We will miss you, Georgetown!

Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas – If you’ve ever looked back fondly on your days as a child in summer camp and wished you could go back in time, Georgetown is the place for you!  For years, Sebastian has read about this community of sailors and couldn’t wait to arrive.  With daily radio announcements of all the activities ranging from basket weaving, aqua aerobics, volleyball, campfire, dances, there is never a shortage of something to do and people to meet.  The incredible thing is that it is all loosely organized by the sailing community that stays here:  some for months at a time, others just passing through.  There must be at least 200 boats all anchored in this one location, with dinghies shooting back and forth socializing between the boats and taking people to shore for the various activities. 

We actually don’t participate in many of the activities, because they often go “late” (7-8pm) into the night and involve lots of alcohol… with little homeschooling kids, it’s difficult to carry-on that lifestyle.  Instead, we have met some incredible families that are in the “same boat” as us and the kids and parents have a great time, comparing notes, etc.  I have to take a moment to share the story of the “Nakheys” (the name has been changed to protect the innocent) who have been living aboard with 4 homeschooling kids ranging from 4-9 for almost two years, with about 10 more years to go.  The real clincher is that they are expecting their 5^th!!! It has been a real delight for us all to socialize with them, learn about other homeschooling techniques, but mainly learn from their “chill” outlook on life.  We’ve already had them over to our boat for grilled pizza – yes, GRILLED (please excuse the laundry hanging in the background of the picture!!!) – and we’ve been to their boat for a birthday party with about 10 kids and 6 adults, plus the countless informal times on the beach. 

Another family from North Carolina is living down here for 5 months, also homeschooling their two boys.  They invited us to their rental home for hot dogs for lunch and we all ended up staying until about 9pm… boy it was so nice to be in a place that was not “moving” and Sebastian actually used their really nice HOT shower after going spearfishing for lobster with all the guys.

In a community like this one, one’s identity becomes pegged entirely to one’s boat.  You introduce yourself by your boat’s name and model:  “Yeah, I’m from BEGONIA, the 38-foot Foutaine Pajot…”  Then they answer, “Oh of course; I’m from NINA, the 41-foot Tartan.” Sebastian especially can recognize the boats quickly and will say things like, “Oh that’s the PDQ we saw back at Allen’s Cay,” which of course, I don’t remember at all.  You do see many of the same people and boats, as a lot of us are headed the same way.  You hear traffic on the radio and know the comings and goings of the various boats, so that is typical conversation among sailors.  It’s been fun.

What has not been fun are the continuing issues we’ve been having with cruise email and our regular internet.  Every time Sebastian tried to get on the phone through Skype with technical support, he gets cut off, disconnected, the computer freezes, or whatever.  It’s a great test on our patience.  I wouldn’t be so concerned, except we do have business we are still taking care of back home and I do have bills to pay once in a while.  There have been two options here in Georgetown: either dinghy into town (a very wet 15-minute ride across the bay) and literally stand outside the local market which offers free wireless. Of course, you’re not the only one… all the other sailors are there too.  The other option has been to buy tickets from the local marina… but the tickets don’t work. Or work intermittently.  Sebastian has been obsessed with trying to get it to work and it has felt uncomfortable to be out of touch for so long.

Here in Georgetown we did go to the local primary school and delivered the 30 small boxes of donated books we brought here on behalf of the Seven Seas Association.  The director was very grateful and nice and will allow Sofia and Benjie to attend school there for a day.  They are little timid about this – especially Benjie, who cannot imagine any other school than his beloved Puerta Abierta back in Evanston.  We shall see.

Hope you all are well… we can’t believe the stories we have been hearing about the snow in Chicago! 

NEXT STOP:  Providenciales, Tucks and Caicos.  We are leaving tomorrow (Monday) evening after the kids’ school.  It should be a two-day sail.

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FOUNTAINE PAJOT ATHENA 38 CATAMARAN FOR SALE – After our wonderful experience, BEGONIA is ready for its next sailing family – with or without children!  Please contact sebastiankoziura@hotmail.com for more information.

Bahamas is for the Birds! (and the iguanas and the swimming pigs!)

Staniel Cay, Exumas, Bahamas - The sailing yesterday couldn’t have been more perfect.  We left Allen’s Cay (pronounced “Key”) early in the morning and sailed all day to arrive here in Staniel Cay.  We never used the motor, and sailed all the way at 8-9 knots.  Sebastian was in heaven and kept saying in Spanish, “we’re moving like a fire truck!”  Apparently, that means we were going very, very fast.  The water was smooth, sun shining… it was a 10!

Allen’s Cay was an amazing anchorage… there is no town or anything, just two islands full of iguanas.  It seems it an extinct breed of iguana germane to Bahamas.  As we approached one of the islands in our dinghy, the iguanas came out of the woodwork and onto the beach en masse to “greet” us.  Quite intimidating as there were so many and it was unclear what their intentions were.  I guess over time, man has altered their behavior by feeding these iguanas, so they are conditioned to come running out – for food – when they hear a motor approaching.  It turns out they were harmless and actually more scared of you, than you of them.  As soon as you approached them, they would scatter away.  We all had fun playing with them.

