GEORGETOWN EXUMAS, BAHAMAS
First lets post some more pictures from Danger Reef:
On the way down, little mask adjustment and a right leg kick to start things out
Jake scratching the groupers belly. (The grouper is hard to see)
Caribbean Reef Sharks circling above
Trying my luck with the huge grouper
Love this picture with the three sharks
Jake and I working on the grouper
Swimming through the mountains of coral at Danger Reef
Really like this picture with the shark and the changes in coral
Somewhat of a close call with a reef shark. At one point he was close enough that I could have reached up and touched him.
Sting ray getting cleaned by a colorful triggerfish
CRASH!!! He gets his name bc he likes to run in to people. His head is about a the size of a basketball, maybe a bit bigger than that.
Crash heading up for a breath of air
Playing chicken with a reef shark :-)
Jake and I goofing around. We laughed at this picture for about 10 minutes
Arrow Crab (very small)
Me being weird again. I was always hanging out upside down, doing flips, etc... I love being weightless, I should have gone in to space.
Wednesday we took off for Georgetown around 0800 with about five other locals with us on the boat. Tony, Gizelle, Bushman, Chubby and his niece came along with us. It was fairly calm for the first few hours because we were on the inside. Once we went through Gallient Cut out in the the sound the waves picked up. It was still calm enough to fish and we got some lines in the water. For the next 40 miles we had no luck at all. Upon our approach in to Elizabeth Harbor we were greeted with a massive rain squall. They came in one after another for the next day. It was perfect timing because the boat got a fresh water rinse. Canflor girl was still here and Buddy and I planned to head up to the festivities of the regatta. I was granted a nap and then got ready to explore. It was a bit quiet being that it was still Wednesday but I was told to get ready for chaos on the weekend.
Today I ran to the market for some groceries then went down to the waterfront to catch the start of the B class race. I wanted to do my research because I was asked to race on Ruff Justice later in the day in the A class race. A class boats are 28 feet long. Every boat is all wood and Bahamian built and owned. The sails are cotton I believe, or something like that. It is true Bahamian sailing. The sloops start at the line with their sails down on the anchor. The gun goes off and you hoist the anchor, get your sails up and you are off. It rained cats and dogs for most of the day. Just before I got picked up to be taken out to the sailboat the skies cleared and for the whole race we didn't have rain. I was so nervous. My heart was pounding. This tradition of Bahamian regattas is serious business and this was the biggest one of the year. I didn't want to get in the way. It is hard to understand Bahamians sometimes, especially when they are all yelling. We almost missed the start, had to change the mainsail on the way to the starting line, and were messing with the headsail right up to the starting gun. We let all of the anchor rode out so only one guy was hoisting at first until we got enough rode in to all hoist together. There was no rhythm to getting the anchor in and hands were slapping and getting caught in T-shirts. Upon rounding the windward buoy the whisker pole (if thats what you want to call it) was not even on deck yet. Upon rounding the leeward buoy the helmsmen was in charge of bringing the main sheet in and no one was even steering the boat. To say the least it was very unorganized, and we came in 8th place because of the chaos. I stayed quiet and stayed high on the planks. I was the high man out and it was very scary at times. I thought they would put the big guys out there but I later realized that I don't think the big guys could get out there. I was the quickest and one of the most athletic so I think thats why I got put out there. I almost fell in the water a couple of times but managed to keep my balance and keep my feet out of the water. We actually had a pretty good start and were in second place for awhile. We timed our tacks wrong and had to tack one extra time to make the buoy. This really hurt us.
All in all it was a really amazing experience and I hope that I get to race again tomorrow. My knees and legs are raw from sliding up and down the plank and I was soaking wet but I had a ball. The boat almost flipped once and I was about twenty feet in the air out on the end of the plank. A boat did sink in the B class race and they still haven't gotten it up as far as I know. When the boats flip, they sink. They are wooden boats and they put lead in the bottom of them. They have to pull all of the lead out and haul it back to the surface after it flips.
Here are some pictures to help give you an image of these sailboats and what I meant by being out on the plank. I don't know if any of our friends got any pictures today as it was very rough and windy out there, but I will ask around.
This is the actual boat that I raced on today, Ruff Justice. I did not take this picture.
This is a picture of a race. I got this picture online so I am not sure what boats they are. I do not recognize any of the sail numbers. The plank slides from starboard to port when we tack and is about 6 inches wide. The masts are about 60 feet high, the boat is 28 feet long, and in light winds they change the boom and sails. The boom can be up to 48 feet long! It is quite scary to be on the end of the plank when the boat is about to flip. My position all day was the first man out on the plank, all the way out.
Sound Waves Out
No comments:
Post a Comment