#mailboat

[postcard-from-the-past]

"Burdigala" mailboat on a vintage postcard

[publicacionesdeunachica]

What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way.

What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you.

[goneahead]

The Lost Land

I have two daughters. They are all I ever wanted from the earth. Or almost all. I also wanted one piece of ground. One city trapped by hills. One urban river. An island in its element. So I could say mine. My own. And mean it. Now they are grown up and far away and memory itself has become an emigrant, wandering in a place where love dissembles itself as landscape. Where the hills are the colours of a child’s eyes, where my children are distances, horizons. At night, on the edge of sleep, I can see the shore of Dublin Bay, its rocky sweep and its granite pier. Is this, I say how they must have seen it, backing out on the mailboat at twilight, shadows falling on everything they had to leave? And would love forever? And then I imagine myself at the landward rail of that boat searching for the last sight of a hand. I see myself on the underworld side of that water, the darkness coming in fast, saying all the names I know for a lost land. Ireland. Absence. Daughter.

~~Eavan Boland

[afrotumble]

32 yr old Ivanna Seymour from Bahamas will be the first Bahamian captain of the brand new massive Royal Caribbean Cruise ship the Utopia of the Seas. The vessel is the 2nd largest cruise ship in the world (holding 8000 passengers and crew) and will set sail for the first time on July 19th 2024.

Captain Ivanna will be sailing Utopia of the Seas’ into her home country Nassau, Bahamas on Sunday, July 21st, 2024 from Port Canaveral in Florida. At a young age of 32 years old, she has earned this prestigious position through hard work and dedication. Her journey from a mailboat crew to the helm of a cruise ship shows the world that Bahamians and Caribbean girls can achieve great things.

[seabreeze2022]

2023 Bahama Cruise, Part 25. May 6. Rock Sound, Eleuthera Island.

We went back north 5 miles to New Bight, Cat Island to hide from some north winds. Swell was hitting the beach very bad the first day. Walked to the grocery store and picked up some mangoes and three coconuts on the way back.

Winds dropped to zero, so Nancy took out her hoverboard for a paddle. I was able to do a dinghy run for propane.

I didn’t want to tell Nancy, but something crawled on her back while she was swimming back to the boat. Later Nancy and I took 3 of the young boys for dinghy rides and a quick trip on the paddleboard.

After this beautiful day we pulled anchor and headed north 3 miles to Fernandez Bay.

Ended up with 9 of us anchored here and some swell coming from the west. We are pretty used to it, so no problems. I have a habit of finding Cuban “Chugs”. These are the homemade rafts Cubans use to get to the US. Towards sunset I saw something floating in. Calling over to the Catamaran (from Key Largo) next to us. I told him to go to his bow. There was a section of a Cuban Chug about to hit him. He fended it off his hull and let it drift to the beach.

Winds were absolutely dead calm as we motored 15 miles up the west coast of Cat Island to Alligator Point. A mother Dolphin and a very young calf swam near us. I always wondered how Dolphins learned to ride the bow wave of a boat. When they do, they don’t expend much energy swimming. It was plainly obvious to me that baby Dolphins hitch a ride on the side of their mother riding the pressure wave off of her. So they learn from day one, how to utilize the pressure wave.

It was so calm I headed to the south side of the point. Nancy had to stand watch on the bow pointing out shallow coral heads for the last two miles (see photo above).She immediately put her paddleboard in after anchoring. However the current coming out of Pigeon Creek to much to paddle into. So she explored the beaches.

With time to spare we pulled anchor while we could still see the coral heads, and headed around the west end of Alligator Point then back to the north side of Alligator Point. Thus avoiding some winds and swell coming the next day.

Question: Why is it named Alligator Point? Don’t think they ever had Alligators here. Anyway, we took the dinghy to Pigeon Creek. The current was running hard out to sea. But I saw a couple prospective photo shoot sites. Below are the results of great location, light and model.

The next day we ran the dinghy up Pigeon Creek about half way. Winds were picking up from the south, so we headed up 1.5 miles to Bennett Harbor.

We did a garbage run to the government dock. I put Nancy on the cement boat ramp. No one was around, since the mailboat was not in. Nancy being Nancy, starts talking to a guy who steps out of his house. John Gordon allowed Nancy to leave the trash in his garbage can. John just moved back to Cat Island from Orlando. He is a go getter.

