Tanbark Sails

Tanbark sails is probably one of the most identifiable features we have from a far.

When we are sailing along, we know when someone is trying to hail us because they will call out "Sailboat with red sails" and right then we know that they mean us. This cuts down on confusion and wondering who they are trying to get a hold of. Instead, we know they want to talk to us and this speeds up the informational exchange that needs to occur. 

Another really beneficial aspect of tanbark sails has to deal with inclement weather. White sails fade away into fog and rain, while tanbark sticks out like a dark smudge in the distance. 

Lastly, when cruising, you will meet the same people over and over again. Having tanbark sails means that they can spot us from far away and then come join us where we are. We have had numerous boats see our sails and radio us to invite us into the anchorage, as well as see us in an anchorage and come over to hang out (before the sails get covered). 

While mostly all boats in the distance have white sails, the few with tanbark sails stand out and makes you easy to see and easy to identify. 

Beauty of a Ketch

For full disclosure, I am very partial towards multi-mast vessels. In my opinion, schooners are the most beautiful rig, followed by ketches and yawls.

This Morgan 41 Out Island is a wonderful example of a cruising ketch. They were designed as charter boats in the islands, and they are truely purpose built. They have a shallow draft, allowing them to creep into perfect anchorages, and plenty of beam to house their paying clientele in comfort. They are also designed to cruise in waters where they will always be on a beam reach, where a ketch will excel! The split sail plan means that each sail is smaller and more easily managed than it would on a sloop with the same sail area. This gives you great comfort and control while maintaining speed and drive through the water.

Best of all, a ketch is gorgeous to see under full sail!

Mangrove

Mangroves are a very interesting saltwater tree that can help hold a shoal together and begin the formation of dry land by preventing erosion of surface substrates. Their name in Spanish "Mangle" is very similar to the word Mangled. When you look at them, you begin to wonder which word came to be first? As the trees do look rather mangled! 

Mangrove trees sit a top aerial roots that raise them far out of the water, allowing the tree to remain in dry air while the roots penetrate into the substrate beneath. Amongst the roots, you will see small sticks protruding from the soil with no leaves on them. These are snorkels of Black Mangrove, and used by the mangroves to gain fresh air when the tide is in and their roots are submerged.  On the surface of these snorkels, you will see small pores called Lenticles. Red Mangrove simply has these lenticles on the stilt roots that hold the plant high out of the water, so you won't see these snorkels around Red Mangroves.

Mangroves serve a few very important purposes. Like all trees, their roots hold soil and prevent erosion. This is especially important in the marine environment where waves are constantly moving substrates from one location to another. The roots help break apart wave forces while holding onto the soil they are planted in. This means that the erosive forces on the substrate are minimized while the depositive forces are not dampened. As waves carrying debris break apart against the roots, they will leave behind small traces of substrate, slowly adding to the height of the shoal until dry land will emerge. 

Aside from holding onto soil in the marine environment, Mangroves offer refuge to a whole host of organisms. Insects, birds, and smaller animals live in the canopy, while a whole host of fishes and other aquatic lifeforms seek shelter in the roots of the trees. Mangrove reefs are a collection of different forms of life, all living in a very small and dense area. 

The last great benefit from mangroves is for the water they live in. Mangroves slow the speed at which water passes through and provide a wonderful environment for filter feeding bivalves. Oysters and mussels will grow on the sides of roots and filter the water that is slowly passing by them, helping to clean the water that comprise the mangrove reef.

Mangrove are amazing trees that have adapted to life submerged in brackish to pure salt water. They are great at changing their environment to better suite them while protecting environments near them from erosion and damaging waves. 

Sand Ridges

When walking along the perfectly sandy beach in the Bahamas, you will notice small ripples in the sand. At low tide, these can come out of the water creating what almost looks like a fingerprint on the shoal. 

These sand ridges are actually caused by the oscillation of surface waves as they come upon the shore. Based on depth and wavelength, the period between the ridges can be determined. This also means that if waves are consistent, so will the ridges in the sand.  

Areas where the ridges differ from the norm or run at a new pattern are indicative of changes in the wave period as it approaches the shoar. 

Another cool thing, especially if you encounter these ridges at low tide, is they will tell you which direction the waves were coming from. 

The ridges always have the short side facing the direction the waves were moving towards and the long side facing the direction the waves were coming from. In the picture above, you can see that the long sides are to the right, and the short side is to the left. This means that the waves that formed these ridges were coming from the right and running from right to left.

This information is useful if you are walking along an exposed sandbar and want to know where the waves will be coming from as the tide returns. All you need to do is look at the ridges! 

Provisioning in the Bahamas

Food in the Bahamas is much more expensive, there is no way around this fact. Now, if you are going to pay more, you might as well get better food for your money. 

We have found that the produce sold at the local grocery stores, while more expensive, is pathetic. Apples have brown spots on them, lettuce is already wilted and rotting. You pick through and hope to fill your basket with enough good produce to make a nice salad back on the boat. 

We then discovered that the marinas who cater to the very wealthy have "mini grocery stores" in them. The brands of food on the walls are those sold in Costco in the United States. What they do is send a fast boat to the US to stock up, then run back to the marina to supply the shelves. This means that you are getting American portions at Bahamian prices, but most of all, fresher foods. 

The selection and bulk may be limited, but we have found that the foods are of wonderful quality and it is easy to fill up your stores with fresh and wonderful produce.