Here on Staniel’s Cay, there is a population of 100 locals, two yacht clubs and what seems to be a lot of tourists.  There are definitely a good number of sailboats at the anchorage where we are – about 20 – and yesterday after arriving we heard over the radio:  “This is the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, alerting you that the Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers game is about to begin.  We have a two-for-one happy hour, so come on over!”  Who knew there would be such a good “marketing” strategy here… before we knew it, we saw many sailors board their dinghies and head for the yacht club.  By the time we got there to check internet, there was a room full of drunk people yelling at the flat screen TV.  It felt like a little bit of home right here in the middle of nowhere!!!

The other highlight of this Cay is that there is beach full of pigs that roam freely.  We saw 2-3 when we dinghied past yesterday, and since we were in a hurry to make it to the club before dark, we said we would visit the beach and the piggies today! So, lo and behold, we went to the island today but … where were the pigs?!  I was so excited to see them as we were told they like to swim in the water too… but to no avail.  From there, we took a little dinghy ride and found a very cool cave that the kids ventured into…

So, life aboard continues.  The kids are still finding creative ways to keep themselves busy.  Not once have they said, “I’m bored.”  I do have to admit that math is not a favorite subject and I keep trying to come up with creative ways myself to teach it (notice the math lesson using clothespins in the pictures below).  There is a lot of pushback and negotiation involved whenever we start the math lesson, and I can honestly say, I do not enjoy teaching in that way. 

We’ve gotten creative with the food preparation too! Benjie says he keeps craving some grilled chicken and Sofia misses the food from “The Old Neighborhood Grill” in Evanston.  I am taking a break from preparing canned tuna, as we were very lucky to receive a box full of free vegetables from a local back in Morgan’s Bluff.  We were thrilled… inside were two heads of huge cabbage, a huge squash, yucca (which they call “casawa”) and some bell peppers.  Does anyone have a cabbage recipe to share?  I would hate for it to go to waste.  The extent of y knowledge of cooking with cabbage is a cabbage salad and also some stuffed cabbage—one of my mom’s recipes.  (Speaking of my mom, today marks the first anniversary of her passing, so we plan on going into town to say some prayers at church in her honor.)

The weather has still been a little chilly.  Even though the sun is shining, it is too cold to go swimming or snorkeling.  Unfortunately, we don’t have wetsuits.  The other day is rained like crazy and McGyver (Sebastian) rigged a little tube that emptied into a jug, to catch some of the water for us to drink.  One full gallon!!! Sebas was very proud of himself, and the water was delicious!

The plan is to stay here a few days.  Next Destination: Farmer’s Cay or perhaps all the way to Georgetown.

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FOUNTAINE PAJOT ATHENA 38 CATAMARAN FOR SALE – After our wonderful experience, BEGONIA is ready for its next sailing family – with or without children!  Please contact sebastiankoziura@hotmail.com for more information.

From the Bahamian Capital

Nassau, Bahamas - The capital city of Bahamas is a vibrant town.... lots of the familiar chains (Starbucks, where I am sitting now to use internet, KFC, Winn Dixie - a Florida supermarket chain) you would see in the States.  It is quite a departure from Bimini, which sadly is quite poor and rundown.  There is an abundance of trash strewn all over Alice Town - even on the pristine beaches.  The people are extremely friendly giving us rides on the many golf carts going back and forth (on the opposite side of the street!! Very British!) on the one main dirt road that exists.  I think they especially "take care of us" because we are with little ones.  What I do appreciate about the people is their "joie de vivre."  The general outlook apprears that the people of Bimini don't have a care in the world.

Here in Nassau, we are at a marina where hot showers and laundry facilities have been in much need!  We left Bimini on Sunday with the idea we would power through the night to arrive here the next day.  The weather started out wonderfully, but as the night progressed, the waves got a little higher, the winds a little stronger and the pounding on the bottom of the catamaran was getting tiresome, so we anchored right out in the middle of the bank at about 2am.  Prior to this though, we had a bright beautiful moon and we were doing our night watches.  Night watches are incredibly peaceful.  The idea is that you need to lookout for other boats around you and make sure you are on course, even with an auto pilot and GPS. 

We left Bimini with a man named Dave who was traveling solo in a 20 foot mono-hull.  A very small boat.  He had a 7 horsepower motor and even though he tried to keep up with us... we kept trying to reach him by radio and he was not answering.... he ended up getting further and further behind us.  I was a little concerned about him, especially when the weather turned tricky.  This morning, by radio, we asked the other boats we knew were leaving Bimini today and taking this same route to look out for him. 
Monday was a rough sail as well, so again instead of heading to Nassau, we cut into a protected anchorage at Morgan's Bluff on the Andros Islands of the Bahamas.  We spent a night there and picked up two other boats who all travelled together yesterday here to Nassau.  We will travel together tomorrow in caravan to the Exumas, another set of islands on the eastern end of Bahamas.

