s/v Field Trip

Love it or hate it, George Town is the primary cruising stop heading south in the Exumas. Our experience has been mixed. Some call George Town ‘Chicken Harbor’ as most boats heading this far south decide to turn around and go north vs. heading to the Caribbean. We of course, are heading to the Caribbean. Here is my ‘Love it’ and ‘Hate it’ summary. Love it Provisioning . We’ve found most of what we need in George Town at ‘reasonable for the Bahamas’ prices. Yes, it is more expensive than the US, but in some cases a lot less expensive than other islands down the Exuma chain.  Definitely a good place to stock up before heading south. Central . George Town is a good location to jump off and see other islands. The best areas so far have been the Ragged Islands. We can hop down to the islands in just over a day, and be worlds away from the chaos in the harbor. Worlds away with buddy boat s/v Sea Mysty - Ragged Islands Kid Boats. This is a good place to meet ot...

11,000 nautical miles, 14 months after taking possession of Field Trip – how are things really going? We’ve essentially been aboard full time since Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s less about sailing, and more about family & community. Having the boat provides the catalyst for us to be together. Of course there is the romantic side of sorts – wide open sea, sunsets and sundowners – but that can’t be the primary reason for tossing off the dock lines. If it is, you’ll be back in the harbor faster than expected. I’ve put into categories our experiences so far, and thoughts about the future. Small Spaces Small really isn’t that small when you get adjusted to less. As Americans, we’re generally used to having more. More space. More food. More toys. More cars. More of generally everything compared to most other countries. It’s just a fact. We’ve adjusted, and adjusted well. It wasn’t easy at first, but now we have a hard time imagining going back to the chaos of ‘More’. The ki...

By Michael & Elizabeth Did you know that in 1978 a bad guy crashed an airplane into the water? A pilot was trying out a flying trick and crashed. The airplane carried drugs to Florida and Georgia. It crashed in shallow water by Norman Cay in the Exumas. We went to go see it. Elizabeth jumping in water Plane wreck Elizabeth standing on propeller The 'Bad Guys' of Norman Cay  The length was about 2 or 3 dinghies long, or 24-36 feet. From the top of the water it looked broken. The whole entire airplane was covered with algae. It was shallow enough to stand on the wing. There was a lot of coral growing in the cockpit. On one side of the propeller fell of on the other side the propeller was on. I could touch the one that was on with my fin. I saw a nurse shark, gigantic stingray and a blue tang chasing a fish out of its way so he can eat coral. There were lots of colored reef fish. It was cool to see the airplane in Normans Cay. On Beach after pl...

Lately, we’ve been spending our days in ways that I only imagined when we first decided to venture into The Bahamas. We have been doing the perverbial “island hopping” along the Exumas, a chain of island running north to south just east of Nassau. All of us were ready to leave the hustle and bustle of the big city and get to quieter places. So, we provisioned and followed the wind east. The Exumas were exactly what we’d imagined The Bahamas to look like – clear turquoise waters, lone palm trees in mere spits of sand, and bright white beaches stretching between rocky shores. Ahhhh. Time to get back on island time, don the snorkel gear, and explore. The first cay (pronounced “key” for you landlubbers) near which we anchored was Allen Cay. In our charts and guidebooks, it boasted a huge population of Rock Iguanas, a species of iguana with a partially functioning third eye in the middle of the other two. Scientists are still not sure why this phenomenon has occurred, and it w...