was a bit strong and we had our focus on getting home to the US at this point and less on exploring.

    We had a truly beautiful last day sail in the Bahamas. Couldn’t have asked for better weather. Strong consistent downwind, sun with light puffy clouds, minimal waves… sigh… I’m going to miss this.

    There were 4 other sailboats at Great Sale. The weather windows for crossing had been few and far between with the recent uprising of squalls so we weren’t surprised to see so many others staging for a crossing. Our last Bahamian sunset, probably for a very long while.

    At 6:30 AM we listened to Chris Parker the next morning. Squalls in the northern Bahamas were diminishing today but down by Georgetown and Turks & Caicos told another story completely. Ongoing squalls throughout the day with gusts in the squalls up to 45 knots. Yikes, no thanks. Our wind forecast for the next 48 hours looked like it had weakened overnight unfortunately. Our sail was looking more like a motor with each weather update.

    We had 120 nautical miles to cover from Great Sale to Fort Pierce Florida. And we did it in 21 hours.

    The first 50 miles are in the outstretched Bahama bank with depths between 12-18 feet. Once you cross outside of the banks, open ocean takes over – sea monsters thrive, mast crushing waves pace the wild seas, and cargo ships are blindly roaring up and down the gulf stream. But it’s okay, we’ve got this, we’ve traveled the open ocean before and crossed the gulf stream once…. Really, we were set up for another run of the mill overnight. We watched the weather like a hawk a week in advance, we checked the boat over – oil checks, cleaned haul, rigging was good and we had a benign weather window. Nothing to fear but fear itself.

    The next 70 miles include a 30 mile spread where we’ll cross the gulf stream and grab a 2-4 knot boost northward. We left at 2:00 PM and had a great 8 hour sail. Around 10 pm large oncoming storm clouds worried Mike (who had first watch). The wind became light and inconsistent and Gaia acted more like a cork in a bathtub being swayed back and forth rather than a sailboat cutting through waves with a purpose. Mike took down the sail and thus began the motor portion of our passage. I took over for the next four hours and I don’t recall it being particularly fun. We now entered the gulf stream and the ‘washer machine affect’ was in full swing waves sloshed from two different directions rocking us back and forth uncomfortably. I saw 3 or so cargo ships and a couple of sailboats taking the gulf stream North. Around 5 AM Mike took over again and brought us into Fort Pierce. I warily watched, having not actually slept during my downtime. It was beautiful but it definitely had a distinct American feel to it; large buildings and abundance of cars and hotels…all the amenities you could ask for and more.

    We were back in the United States. Hey We Were Back!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Great Abaco part IV – Goodbye Bahamas

    20 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Goodbye Bahamas You’ve Been Swell

    We began our sail from Green Turtle to Allans Cay with beautiful wind and sunny skies. A rain storm came through and Mike took a few shots of me sailing in 25-30 knots. A bit intimidating at first but once you get your bearings, it’s all about minding your p’s & q’s, don’t cross the streams, keeping your eye on the ball…. paying attention. Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Great Abaco part IV - Green Turtle Cay

    19 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Green Turtle Cay has two harbors Black and White. White Sound Harbor is home to New Providence, a loyalist town, and scattered stores along old narrow streets. We anchored in Black Sound Harbor which really only has two places to visit via dinghy, a marina in the SW side, and another marina on the NE each with their own respective bars. The first night we went out for drinks with the family on the Pearson at the NE Green Turtle Marina. The bar inside the marina restaurant made me step back a little when I first entered. Every square inch is covered in US & Bahamian green-turtle-dine-bar1 dollar bills, signed or drawn on by a black sharpie. The patriotic economist in me cringed. I know it’s not illegal to write on a US dollar bill but it is illegal to deface or destroy it…. and … aren’t you destroying it by purposefully taking legal tender out of circulation and scribbling ‘I rule’ all over it in block letters….shouldn’t the only signature on that dollar be the Secretary of Treasury? Okay, okay, I’m done being a kill joy…. aside from those complaints, I thought it was really cool inside. Outside of the bar a Bahamian band played that had been practicing together for 30 years. We all danced and met other cruisers. It was a beautiful night.

