| Seabase Diary 2008 Troop 268 Back to Troop 268 Home Page Bahamas Weather Bahamas Photos |
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 Seabase Day One, Tuesday, June 17 - Travel Day |
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| Tuesday - Travel day Up early to be at the airport by 6:00 AM Departed Jackson about 7:00 AM Arrived in Denver at about 8:15 and had a hour and 45 minute layover (No concourse change this year, yea!!!) Headed to Ft. Lauderdale about 10:00 AM Arrived about 4:00 PM Checked into our hotel, Comfort Suites Went to CSV (think Wallgreens) for those forgotten items (sunglasses, etc.) Our shuttle driver recommend Earnie's BBQ for supper the boys decided to try It was great. We are just two miles from the ocean, warm and humid We thought the boys might want to swim at the pool, but after a long day and a big supper, no Early morning planned for tomorrow. continental breakfast 6:30 Off to the airport by 7:00 Will try to send more tomorrow if I can get an internet connection, If not it may be next Tuesday before this gets updated again |
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 Seabase Day Two, Wednesday, June 18 - Marsh Harbour |
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| Wednesday - Arrive in the Bahamas Up at 5:30 AM to get to the airport Great Continental Breakfast at Comfort Inn Shuttle to the airport Check-in and security goes smooth Boarding the plane for Marsh Harbour about 10:00 AM Hey, this is plane is small Flying around thunderstorms Landing in Marsh Harbour in the rain Julia from Seabase meets us at the airport Take a taxi to Conch Inn Marina Meet Captain Ali (Julia is his wife) and the Lady-J (our boat) The captain is great, let's us stow our gear early Check-in is @ 2:00, so we have some time to kill, decide to look around Lunch at Snappas (Bahamian for Snapper) Check-in, Captain orients us on the boat Boys decide check out Conch pearls at Conch Pearl Gallery Trek to the store to pick-up ingredients for some desert while sailing Gino and Kyle are cooks, tacos It's dark and a storm moves in, we are in the harbour Guys are playing cards and deciding where to sleep, it's raining |
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Seabase Day Three, Thursday, June 19 - Hope Town |
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| Thursday - The Light House |
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Seabase Day Four, Friday, June 20 - Man-O-War Cay |
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| Friday - On the water Rain showers just before bed, but a beautiful night with almost a full moon Woke up in Hope Town Harbour Dingyed over to shore at about 9:00, walked thru town to the beach It rained I little shopping Back to the boat at about 10:00 PM Headed out to Ali's (our captain) secret conch grounds Snorkel gear on we jumped into the water to discover conch The boys really enjoyed searching for conch Note: Queen Conch are large sea snails with the beautiful shells that you see people blowing on as horns Also snorkeled at the small reef near the conch gounds After lunch we headed for a little sailing Sailed around an old wreck Sail toward Man-O-War Cay Tied up in Man-O-War harbour The boys learn how hard it is to get the conch |
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Seabase Day Five, Saturday, June 21 - Fowl Cay |
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| Saturday - Amazing Snorkeling Woke up in harbour at Man-O-War No rain over night We've heard about Lola's fresh baked cinnominn rolls The boys decide to forgo breakfast for Lola's rolls We go ashore to tour town Beautiful flowers and trees Everthing is so neat, and clean, the locals claim to never have had a crime there No achochol is allowed on the island, there are 230 residence on the island. Most are related There is a interesting story about shipwreck and love in the early 1800s Lola bakes cinnamon rolls and bread in her kitchen at home. She starts at 3:30 in the morning Even when the power is out, like it was this morning With the help from Martin, her husband of 56 years He said he was "a one woman man, and Lola was a one man woman" She was baking a dozen loafs of bread and dozens of pie plate sized pans of cinnamon rolls One pie plate size is only $7.00 The locals trade in US and Bahamas money freely and equally Visited the water front, the Sail Shop was cool, local ladies sewing all manner of items, various sized bags, clutches, hats, etc. right there in the shop Some snacks, some chedar cheese, some ice cream and back to the boat We head out for some snorkeling, tried to sail, but not enough wind, Damon and Kyle tried some fishing, but no sucess The captain navigated through a maze of reefs at Fowl Cay, we tied up to a mooring ball Snorkel gear on and into the water, the boys are getting pretty fast at this Years ago I imangined what snorkeling was like After visiting wonderful reefs in the Florida Keys three time, reefs in Hawaii, today I saw what I had imagined Damon and I were awed by the sights Coral that stretches from the surface down twenty to thirty feet, many different kinds of coral, Dozens of diffent species of fish, sponges, sea fans, many sea plants and creatures I can't name Fish one inch long, fish over three feet long It is truely amazing what God has created An amazing underwater garden After an hour and half in the water we reluctantly cimbed back aboard the Lady-J Pictures can not capture, memory can't retain all of the beauty we saw today A change in the angle of the sun and cloud cover made navigating out of the reef a chalange A minor bump into the coral, twists and turns, turns and twists, the captqain is fabulous, and we finally arrived in open water again Damon and Kyle put line out again, we put the sail out, no fish, poor wind We sail (motor actually, past Scotland Cay and put into Guana Cay Harbour After tieing up to a mooring bouy, Lucas and Cliff went for a snorkel Saw a five foot nurse shark, sea stars, sand dollars, sea urchins - all in the six foot water of the harbor Had a great spagatti supper thanks to Peter and Gino, with an assit from Damon (great garlic bread Damon) Rain shower or two, homemade chocolate chip cookies Everyone sleeping top side Good amatuer fireworks display for about 30 minutes A few sprinkles of rain, big storms all around, a few mesquitos around, but a good night to sleep on the deck of the boat |
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Seabase Day One, Saturday, June 21 - Fowl Cay |
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| Saturday - Amazing Snorkeling Woke up in harbour at Man-O-War |
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