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  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    Day 293

    Hopetown Hometown

    January 4, 2023 on the Bahamas ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Our hearts are in Hopetown. We have sailed to so many beautiful places this past year and Hopetown still remains our favorite place to visit. Not only because one of the best days of my life was at the top of the lighthouse there but also because it just feels like home. It’s all in one package there. Happy people, killer spearfishing, unlimited amounts of lobster and conch, the best restaurants in The Bahamas, fun bars and the list jsut goes on and on. We were lucky enough to spend 2 months there with family visiting. It was quite a treat to be able to have our boat on the dock in front of the rental house for a month too. Family dinners and hot showers at the Point House every evening was one of my favorite things about being right there. Oh and we could also do our workouts on stable land! Ha!

    We had the best time with my Dad and Ana bring there for the month. Some days a little too much fun that we couldn’t even focus on fishing! So we ended up at the famous Firefly bar. Say no more, if you know, you know.. When Pat came out the weather was awful unfortunately but we made some of the best memories. We biked the entire island, bar hopping along the way. Dad & Pat took some nice slow falls. Icing on the cake was when Pat drove the bike right into the bushes at Firefly. I was laughing so hard I about pee’d my pants! We’ll give her some credit though… That was the last bar we went to and it was getting dark so our vision wasn’t the best.

    When Kyle showed up it was another nasty chilly weekend but that didn’t stop this crew from getting all the spearfishing time we could! One day, Carson and Kyle were in the water for 1 hour and it was jsut fish after fish. They were pulling up hogfish, grouper, mackerel! Quite the variety. It’s jsut so east in the Abaco’s that it makes it that much more fun. Last year Kyle made good friends with the lighthouse keeper and his family. He was able to give us a private tour of how the light the kerosene lighthouse. It was so neat! Pretty remarkable that the wick is as tiny as a candle light that lights that entire lighthouse. The next day they all came over and taught us how to prepare a traditional Bahamian Sunday dinner. This was such treat and a night I will never forget. I was in the kitchen making lobster, cracked conch, fried fish, coleslaw, Mac n cheese, potato salad and let’s not forget the banana pancakes for dessert! This family were some of the most down to earth beautiful people. I felt so fortunate to get to know all of them!

    Once all of our family left it was just Carson and I on anchor again. It took a few weeks before we had a weather window to sail south. The plan is to make to Grenada for hurricane season this year. In the meantime, we met some really cool new sailing friends and hangout with some old friends we met in Guatemala that had sailed there too! We also got to check out some of the songwriters music festival while we were there. It was hard to say goodbye to Hopetown but we were ready to be on the move again. We have to be in the BVI’s by April. We have some very special guests coming to visit!

    Until next time Hopetown <3 We will see you for our wedding in December :)    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    Day 268

    Homebound for Christmas

    December 10, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    After a month in Isla Mujeres our weather window finally appeared to cross the Gulf of Mexico and head to Naples for the month. We had a fantastic sail across the Gulf considering we had to cross the Gulf Stream twice! We caught two mahi and jumped one sailfish, fresh mahi for two days, sign me up! The final stretch into Naples was something out of a spooky movie, thick fog and glass calm waters made for quite an interesting final approach. 400 miles later we anchored off of our favorite beach in Naples at 3 am and got some much needed sleep before heading into Naples Bay the next morning. After 3500 miles of sailing and 5 countries Naples was our most challenging place to anchor! After skimming bottom twice and striking out on our 3 options we found a bay in Port Royal that finally worked.

    Our time in FL was filled with much needed family time and seeing friends. We did a big lap around the state to see all of our fam. Thank you Dr. Caputo for helping Kendra with her beautiful smile in such a small period of time! We also had to pick up a new dinghy due to our old one slowly sinking, no bueno! The new dinghy also got a new name, called Sea Wally, after being crushed on a seawall being tossed in the water. Long story..

    Christmas was the highlight of our trip home. being able to have Christmas with Kendra & my family was truly a treat!

