Category: Boating Life

4 Ways of Checking in For Cruisers

Checking in for cruisers is a different experience than when you fly into a country. Every country is different. Every check in has been different too. So far, we have sailed to 4 different countries and had 4 completely varied experiences checking in.

Often when we arrive in port, we are led around like dazed children, not knowing where to go next or what to do. The basics are the same: have passports and boat ownership papers on hand. And money, or credit card.

It’s all been good – we’ve ultimately gotten in everywhere – and we’ll continue to jump through the hoops for the pleasure of visiting these intriguing new places.

Checking In – The Bahamas

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Why We Love Autopilot

It’s nice to post about good news, and we are so happy that Brian got the autopilot working! It’s been a long upwind slog without it. Read on for more reasons why we love autopilot.

The Mona Passage

The trip we just took is considered a tough one. Known as The Mona Passage, it is infamous in sailing circles, which I’ve just recently learned. This is because of the trade winds and variable tidal currents, both of which can kick up huge waves. We stayed in Samaná almost 2 weeks waiting for the perfect weather window, and we got it!

Samana to Puerto Real
Samaná to Puerto Real by boat

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Food and Drink in the Bahamas

It’s not far from the states, and there are a lot of Canadians and Americans here, so the food and drink in the Bahamas isn’t very different from home. As long as you are willing to pay, you can get almost everything you want in the shops and restaurants.

Conch

The national food of Bahamas is conch for good reason! The shellfish is so plentiful here and they make some delicious dishes with it.

Conch Dishes Ranked

Here is my ranking of the conch dishes in Bahamas:

  1. Conch salad. Similar to a ceviche in that the chunks of fish are cooked in citrus and then mixed with veggies. Peppers, red onion and maybe some hot sauce. Simple, fresh and delicious
  2. Conch chowder. We’ve had two versions: one in a red broth in Nassau, and a yellow chowder in Clarence Town.  Both had generous chunks of conch and a little kick of spice.
  3. Cracked conch. Lightly fried but with lots of meaty conch.
  4. Conch fritters, which usually just taste like fried dough, so I pass on this dish.
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I’ve Made Some Mistakes on the Sailboat

We all knew going into this that I had a huge amount to learn on this boat. Now it’s time for me to fess up and reveal the big mistakes I have made in my first months aboard Sava. I’ve made some mistakes on the sailboat, and I doubt they’ll be the last, but we’re still having fun!

Mooring

The Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park offers mooring ball facilities, which are generally more reliable than anchoring on your own. The mooring ball is attached to an anchor, and you attach your boat to the mooring ball. While Brian drives – slowly – as close as he can to the mooring ball, I am supposed to hook it and tie it up to our boat. Easier said than done.

One time, I caught the mooring but couldn’t hold it as we drove over it and I dropped the hook in the water. I grabbed our net and fished up the hook to try again. Then I caught the mooring and broke off a piece of the hook. By this point, a man in a nearby boat had gotten into his dinghy and picked up the mooring for me. All I had to do was throw him the rope and attach it to our boat. Even that I almost did incorrectly. You have to run the line under all the rails – which Brian had to yell to me – because if you don’t you can rip the rails off the boat.

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Overnight Guests

We’ve been in the Florida Keys for a week and the best part so far was our first sleep over! For the first time since we moved on board, we had overnight guests on Sava.

Our first overnight guests

Louis and Susan, who we know from my old job in NYC, stayed overnight on Sava last Thursday.

overnight guests on Sava
On board the dinghy!

Fortunately the weather was perfect. Winds were calm and waves were almost nonexistent, which was a relief for these two who can both get seasick and had never slept on a sailboat.

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