The "Guide"

One thing we have experienced in the Dominican Republic that we did not find in the Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos is "the guide". This is someone who seeks you out and offers a service to you in hopes that you will decide that you want or need it and then give them some money in return. This person, "the guide", is usually a very good salesman and will walk around meeting people (usually tourists) offering to take us around the city, take us up the mountain, find us a taxi, carry our bag, wash our boat, or do our laundry. "No Gracias" (No thank you) is usually all that you need to tell them. Being a traveler makes it difficult to avoid "the guide" because everyone is trying to make some extra money and they assume that a foreigner traveling to a developing country surely must have just that.

Adam and I experienced "the guide" when hiking Isabel del Torres mountain in Puerto Plata. When we reached the base of the mountain we were told that we must have a guide to get to the top. "It is not safe for you to go alone," they said, and tried to convince us that we could be robbed by homeless, mountain dwelling locals. We had plenty of information suggesting that a guide was not necessary for this day hike. Despite our desire to do the hike solo, we had no idea where the trail began and in the end succumbed to "the guide" for help and paid 10.00 US dollars for him to get us started. We never would have found the start of the trail on our own. It took us about an hour and forty five minutes to get to the top. We didn't see any homeless mountain people but did run into a local family walking down the road from the summit.

In Puerto Plata we also met a nice guy our age in the central plaza. He had been to the US, spoke English very well, and was very genuine in the way he spoke with us as a peer. He said that he loved to just meet new people and hear about their travels. Without a second thought we walked with him around downtown Puerto Plata and he showed us some popular areas - all the while telling us about the city. He took us to a restaurant that he liked and he knew someone at every street corner and always stopped to say hi to them. When it came time to head back to the boat we were surprised to hear him ask for some money in return for helping us around the city and finally flat out beg for just a few dollars. We tried to explain to him that we didn't ask for him to show us around and never expected to pay him anything. We felt a little bad but at the same time he had made us feel like friends, not paying customers.

We have since become accustomed to being approached by "the guide," especially after our trips to the city and are now used to saying no thanks. This aspect of the Dominican Republic is one that takes a little getting used to and seems unavoidable for the visiting tourist.

SMC

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Third World Water

There are many obvious differences between life in the US and life in the DR. If the prices, people, and noise don't clue you in to the fact that you're in a different country, the water will. Whether in the city or countryside, it seems most houses have running water. In Jarabacoa, it was piped in directly from the nearby river. In Puerto Plata, each home had a cistern on its roof. But regardless of where you are in the country, you see racks of 5 gallon jugs of water.

These may look very familiar to you. In the US, many people who don't like the taste of tap water have purified drinking water delivered to their homes (despite the fact that the tap water is clean and healthy). Here in the DR however, the water that comes through the faucet is not potable.

It's one thing when travel guidebooks tell you not to drink the water - it's another when locals tell you not to. Dominicans throughout the country have told us not to drink the water; 'don't get it in your mouth when showering, and don't think that boiling will do it a lot of good.'

The facilities to treat and distribute clean drinking water don't exist here. So instead, people buy purified water by the jug. There are racks around town where residents can swap an empty jug for a full one. When we refilled the water tanks onboard the WTP, it took 11 of these jugs. At 50 pesos a piece, it wasn't as cheap as in the US (where we flush good drinking water down the toilet), however it's one of the few options available here.


SGE

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Beisbol in the Dominican Republic

During a web conference last Friday with Ms. Palmer's class at Riverside Elementary in Newport News, Virginia, the students asked us to find out about baseball here in the Dominican Republic. We believe that a great way to learn is by doing, and so it became our mission to play some pelota (ball) as they call it here.

After talking to some locals about the history of baseball here in Luperon, we asked a group of kids on the street if they played baseball. "Of course we do, let's go now!" We followed them down the road as they listed off the names of their favorite US teams and Dominican athletes. We stopped by a couple of houses to pick up a pitcher and second baseman. Finally, we arrived at the town "play" as it's called (baseball diamond), found an improvised wooden "bate" (bat), and started pitching the well-worn rubber ball. There were no gloves and the bases were drawn in the rough dirt of the infield, but the essence was the same. We played until it was too dark to see the ball and the mosquitoes were eating us alive.