    Shortly after Christmas day we prepared our floating home for our next year of adventures. We had a 600 mile sail ahead of us and 2 crew willing to get a feel for what sailing was truly about. Kendra, Ken, Ana & I pulled anchor on Dec 29th from Marco Island and set sail for a month in Hopetown, Bahamas!    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    Day 255

    The End of our 1st Sailing Trip

    November 27, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Wow. Our first sailing adventure has come to end. We are currently sailing across the Gulf of Mexico. It's pitch black out. The stars are so bright, it looks like freight trains coming at me. Endless amounts of shooting stars tonight. Seascape is calm & winds are settle. Maintaining a little over 5 knots which isn't great but I'm not complaining its so unbelievably peaceful. I'm just sitting here at the helm station sipping on my matcha taking the first shirt of the night.

    Today has felt so surreal. We left home 8 months ago to embark on our 1st sailing journey. We crossed 3 oceans and visited 5 countries. Made so many new friends, learned a lot about sailing, new cultures and got to see some of the most beautiful remote places most people will never get to see. I can't tell you what has been my favorite experience. I have enjoyed it all. Even the bad and ugly has a beauty to it because it's an experience I will never forget. I truly never want this adventure to end. It's a weird kind of addiction that probably only makes sense if you live the life of a sailor. There are so many ups and downs to this lifestyle but when I look back I remember more of the good times then the bad. I feel like my life before tended to relish more on the bad than the good. Why is that? Why do people back home always talk about the negative incidents that happen to them more than the positive ones. Maybe because back home all the good incidents are so relatable and the bad incidents are the ones that stand out the most. I guess that's the stuff people are more curious to learn about. Now, my life isn't relatable at all. My experiences are unique and authentic.

    This life has given me the confidence I have been needing. I no longer care so much about my appearance or if I am fitting in with the crowd. Materialistic things don't matter as much now. My life is simplified.

    Gosh, I remember back in February when we were taking shack down cruises to the Keys. I can't even begin to describe what that feeling was like, taking Iwa sailing in the open waters for the first time. We were sailing our new home! So much freedom and excitement. The feeling is so different now from then. It's become a "norm" for us now but there's still no contentment, which I love. The second your content is when you need to change things up and continue to evolve. We are always being challenged out here. There's not a day that goes by that I take this life for granted or feel any regret. I will do whatever it takes to sustain this life forever. Everyday on this boat gives me more motivation to keep chugging along with my career in trading. Hopefully we can inspire others to do the same one day. That's the next goal.

    The curiosity never stops, the new adventures are always beginning and meaningful relationships mean more now than ever. I feel changed. Changed in a good way.

    ...

    January 2023 begins the next sailing adventure...the eastern Caribbean.    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    Day 241

    We Mexi-CAN! Surprise visit :)

    November 13, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Our sailing trip from Belize to Mexico was the fastest, roughest sail we have experienced yet. Wind against current don't go hand and hand but we were having fun cruising at 10 knots like it was nothing! We arrived to Cozmeul, Mexico to check in. Worst check in experience we have had throughout all our journey's. We got hussled out of $ and they searched the entire inside of the boat. Was it really necessary to have 7 officials on our boat?! Craziness. We gave them $ and told them it was time for them to go. They sent the check in paperwork via text and we were on our way to Adventuras Marina where we docked the boat for the week.

    This was the big week! We left our little hurricane hole in Guatemala early to make here to celebrate Jes' 30th Birthday! At this point in our trip we haven't seen family in over 6 months so we were so excited to make this trip happen. We would catch up with Jes & Mike over the phone every other week or so. We made her believe we were still in southern Belize waiting it out until the end of Hurricane season. So did she know ;) We rented a little yellow bug like stick shift car from the marina to take us over to Tulum where we would surprise her. Mike arranged to us meet them at a resort where they planned to have happy hour and watch sunset. We arrived a little beforehand and waited until we got the text that they were there. We hid behind some bushes while they went up to the bar to grab drinks. We snuck up behind them and acted like a server asking if they would like to order some drinks. The look on Jes' face when she turned around and saw us there was worth a million dollars. An unforgettable moment and fortunately Rob caught it all in pictures. Somehow someway we pulled off the best surprise ever! Our few days with them in Tulum were amazing. We ate amazing food, took the crew out on the boat sailing and snorkeling and made memories worth a lifetime!