    The next day was a bit rainy so we stayed locked up on Gaia, I did make a dinghy ride over to our friends on the Pearson. It was their daughters birthday and I had vanilla frosting on board and some left over wedding bubbles. I decided to put them to better use and gave them to the Birthday girl and her Mom. Later that day we also had cake. :) Yum!

    The First Time We Dragged

    The weather wasn’t terribly great to move onward so we stayed in Black Sound harbor for another day. It was that day a great storm front passed. In the afternoon we watched as the dark clouds moved over, then the strengthening wind and downpour of rain. As conditions worsened we watched under the dodger as other boats dragged, picked up anchor and tried anchoring again and again in the strong winds. One by one we saw the boats retreat to mooring balls. We, thankfully stayed put through their ordeal and even opened a couple of beers, commenting on the fact that we haven’t dragged EVER – we should have knocked on wood, our hubris got the last laugh. We were down below when we heard a loud whistle. Curious we both poked our heads up…. Gaia was jack-knifing … moving parallel to the wind instead of nose first, a key trait of dragging. Mike moved quick to turn on the engine and got behind the helm as I moved forward, glancing at the wind indicator, which read 34 knots. We tried 3-4 times to anchor each time more difficult than the last. I began shaking uncontrollably from exposure to the wind and rain so I ran back and took care of the helm and put a jacket on. Mike took his luck in getting the anchor stuck in the mud as I found out how difficult it was to keep the boats nose into the wind. I saw the wind peak at 38 knots and thankfully the storm broke soon after. We were able to anchor in 15 knots and rest for the afternoon. What we believe to have happened was the mud and weeds will hold but only up to a certain point. It was a difficult anchorage to be in for a storm that’s for sure.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Whales Tale

    19 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    From Great Guana we passed Whales Tail Cay and ‘Don’t Rock‘ as in literally, do not rock the rock….. at low tide you can see how precariously balanced the rock appears to boaters.

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Great Abaco part III –Nippers & Grabbers

    18 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We made the simple motor to Great Guana Cay where we anchored next to a 36 foot Pearson. A father and two young daughters pulled over on their dinghy and we chatted about our shared bondage to a Pearson sailing vessel. Turns out they are a family of four vacationing through the Abacos for two weeks. We made loose plans to meet up on land for a drink.

    We took the dinghy to shore and entered the famous bar Grabbers. I immediately loved it; palm trees, hammocks, the ring game, and other beach games scattered about the premise. We decided to continue onward to the infamous Nippers bar and to see the sights of the island. The island was simple and beautiful, streets and dirt paths were mainly ran by golf carts. Along a dirt path, we passed a rusting tractor, where it appeared a bunch of 8 year olds had taken it upon themselves to beautify. At Nippers we had the infamous ‘Frozen Nipper’. It was good and packed an equally potent punch. The view of the beach was astounding but the bar … well it had an odd funk to it…so we returned to the polished bar of Grabbers and had overpriced drinks that knocked my socks off (if I had socks).

    On our return to Grabbers we bumped into the vacationing family on the sister Pearson. We ended up having a round of drinks with the couple while the two young kids played on the beach. They were a fun couple and we planned the next few anchorages together.

    The following day we anchored on the northern point of Great Guana where we snorkeled some amazing coral beds and hunted for our nassau grouper… we had no luck in hunting. At least the motor over was beautiful.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Great Abaco Spilligate! to Marsh Harbour

    16 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We later went out to enjoy the nightlife and started at, bizarrely enough, a pizza and wine place….very unique to the rest of the island and welcoming. We quickly began talking to the bartender and a local who was building a house around the corner. We learned that Abaco pine is extraordinarily dense. This also explains why we see so many homes built out of wood instead of stone and concrete. I learned from Bermuda that islands in hurricane locations build stone homes since it holds up stronger in the stormy weather and because pine is not as abundant. In the Bahamas there are four islands that still maintain and export pine: Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros, and New Providence. We continued to chat to the two locals who confirmed, everyone who lived on this island ‘are good folk’. After a glass of wine, we continued back to the main drag and had a blast at a bar where happy hour is from 12 to 12 and a live band kept rocking the house song after song. We danced to Wagon Wheel and chatted with the crew of a catamaran all night.

