Newsletter Xmas 2007

“That Fickle Couple ain’t got no stinking Direction in Life”

To expand on my perfect English above, we don’t know where in the world we’re going from day to day. In the last newsletter we told you we were headed for the Caribbean. We had arrived in Fort Lauderdale from the Chesapeake in mid November and stayed as always at Bruno’s Zoo (our eight boat marina hideaway in Ft Lauderdale.) Our good friends Bruno, Dano, and Brit were waiting at the dock when we arrived. We figured we would be there for about two weeks waiting for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream and sail on to the Bahama Bank. Tuesday we worked on the boat getting her ready and found an internet connection for the marine weather forecast. The weather report called for the north winds to abate on Thursday, Turkey Day. That was all the good news we needed. Tuesday afternoon we rented a car and provisioned for our trip which included fuel, boat parts, diving stuff, etc., a twelve hour marathon. On Wednesday we stowed the provisions (for those of you in Yuma Arizona, “stowed” is putting the grub in the wagon or boat in our case) and got the “ole tuna schooner” ready to go to sea. Our bags were packed, the boat was provisioned with beer, wine and rum, and we even remembered to take a little food for the trip.
Early Thanksgiving Day, while most of you were waller’n in turkey and dressing, the mighty crew of Pipe Dream sailed out of Fort Lauderdale. We traveled overnight to arrive in Nassau, Bahamas, 30 hours later, about 165 miles. How’s that for speed? We checked in with customs and paid our $300 cruising fee. (Remember the “Help Ferdy Cruising Fund?”) After a couple of days in Nassau we sailed off to the Exumas (one of the island chains) and into paradise.
Jutta and I are back in our element playing in the islands. We have spent a lot of time on the eastern sea board of the United States and really enjoyed it, but it is very expensive. Now that we are in the islands, things have changed. We can try to live off of the land experiencing the true pioneer spirit, like Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Drake, etc.? .You probably can imagine how sick and tired we get of eating lobster dipped in garlic butter all the time; and garlic butter is so expensive!! There goes the budget.
The crew of Pipe Dream has landed in Georgetown, Bahamas, and we have planted our anchor for a while. On the Friday before Christmas we sailed out of Georgetown bound for Long Island and on to the Southern Caribbean. The seas were perfect, the wind amassing, and the day beautiful. We had planned to spend Christmas in the Dominican Republic or the Turks and Caicos Islands. On the northern end of Long Island after six hours of perfect sailing we had a discussion and decided to turn around and head back for Christmas and maybe another season in the Bahamas. (What are those two thinking??) In another month there should be close to three hundred boats in Georgetown. We’ll have many playmates there.
A cruisers’ Christmas Eve was spent on the beach with caroling and a bonfire. It ended about 10pm. Us cruisers got nothing to prove when it comes to staying up late! Christmas Day we attended a potluck for about a hundred people. Everyone made a dish and the Turkey and Ham was provided for $5.00 a head. I thought the budget was blown again but I won a bottle of wine on the raffle. What a stroke of luck! After dinner Jutta and I hit the hay about 8:00PM. We had to get up at 2:00AM to go to Junkanoo. Junkanoo is a festival held on Boxing Day (Dec.26), started during slavery by the blacks to honor their customs, traditions, heritage, and emancipation. It’s a parade starting at 2:00AM and ending about 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. There are brass bands, lots of drums, cow bells and whistles, the noise is incredible, the costumes and floats are breathtaking and everyone is dancing and partying. White folks could learn a thing or two about partying from the Bahamians. The mighty Pipe Dream party animals gave out at about 8:00 AM and returned to the boat for a little sleep. This getting old is not for sissies! You need to keep in mind we are just a few days away from a New Years Eve party and need to pace ourselves.
News Years came in with a bang. The Saint Francis Resort right around the corner from our anchorage hosted a New Years Eve Party for all the cruisers in the harbor. John on the sailing Catamaran “Free Bird” supplied 5 hours’ worth of dancing music and we danced until our feet were sore. By 2:00 AM the party cleared out and it was time to return to Pipe Dream and a little sleep. After all, we had to be fit to watch the local New Years’ Day boat races.
Well, that about wraps up 2007 and another year of Pipe Dream Adventures. We sure have a lot to be thankful for and we are eagerly looking forward to 2008.
We wish you all a wonderful New Year, remember to keep us in your thoughts and it wouldn’t hurt to keep us in your pocket books!

From the Decks of Pipe Dream

Ferdy and Jutta