    After Tulum, we sailed South to Isla Mujeres where we staged for about a moth before we made our big crossing back to Naples. Huge sailing community here but also a HUGE tourist location too. We didn't seem to mind the business that the tourism brought after being cooped up in Ro Dulce for 5 months. There was great restaurants and happy hours everyday. Some of the most amazing margaritas for el cheapo too! The diving was the most beautiful we have seen yet. There was a super neat underwater art museum that we dove with sculptures of people playing music, kids playing, pregnant women, animals, etc. It was so neat to see the reef structures growing on the sculptures. We did try to spearfish one day but there was absolutely no fish to shoot! That was kind of bummer. The anchorage we were in was known as the bowling alley. We soon found out what that really meant on a stormy windy evening. There were boats dragging all over the place. 1 that was heading straight for us. Sailors were out there on their dinghy's trying to hold dragging boats off their boats. We were prepared to drop ours in the water if need be but fortunately the one boat that was coming for us was able to move his boat and get it anchored in front of us (still not very reassuring having him in front of us though). It was quite the experience!

    Our final week here was Thanksgiving week. We offered to host a group of 15 people. Some people we knew from Rio Dulce and some that we had met in the anchorage during our time there. Everyone including us were feeling a bit homesick not being with family for the holiday but when everyone came together it almost felt like we were all family! We did a pot luck style. We took on making the turkey, stuffing and gravy in our little easy bake oven. Our first time ever making a turkey and it turned out amazing! Thanks to my Mom for picking up our dozen phone calls with questions on how to make everything. Our guest were raving about how good it was and i must say it was one of the best we have had too. The coolest thing about this day was seeing our sailing community come together to make a beautiful Thanksgiving happen. Everyone went out of their way to bring something to the table. Even Sailor Bob brought over a rusty salt corded can of cranberry. Everyone was so appreciative for putting on the dinner. Sailors are the most thankful and caring I have ever met. I feel so fortunate to be meeting people like this all over the world!    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    1
    Day 239

    Do You Belize in Magic??

    November 11, 2022 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    It's been awhile since I have recapped on our travels but honestly its been the last thing on my mind with how much fun we have been having. Plus we had a big secret to keep... The past several months we knew Jes, Carson's sister, was going to Tulum, Mexico for her 30th Birthday at the end of October. We always planned to surprise her there but knew we were pushing our luck with it being the middle of hurricane season. When we arrived to Belize our travels got delayed a week or two due to a hurricane that was heading our way. We thought we were going to have to turn around and head back to Guatemala. I was NOT happy about this but it is the safest hurricane hole in the Caribbean. Turned out the hurricane turned and started heading towards Rio Dulce! We still got some pretty narly gusts from the bands but nothing we couldn't handle and wait out in Belize. We were still on track to surprise Jes so I had to turn my Find Penguins tracker off that way she would believe the BS we were telling her when we would catch up on the phone. Fortunately, the trustworthy sister believed everything we told her and her trustworthy husband kept the secret safe until the surprise weekend came. I will write about this in my Mexico recap next. :)

    So back to Belize. Once we left Guatemala and entered Belizean waters we were sailing almost every other day, exploring new anchorages a couple times a week, seeing new island towns and saying hi to our fish friends on the reefs. We were able to visit Placencia, South Water Caye, Caye Caulker, Turneff Atoll and San Pedro. It felt so good to go spearfishing again!!!

    The towns in Belize were by far the coolest island towns we have ever been to. They are TRUE island towns and people. We loved how there wasn't any high rises (except for in San Pedro) or huge resorts. Everything was wooden shacks with bright tropical colors and the roads were just sand. The people had a lazy, laid-back mentality. When we would ask them if they were excited for their towns season to begin, they would respond with an absolutely not. Haha. All they wanted to do was chill, hangout and drink some Belikin beers. It's nice to be somewhere where time isn't always a priority. Us Americans are always in a rush trying to do the next best thing or make more money. We are so guilty of this. These people are just plain simple. Happy with what they have.

    We were so impressed with the clarity of the water in Belize. We dove a few reefs, one that was just absolutely beautiful. The coolest part was being surrounded by huge tarpon and permit and everywhere you looked there seemed to be eagle rays sweeping the ocean floors. They were so curious and would stick around during our whole dive.

