OHIO CREW

 

What a tremendously fun, kind, happy, interesting, eatin’ and drinkin’ Crew! In spite of challenging weather, heavy ocean surf, and mosquito infestation one night these guys made the most of their week in every way they could! The first three days were light to no wind but a heavy ocean surf raged due to a tropical storm north of us. Then we had a low pressure system slowly cross over us which brought heavier winds and rain. This system ended up forming into tropical storm Beryl which is now slamming into Jacksonville, NC with 60 knots of wind! But we still did some amazing snorkeling on the ocean reefs of Fowle Cay and Sandy Cay. We got in the drift dive at Iron Cay and did 2 snorkels at Mermaid Reef which was loaded with fish. Larry our determined fisherman caught a nice sized mutton snapper while trolling and then another mutton snapper off the Conch Inn Marina dock. With everyone pitching in on the fishing we had enough to make a nice dinner the last evening of the trip. We finally got enough wind on day 5 to get our 2 kite surfers, Peter and Jim, flying fast across the waters off of Baker’s Bay for about 5 hours. Of course we explored Hope Town and Nippers (or Nipples as our crew renamed it). And we got Ciganka running fast and hard under sail with about 20 – 25 knots blowing! Goodness – in spite of our challenges we got a heck of a lot accomplished in a week! No wonder why we were all so pooped out by the end of the trip. Our heartfelt thank you to the Ohio Crew for making it such an enjoyable and memorable week on board Ciganka in the Abacos!

 

Ready or not – here they come!

 

Hello Ohio Crew!

 

The guys are ready for a fishing expedition….beers in hand!

 

Captain Thomas says “This aint no Boy Scout charter”!

 

Ann at the helm with Larry by her side. He wanted to make sure she did not crash into anything!

 

Oh yeah – I am relaxed!!

 

Off to do the drift dive at Iron Cay

 

Have FUN

 

larry caught a nice sized mutton snapper. Way to go Larry!!

 

Jim and Peter hanging out on the bow sprit as we slowly motor in flat calm water. There was not a ripple on the water so we could see everything in the water as we passed. We call it “Dry Snorkeling”.

 

Snorkeling at the Gorgonian Forest. A turtle was hanging out with them for a while.

 

Ann enjoying a snorkel

 

Hey Mike! Are you having fun yet??

 

Jill kicking gently while snorkeling. What do you see?

 

Shark Jim ready to attack Jill!

 

Larry, you look too comfortable!

 

Off to explore Hope Town

 

Off to climb to the top of the Hope Town Lighthouse

 

 

Hey Crew – we see you all the way at the top!

 

The next day we finally got some wind to sail

 

Our crew is standing by ready to hoist the main sail

 

We got the main and staysail sails up

 

Now it is time to coil up the halyards so they won’t tangle when we want to take the sails down. Great job Peter!

 

Randy is coiling the mainsail throat halyard. It is not as easy as it looks.

 

Jim takes charge of coiling the staysail halyard

 

Randy had a blast at the helm with Ciganka sailing fast in 20 knots of wind!

 

Mike takes his turn at the helm. He did a super job!

 

 

Our determined fisherman!!

 

Peter and Jim are kite surfers. They brought their gear and we are on our way to put them on a spot to test thier skills with 20 to 25 knots of wind blowing today!

 

I think they are just conserving their energy for the moment.

 

Here they gooooooooooo!

 

They were a lot of fun to watch

 

 

 

We thought they were both very skilled

 

They tacked back anad forth, flew across the water, and jumped waves for abaout 4 hours!

 

We got some amazing snorkels in this week in spite of high ocean swells rolling in on some of the reefs.

 

Peter is looking for a mature Queen conch

 

These guys took it down to the last wire with doing another snorkel Friday morning before they had to leave.

 

Seize the moment!

 

We ate delicious food all week long!!

 

Lots of wonderful smiles!

 

What an absolute pleasure to have Jim and Mike on board. They have been friends since they were 3 years old! You guys are welcome back any time!

 

Peter and Jill have done their own cruising in the past on their Swan sailboat. Very cool couple with great stories!

 

We love you Wendy and Randy. What a joy to have you in our lives!

 

A very hearfelt and loving thank you to my cousin Ann and her hubby Larry. Much Love to you both!

 

 

We were sad to see these wonderful people leave. We can only hope we will spend some time together again some day…….

 

OHIO CREW