Before day break on Saturday we lifted anchor and headed to Rock Sound, Eleuthera, about 50 miles.

I have seen two water spouts on the last two days. Here is a photo of a small water spout over Little San Salvador Island.

Approaching Rock Sound from the west we stopped to evaluate a storm over the harbor. Six or so dolphins swam in front of the boat. Dolphins here are very small. Two of the moms had infant calves with them. Must be calving season.

S/V Sea Breeze, Rock Sound, Eleuthera, Bahamas.

[crubeens]

Camden Maine

Camden is a quintessential Maine seacoast town that has enticed travelers for years. The first time I traveled there I was in my early 20’s and traveled up from Boston to camp in the state park. More recently I was fortunate to stay in the area on a residency, and travel to nearby Monhegan Island on the mailboat that leaves from Port Clyde. Overlooking Camden harbourCamdenToday I drove up Route…

[sailingangel]

Moved about 150’ closer to shore to get clear of the channel line, making more room for barges and mailboats. Took about an hour and a half thanks to our not working windlass!

[felacia-barrie]

Mailboat Running is Crazy

[parentingroundabout]

On our latest weekly roundup, we started with an update from Terri on her broken wrist and how her recovery is progressing. She still does not recommend breaking a bone. What we're watching: On Dancing with the Stars, it was Whitney Houston Night and Barry Williams danced his last, after a good long run. Kudos to you, Greg Brady! On The Gilded Age, season 2, episode 4, "His Grace the Duke," saw more Opera Warring, romantic entanglements beginning and ending, and the start of Bertha's takedown of her former maid, Turner. Catherine's library find this week is in the who knew?? category: It's series of thrillers based on the famed (at least locally) Lake Geneva mailboat. It's called, of course, the Mailboat Suspense series. In the archives, we revisit episodes in which we discussed finding positive places online (November 23, 2020), gratitude for those who co-parent with us (November 25, 2019), and what we're thankful for (November 22, 2018). Mentioned: Heidi Wrangles Cats, an Icebreaker-inspired TikTok, and its predecessor, the movie Cutting Edge. ​ Next week, our TV watch will cover Taylor Swift Night on Dancing with the Stars and "Close Enough to Touch" (S2 E5) on The Gilded Age. Until then (and anytime you're in need), the archives are available!

[itunestopalbums]

Far Side of the World - Jimmy Buffett

Far Side of the World Jimmy Buffett Genre: Pop Price: $7.99 Release Date: March 19, 2002 © ℗ 2002 Mailboat Records http://dlvr.it/Svlhg9

[seabreeze2022]

2023 Bahamas Cruise, Part 3, Mar. 9

This is the Harbor Master Tessie Rolle selling some of her home grown produce to Nancy. The two of them discussed the growing of Key Limes, Jack Fruit, and Wax Jambu. Tessie has received a grant and planted 150 Key Lime trees. They are due to start producing next year. We bought green tomatoes and green bell peppers. Tessie was true of farmers everywhere and Bahamians in particular, she threw in some free plantains.

Nancy took Tessie a bag of store bought dried Key Lime slices, found at Publix in the States. Key Limes don’t have a very good shelf life. So maybe Tessie can dry and package them prior to shipping.

We had watched the mailboat come in early in the morning, The inner harbor is very small but they turn the freighter around in there and then back up to a small concrete ramp. Then the fun begins. Things that are on board that have been bought and shipped from Nassau, are off loaded. Everything found on the island has been brought in by ship. Andros is one of the biggest islands and has plenty of fresh water and more soil than most of the Bahamas. So they grow several crops.

We had watched a youtube documentary of Bahamas agriculture recently. There is a group of Mennonites nearby who have a large farm. Several of the cruisers had goon there and bought fresh vegetables the day or two prior.

Here are two of the Mennonites picking up their orders, as well as shipping out Persian limes.

There was one freighter docked at the outer harbor wall strictly taking empty pallets off the island.

This small skiff is tied up next to the mailboat. I had watched them come to Morgans Bluff in heavy seas earlier. They pulled over just outside the inner Harbor entrance, and prepared to dive in 6 ft. of water. I thought it was a bit strange since there are no conch grazing in the outer harbor.

