Conch

In the Bahamas, Conch are like chicken. The locals eat them in such quantities that their shells line the shores in massive mountains. What look like large jetties from a distance are actually just piles of conch shells! One local who calls himself "Down Pat" showed us how to clean a conch shell and make a meal out of the mighty mollusk.

A few islands later, we were walking along the beach at low tide and noticed a significant number of conches in the water. Conch are predators who prey on smaller and slower snails. They chase them down and eat them out of their shell. If you see many snails around, you can bet that conch will be close by. They also tend to collect in areas where the sea weed is less dense, as their shells won't get fouled on the blades of grass.

With this knowledge in mind, we kept an eye out for these tasty treats and found the mother load! We collected around 20 conch shells, and then kept only 4 for our dinner. In the mix was a feisty critter that was scrambling to get away and would swipe at us with his nail shaped operculum. We decided to let him go because his feistiness would be good for the species as these critters are just way too easy to pick!

Then we threw back the smaller ones that wouldn't provide much of a meal. You can call us soft, but we felt bad about killing the conch to make dinner. Our third crew member is not so soft and bartered with us to let him prepare dinner with only four shells. He wanted to eat the smaller ones as he felt the meat would be more tender, but we would need to use more conch for the meal. Maddie and I viewed it as more lives lost, so we decided to go for the larger ones.

The prettiest shells got to live, and the ones that were actively trying to escape to tossed back into the water. Our third crew member did the deed and prepared a delicious conch pasta dish. It's true what they say, if people had to slaughter their own animals, there would be more vegetarians in the world.

The conch honestly tastes just like scallops, and when sautéed in butter and olive oil, tastes amazing!

Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

We sailed out of West End and right on past Freeport, as we made our way south. Winds became light and our progress slowed to the point that we realized that we would not make it all the way to Nassau, and instead we pulled into Slaughter Harbor nestled in between Great and Little Stirrup Cay.

This anchorage is deep, and protected by a "tall" island of 50 feet to the East. The next few days are forecasted to have strong Easterly winds, so we figured that this would be our safest plan of action.

We figured that we could go ashore and relax on the Cays while we waited for the weather to blow over, but we were saddened to find that all the islands around us are privately owned by cruise ship companies. As we approached the islands, we noticed large "Do Not Enter" signs on the shores. Upon closer inspection, we realized that the charted towns on Navionics were referring to the structures that are built by the cruise ship companies.

So, we remain anchored with the wind blowing strong and our anchor firmly set as we wait for the weather to improve so that we can venture off to new lands.

Clearing in with Customs

When you arrive in a new country, you need to clear in with the local customs office to get your cruising permit and visas for the time you are going to be there. The process is much simpler than if you were on an airplane and flying into a new city. There are no lines to wait in, or prodding questions about what you are carrying in your luggage. Just a simple form and conversation with the local customs agent set at a relaxed pace.

When you arrive in a new country, you will fly the Q flag (yellow flag) on your starboard spreader. This flag indicates that you have not cleared in yet and are in "Quarantine". You simply go to shore and head over to the customs office to fill out some forms and pay your entry visa fee.

Some important points about the process are: Only the captain can go to shore at this point, and he must take all pertinent information along with him or her. This includes the Documentation or Registration papers of the boat, and the passports of all those onboard the boat.

The captain will also need to know the address of each person on board, as well as their birth dates.

The Customs agent will ask questions about what sort of cargo are you carrying, and "Provisions" is all you need to say. If you are carrying any weapons or fire arms, this is the time to declare them. We do not carry fire arms, so I do not know how that proceeding would then go.

The customs agent will want you to state where your last port of call was, and where your next port of call will be. Basically, they want to know where you have been, and make sure that you are going to leave at some point in the future.

After you fill out all the papers, you then need to pay the entry visa for the boat and crew. Then you are free to go and explore their waters! Sometimes, a Customs agent will come inspect your vessel, but usually, they will not bother with such formalities.

When you have the option to check in at a large city or sleepy small town, choose the small town. The office will be less rushed, and the agents will be more relaxed. This means that you will have a more relaxed time of your entry process as they are more patient. 

Proper Anchoring Technique

There seems to be a lot of buzz about anchoring with shorter scope. The only reason I can imagine this has become a popular practice is because people are lazy and the more rode you let out, the more rode you will need to pull back up. 

We met a couple while anchored by the Lake Worth Bridge in Florida who were anchored with merely 40 feet of chain in 8 feet of water. Their yacht has a freeboard of 4 feet, meaning that their effective depth was 12 feet. This would produce a scope of 3.3. 

Their anchor held fine and they enjoyed being anchored very close to the pier and walkway to town. 

Then we all moved on and anchored in Lake Worth just at the southern end of West Palm Beach, and they anchored once again with on 50 feet in 11 feet of water. When you add their freeboard into the equation, they have an effective depth of 15 feet and a scope of 3.3 again. The difference is that now they are anchored with no protection from the current and they soon began to drag anchor. 

I noticed their boat drifting through the anchorage and thought that they were moving to another place, but noticed that their chain was still led into the water and no one was at the helm. I called the owner and he rushed back to his boat to re-anchor. He decided to reanchor close to us, so I informed him how much rode we had out so that we don't swing into each other on the next tide. 

I sit here anchored securely with 120 feet of chain out. This gives us a scope of 7.5 at low tide and 6.3 at high tide. He seemed shocked at how much chain we had out, yet we remain securely anchored while he had his dragging adventure through the anchorage (narrowly hitting a boat in the process). 

I do fear that when the tide comes up 3 feet, he will once again drag, as his scope will be reduced to 2.7. Hopefully, he will get lucky and no one will have to fend off as he comes dragging into them because he has insufficient chain out. 

Airflow During Rainstorms

Hatches and portholes are wonderful for ventilating a yacht when it is nice outside, but these big holes will let rain into your yacht during a storm at anchor. 

When the rain comes, you will need to close your yacht up nice and tight to keep rain droplets from soaking your interior. When you do this, you then rely solely on the ventilation provided by your dorade vents. These cowls will draw air in and separate the rain out, giving you nice dry airflow when the boat is all closed up. 

The truth is, most yachts don't have enough dorade vents to supply the airflow needed for "comfort" when you are in the tropics. To remedy this issue, we have found a little trick. 

Flipping the dinghy over the hatch will serve as a way to keep rain out. The hatch opens up into the dinghy and air flows under the dinghy and into the open hatch. This is nowhere near the air flow of an unblocked hatch, but it is still much better than a hatch that is dogged down. 

A very important thing to do though is to make sure that your dinghy is tied down. An inflatable dinghy sitting on the deck is just asking for the wind to pick it up and send it flying! Be sure you tie it down well, and have the hull centered over the hatch so that the hatch can open into it.. 

If you have more than one hatch, and have more than one dinghy, then you are in business! We keep our hard dinghy over the salon hatch, and the inflatable dinghy over the forward hatch (when it's raining). This lets us keep the boat open and airy in a rain storm.