They say that Baseball was brought to the D.R. by Cuban immigrants in the late 1800s. Since then it has become an integral part of Dominican culture and is undeniably the national pastime. Vendors sell movies about baseball on street corners and the symbols of US major league teams are stenciled on the sides of banks.

In fact, every team in Major League Baseball has representation and talent scouts here in the D.R., and with good reason. Twenty-five percent of big league baseball players are from Hispanic countries, and about three-fourths of these players come from the Dominican Republic. They include such stars as Manny Ramirez, David 'Big Papi' Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, and Albert Pujols. Many of the kids we played with aspire to be the next big league star and town celebrity.

We learned that Beisbol is as Dominican as Baseball is American.

SWC

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Legally Entering the Dominican Republic

Clearing through Immigration and Customs was a bit more complicated in the Dominican Republic than it was in the Turks and Caicos or in the Bahamas. It went like this:

After sailing offshore for 3 days from South Caicos Island to the Dominican Republic, we docked at the Ocean World Marina outside of Puerto Plata. They were expecting us, and sent a group of people to greet us- first came the dock hands to catch our lines and help us secure the boat to the dock. Next came an excellent Spanish-English interpreter, two more marina employees, and a young man from the Dominican Navy. They came aboard and took down our personal information (names, passport numbers) and boat information (length, year, make). Then they left and a group of three gentlemen from the Dominican Republic's drug enforcement agency came aboard and searched the boat for illegal drugs. They were also accompanied by a courteous marina employee.

After that, Adam visited the Customs office (to declare that we carried no commercial merchandise) and Immigration office (to check and stamp our passports). The total cost was $73. At that point, we switched our yellow Quarantine flag for the Dominican Republic courtesy flag on our starboard spreader. We were clear!

The process did not end there, however. Before leaving Puerto Plata for another city on the north coast, Luperon, we had to be checked again by the drug enforcement personnel and pay the Navy $20 for a domestic despacho (dispatch) to travel to a new port.

Upon arrival in Luperon, we were checked by all the agencies that we visited in Puerto Plata. Tomorrow we plan on visiting all of them once more to clear out of the Dominican Republic before setting sail for Jamaica. The thorough process ensures that nobody slips through the cracks and every boat that visits the Dominican Republic is checked for contraband weapons, drugs, and stowaways.
SOG

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The Science of Getting Seasick

The EYE of the World expedition is a coordinated effort. The crew, teachers, students, and a support staff all help the WTP go round (the world). We've gotten a number of questions about seasickness, so we decided to defer to our medical advisor on the ground. A rough sea can make us on the crew feel queasy ... but don't take our word for it:

Why Do People Get Seasick?

We get seasick because our brain doesn't know which way we are moving.

Our bodies use three ways to know whether we are moving or staying still. Don't believe me? First try balancing with both feet on the ground with your eyes open. Yeah, that's really easy - we call it standing. Ok, now close your eyes - it's still easy. Try standing on one foot with your eyes open. Still too easy? Now try standing on one foot with your eyes closed!

Our bodies use several ways to know whether we are moving or staying still. We use our vision, our sense of proprioception, and our sense of balance.

When we look out of a car window, our eyes tell us that we are moving. When we run on a baseball field, our eyes tell us that we are moving. When we close our eyes, our sense of vision cannot tell us if we are moving. Closing our eyes blocks out one way we can tell if we are moving.

The second way to tell if we are moving is the sense of proprioception. 'Proprioception' simply put, is how your legs knows they are touching the ground. When you walk you put one leg in front of the other. When you jump you contract the muscles in both legs. When you lean to the right, the right leg notices more pressure while the left notices less. If you lean too far to the right your brain says "hey right leg, push off a little bit because we don't want to fall." When you balance on one foot, you loose some of your sense of proprioception because the other foot does not know if you are moving.