    Turneff Atoll was the only place we slayed the spearfishing! When we started our dive there was nothing. It was pretty and clear but there wasn't much reef. Then all the sudden we start seeing conchs. Not just a few, there were hundreds!! We scooped up 12 to stock up our freezer then we took off to the ledge to see if we could find some fish. RIght away, Carson nailed a hogfish and within 5 mintues i shot two huge black grouper! Carson shot one too but the spear tip went in and out of the fish. Bummer but really we had plenty of fish to eat...

    We were in heaven. Only an hour or two dive and we loaded up the freezer with fresh seafood! It took us hours to clean all the conch and fish but we weren't bothered by it. Sunset was beautiful, we were the only boat in the anchorage and life couldn't get much better. While we were cleaning and cooking fish, a boat came up behind our boat. We couldn't see who it was because it was pitch black. It was the park rangers informing us that there is a daily per person fee to be there and that the whole area is a protected park. Oops... we had no idea. There is absolutely no information online about rules and regulations in Belize waters. You don't even need a fishing permit there! We had all of our dive equipment laying out to dry, Carson was at the fish cleaning station. We were caught red handed. Fortunately, they never asked if we caught anything but we knew they knew. They saw all our stuff laying out on the boat. We got lucky!! They were coming back the next morning to collect the park fees so at the crack of dawn Carson jumped in the water to scatter the conchs away from under the boat that way they couldn't see the shells. No wonder why we had the best day diving. Those fish are never hunted!

    Belize was amazing and we will definitely be back to have more time there. A few weeks was definitely not long enough.    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    Day 196

    Recap on our time in Rio Dulce

    September 29, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ 🌙 55 °F

    Today we get to part ways with a place that taught us more than we could have ever imagined.

    Rio Dulce became our home for the past three months as we moved through this years Hurricane season. We made some of the best friends in our little sailing community. Some that we hope to meet up with again in the Bahamas this next sailing season and some that we hope to cross sailing paths again. I will always love the part about meeting other sailors doing what we do and how quickly we become family friends. Our favorite part is hearing everyones stories about where they come from. We now have friends from Russia, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Canada and list goes on and on...

    The locals of Guatemala and culture was unbelievable. These people have very little yet they are always happy and helpful. Our favorite weekend in Guatemala was when we traveled out to Antigua to hike and camp on Volcano Acatenango with views of the active Volcano Fuego. Hands down, hardest hike we have ever done. We hiked over 10,500 feet up a straight vertical volcano. Once we got to the top, it was absolutely breathtaking. Fuego was erupting every 20 minutes. We could barely sleep through the night it was so loud and not to mention how chilly it was too! Fortunately, we had a campfire with hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows. The next day we hiked down the volcano and got to spend time exploring Antigua which Carson and I both decided is our favorite town we have visited so far. The town is completely surrounded by volcanoes, cobblestone roads, historic sites on every corner and the people and food are incredible. We fell in love with this town.

    The past month our boat was pulled out on the hard. The laborers were incredible and the work was affordable and they did a fantastic job. We discovered several nice cracks on the sides of the boat that they have to cut out and re-fiberglass. During that time we stayed in a little jungle cabana that literally was floating over the river water. It was nice to live in a house for a little bit but after a couple weeks we really missed out boat. Not to mention we really missed exploring in the open ocean. We have been itching to get out!

    During our time here, we learned something new about ourselves. We have realized how much traveling completes who we are. There's nothing we enjoy more than completely immersing ourselves into culture. Before we would talk about how we needed to make money to buy the next best performance catamaran but now all we talk about is where we can travel to see more culture. We now know thats just how the American culture is. We always want the next best thing in life and Americans will work their entire lives to get there. You meet other sailors out here and they don't have the nicest sailboats or nicest clothes. They have what they have and that allows them to see the world and meet new people. That resonated deep with us. We feel we have everything we need in life right now. We feel so fortunate.

    We have set sail to Belize in the midst of Hurricane season. WIth only being 30 miles away from Rio Dulce still we felt comfortable leaving knowing we can always go back to our safe little hurricane hole. We are so excited to be in the islands again and get back in the water to do some spearfishing!

    Honestly, it has been hard not feeling a sense of guilt living our lives out here while we watch family and friends suffer through what hurricane Ian did to our hometown. We will be back in a couple months and its going to be even more heartbreaking to see how things have changed.    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    1
    1
    Day 138

    Rio Dulce Pro's & Con's

    August 2, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 73 °F

    Been a little MIA on here as we settled into Rio Dulce after sailing our butts off for a couple months.

