Category Archives: Information

Information we discovered during our travels.

Passage Matthew Town, Great Inagua Island, Bahamas to Little Harbor, Long Island, Bahamas

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Monday, March 10, continued – Daylight savings time began yesterday, so now in this part of the world the sun doesn’t rise until well after 0700. When we’d entered Matthew Town this morning at about 0845, the sun was still low in the sky and the water looked dark blue. When we exited the harbor at around 1030, the sun was higher and the water was stunning. In the shallows near the harbor it was a gorgeous turquoise, with a distinct line of dark blue where the water got deeper.

Sea conditions were the same as last reported: swells were about 2 – 3-feet at 6-seconds with 1 – 2 foot wind chop waves at rapid intervals. The wind was still hovering at 10-knots. On the passage from Jamaica to Matthew Town, we’d been heading northeast directly into the wind and waves. Now we were headed northwest, so the waves were coming from the rear corner of the boat instead of the front. And where the waves hit made all the difference in the world: it was actually a pretty comfortable ride now!

During the day, it was sunny with scattered clouds. Here was the sunset.

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Passage from Port Antonio, Jamaica to Matthew Town, Great Inagua Island, Bahamas

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Saturday, March 8 — We untied from the dock in Port Antonio at about 1130. As soon as we left the bay and got out into the open ocean, the swells were about 3-feet at 6-seconds, directly on our nose. The wind was about 10-knots, creating about 1-foot wind waves, also directly on the nose. We were hobby-horsing like crazy. Eric immediately got sick. Keith initially felt okay, but once he started looking at his screen, it didn’t take long before he was sick, too. 

Wind and sea conditions stayed the same all of Saturday, and Eric and Keith were sick all of Saturday. During the day, it was sunny with scattered clouds. At night, the 3/4 full moon shone so brightly it was like a spotlight, making the stars barely visible. However, after the moon set, the stars were vibrant.

Dawn on Sunday

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Piglet’s, Exploding Rockets, and Getting Ready to Go

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Thursday, March 6, continued — Not long after Michael dropped us off at the marina, we headed back out to get dinner. Several people had told us that Piggy’s was the best jerk chicken in town. Others told us that Piglets was even better. You’d think with the names Piggy’s and Piglet’s, they’d serve pork, but they both only served chicken and sides. Ed told us that Piggy’s owner looked like a pig and thus Piggy was his nickname. He also told us that the owner of Piglet’s had once worked as a chef for Piggy’s. Piggy’s had burned down, and rather than waiting for Piggy’s to be rebuilt, the chef opened Piglet’s.

We’d planned to eat at Piggy’s since it was in an actual building and it looked like we could eat inside. John saw us leaving and insisted on escorting us. Piggy’s was on the main road that paralleled East Harbor. As we neared Piggy’s, John insisted that we go to Piglet’s, instead, which was just another block or so down the road.

Piglet’s had no menus or signs, so we had no idea what our food choices were beyond jerk chicken. A batch of something yummy looking had just come out of the deep fryer, so when the cashier asked which side we wanted, we pointed to those. Since Piglet’s had no seating, we took it back to the boat to eat it. Here we are walking back towards the boat on a sidewalk that wins for most scenic and most treacherous.

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Rafting Down The Rio Grande in Portland, Jamaica

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Thursday, March 6 — Our friends on the Kadey Krogan had recommended that we do a river rafting tour down the Rio Grande, and had recommended a guide. We’d called him a few days ago and had made arrangements for him to pick us up today at 0900. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a good communicator. He said the price was $95 for a two-person raft. We were unclear on whether we were renting one raft or two rafts, and if only one raft, if there was a charge for a third person. We were also unclear on whether the cost included transportation to the river. 

At 0900, we were greeted at the marina gate by two men; Michael was our driver and Louis our rafting guide. We left town via the same road that follows East Harbor that we’d taken yesterday, but instead of following the shoreline, he turned inland and took us up the mountain. The road was narrow and full of potholes, but it was scenic. Here is a view of the blue mountains.

As expected, the farther away from town we got, the less dense the homes along the road. While there were some dilapidated homes, the majority appeared to be well built and well cared for.  There were quite a few large homes, as well.

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