Chilling times have arrived, finally!
17th December 2010 - 8th January 2011
We made it to the Bahamas in time, barely! After three months of preparing Buena Onda for this journey and racing down the coast to leave the USA in time, a big milestone and a welcome change have been reached. Finally we can stow away our, by now smelly, thermal underwear and start wearing flip flops and snorkels!
Besides keeping to our three month visa deadline, I had a extra reason to be in Freeport on time; Liselotte would visit us for 2 weeks through Christmas. It was amazing being reunited after three months, on a tropical island.
Unfortunately Freeport is not very tropical-islandy and all the good stuff is more than a day’s sail away. Although we’ve sworn off long overnighters, we decided to go for it one more time to get to a more sail-friendly area, the Abacos. This meant that Liselotte was directly thrown into the deep, her first experience on the boat would be a night on the Atlantic Ocean. It turned out to be a beautiful night, the sky was clear and treated us with plenty of shooting stars.
The overnighter-hangover was immediately forgotten when we arrived at the Abacos the next day. On arrival the sunset gave us a glimpse of the beauty of this area; white beaches, palm trees and blue warm water we have been dreaming of the last three months. The Abacos are ideal for easy sailing, as distances are short, there are ample secluded anchorages and the islands have more than enough charm to keep you enchanted for weeks.
Fishing, snorkeling, looking for shells, kite-surfing was all we did the next couple of days. We feel like this adventure has just begun. Whenever we would land on a new beach or snorkel around, Liselotte -the collector- would scurry around as if in a new playground and come back with arms full of pretty shells, conchs and whatever else she encountered. Adriaan and I are really really happy too, what a change in scenery, temperature and activities!
We made it to the Bahamas in time, barely! After three months of preparing Buena Onda for this journey and racing down the coast to leave the USA in time, a big milestone and a welcome change have been reached. Finally we can stow away our, by now smelly, thermal underwear and start wearing flip flops and snorkels!
Besides keeping to our three month visa deadline, I had a extra reason to be in Freeport on time; Liselotte would visit us for 2 weeks through Christmas. It was amazing being reunited after three months, on a tropical island.
Unfortunately Freeport is not very tropical-islandy and all the good stuff is more than a day’s sail away. Although we’ve sworn off long overnighters, we decided to go for it one more time to get to a more sail-friendly area, the Abacos. This meant that Liselotte was directly thrown into the deep, her first experience on the boat would be a night on the Atlantic Ocean. It turned out to be a beautiful night, the sky was clear and treated us with plenty of shooting stars.
The overnighter-hangover was immediately forgotten when we arrived at the Abacos the next day. On arrival the sunset gave us a glimpse of the beauty of this area; white beaches, palm trees and blue warm water we have been dreaming of the last three months. The Abacos are ideal for easy sailing, as distances are short, there are ample secluded anchorages and the islands have more than enough charm to keep you enchanted for weeks.
Fishing, snorkeling, looking for shells, kite-surfing was all we did the next couple of days. We feel like this adventure has just begun. Whenever we would land on a new beach or snorkel around, Liselotte -the collector- would scurry around as if in a new playground and come back with arms full of pretty shells, conchs and whatever else she encountered. Adriaan and I are really really happy too, what a change in scenery, temperature and activities!
The first catch
We'll probably be catching loads of fish soon, but the first is always the one you'll remember. What a weird looking one!
The thrill of spearfishing
Snorkling
the Bahamas is one of the most amazing things we’ve ever done. Gliding around
in any direction or position, amongst tall coral towers of every colour
invented. It’s truly Avatarworld in 3D: both the endless creativity of the
organisms and the 3D element, probably the closest we humans can get to flying.
The seas here are teeming with life: hundreds of types of tropical reef fish,
corals, turtles, sea-fans, urchins, polyps, and eagle/sting -rays.
Spearfishing the Bahamas is even better. You get all of the above, plus prowling the depths like a hunter. And with a bit of skill or luck, better dinners too. It’s our new favourite hobby, and a welcome addition of fresh meat to our diet. Thijs and Jos have also gotten the taste for spearfishing. Jos even brought the herbs and skill to make original Dutch kibbeling, thanks dude! Since Maarten doesn’t like fish that looks, smells or tastes like fish, this is a great solution.