    The ride through the Rio Dulce gorge was something neither of us have ever seen before. Absolutely break taking. Huge mountainous cliffs and walls surrounds us on either side. It reminded me of when I went rafting in the Grand Canyons but instead of Canyons is what all jungle. You could hear exotic birds whistling from the tree tops, monkeys hollering and the vegetation looked like live wall art. The Guatemalans past us on their pangas with the most welcoming waves and smiles. The fisherman were throwing huge cast nets into the gorge and hand lining for fish. The houses on the river were all tiki hut cabana's with not much to them but they were so unique and beautiful. It was humbling seeing how these people lived but that didn't stop them from giving us the warmest welcome smiles as we cruised by. The people here are the happiest and most hard-working people we have seen yet.

    As we approached the Rio Dulce town you could see the hundreds of sailboats surrounding the shorelines. Most are tied up at these bungalow looking marinas since its so affordable. We have been anchored up the entire time since we constructed our boat to be self-sufficient.

    This town was created for sailors. Locals come to our boat every week trying to sell us local produce, cheese, jumbo shrimp, snook, lobster and more. The town is hectic and takes some getting used to. There is a 1 lane road that runs through the main town with huge truckers that plow through with no sidewalks so you have to be extremely careful to not get ran over. There are vendors everywhere alongside. Little dollar store looking shops, hardware stores, agricultural stores, plenty of produce shacks and local street food everywhere. Everywhere you look there are women making fresh tortillas on the side of the road & everything is SO cheap compared to the states! You can go out to eat for drinks and food for $15-20 US for two people and labor is $4/hour US!!

    So now getting to the not-so-great part. After being here for a week, we learned quickly we were in a third world country. We both caught the case of what the sailors call the Rio runs... basically what felt like a week long stomach flu. We didn't know that you are supposed to soak your produce in a vinegar solution prior to eating it since they don't spray their produce with pesticides here so that is what got us sick. In the magoes and cauliflower we could see little worksm crawling around! We were afraid we had parasites but fortunately testing came back negative for that. It must have been a bacterial thing. We both had to get on antibiotics to fight it off. Within the same time frame, Kendra bit into a frozen banana breaking one of her front teeth off so that has been a fun process trying to get that fixed in a country that doesn't have the best dental practices but thankfully there is nice place in town that could help put together a temporary fix until we go back home.

    All of that craziness set aside, we have been enjoying our time here. We have been able to settle down and focus on our work. One of our Gautemalan friends let us borrow his motorcyle one Sunday to go see the hot spring waterfall about 15 minutes outside of Rio Dulce. The waterfall poured scolding hot water down into a pool of cool water. The cruise on the motorcycle was beautiful. We got to see all the little towns in surrounding valleys and mountains. We have done a couple amazing hikes during our stay as well.

    As much as we are happy we have been able to experience Rio Dulce, we are anxious to set sail in October for the Bay Islands of Honduras to see crystal clear waters and reef life again. Thats where our love and passion lys and why we set sail in the first place. From there we will travel to Belize, Mexico and then do the big crossing over to the Florida Keys, up the east coast for Florida and cross over to the Abacos, Bahamas for another long season in the Bahamas and make our way down to the BVI's. Going to be a fun year ahead!    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    Day 107

    WE HAVE ARRIVED! Rio Dulce, Guatemala

    July 2, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    113 Hours, 730nm, 50+kts of wind, multiple thunderstorms, 5 pods of dolphin, 1 Blackfin tuna, 1 Mahi Mahi, 1 Yellowfin Tuna & 1 blown out spinnaker!

