Our Week in Nassau S1:E07
Ahhhh today, March 4th, is the day papa leaves, wuttttttt. Woke up a little later than usual, like 7:30, papa had made coffee so we were all outside chatting about coral and how we would leave the anchorage, and discussing the boats that had just left and how they were getting beat by waves and the wind. Fun stuff. Sascha took the dogs to the beach while papa and I chatted about when the boat was made and how it was made, and how it can withstand anything.
Papa started making breakfast for us, while I worked on the Youtube and asked more questions about the boat. Sascha came back and we gorged on a veggie omelet with goat cheese, yah goat cheese, eating like royalty over here. So anyway, civilness was short lived because Sascha got in trouble for not telling papa that the hose clamps on the rudder shaft were not tight enough so he didn’t get any small ones, so we had to go around and take smaller ones off the exhaust hose and switch them for bigger ones or just use one instead of two.
This project took forever, about till the time that papa had to be dropped off which was 1:30. Then it was time to take an ocean bath and organize while papa packed. And now we have a solar shower that heats up with the sun, really nice when you don’t want to use the batteries to heat water which we never do.
Anyway it was time to take the dogs to shore, Luca couldn’t stop whining and papa needed to go to the airport, so we took to the dingy and went to shore…but then with all the excitement papa forgot his bad…haha very forgetful these days he is. A cab was waiting for him after he got back and took him off. The rest of the day we worked on our video, which we finished, and tried to upload but our wifi ran out, of course, so that put a stop to that. Then we called ‘Peeps’ who told us to come over to discuss weather and plans.
Before doing that we decided to finish putting the last clamp on the rudder shaft, there was still a tiny leak that we couldn’t have. Finishing up we grabbed our tablet and a glass of wine and headed over. They told us that their plans had changed. Unfortunately for us, we had wanted to buddy boat to Highborne key and then down to Staniel, where our dad would fly into, buttttt of course that wasn’t happening now. Their plan was now to sail to the east side of Nassau and then over to Eluthra, which was not what we had in mind.
So for now we are stuck, which is exactly what papa had in mind, pretty sure. We left back for the boat and let the dogs go to shore, and then called mike to ask for advice. He mentioned going to the other side of the island to rose kay or down to shroud, but both of those options didn’t give us much protection from the strong southeast winds that were coming. Decided it might be best for us to just stay and catch up on our videos and social stuff and then bed time.
March 5th, we woke up, cleaned, and made coffee and breakfast, looks like another slow day. The plan was to do laundry and put up the dog netting. The laundry was interesting. We have one plastic bucket on the boat so that was the wash bucket. Separate the colors and add water and soap. The soap we use is an eco friendly laundry detergent. Not the best detergent in the world because they have to use different ingredients obviously. So I went to washing in the bucket. Something that would have made this easier would be a washboard (which we learned was actually on the boat), but we don’t have that aboard. ALSO something we forgot to add to our grocery list was clothes pins. Haha go figures right, so what I had to do was run a rope around our cockpit through the stainless rods holding up our bimini.
It’s funny, good thing mama wasn’t with us because she would have died, she hates looking like a gypsy, but I would consider us gypsies about now. While I was working on laundry, Sascha was setting up the dog netting. Previously papa had had the netting made for Sascha and I for when we were little and running around the boat deck. However he never set it up, the trip we were supposed to take for it never ended up happening so it was never set up. The netting is only tall enough for between the deck and the first safety line. And was secured to that line by a thin rope. Unfortunately there was only enough rope to finish one side of the boat. Good thing it was the side of the boat that the dogs hang out on.
So we finished that up and went for a swim with the GoPro, we wanted to get some footage underwater “working out”, something that’s harder than it looks. And in the middle of it all a barracuda showed up! I was wearing my silver necklace and my nose piercing so I got out as fast as I could. Wasn’t looking to lose a nose today. Then we took the dogs to shore and stopped by our neighbors boat. Mark and Ronit from ‘Liora’. They are a very nice couple from New Jersey, and have been sailing on this particular boat for 2 years now, but around the Caribbean forever. They invited us over for breakfast, something that we could not refuse! Also they told us about a wifi box we could purchase in town, so we decided to go to the market and to the cell store.
Today, March 6th, we woke up early and took the dogs to the beach. We went over to our neighbors Mark and Ronit on ‘Liora’ for breakfast. For once we were the guests and it was a sure treat. She had made pancakes out of simple ingredients and mostly oats. I can honestly say that they were some of the best pancakes I have had in a while, simplicity is key.