Spearfishing is painfully simple: all you need is a long metal pole and a Hawaiian Sling (an underwater-catapult). Then you get as close to the fish as you can, flex the sling and let go. Many fish are stupid enough to swim right up to us: “wow, what’s that interesting shiny metal thing, shall we go and check it out?”. Once in a while we feel guilty, especially when targeted fish swim around with their guts trailing out and a 6 foot metal rod in their bowels. But hey, who doesn’t eat fish? If we get really lucky we find lobster too, which are quite easy to spear but surprisingly wild when they aren’t killed directly. We’ve been forced to do a quick-course in fish recognition, and we’re getting pretty good at it: Grouper, Triggerfish, Snappers, Grunts, Flounders, Jacks, they’re all tasty.
The one thing that really sucks about this sport is that the seas here are full of sharks too. Nurse sharks, blacktip, reef sharks, bull shark, brrr. When they sense a fish in distress, it only takes them moments to arrive. Almost every spearfish-session ends with us being scared back into our little boat by a shark. Although we haven’t had any trouble so far, we’re always super alert and ready to give up our kill immediately if they do arrive on time. Because of this danger, we’re starting to perfect our teamwork: when Maarten shoots a fish, I try to kill it with a second shot directly and vice versa. We keep the dinghy close and get the fish out of the water as soon as we dive for our spear. Luckily most sharks don’t care for humans anyway.
Snorkling also enables us to find “conch”, a different kind of seafood common to the Bahamas. They’re really big and beautiful shells, with a large sea-snail inside. Doesn’t sound too tasty, but they’re actually really good and tender. Unfortunately getting them out of their shells is like pushing a super-sized American into an airplane seat, it just aint gonna happen. There’s a trick to it of course, but usually we don’t bother with the hassle.
Spearfishing the Bahamas is even better. You get all of the above, plus prowling the depths like a hunter. And with a bit of skill or luck, better dinners too. It’s our new favourite hobby, and a welcome addition of fresh meat to our diet. Thijs and Jos have also gotten the taste for spearfishing. Jos even brought the herbs and skill to make original Dutch kibbeling, thanks dude! Since Maarten doesn’t like fish that looks, smells or tastes like fish, this is a great solution.
Spearfishing is painfully simple: all you need is a long metal pole and a Hawaiian Sling (an underwater-catapult). Then you get as close to the fish as you can, flex the sling and let go. Many fish are stupid enough to swim right up to us: “wow, what’s that interesting shiny metal thing, shall we go and check it out?”. Once in a while we feel guilty, especially when targeted fish swim around with their guts trailing out and a 6 foot metal rod in their bowels. But hey, who doesn’t eat fish? If we get really lucky we find lobster too, which are quite easy to spear but surprisingly wild when they aren’t killed directly. We’ve been forced to do a quick-course in fish recognition, and we’re getting pretty good at it: Grouper, Triggerfish, Snappers, Grunts, Flounders, Jacks, they’re all tasty.
The one thing that really sucks about this sport is that the seas here are full of sharks too. Nurse sharks, blacktip, reef sharks, bull shark, brrr. When they sense a fish in distress, it only takes them moments to arrive. Almost every spearfish-session ends with us being scared back into our little boat by a shark. Although we haven’t had any trouble so far, we’re always super alert and ready to give up our kill immediately if they do arrive on time. Because of this danger, we’re starting to perfect our teamwork: when Maarten shoots a fish, I try to kill it with a second shot directly and vice versa. We keep the dinghy close and get the fish out of the water as soon as we dive for our spear. Luckily most sharks don’t care for humans anyway.
Snorkling also enables us to find “conch”, a different kind of seafood common to the Bahamas. They’re really big and beautiful shells, with a large sea-snail inside. Doesn’t sound too tasty, but they’re actually really good and tender. Unfortunately getting them out of their shells is like pushing a super-sized American into an airplane seat, it just aint gonna happen. There’s a trick to it of course, but usually we don’t bother with the hassle.