    The experience of a lifetime! All I can say is what an epic adventure. Day 1 & 2 went by like a week, days 3, 4, 5.....like hours. From magical nights to desert heat days. By magical nights I mean a night sky filled with more stars imaginable and then looking into and ocean filled with bioluminescence as the boat wakes it up to a spectacular light show....and if that's not enough add in a pod of dolphins playing off the bows creating what I honestly don't know how to describe but magical! Dolphins zooming left, right, up (out of the water), down leaving nothing but a trail of sparkling light in the pitch black ocean water. Nature is more spectacular than anythings humans could create. There was never a night without Mother Nature showing her true beauty and power. Her power came in the form of intense lightning storms that turned purple & blue lightning strikes into a orange & red sparks as they met the water (yes the strikes got that close to the boat) . Her power also came in the form of intense wind gusts that showed no mercy on us! One gust hit us at about 3 am that turned a beautiful 10-12kt breeze into a 50kt nightmare in a matter of seconds showing us just how quick a sail can explode & turn an epic night sail into an unforgettable experience & lesson. RESPECT the ocean & Mother Nature at all costs because her fun comes with a cost! But hey, there's no excitement to life if you can't push it to the absolute limits!

    As we quickly close in on Guatemala, its hard not to fill up with emotions thinking we left Fort Lauderdale less than 3 months ago with zero plans or expecations except to sail wherever life (and the wind) took us. And here we are finishing our final sail for who knows how long to explore a jungle filled country with a native language that neither of us can speak...isn't life something?    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    Day 88

    Adios Jamaica, Hola Guatamala

    June 13, 2022 in Jamaica ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    Jamaica was everything we thought it would be and then some. All rasta hippies preaching their one love mon! We loved hearing what they said about their flag colors. Green is for the land, yellow for the sun, black for the people and red for the blood because we all bleed red making us all the same. Funny thing is there’s no red in their flag but that’s where the one love comes from.

    We got to visit three ports while we were there. Our first port was Port Antonio which was all locals and a few sailors. It was a small but busy town so it was easy to get turned around. The locals were all friendly and helpful. They made it a point to tell us they were looking out for us. Of course we thought the they just wanted our money but it wasn’t like that (only a couple people here and there). They really wanted us to feel comfortable so that more people would hear about their town and come back to visit. They had little grocery stores in town but where we got our produce was in this alley way where each farmer had their own small fruit/veggie stand. All grown from their own lands. I thought this was pretty special. Carson kept getting suckered into buying Jamaican weed at the market. Haha yes. It’s exactly what you would think, literally people all over on the streets are smoking joints and carrying their weed around. I didn’t think it was that open to smoke everywhere there but it definitely is! I thought it was neat that the school the kids went to was right on the water and all the kids dressed in a very formal dress code. The boys were in collard shorts and pants and the girls in collard shirt and skirts to their calves. For lunch, we went to a place called Piggy’s that all the locals recommended to get their Jamaican jerk chicken and festival bread. Apparently the most recent James Bond movie was filmed here and that’s where they would all get lunch. Piggy’s burned down at some point after the movie was filmed and the James Bond actor found out and started a fundraiser to rebuild it. Apparently him and the owner, Piggy, became very close. The food was delicious paired with a cold red strip! One night we grabbed dinner with our new friends on catamaran Waterlust. It’s a family of four sailing around the world. Everyone we meet becomes your sailing fam for life out here which makes all of this so special. It’s like an instant bond. We have been sailing with a family on a catamaran called Matilda Mia for a almost a couple weeks now which are making the crossing with us to Guatemala right now as I write this. They have the cutest little 2 1/2 year old girl that handles sailing no problem! I guess she really doesn’t know any better since she’s been on the boat since she was 6 months. I love seeing these kids we meet interact with all the kids in these different countries. Kids are so simple out here.