As you can see they are cleaning some conch to sell to the people waiting on the mailboat. The interesting thing about conch is, it will live several days out of the water tucked in its shell. So the guys gather 5 conch and punch a hole in the lip. Then they take a piece of string and tie all five together. Once they are tied up and can’t escape they are placed back in the water till needed.

We found several groups of conch tied up below our boat. For whatever reason, they were left there and eventually died.

Thinking back to the guys who sold us conch at the back of the boat. They warned us of large sharks in the harbor. It is all making sense now. This is where they deposit conch for the Thursday Mailboat. And they didn’t want us poking about.

The guys in the skiff I saw that morning picked up their deposit of conch then went into the harbor to sell them. Someone is shipping out a pallet of live conch. If you look closely you can see they used 5 pallets to make the box above.

This little white truck is loaded down with large bags of frozen crawfish tails.

Pallets of supplies are dropped here there and everywhere. Women keep track of whats happening. Men are the stevedores.

With this many people in one spot the entrepreneurs show up. Two different food shacks feed the hungry. The Bahama telephone business Aliv, brings in a truck to top off your monthly phone minutes.

We walked up the hill looking for the highest spot on the Island, Morgans Bluff. You can just imagine the Pirate Capt. Henry Morgan posting a lookout on the bluff to see if there was a ship to plunder. Or should they run from attackers themselves. We never found the bluff just a small housing settlement. I certainly thought about their slogan when we sailed away the next day.

Our freezer is working better this year. I spent a month changing out the foam in the freezer and adding a fan to the evaporator. Nancy found that she needs to “shuffle” the frozen food every couple of days. Then she scrapes the frost off of the coils, rearranging the food when she puts it back in. In the past we waited too long and had to spray water on the coils. This only made the bags of meat freeze to the inside of the freezer. Which then took longer to get out of the freezer on the next “shuffle”. A vicious cycle for sure.

To help cool the compressor I prop open the nearest hatch above it with a pool noodle (see the red item on the right of the photo”. All of these things help us keep the meat in the freezer better.

You can see our solar shower bag hanging at the swim platform. So nice to hose off with warm water after a dip.

So ends March 9th. Dinghy is secured to the davits, Life Jackets and tethers are ready, alarm is set for 0500. We set sail over the horizon before daybreak tomorrow.

As the sign said, “ You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore”. S/V Sea Breeze, Morgans Bluff, Andros, Bahamas.

[radiomaxmusic]

Saturday, September 2, 2023 2pm ET: Feature LP: Jimmy Buffett - License To Chill (2004)

License to Chill is the twenty-fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and was released on July 13, 2004, by Mailboat and RCA Nashville. On this album, Buffett has many duets with noted contemporary country music artists, on country songs including “Hey, Good Lookin'” by Hank Williams. This rendition reached No. 8 on the Billboard country singles charts; another single,…

[noleavestoblow]

"I can see the shore of Dublin Bay. Its rocky sweep and its granite pier. Is this, I say how they must have seen it, backing out on the mailboat at twilight, shadows falling on everything they had to leave? And would love forever?"

-Eavan Boland

[poetryfoundation-potd]

The Lost Land

By Eavan Boland

I have two daughters.

They are all I ever wanted from the earth.

Or almost all.

I also wanted one piece of ground:

One city trapped by hills. One urban river.

An island in its element.

So I could say mine. My own.

And mean it.

Now they are grown up and far away

and memory itself

has become an emigrant,

wandering in a place

where love dissembles itself as landscape:

Where the hills

are the colours of a child's eyes,

where my children are distances, horizons:

At night,

on the edge of sleep,

I can see the shore of Dublin Bay.

Its rocky sweep and its granite pier.

Is this, I say

how they must have seen it,

backing out on the mailboat at twilight,

shadows falling

on everything they had to leave?

And would love forever?

And then

I imagine myself

at the landward rail of that boat

searching for the last sight of a hand.

I see myself

on the underworld side of that water,

the darkness coming in fast, saying

all the names I know for a lost land:

Ireland. Absence. Daughter.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/eavan-boland

No Audio Included