    We also learned a few Bahamian phrases… thought I’d share a few:

    Well Muddo! – exclamation of surprise

    Spilligate – to go out and have fun

    Kerpunkle – drunk

    What da wybe is – what’s up

    We spent longer than we thought in Hope Town, after all it had everything we were looking for, fun environment, cute town, friendly folks, and of course a coffee shop.

    Marsh Habor, Great Abaco is located just across the Abaco Sound on mainland Great Abaco. It was our first introduction to traffic lights and multiple cars on the road since….. I can’t remember the last time I saw a traffic light to be honest, December in Bermuda perhaps? We were really hoping to get engine oil in one of the marine/car stores. When we found out the engine oil was $55 / bottle and it wasn’t even the brand we wanted… we kicked ourselves in the butt ….. again. We eventually sucked up the price and bought 3 jugs worth of oil. It was hot and we did boat work, we didn’t particularly like Marsh Harbor…. except for the grocery store….. the grocery store was amazing!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Great Abaco - Hope Town Elbow Cay

    13 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Our spree of squall-ish days continued and we motored around the inner shallows of the Abaco Sound to Hope Town, Elbow Cay. En route Mike enjoyed programming down below as I, coated in foul weather gear, sang songs as loud as I wanted in the intermittent rain showers, I was in the zone. After a few hours he poked his head up and asked if I wanted a break, I smiled and told him to go back below, I wanted to keep singing in the rain. The sun finally began peeking out as we crept into Hope Town. Reviews of this harbor reported people running aground at depths of 4 feet near low tide…. For us, there was one worrisome instance where some skippy-little powerboat hogged the channel and we saw the depth sounder go from 4.7 to 4.0 to 3.7 (our aground depth) to 2.0 to 25 to 17. This indicated we muddled the bottom enough to confuse our depth sounder. Thankfully, we were able to power through the muck with no issue.

    We were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and take in the quaint harbor once we secured Gaia to a mooring ball.
    We walked around town where bikes controlled the streets and every summer home seemed to be decorated by Martha Stewart….We admired the beaches and crashing waves and took in the midday sun and greenery. One of the small plots of land was a cemetery with a sobering past. The cemetery marks the resting place for over 100 residence who died in the 1850 Cholera epidemic.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Great Abaco - Sandy Cay

    12 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    The following day we ended up motoring to Sandy Cay for what we heard was an excellent snorkel spot. Just before slack tide we dinghy’d around the point, secured the dinghy to a mooring ball, and dove in. The sky was becoming overcast and visibility was a bit murky, probably due to the recent tumultuous weather. Despite the strong current, we enjoyed the beautiful coral reef. We didn’t last very long, which worked in our favor; we made it back to Gaia just before another torrent of rain began. Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Great Abacos Little Harbor

    11 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    In the Bahamas, we became accustomed to infrequent and expensive grocery stores; restaurants which required a phone call in advance so someone could open the restaurant and catch food; secluded anchorages, and scant strangers. The Spanish Wells and the outer banks of Great Abaco were loyalist enclaves that have now been seemingly taken over by Floridians. For us, it was a stark contrast to the rest of the Bahamas. And all it took was an 8 hour sail from Eleuthera to Great Abaco. That’s exploring for you, traveling to new places, you find new experiences, people, and food you sometimes didn’t expect to see, meet, or eat (hopefully in that order).

    Little Harbor – Southern Abaco

    We anchored outside of Little Harbor, which is a shallow inlet to a protected little harbor. The dinghy ride into Pete’s Pub and Gallery is speckled with numerous green turtles. We even spotted the same colorful catamaran we saw in Deshaies, Guadeloupe. I took the sighting as a providential sign of good things to come, after all Guadeloupe was amazing.