They also have an espresso machine, and I was drooling. To have a latte and a cappuccino in the middle of an anchorage, on a boat, wow. By the time we had finished our coffees, sorry ‘Lattes’, and our conversation, we headed back to the boat and got ready to go into town.Ronit had a connection for a cab so we called in and scheduled someone to pick us up around 11:30, and Mark took dropped us off at the beach.
A very nice guy picked us up and dropped us off at Alcatel (the phone company), the phone store where we could buy a wifi box. 250 GB for $90 and then the box was $50. Then we headed over to the grocery store to pick up some fresh produce. Ronit is an expert with foods and health facts so we had some advice on what we should get for dinners and lunches. And she shared some delicious recipes with us for the future. Also we were going to make pizza dough together and coleslaw. While waiting for a ride I started talking to the security guard at the store and he told us he would bring us back for $15 instead of the $30 it took to get here! So of course we went with him because moneeyyyyy.
Had to wait a little bit for Mark to see us because we forgot to bring our handheld radio with us to call him. Only took a couple of minutes for him to notice so that was clutch. We got all of the produce on the boat and fit inside of the fridge while I took the dogs pee quick. One of the things we had to do before it got too late was re-anchor. We had some rough winds and weather coming in and it wasn’t the best idea to be where we were when they hit.
So we picked up anchor and headed over to where the other boats in the bay. There happened to be a 120 ft yacht that was in the spot that we had chosen before and we weren’t sure if it was moving or not (In the end it did but that didn’t matter). We were looking for sandy spots to drop anchor, those would work for us the best. The first one we found and dropped our anchor in, didn’t work, we thought we held but when I dove in to see what was happening, we were dragging. After this spot didn’t work we tried another 4 spots we thought would work, and nothing. They all failed. Everyone on the other boats were watching us, and at one point Mark from ‘Liora’ and William from ‘Liapori’ came over in their dingy’s and told us it would be best to just go back to where we were anchored before.
By now it had been 2 hrs that we were trying to anchor and I had already gone in to dive the anchor 4 times and Sascha and I were both getting tired. So we gave in and anchored in the sand we knew was there. After we anchored and caught our breath we went to William to say thank you and found that Ronit and Mark were already there. We stayed and took notes on advice they had for us, but all they had to say was “you girls are badass” and “we admire your perseverance, you didn’t give up, you kept trying”. Which was very different from what Papa was telling us, basically that we were failures. William had a bottle of wine for us that we enjoyed a little bit, before heading back to the boat. We had only had breakfast so I made dinner and we went to bed.
This morning, March 7th, we planned don releasing our next youtube at around 10 Am, so before that we made a small sneak peak video to post before we did that. After that was all done and taken care of we went to ‘Liora’ to make pizza dough and coleslaw. The pizza dough was for later, we were going to have a card night with pizza and anything else that Ronit cooked up. When we got back to the boat I decided it would be best to clean up, finished food prep and get what we didn’t need off the boat, I cleaned the chicken, added the rest of the ingredients to the coleslaw, and made a zucchini pasta for lunch.Then I went around and cleaned boat, vacuumed and wiped the floor with vinegar that we bought at the store. It is best to have a clean and organized boat, make sure that it doesn’t get awful, we don’t want to be living in a pigsty.
It was a pretty slow day, so by the time this was all finished it was time to head to ‘Liora’ for dinner. As we approached the boat I could already smell what she made and it made my mouth water instantly. Boarding we were met with smells, Ronit had made pita with the extra dough that was left. Also zater, its a yogurt with seeds and tomatoes, she made a salad, and also baked beets and squash. I now know what standards I have for dinners on our boat! We chatted about the past few days and the places we have been, and when it was time to make pizza I helped.
After eating more than I have in a while, and washing it down with some wine, only a glass for a toast though, we broke out the cards. The card game was called Canasta, and it sure worked your mind. The whole evening however the wind picked up and because we were in a spot that wasn’t as protected, we were worried about Far Side and where we were anchored. She was fine in the end, it was just a little bit shallow, and sure was choppy. Looks like another sleepless night ahead.
On March 8th and 9th, we had pretty uneventful days, we woke up late, I guess its day light savings time! Wonderful, less light for us now. Again its a crappy day so we are staying in, Sascha is making Kombucha and I am organizing files and all that. Made some delish pizza and a calzone. Yummy. The next day we worked on finishing the video and making a teaser, and the sun actually came out. This was a sign for us to go to the beach, so beach we did!
