My Week as a Single-hander

Tuesday March 8^th, Sal caught his flight back to the states, then a connecting flight to Toronto. I had the Internet for a couple nights when we were in Little Harbour and found out that he had made it back to Canada safely, not without them losing his baggage first though! Oh the hassles of flying. He will be arriving back Thursday morning and I am very much looking forward to seeing him again. I’ve had no one to talk to, beat at crib, or argue with, except my parents of course – they can’t wait for Sal to get back.

One thing I’ve learned by being by myself is the need to prepare before heading out. When it’s the two of us, one does one thing while the other does another thing. We’ve gotten really good at working together and have developed a routine that works for us. By myself I have to get everything ready to go before heading out because once on the way I have to stay by the tiller to steer. No running around getting this or that. We do have a ‘tiller tamer’ that helps to keep course, but it can’t be trusted for long before it starts to slowly turn and will eventually have the boat going in circles. It becomes a dash below when I need to grab something to eat or go quickly to the toilet. I didn’t do too much sailing only a little here and there when we moved from one cay to the other but enough to get a feel for what a single hander goes through.

We have three pillows on the boat, two for sleeping and one that we use as a backrest. Ok, when I say we, I mean I use as a backrest. It’s an ongoing complaint that I get two pillows while Sal gets one. It’s just easier that way. Anyways while Sal has been gone I’ve been enjoying using three pillows! I’ve gotten quite comfortable with three and it won’t be easy giving one up when Sal gets back…

Tuesday after Sal left I headed to Hoffman’s Cay to meet my parents. They were anchored off a beautiful little beach. I brought them back gifts of fresh water and some fruit, bread and cookies, which were happily received. While we were gone they had gotten a few conch and went with a group ashore to extract the meat. So that night we had homemade conch ‘cakes’. The next day I went with my parents to the infamous Blue Hole on the island. It was a short walk to a large deep blue water hole. We think that it goes all the way under the ground out to the ocean. It even has tides! Anyways I took a dip in it and swam around. It’s kind of eerie not being able to know what’s underneath you. There are about four fish that live in the blue hole and people will drop in a little food for them, so when they hear people at the surface they will swim up to check out to see if there’s anything for them.

We also took another trail across Hoffman’s to the ocean side. There is another gorgeous beach littered with shells. Mom and I picked up a few neat shells there. Dad likes to look for ‘treasures’ washed up ashore. It must be the frugalista in him. He’s brought back a fender and some other odd items.

On Thursday we returned to Little Harbour Cay as a front was forecasted to come through that night. It looked menacing the dark sky approaching. Florida reported very strong winds and even a waterspout warning. We were hoping for some rain, as it hasn’t rained here in a long long time. All we got was a few sprinkles and some wind but that was it.

Our food supplies are dwindling down to rice, pasta and cans. Coffee and cookies are a rationed item and junk food is a thing of the past. I was looking at a bag of chips in Great Harbour but at $5.50 a bag I had to pass. The dinner menu hasn’t suffered much, just gotten a little bit more creative. We are missing fresh meat and when we learned that Chester had cheeseburgers on the menu, we couldn’t resist temptation. Mom treated us to a meal out which satisfied the craving. Now only if I could get my hands on some icecream…

After three nights at Little Harbour Cay we moved back up to Hoffman’s for 2 nights. We found a few coral heads that we swam around and saw some neat fish. I think snorkeling is my favourite part of being here. To get a glimpse of an underwater world is so thrilling. I’m still a little fearful of encounters with sharks and continually look around but seeing the different types of fish and the coral is worth the minimal risk. Yesterday I saw a huge Nassau grouper hiding behind a tiny little bit of coral.

Today I took the trip back across the banks to Great Habour Cay. I had the sails up and motor off and enjoyed an easy sail, thought it was a little tense when I went over shallow patches of 2 ½ feet! Parent’s took the outside route battling the waves. Tomorrow I’m going to get a slip in the marina and hopefully meet Sal at the airport on Thursday.