    We tied the dinghy to a piling on the beach and walked in barefoot to the open-aired bar. The ceiling was completely dressed in T-shirts stapled to the frame from undoubtedly rowdy, adventurous, and lively travelers. We meandered the sandy-floored bar and strolled over to the boardwalk which lead to a beautiful seaside beach. The bar was a bit dead at 5:00 so we were thinking of heading back. Until – a few sport fisherman wandered to the bar. We began to talk and suddenly, one of the men asked us out of the blue if we’d like a big grouper. Mike and I (stress on just Mike) have been attempting to spearfish – specifically hoping to get a grouper. We both laughed and said ‘hell yeah!’. We thought he was joking. He came back with another guy and asked, if we really did want their ‘excess’ catch of the day… We thought it through, we had a fridge, sure we could keep a fish. He had a deckhand wheel it on over. Within minutes, there was a guy and a wheelbarrow and the biggest dead fish I’d ever seen (42 pounds). The son of the skipper caught the mystic grouper at a depth of a thousand feet using an electric powered reel. They left it in the bin for us to take…. now what. The entry of this giant fish gathered a few locals who told us they know people who could help us gut the beast on the dock here and share in the meat. I couldn’t think of a better scenario. Mike went off to grab the chef who was on a boat in the harbor and I stayed next to ‘little beastie’. I got to talking with one woman and her daughter who were so kind and entertaining. She came back and took the cart saying, why wait for the chef, I’ll gut the fish for you now. Impressed, I said why not. She wheeled the fish to the end of the pier and I found out she grew up on a trimaran here in this very harbor. She knew everyone there was to know and talked me through gutting a grouper. Mike eventually arrived and we both got a lesson on the technique of gutting. As we watched, other locals came in and began carving at the head, discarding bits and pieces to the sharks below. The community that gathered around were so wonderful, we had a mini impromptu afternoon fish gutting party.

    The locals told us of the amazing history of Pete’s Pub and Gallery. It begins with Randolph & Margot Johnston. They moved onto their schooner, The Langosta, with their children Marina, Bill, Pete, and Denny. In 1950, they sailed off in search of an island and new home, escaping the ‘megamachine’. They found Little Harbor which had little more than a thatched hut at the time. On the North edge of the harbor is a soccer field sized cave, this is where they made a home. Along with the bats and the crabs, the family built a home in paradise. Pete grew to be an artist and opened Pete’s Pub where tourists come for afternoon libations to this day.

    We returned back to the boat with a healthy amount of fresh fish and cooked it. Just as dinner came to a close a harrowing wind swept through the anchorage. We checked our GPS and surroundings, we were in good holding but our neighbors…. well it appeared as if our neighbors had conjured the flames of hell on their stern! Not kidding. They must have left the cover of their grill open and the embers had turned to a full grown flame. Our neighbors stern moved and rocked with the pounding waves and whistling wind. A ray of light illuminated someone on the bow trying in vain to get more scope out on their anchor (scope is the amount of chain you have on your anchor; more chain = a safer holding) – poor souls. We looked over to the neighbor anchorage, where the sport fisherman were anchored. It appeared their powerboat and a nearby catamaran were both dragging. We watched the show continue until the wind decreased to moderate strengths.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Spanish Wells & Buddha's Bar

    9 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    From The Exumas we were itching to head back home towards Boston. It’s been about 9 months of sailing and exploring many many islands so the idea of sailing West (WNW) to Nassau, the Berry Islands, and Bimini then visiting the Abacos was too aggressive of a touring plan for us. It boiled down to; do we sail to the Berry Islands or the Abacos. By sailing to the Abacos, we’d be furthering our distance North and it’d be in beautiful Bahamian waters. It also meant missing out on Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and my beloved Bimini. On the other hand, Mike had been through that area and we’ve both visited Miami. For us, the best decision was northbound or bust. (And since I’m part economist….) On the other hand, we’d land in Fort Pierce from The Abacos instead of Miami from Bimini, a 120 mile gain on the FL coast or about 3 days of motoring.

    We had a beautiful flat sail from Sail Rock off the northern-most point of the Exumas, through the cut in northern Eleuthera, and straight to a small island to the west of mainland Eleuthera called St. George aka Spanish Wells. Worth mentioning is Current Cut, which we used, it can be a harrowing ordeal if timed incorrectly. Tides tend to have about an hour lag from those posted in Nassau. For the greatest ease, aim for slack tide. If you cross during the right max ebb/max flood, you could gain as much as a 6 knot boost! Hit it at the wrong time, that canal just might shoot you back out like a bad bottle of rum… ‘By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” -Benjamin Franklin

    We stopped behind Meeks Patch and enjoyed the anchorage before winding our way through Spanish Wells and up around Gun Point, Eleuthera. Pro tip, don’t anchor in the channel when you can anchor in Gun Point. Yes, there are some wakes and it’s a further dinghy ride to town but it’s night and day when you compare scenery. You could anchor in the murky water with industrial buildings and homes in the channel or look out on a white sand beach, palm trees, and an adorable villa at Gun Point…. up to you. Spanish Wells has marine stores but warning about engine oil, it costs $55 here. We needed just over 2 larges cases of it and began kicking ourselves in our butt when we passed the opportunity to buy it in Puerto Rico for $30. We decided to hold off and wait for the next port before changing the oil.