There is one more way that our brains know if we are moving or not: our sense of balance. Our sense of balance is contained in our inner ear, in an organ called the labyrinth which means "maze." The labyrinth has three pretzel-like rings called semicircular canals. Each semicircular canal is at a 90-degree angle of each other. Inside each semicircular canal is fluid. The motion of fluid in the semicircular canals helps your brain tell if you are moving.

To better understand the labyrinth, next time you pour your favorite juice into a cup, try turning the cup. Notice that though the cup turns, the juice stays relatively in place. Your labyrinth works the same way. When your head turns, so turns your labyrinth! In each of the labyrinth's semicircular canals, the fluid stays relatively still, just like the juice in the cup you just turned!

The semicircular canals are lined with receptors that tell if the fluid has moved. Each of the three canals represents an axis of rotation. Since rotation in three dimensional space has three axises (X,Y,Z), your labyrinth has three semicircular canals! By knowing the relative motion of the semicircular canals your brain can help you keep your balance, even when you are balancing on one foot and have your eyes closed!

The brain needs to know when we are moving. That's how we can run to catch a baseball, look at it in the sky, and not fall over. When we slip on ice our brain instantly places our hands to catch our fall in the right direction!

But why do we get seasick?

A boat rocks back and fourth with the motion of the waves. Our body moves in space, but does not move relative to the boat. Our labyrinth is not fooled - it tells the brain we are moving. While sailing, we need to do many things like look at a chart to plot our course. The book is not moving relative to us, so our eyes tell our brain "hey brain, we are not moving." We are sitting at the navigation station so our legs (proprioception) tell our brain, "we are not moving." Our brain gets competing inputs and gets confused - our brain doesn't know which way we are moving. Our brains don't like to be confused in this manner, and we don't feel too good. We call that seasickness.

So how can we prevent seasickness?

We must un-confuse the brain. Rather than look at a map, we look out at the horizon. The eyes tell the brain "this line of white sky and blue ocean appears to be moving." Well, the brain is a little smarter than that! The labyrinth meanwhile is sensing that our bodies are moving the same way. The brain puts these two things together and says "oh, I am moving relative to the horizon!!!". Thus re-orienting itself and settling that ... unsettled feeling.

TSS

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A Basket of Goods: Santiago, DR

Hello from Santiago in the Dominican Republic! This is the nearest city to either of our Dominican ports (Puerto Plata and Luperon) that boasts a McDonalds, and thus all prices are based here in the city. Keep in mind that the currency here is the Dominican Peso. You can find the exchange rate with a quick internet search.

Getting to Santiago from Luperon, from the town center, you grab a gwah-gwah (public shared-taxi) to Imbert. This costs 50 pesos and takes about half an hour (mind you that the driver puts four people in the back seat and two in the front passenger seat of a regular four-door sedan). From Imbert you grab an air-conditioned express bus to Santiago for 90 pesos (complete with your own seat!). Here in the city, all our goods are easy to find. Here are the prices:

Big Mac: 130 pesos
Coke (16.9 ounce bottle): 20 pesos
Haircut: 130 pesos

ABG

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The Dominican Response to the Earthquake in Haiti

As you well know, Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake several weeks ago. News of the damage, aftermath, and response has been ever present throughout the northern Caribbean.

We were in transit from the Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos when the quake occurred. There was a tsunami warning for our area right after the incident, but was canceled approximately 24 hours later. We did not feel the quake nor have we seen any direct impact in the areas we have been. Thank you, however, for all the concerned emails and messages you all sent to us.

We've also received a number of questions about how the Dominican Republic fared and how people here are responding. Many individuals we've spoken to in Luperon and Santiago said they felt the quake. Buildings shook and the ground swayed, however there are no reports of immediate damage.