The highlight of this passage was that Sebastian caught his first fish... poor Sofia and Benjie felt so sorry for the fish and wanted to throw him back in the ocean.  It gave us a chance to talk about food and where it comes from - that even the nicely wrapped chicken and beef we buy in the store comes from an animal that has been killed.  I have a feeling both of our kids will now become vegetarians... they both were quite sad about this topic and teary-eyed! Neither of them were keen on eating the fish and I have to honestly say that I had a little tinge of guilt for filleting the poor thing and consequently eating it.  I mean, it is very different to see your food alive, actually kill it and then fry it up. Sofia kept sneaking behind her Daddy's back pouring water into the bucket where the fish was to try to keep it alive!

Another highlight is a boat that came in right next to us at the marina... from Quebec with three kids right aorund the ages fo Sofia and Benjie... The kids were thrilled to see little guys their own age and I was very impressed to see them practicing what little French phrases they know.  Sofia was the first to welcome them when she the kids pull in... "Bonjour!" 

We are leaving Nassau today.  Next stop:  Allen's Cay, Exumas, Bahamas.  We met another boat about the size of ours who are travelling with 6 homeschooled kids... they will be an Allen's Cay and we are looking forward to catching up with them!

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FOUNTAINE PAJOT ATHENA 38 CATAMARAN FOR SALE – After our wonderful experience, BEGONIA is ready for its next sailing family – with or without children!  Please contact sebastiankoziura@hotmail.com for more information.

BEGONIA BOATSCHOOL

Many of you have wondered how I prepared to homeschool (or, “boatschool” like the kids like to say) onboard the Begonia.  I spent a good amount of time researching various pre-packaged curricula on the market for sale.  I also attended a meeting of the Evanston Homeschool Association back in Chicago, thirsty for ideas and suggestions.  On the one side, the Calvert School pre-packaged curriculum was pretty intensive and a little pricey since we would have had to buy the entire first and second grade packages, while Sofia was really only going to miss half of first grade and a smidgen of second.  On the other side, I found the homeschooling methodology of the people I met in Evanston a little too “open.”  Since I am not planning on homeschooling for the rest of the childrens’ academic careers I felt I needed a little more structure to make sure Sofia especially would stay on track returning to school in 2012.  

My concerns were greatly assuaged upon having a meeting with Mr. Michel, the principal at Sofia’s school, who really stressed the fact that the kids would learn simply through osmosis and being with their parents for such a concentrated period of time.  Still, I did want to have some structure on the boat, so I decided we would do 1.5-2 hours a day of true “academics” (reading, writing, math, science, history, geography, etc) at least 6 days a week.  Our schedule is to have “school” in the morning after breakfast and chores (sweep and make beds), eat lunch on the boat and then after lunch go on a “field trip.”  The field trip might be getting groceries, going to a tide pool to see the sea life we’re learning about, etc., or just taking a walk.

I did find a great website and downloaded a few (free) lesson plans that provide a theme to study and corresponding learning materials.  It’s help me be a little more focused on what to teach, rather than be all over the place.  I think I mentioned in a previous blog that our current/first theme is OCEANS so we are learning about all the animals in the sea, about the five main oceans, a little about boats’ and how they work as well as pirates!  It seemed like a timely theme to start out with and I was thrilled as we were pulling into Bimini and seeing the crystal clear water, that the kids could identify many of the animals they were seeing.  It was interesting to hear them debating whether what they saw was “a Portuguese man-o-war or a regular jellyfish.”

The piece de resistance was a visit to the Bimini Shark Research Center where they were able to see more species and ask questions to the university student researchers there (we had a very interresting ride back on a Bahamian school bus!).  These students come in for 10-week periods to study marine biology, specifically the behavior of the various shark species.  Apparently Bimini is one of the most perfect places to study because most sea animals can be found here.  The students were very nice to the kids.  Again, I was thrilled to hear the kids telling the students little factoids they had learned like, “did you know a starfish could regrow its entire body from just its leg if it were cut off?” I know all our children are sponges and learning all the time, but I think in everyday life back home, I never witnessed it.  All these things the kids are learning now, of course can be taught back home, but for some reason, our life always seems too hectic or something and I am sorry to say we don’t spend that quality time with the kids.

The last couple of days have been cold and rainy so we have spent a lot of time studying.  I do have to admit that I do get push back from the kids… some days they are reluctant to focus, so that’s where the flexibility ahs to come in, and I switch the lesson of the day to play a game or something.

All in all, it is very gratifying for me.... and I think the kids really like the on-on-one attention.  In fact, Sofia even started giving her own homeschool classes to all her dolls.  Hedy, if it has her reading, it's perfect! I am learning a lot about my kids and about myself.

So… we have been in Bimini for the last 5 days, awaiting the cold front to pass.  I think we will move on on Saturday... NEXT DESTINATION:  Nassau, Bahamas.

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FOUNTAINE PAJOT ATHENA 38 CATAMARAN FOR SALE – After our wonderful experience, BEGONIA is ready for its next sailing family – with or without children!  Please contact sebastiankoziura@hotmail.com for more information.