Chub Cay, Bahamas
🥳🥳🥳 HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🥳🥳🥳
Greeted the new year a little earlier than planned, when at 4:00 am I could hear Ron on the bow messing with the anchor. I thought it was way too early to be heading for our next destination so I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on. Turns out he’d somehow heard our anchor dragging, and we were basically adrift, but luckily not close to any other anchored boats. That could’ve ended badly. 😳
Woke up for REAL around 7:30, and initially decided to head for Spanish Wells, which is a 10-hour trip, but when we realized the conditions weren’t ideal, we changed our plan and set out for Nassau instead, which is only 5 hours away. We figured maybe the ride wouldn’t be quite so miserable if we were rolling around for only half the amount of time. As we made our way outside of the harbor where we had anchored, near the Chub Cay Resort & Marina, we experienced a taste of how rocky our ride was going to be. Ron called it “hobby horsing”, so you can just imagine. He elected to turn around and return to our anchorage, and it looks like we’ll be here for a few days because the conditions are supposed to get worse before they get better.
Today was Tacky-Hesmers-Do-Laundry Day. While we have a tiny combo washer/dryer on board, it’s better NOT to use the dryer if you don’t have to, because it requires the generator which burns fuel. So … we pulled a Beverly Hillbillies maneuver and hung all the clothes on a bungee cord laundry line that Ron set up on the bow.
Ron is the KING of the bungee cord solution to ANY problem. I’ve told him he should write a book called “101 Uses for a Bungee Cord”. Wouldn’t that just fly off the shelves?! 😜 But seriously - he’s like the professor on Gilligan’s Island, making radios out of coconuts, or laundry lines out of bungee cords.
Need a place to store your brooms and brushes? Bungee cord. Got some paper towels that got damp in a leaky compartment? Bungee cords.
Secure a portable speaker, dry out your snorkeling equipment, why, you can EVEN keep your hammock from flying around haphazardly in the wind. They don't call it "Ron-co" for nothin'!!
I mean sure, our boat looks ridiculous, but we’re not trying to win any awards for classiness, and let’s just say it’s a REALLY good thing we’re not. 🤓 There’s a hilarious story that dates back years ago when we chartered a boat for spring break with our good buddies the Reddins. Our two families have been chartering boats together since 2006, which gave us a lot of experience and contributed to our decision to live aboard KORKZcrew. Back in 2010, we ended up anchoring at an island that was a little too fancy for our crew, but we didn’t care and found a good low-key calabash-style seafood place for dinner. The problem began when we went searching for a breakfast spot the next morning, and found a place called the Cotton House that got rave reviews. Well, not only was it hoity toity as HELL, it was also so NOT our style that we stuck out like sore thumbs … right down to my shirt that as it turns out I’d put on inside out, because … I’m living on a 42’ boat for a week with 9 people, and things get a little … chaotic. 😂
(👈🏽Real live actual undercover footage aka stalking of someone at Cotton House who I was SURE was a celebrity, probably because she knew how to apply makeup, brush her hair, and wear her clothes right-side-out. This place has chair covers. CHAIR COVERS! How am I supposed to keep pancake syrup off of THOSE?!)
Ron told me later that I should stick with eating at the Rayon House from then on. I think he had a very valid point. Meanwhile, George, who’d laughed his a$$ off at ME, realized a little later that HIS shirt was on inside out too!! It must be the reason our two families have traveled so well together for so long - we’re completely at peace with our Rayon House status. And I guess THAT is a really good thing too.
Rayon-Housing Through the Years 2008
2010
2015
The best news is that we’ve learned our lesson. Yesterday we went into Chub Cay Marina to check it out and maybe go ashore for a drink, and when we saw that it was actually a private island complete with a zillion ginormous yachts, we didn’t even attempt it. My t-shirt was actually right-side out, and I think my hair was even clean (!), but we turned around and headed back to our redneck laundry-line-adorned little bathtub. And that suits me just fine. One interesting advantage about traveling by boat is that you typically are able to get a taste of a lot of different islands, restaurants, hotels, or resorts, some who are open to day travelers and some who are not. Just because you stop at a particular anchorage doesn't mean you necessarily go ashore. For example, at The Cat Cays we simply put out our anchor, spent the night, and left first thing the next morning. Chub Cay sells day passes which didn't really interest us, so we never really saw the island, but I think our view was just as spectacular.
The day ended in highly dramatic and hilarious fashion when we were invaded by the most enormous moth I think I've ever seen. We've learned to shut our doors at night ever since!