Both Dominicans and expatriate cruisers were quick to respond. Travel into Haiti is difficult - there are few border crossings and the country itself is considered very dangerous right now. However, people have been very generous with their donations.

Despite past tensions between the two nations, Dominicans are proud to have been the first country to send aid into Haiti (and are very much aware of the tremendous American response). Via churches and missionary groups, most families gave clothes and those that had money to give, did so.

The demeanor of the Dominican people is worth noting as well. Today is a national holiday honoring the first president of the DR, Juan Duarte. Although normally marked by celebrations, festivals, and parades, all events have been canceled out of respect for the crisis in Haiti.

The cruising community in Luperon has responded en force as well. Buckets like the one above have been placed at all the local hang-outs in town. Although cruisers notoriously travel with few superfluous items, the buckets have been filled with clothes, canned food, and dry milk. The goods are then collected and transported via another local church mission operating in Haiti. The EYE of the World crew donated cans of food, soap, and a large box of powdered milk (many of these items were actually given to us by students at Lindsay Middle School in Hampton, and it is our pleasure to pass them along).

Unfortunately, there is only so much that Dominicans can do. Although incredibly willing to give, many are concerned about a mass exodus of Haitian refugees. They feel that the local infrastructure would be incapable of supporting a rapid increase in population, many of whom have lost everything they had. The DR is not alone however, as a similar concern was prevalent in the Turks and Caicos.

We don't have direct access to tv news, but we hear about the impact and the graphic nature of the images being shown in the US. We join the international community in hoping for a quick and successful recovery.

WWI

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El dia de la Virgen de Altagracia

The Dominican Republic is the first predominantly Catholic country that we have visited. Many more will follow, since we are heading to the Hispanic countries of central and South America.

The Dominican Republic has no state religion and has historically been religiously tolerant. Currently, almost ninety percent of the population is Catholic, and the religious influence in the culture is hard to miss. For example, the central plaza of Puerto Plata is bordered by a cultural center and city hall, but is clearly dominated by and constructed around an old, beautiful Catholic church. In fact, the country is named after its capital city and patron saint, Santo Domingo (Saint Dominic), the founder of the Dominican religious order.

As we sat in the plaza in the afternoon on Thursday, we noticed businesses closing early and more and more people gathering. We asked the locals, and apparently it was the Dia de la Virgen de Altagracia (the day of the Virgin of Highest Grace). Celebrating the patroness of the Dominican people, it is one of the most important religious holidays in the Dominican Republic. It was nice to see families and friends coming together to celebrate a day that has both religious and national significance.

We look forward to touring more historical churches and understanding the Catholic faith's shaping role in Dominican culture.

SWC

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Name That Creature That Makes These Big Brown Mounds!

You may have seen something like this in prior photos. We've been seeing them since we left the US. These brown, dirt-looking mounds are sometimes on the ground, and sometimes up in trees (as in the picture above). We saw this mound on our hike up to Mt. Isabel de Torres. It was located about 8 feet up the trunk of a tree and looked stuck like a piece of gum. These mounds are LARGE, often about 2 feet high and 3 feet wide.

We think tiny insects make these (although it must take an awful lot). It looks like they are constructed out of tiny granules of wood or dirt. We haven't seen the creatures that make these, but we're assuming there are many inside.

Name That Creature!

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iBienvenido a la Republica Dominicana!

If you followed our progress south from the Turks and Caicos to the Dominican Republic, you may have noticed that it took us a little longer than some of the other "hops" we have done. Like others, this one was out of sight of land almost the entire time as we sailed through the silver banks toward Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

Before leaving the Turks and Caicos, we watched the weather systems moving over the area (specifically the speed and direction of the winds) as well as the height of the swells in the ocean. We strive to time all of our crossings so that they are smooth and uneventful. We decided to wait for a couple of days for the strong southeast winds to subside as a front moved over us. When the front passed on Monday morning and the low pressure system was moving away from us, we had calm winds with mild swells, thus making it the perfect time to depart.