    If you do stop in Spanish Wells, be sure to stop at Buddhas (aka The Schoolbus bar). A very industrious man who seems to know everyone and be everywhere. We sat down to a few burgers and beers and he told us his story of acquiring a liquor license. He also mentioned there are people out there who believe all of Eleuthera is without alcohol and so they don’t visit. For any of you wayward souls, this is not true. Mike and I enjoyed a few cold beers at the bar.

    In stopping here, we needed to drop off trash, do laundry, and stock up on groceries. There’s a large grocery store on the NW side of town with similar prices to every other store (maybe cheaper than the Abacos). As for laundry, we asked the marina if we could use their facilities, they said no. We were told there’s a public machine a few blocks down. We lugged our dirty laundry in the sweltering heat over a hill to a closed convenience store. In the back was an overgrown yard with a shack and a broken down door. That’s where the public laundry facility was….. great. Now we just needed change to operate it… So Mike took off to go make change. I sat on the stoop and passerbyers would stop and make sure I was okay. Just as I began to wonder how far Mike would walk for a few quarters, in comes a golf cart with Mike on the back. The spirited woman in the passenger seat shouted ‘Get on in! I hear you have laundry to do.’ I laughed it off thinking ‘ thank god Mikes back, lets get this over with…’ No, that woman was serious. We were going to do laundry at their vacation rental home. Turns out, they saw us get out of the dinghy with an oversized sail bag and pinned us as cruisers. Having been cruisers throughout their own lives, they decided to help us out. They drove us about a mile from our dinghy and opened their home to us, offering us water and food. We started the washer and sat down as they told us about cruising in the 70s. I thought we had heard some great stories from friends but wow, they took their boat out there and really experienced sailing life without all the safety gizmos and gadgets we use today. They even shared the story of how they were demasted and grieved of their poor vessel in shambles while sitting on a beach and how they bounced back and fixed it. And as we left, they grabbed their beach bag and spear gun and were off to the beach to go spear fishing and swimming for the afternoon, despite the evening clouds. I wish them well in their own active lives and look forward to when I see the next opportunity to pay it forward.

    Next post… The Abacos!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Sail Rock Exumas As Remote As It Gets

    7 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    From Leaf Cay we sailed to Sail Rock, not a common anchorage. Most people sail to Allans/Leaf Cay via Berry Island and Bimini from Miami, FL. We considered taking the popular course, after all, one of my favorite songs from the Kingston Trio is about drinking rum on Bimini. But we’ve been traveling every day for 8 and a half months, going out of our way to further see remote islands with great snorkeling, ruins, and fun bars… was weighing less on our list of things to do. Our priorities were closer aligned with cute towns, seeing Spacex shuttle launch in June, and most of all Boston. It was settled we’d sail as far NE as possible on the Exuma chain (Sail Rock) then over to Spanish Wells to provision, then sail the Great Abaco Sound, eventually crossing over to Fort Pierce (which is just South of Cape Canaveral). But I’m getting ahead of myself… Back to Sail Rock and our remote anchorage.

    Getting to Sail Rock was a slow sail we had a strong current on our bow and even needed to turn on the engine so we wouldn’t be pushed into a chain of large rocks and small islands. We passed Bush Cay and saw ruins on this little stumble of an island. Throughout the Exumas and the rest of the Bahamas, you don’t come across much green. Bush Cay, on the other hand, looked like something straight out of Ireland, particularly with our overcast evening skies. We made it in to Sail Rock close to sunset. A string of rocks kept the windward waves at bay and coral flourished near the cuts in the rocks. It was dicey to navigate close to the rocks particularly since neither our charts or active captain/garmin had much advice on how to approach. We eventually found sand to anchor in and were quite pleased to find the swells and current didn’t rock the boat at odd angles. Sail Rock was unlike anything else in the Exumas, it felt more wild. It was you, a thin line of rocks for protection, and open ocean. When the sun dipped below the horizon there was nothing but wind blowing and waves and this foreign oddity of a boat visiting for the night. I would have loved to explore the string of rocks or spit of sandy beach but we had a full day sail in front of us with good wind.

