Winter scenes from Bahamas

We knocked of work at 3.30 this afternoon because we had managed to get lots done and the rigid inflatable boat needed testing too, so the lads and I all jumped in and took a short ride over to Paradise Island to have an after work beer at the Green Parot. The Green Parot sits on the quay right by Hurricane Hole Marina, its a good spot to watch the sun go down. It actually gets dark here at just after five so it just wouldn't have been the same to wait until after five for that beer.

After work beers

Bahamas Flags

Still having trouble with Flags!

We arrived alongside in the port of Nassau. In our pre arrival checks, stabilisers get centred, depth sounders and bow thrusters checked, sea water inlets get switched to shallow, port clearances complete, advance notifications and customs formalities completed LOCAL COURTESY FLAG RAISED.

The pilot was on board and caused more trouble than he helped by a small misunderstanding with the other Pilot who happened to be on the 'Disney Wonder' a huge cruise ship that was coming out of the channel at the same time that our pilot had just cleared us to enter it!

So there I was, sat on the dock discussing everything with our friendly ships agent. We were sat on a wall near to the boat. He clearly felt a bit awkward so I thought I would take the Bull by the horns and ask if everything was in order. He looked like he was about to tell me I had bad breath or body odour or something. He said, "Daren, I hate to bring this up but you are flying the Bahamas maritime ensign not the Bahamas civil Flag." I looked up at our flag, laughed and said we would change it immediately.

This Flag thing really does upset people! I am starting to pay more attention to it. I am becoming a flag bore, BUT its obviously more important than I had previously thought.

Sunday off

Sunday off
Originally uploaded by darenpackham

Just a quick thanks to Dai for popping to my flat to turn on the central heating.
A day off with the blue bike, a snorkel, mask and some fins. It was a little cloudy here today but the sun tan is coming along nicely.

The name is Packham.. Daren Packham

The name is Packham... Daren Packham

Some people including myself have been known to say, that jet skis are noisey, silly and pointless.

However, when given the chance to ride a 1500cc supercharged one at full tits, while being chased by a helicopter, most blokes I know would not pass up the opportunity! Especially if it's a work day!

Launch the lot

Launch the lot
Originally uploaded by darenpackham

Seeing that we already had all of the toys out of the box, the boss thought it would be fun to have a photo shoot from the helicopter!

We thought it would be fun too.......

It was clearly all worth it

the depth

the depth
Originally uploaded by darenpackham

Holy shit thats getting slim down there..

Mark 1, eyeball technique

lookouts
Originally uploaded by darenpackham

Old school techniques of blokes with their eyes open in a high place, looking for coral heads.
A slight delay leaving Nassau beacuse we had to wait for the Disney cruise ship to enter the harbour, before they would allow us to leave. this 45 minutes delay meant that we were going to be at the shallows on a falling tide. with the maximum tide height in the area being just over 1 meter on top of what the chart says it was all looking marginal.

The chart

the chart
Originally uploaded by darenpackham

My Blog was supposed to be about the places that I go and people I go with and what we see and do when we are on the way and when we get there . Finally this entry should tick all the boxes.
The Captain wanted to show the owner the Bahamas because it is beautiful and he thought that they will love the adventure of these stunning islands. The thing is....Is an 80 meter boat a good tool for exploring the Bahamas? You could argue that cruise ships visit the Bahamas every day of the week but where we were going was not Nassau. We were heading for the Exumas, a chain of uninhabited islands south or Providence island, these little jewels are uninhabited because they are pretty much untenable and you have to be quite brave to cross the reefs especially if your boat has an underwater draft of 4.5 meters (17 feet)
The first step of the journey took us to Nassau where we mingled with the cruise ships of the world for just long enough for the guys to scuba dive on the boat to measure the accuracy of our depth sounders and to have a run ashore of course.

This is mad! I announced slightly worried! I printed labels for the sounders. GROUND = SOUNDER -10cms for the aft sounder and for the forward one GROUND = Sounder + 40 cms. If we are to operate within these sorts of perameters, then we are just too close for comfort...!
We scoured the chart for a spot where we could cross the bank. We found the only place that was going to be just doable, displaying a charted depth of 4.6 meters. It was clear that we would need a high tide, good weather and some luck as the depth of the boat is 4.5meters!

The end

Claire marathon
Originally uploaded by darenpackham

This was Claire at the end of the 26 mile run looking far too fresh, we all went back to the flat and ordered chinees takeaway and drank cheap champagne to celebrate.
It was a fun weekend, but too short and soon I was back on the plane to Florida and up to my neck in work again.

New york

New york
Originally uploaded by darenpackham

When I have not written for a while, it's either because its been crazy busy or I have had not much going on. This time there was quite a bit going on and I have just been lazy.
A visit to New York is always a great way to add some spice to your life. I went for the weekend a few weeks ago because Claire was running the Marathon! We met up with some friends from Brighton and all went along to cheer her on and to eat and drink far too much as well.
The New York marathon is actually, nearly as much fun to watch as it was to run 3 or 4 yeears ago