We motor-sailed north into the town of South Caicos to clear out of the country before heading on our way. Although we had light winds (which made us a little slower than normal), we had no complaints. When the wind is strong, the whole boat gets wet and we usually have to wear rain coats (even though it is very warm out) because the combination of wind and wetness makes you cold. This is known as wind-chill. With light wind we can wear shorts and t-shirts and relax in the cool breeze and shade of our bimini cover.

For Monday night's dinner, we enjoyed baked sweet potatoes. During the night we could hear whales breaching every couple of minutes as we drifted along. The moon sets early now and it was a very dark night. Everyone was able to get rest in the calm sea (which is very important and another huge benefit of waiting for calm weather to make a crossing).

Tuesday we put up as many sails as we could to keep the boat moving in the light wind and by the afternoon, we had a steady breeze from the east and were doing 5 knots (a great cruising speed) directly toward our destination. Tuesday evening we caught our biggest fish yet and our first ever mahi mahi (also called "dolphin," but not the friendly mammal, and in Spanish, "El Dorado"). Mahi mahi are bright yellow, green, and gold, and very fast and strong. We had already cooked a spaghetti dinner, however we were able to cook the fish later that night and have it for second dinner, breakfast, and lunch the next day.

Headed into Tuesday night, we could see the faint lights of the Dominican Republic over the horizon and by 11pm we were about 4 miles north of Puerto Plata. Making landfall (or coming into a port) is very difficult and dangerous even if you are familiar with the area, and even more so if you have never been there before. We decided to "heave-to" or park the boat for the night by setting the sails so that we just slowly drifted downwind at about 0.3 knots (which is very slow). We kept a steady watch as if we were sailing to make sure we didn't drift into anything.

By Wednesday morning everyone had caught up on sleep. When the sun came up we had only moved about 2 miles downwind from where we had "parked". Usually we could just use the anchor to park the boat but in this case the water was too deep.

We made our way toward the harbor at a comfortable pace and were greeted by Roberto the dockmaster, who cheerfully guided us into the narrow channel and into the marina from a high watchtower overlooking the inlet. Good thing we waited till morning as the entrance was very narrow and would have been very difficult to navigate in the dark.

Clearing into the DR was a piece of cake. We made it through customs, immigration and a drug search of the boat in a couple of hours, and were shown respect and welcomed by everyone we encountered at the marina. Stay tuned for some great posts about the Dominican Republic!

FTA

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The Turks and Caicos Top Ten

10) The water is very clear (even more so than the Bahamas). The visibility helps when navigating through the random coral heads (of which there are many more here than the Bahamas).


9) The water is either eight feet deep, or eight thousand feet deep. Crossing the banks was a two-person job. One at the wheel, and one on the bow directing the path through coral heads.


8) You need a car to get around Provo. Everything is spread out, from customs and immigration, to the 'downtown,' to the supermarket. Everyone seems to get around by private car or pickup truck.


7) If you're walking along the road, everyone's going to want to offer you a ride, but they're also going to want some money (unless it's a really nice retired couple from Arizona!).


6) South Caicos is a really cool area, and the stray dogs there are very friendly.


5) South Caicos feels like a very authentic town. We heard a choir practicing at a creole church, saw people walking about town, and met government officials at work in air conditioned offices. They also don't like to put signs on their government buildings (the building in the photo above is the Customs House/Treasury/Post Office, but not Immigration - that was on the other side of town).


4) Most tourists come to the Turks and Caicos to Scuba dive.


3) Most cruisers come to the Turks and Caicos to use it as a staging area to get to the Dominican Republic. You can cruise for seven days here without getting a cruising permit.


2) It's legal to harvest conch here. The Turks and Caicos are home to one of the only commercial conch farms and Caribbean King Crab fisheries.


1) The Turks and Caicos are a British Oversees Territory, but they use American Dollars as their official currency, and banks don't like to exchange Bahamian Dollars.