    The next port we stopped into was discovery bay. Much Smaller, richer town. Mansions all over the bay and mountain and a huge mining site for box-site which is found in aluminum. Our first morning here we went for a swim because the water was crystal clear. We missed seeing clear waters since we left the Bahamas. Right under the boat laid several conchs! I couldn’t believe it. Shortly after our finds the fish and wildlife preserve guys came up. Apparently it was a protected fishing zone and I wasn’t allowed to have the conchs. They didn’t look very official. I thought they just wanted some of my conch so I offered them one. They got a laugh out of that. They were nice enough to allow me to keep one. I was a little bummed but happy we didn’t get in major trouble! Should have checked the rules prior. Not everywhere is like the Bahamas. Although, later on we found out from a local that if you have to swim for the conchs you can keep them. You just can’t take the ones right on shore. Those guys probably went and took my finds when we left! Later we dove off the reefs behind the boat. The reefs were gorgeous but there wasn’t any fish to shoot. We were lucky enough to swim with two spotted eagle rays though! On the bay we’re these plywood beach bar shacks that we went with Matilda Mia to grab drinks, let Pia (their daughter) play on the beach with the Jamaican kids and eat dinner. There wasn’t one local in site. In fact, we were the only two boats in the Harbour. This was the true small town local feel. Apparently the people in the mansions on the bay (literally next door neighbors to the them) won’t go to this area. It’s a shame that some people think their too good for others. It’s not like this wasn’t a safe place to go. Some people just think their so entitled. It’s sad because the people I’m talking about are Americans. They were so shocked we came to visit their beach bars and treated us like family the entire time. Part of the reason we wanted to leave our own country was to experience REAL life and REAL people. Not just this fantasy we all seem to live in. Anyways…. enough with my rant. We ended up having drinks and dinner at this place called Highrie where they offered to smoke us out for free before dinner started. Ivone, the owner, set up the hookah and everything. Lol. She crafted us some nice cocktails, her husband prepared us Jamaican jerk chicken platters, put on a movie for Pia and fed us homemade ice cream at the end. They had rum raisin ice cream that was out of this world! It felt like we were in someone’s home! Ivone wants to host our wedding there whenever we decide to have one again 🤣

    Next and last stop in Jamaica was Montego Bay. This is where allll the tourist go. It felt like we were back in America. We felt quite culture shocked with all the busy traffic and resorts everywhere. Thankfully we were only there for a day.

    Now we are off to our hurricane hole, Rio Dulce, Guatemala! The things we have heard about this place are incredible. Not to mention our $1 is worth $7 in their country! Time to brush up on our Spanish on this 5 day crossing. Our longest voyage yet ✌️ Is it good luck if we were greeted first thing this morning with a pod of 20-30 dolphins surfing the front of our boat?? I don’t know but I sure hope so!    Read more

  • TravelerSailing Around the World
    1
    Day 83

    Goodbye Bahamas, Hello Jamaica

    June 8, 2022 on the Bahamas ⋅ 🌧 86 °F

    Left Inaugua, Bahamas this morning at 6 am to make our way to Port Antonio, Jamaica.

    Inaugua was full of the happiest Bahamians we have met yet. Which we found surprising since it was really a nothing town. The only big operation there is a salt production factory, Morton Sea salt. We took our one wheels exploring around the island to check out of customs, go up the beautiful lighthouse and see if the grocery store had anything fresh. It was sad to see they had absolutely no produce left. They said their mail boat hasn’t come in a couple weeks and they weren’t sure when they would should up but that didn’t stop these people from smiling and waving every time we went by. When we were coming out of the grocery store there was a little Bahamian boy staring at the one wheel. He asked to ride it so Carson held his hands while we guided him through how to do it. I swear it made this little boys day, he couldn’t stop smiling and staring as we took off. The past couple days we did some quick dives about 50 yards behind the boat where there were drop offs that went from 30 ft to 1000s of ft. The reef there was so alive and beautiful! Monster fish everywhere of every kind but we struggled getting a good shot on any of them. They had reef and holes to hide in all over but we had fun with the challenge. Yesterday I finally got a shot on a nice size strawberry grouper and within seconds there were 3 8 ft reef shark circling around us. When we got the fish back to the boat and started swimming again I looked behind me and the sharks had surfaced and were within 10 ft from me. Carson guarded them off and we jumped into the boat. We weren’t ready to end our last Bahamas dive but after that we called it for the day. They were getting pretty aggressive.

    We met some amazing people in the anchorage during our stay. All of them were heading to rio dulce too so we decided to meet up at the lighthouse restaurant to talk over our plans. Some of the most amazing people. We loved hearing all of their stories. These people were from all over. We all took off this morning in our own little sailing regatta. There is 7 boats in total. We decided to compete to see who makes it there the fastest and can bring in the biggest fish in. We started in the back of the crowd and have blown past all of them to the point where we can’t even see them behind us anymore. It’s safe to say we have won one of the competitions. We knew our boat could sail but really didn’t think it could sail this great! Hopefully we can get the biggest fish 🎣 too!

    We are approaching Cuba now. We can barely see the huge mountainous tops. Wish we had time to stop by but we should get some good views from our pass by.

    Another 24+ hours to go!    Read more

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