    NEXT STOP Spanish Town Eleuthera! YAY~     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Leaf/Allens Cay

    6 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Leaf Cay / Allans Cay

    Leaf Cay is host to the endangered Bahamian Iguana, only found here. They ask you don’t feed, scare, hunt, chase or agitate the iguanas. That all sounds redundant to me… they should have posted a sign saying ‘Leave the endangered iguanas alone. If you think you might be disturbing them, stop what you’re doing and walk away slowly, you probably are.’ We pulled up our dinghy on the beach and found that the iguanas have poor eyesight and may stagger towards you but the tiny dinosaurs are actually quite timid. Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Highborne Cay

    5 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Had a quick sail from Galleon Point to Highborne. We experienced some strong currents between the cuts and turned on the engine for a quick boost to avoid the rocks.

    We were finally able to drop off our stinky garbage and lightly provision the boat with gas, water, and food in Highborne. Despite the Yacht Club being a bit pricey, we decided to splurge and share a phenomenal dinner. We split a fish sandwich. Sounds kinda lame and boring but the sandwich and fries filled us up and was the best damn fish sandwich we had enjoyed in the Bahamas. Heres to the chef! We snorkeled the reefs nearby and they were nice… we’d done so much snorkeling and exploring at this point we were both in and out within 20 minutes. Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Galleons Point

    5 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    or the day, we traveled to North Normans Cay, Galleon Point where a most treasured sandbar flourished. I LOVED this place. We inched the big boat in before taking the dinghy in as far as that could go and then we walked the dinghy to the sandbar. Very much worth the voyage. Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Normans Cay

    5 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Normans Cay has seen a sordid past with drug trafficking playing a major role. An airstrip and a few dozen beach homes that lay in ruins are all that lives on from the stories. Oh and a wrecked airplane on the SE coast. Flipped upside down nose first in 25 feet of water.

    The island itself is amazing and uncomplicated – beach, land, air. Me, I loved the beaches! On land there’s a bar called McDuffs. It’s throwing distance from the airstrip. Mike once visited this place years ago and since then, it’s had one heck of a makeover.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Kir McLinnGone Sailing for a YearKir McLinn

    Shroud Cay

    4 czerwca 2016, Bahamy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We enjoyed beautiful Bahama Bank sailing to Shroud Cay. The anchorage on South Shroud Cay is beautiful and exciting to explore but the mangrove river in the south are non-motor crafts only. The reviews said it was a kayakers paradise and I believe it.

    We motored to the Northern end of Shroud Cay. In passing a cut that lead to the windward side of the Exumas, we saw a sprawl of coral growth. We dropped anchor and found some of the best snorkeling since Guadeloupe (Jacques Cousteau Underwater Park). Sharks, barracuda, schools of fish, COLORFUL corals at manageable depths. We stayed here for a few hours before moving on to the mangroves on Shroud Cay.

    We took our dinghy in past immaculate beaches through calm and clear waters, and entered the river with mangroves reaching out on either side. We wound our way around the twisting river turtles fleeing on every turn, eventually finding the famous, Camp Driftwood. I read that a hermit sailor carved out steps to the top of a hill to create his own little sanctuary. Over the years cruisers brought driftwood and plastic tokens to the top to add their own flair etching their boat name on the surfaces. In 2012, rangers came through and cleaned out Camp Driftwood. When we found it, the hilltop was pristine and beautiful. I was a bit dismayed to see that I missed out on the art of Camp Driftwood… but the more I come to think of it… so many islands, cays, and beaches (ex: Warderick Wells/Big Major) have tokens from cruisers. The Exumas are not missing out in having one less hill with plastic & driftwood from cruisers stating they’ve arrived. You want to make your mark & celebrate your travels? Fine, as someone who is also proud about our own travels I support that but make it in the sand, or etch your name on a barstool, let nature be. That’s my rant, sorry if I rained on someones parade.

    Kirsten playing on the limestone.     Czytaj więcej

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