FTA

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Plan Our Adventure: The Dominican Republic

Here we sit near Cockburn Harbor, patiently awaiting our weather window to cross over to Big Sand Cay, and then down towards our third country: The Dominican Republic. We may be leaving the Turks and Caicos sometime tomorrow (as soon as the trade winds settle down) and we will be aiming for Luperon on the Domincan north coast.

Luperon will be our staging point for much of our travels on the island of Hispaniola. This is where YOU come in - what do you want to see in the DR? Do a little bit of background research and let us know. Interesting historical sites? Big cities? Mountaintops? Creatures? Culture?

Shoot us an e-mail at crew@eyeotw.org. We'll pick up your suggestions when we arrive and do our best to see it all!

POA

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Water Water Everywhere (mixed with a bit of salt)

Out here on the WTP, you may know that we carry our own fresh water because the ocean is too salty to drink. You also may have noticed the salty taste of seawater yourself, but how salty is it?

Here's an experiment we performed with water from Elizabeth Harbor in Georgetown, Bahamas. You can try this too if you live near the beach. See how salty your ocean water is compared to that in the Caribbean!

We took three cups of sea water and placed it in a wide, flat dish in the sun. After a few days, most of the water had evaporated, and all that was left was a pile of salt crystals. From the dish, we measured out four teaspoons of salt!


Here are some questions for YOU!


1) We got four teaspoons of salt from three cups of sea water. How much salt would we see if we had evaporated just one cup of seawater?


2) We have a pasta recipe that asks for 10 cups of fresh water and 2 and 2/3 teaspoons of salt. To save resources, we'd like to use sea water mixed together with fresh water. To get the recipe right, how much fresh water and with how much sea water should we combine?



TSM

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A Dirty Job

Martinique, a seventh grader in Mr. Draft's class at Lindsay Middle School asked us a great question:

"What do you do with your trash on the boat? Meaning, we see you guys cooking all the time and we know you have leftover trash, i.e. bread bags, icing cans, plastic bags that contained fruit, etc..... What do you all do with all of the trash?"


Living on a boat is similar to life in a house; just a little more complicated sometimes.

We do indeed generate garbage on board, and dealing with it takes a little bit of strategy. We don't have a weekly garbage truck come by, and we certainly don't have much space to keep our smelly waste.

We follow the local regulations when we're in a foreign country regarding waste disposal, and when in international waters, we follow regulations set out by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (also referred to as MARPOL). The US is a signatory to this convention, and as a US flagged ship, we follow the rules set by it.

Any ground waste (e.g. chopped potato skins) and the contents of our holding tank gets dumped overboard if we are more than 3 miles from shore.

Larger pieces of food waste can be tossed overboard if we are more than 12 miles from shore.

All other garbage (plastic and metal) gets stored on board. We try to compact our trash as much as possible. When we fill up one trash bag, we put it into a 5 gallon paint bucket, seal it with a lid, and put it in our aft locker.

When we go to shore, we take all our garbage with us to dispose of in a dumpster. Many places down here charge to take garbage (about $5 per bag).

So far we haven't had to fill more than two buckets. We try to anticipate our garbage before bringing it on board. All excess packaging is removed when reprovisioning (such as cardboard boxes) and special care is taken to avoid individually wrapped products.


TSS

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Bahamas Top 10

We had a great time in the Bahamas. It was an excellent and educational experience. Here are 10 of our favorite nuggets of Bahamian knowledge that we picked up over the past couple of weeks.

1. The Junkanoo festival is a real part of the culture of the Bahamas and is not just a show put on for tourists. We learned this from the One Family group who we met, as well as from news stories about another group (The Music Makers) who were taking formal action after alleged unfair judging of their parade costumes.

2. The Bahamian courtesy flag (that visiting boats fly off the starboard side as a sign of respect) is different than the Bahamian national flag. We found this out after flying the Bahamian national flag on our first stop in Great Harbor. Oops!

3. The Bahamas is an independent country but is a member of the British Commonwealth and has a Governor-General who is appointed by the Queen of England.

4. Food in the Bahamas is pretty expensive by US standards, except for yams, which we bought for 29 cents a pound!

5. The Bahamian national music is very wholesome and upbeat, detailing the positive attributes of the people and islands. The local radio station that we listened to in Georgetown almost sounded like it was financed by the Ministry of Tourism.

6. Many Bahamians enjoy eating conch. We saw Bahamians eating conch burgers, conch fritters, and conch salad (a mix of fresh onions, tomatoes, peppers, diced conch meat, and citrus juice).

7. Bahamians seem to be tired of eating coconuts. We found tons of delicious edible coconuts just lying around unharvested!

8. The water is unbelievably clear. We snorkeled on a sunken plane on New Year's Day and the visibility was like being in an aquarium. That night, the bright moon reflected through the clear water and it looked almost like the boat was floating in the air.

9. You can call a taxi on VHF radio in Georgetown, and they are known by their numbers. "Taxi seven, this is 'Sand Dollar'…"

10. The people we met were very polite and friendly. We felt welcome in the Bahamas and hope to visit again someday.

FTA

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Name That Creature: Cape Santa Maria!

This is the LARGEST creature we've seen yet! It looks like a dolphin, but it's not. This creature was about 20 feet long!

We saw it approaching Cape Santa Maria. It was by itself, but swam along in front of our boat for about 15 minutes, occasionally breaching the surface to catch a breath.

As a side note, we're now in the waters of Christopher Columbus. It is believed that he made his first landfall just north of here on San Salvador, and Cape Santa Maria is aptly named so because his ship (the Santa Maria) ran aground here.

Now, back to the creature -

This creature had a wide flat tail (maybe 5-6 feet wide), two flippers on its side, and a small dorsal fin about 2/3rds of the way down its back.

NAME THAT CREATURE!

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Name That Creature: Georgetown Snake

We know it's a snake, but what we want to know is: what kind? Here's a little bit of background:

Adam took a bike up the road to the local hardware store to look for a secondary propane tank. The inside of the hardware store looked similar to your local ACE Hardware at home, but this store had several shipping containers in the back that served as additional storage (for things like propane tanks).

This snake was actually kept inside the shipping container. The helpful worker at the store explained that it was a local snake and that they keep them around as a natural method to controlling the rat population.

Sorry for not giving too many clues, but using the picture and the description ... see if you can Name That Creature!!

NTC

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Filling Up With Fresh Water

We have been sitting at anchor in Elizabeth Harbor here in Georgetown. (Fun fact, the part of the harbor we have been anchored in is called Kidd's cove, named after the infamous pirate, who once also served as the local harbor master!).

Water is difficult to come by on a sailboat. Any water we plan on using, we carry in tanks below our floorboards. We last filled up on water in Nassau on December 29th. We decided to fill up again here in Georgetown.

Since leaving the US, most marinas have fresh water available, however since water is scarce even on land, it comes at a price. We've seen prices ranging from 10 to 40 cents per gallon.

Luckily, Georgetown has a free water tap available on the dinghy dock behind the Exuma Market. We pulled out our collapsible water jugs, and along with our hard-sided jerry jug, we rowed back and forth from the dinghy dock, each time carrying 16 gallons.

We filled up our tanks on January sixth (eight full days since our last fill up in Nassau). By our calculations, we used .85 gallons of fresh water per person per day.


Here are some questions for YOU!

1) How many gallons of water did we put back into the tank (with 3 crew members)?

2) How many trips by the dinghy did it take?

3) If our water tanks on board can hold 120 gallons, how many days could our three person crew go without refilling?

4) How many gallons of water do YOU use on an average day? Count everything, from showering, to toilet flushes, to drinking! How do you compare to the EYE crew?

5) If water was scarcer, what would you do differently to use less water?


Don't feel too bad if you use substantially more fresh water than us. Remember, we use salt water for our toilet, washing dishes, and occasionally, for bathing.


TSS

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The Georgetown Cruiser's Net

"Good Morning Georgetown!

Welcome to the cruiser's net, my name is Bill with my wife Sue onboard 'Nice N Easy.' We're anchored off of Chat N Chill.

The net always begins with a weather forecast, and for that, let's go to Ken on 'One Eyed Parrot'."

Every morning at 8 AM, the Georgetown Cruiser's net begins on vhf channel 72. Georgetown is a popular winter destination for cruisers, and we've counted between one and two hundred sailboats anchored throughout the harbor on any given day. A very strong community has formed here, and every morning begins with a community broadcast called the 'Georgetown Cruiser's Net.'

One of the cruisers in the harbor volunteers to run the net, while another volunteer presents a weather report for the area. Following weather, invitations are given for announcements from businesses, the regatta committee, community groups, and general boaters. Here's a recap of what was covered in today's Net:

Businesses:

'Eddie's Edgewater': Lunch special today

'St. Francis Resort': Trivial pursuit Sunday

Regatta:

's/v Ziggy's Dancer': Regatta t-shirts for sale at the t-shirt stand.
Need volunteers to help run regulation volleyball, beach golf, and children's events.

Community Announcements:

Sue on 's/v Nice 'N Easy': Georgetown Elementary is welcoming cruisers to be guest readers in the classroom, and are looking for volunteers.

Ron on 's/v Sea Dancer': Rock and Roll Dance Party Tuesday at 5:30 PM at Chat N Chill

Bill on 's/v Charisma': Beach Church Choir rehearsal at 1

's/v Coconut Telegraph': Yoga today at 8:30 on the beach, bring a towel and a smile

Boater's General:

's/v Seahawk': Reminder there's a difference between USA and International vhf frequencies; use International in the Bahamas

's/v Ziggy's Dancer': looking for a blank writeable DVD

's/v Lucky Dancer': need some help fixing my throttle control cable

's/v Reeny Dee': I have 75 ft of galvanized chain and eight alternator belts that I no longer need, anybody who wants them can have them

New Arrivals:

's/v Razamattaz', in from Quebec

's/v Area Two', in from Ontario

's/v Double Wide', here until the regatta

's/v Mighty Fine', arrived this morning, here for two or three weeks.

's/v Chicken Twelve', in from Quebec (in french)

's/v Nimue', planning on being here for about a month

Sad Departures:

's/v Whisper Five', headed to cruise the Jumentos

's/v Reeny Dee', headed back to the US day after tomorrow

Thought for the day:

's/v Whisper Five':

"I've been taking these memory pills and there are two things I'm still having trouble with, the first is remembering people's names, the other I can't remember."

SWC

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Chris Parker: Your Local Weatherman

At home, when you want to know whether to take an umbrella out with you, you check in with your local weatherperson who uses maps, talks about pressure systems, and gives you your weekend outlook. Here on a boat, accurate weather forecasts are vital for determining where to anchor, when to cross, and what kind of sea-state to expect.

In the Caribbean, we check in with Chris Parker. Chris is a full-time liveaboard cruiser who has been sailing the Bahamas and Caribbean for almost 17 years. Using satellite weather data and observations, he creates and broadcasts an incredibly detailed weather forecast every morning.

His broadcast begins with a general outlook of the Bahamas and Carribean, describing weather systems as they travel from the Florida coast eastward. Instead of temperatures, Chris focuses on wind (magnitude and direction), frontal boundaries, and sea state.

After his initial overview, he requests vessels in transit to call back. Any boat underway in the ocean can call with their position, and Chris will then give a detailed forecast for that specific spot. Next, he opens it up for any vessels wanting a detailed forecast of their own location. These are often boats waiting to make a crossing.

Since Chris is a sailor himself, he knows what factors are important to a cruising sailboat, and his forecasts are incredibly detailed. Chris provides a valuable service to the cruising community, and his broadcasts are a fixture upon many cruising vessels.


TSS

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