Silouhette

I scanned the shoreline, desperately looking for a small head to poke out of a cockpit somewhere.  Nothing.  Still, I didn't give up.  I grabbed the binoculars, and searched again, but nothing.  I sighed.  Back to watching the boring old man in the boat next door.  All I'd seen him do was sit and eat some chips off the platter next to him.  Oh, and also, the dogs a few boats over were pacing back and forth.  Again.  I like to spy on people, but, I like it most when there is action.  That was the problem.  There was no action here.  None.

                

I swept my eyes over the scene one more time.  Luckily, a head poked out of a cockpit in the marina across the way.  My heart sank.  It was a man with a bucket and a scrub brush.  Poo, I thought. No kids. At least he was entertaining.  He washed the deck and the sails, managing to get himself soaked in the process.  He yelled something I couldn't make out.  A woman appeared with two trash bags slung over her shoulder and walked over to a dumpster.

I studied the name of the boat. It was in very small print, and even with the binoculars, it was hard to read.  It definitely started with an S... followed by ILH... then maybe an... O?  Then it clicked. Silhouette.  It was definitely Silhouette, now that I looked closer.  I was so distracted with the name, that I didn't notice two smaller forms making their way across the slippery deck.  When I looked up, I gasped,"KIDS!" I squealed with delight, "AGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"  Just then, Mom peeked up through the gangway with a worried expression on her face. "You OK?" she asked, drying her hands on a dish towel. "Kids" I repeated, "Over there." I pointed to the large boat in the marina.  It looked a bit bigger than Kiawah.  It was a Beneteau.  My dad always says they're good boats.  I'd only been on one once.  I liked the design on the inside.  Nice and comfortable.  "Can we go over to say hi? Please?" I asked. "Sure, we'll stop over on our way into town," Mom answered.

                

Now is a good time to stop and tell you more details.  We had just come from Morehead city, North Carolina, and were anchored  in Beaufort, N.C.  Beaufort is a nice town that is very friendly to boaters, but, as we decided in the time that we were there, it needed another grocery store closer to the dinghy dock.  The nearest one was well over a mile out of town.  We all were fine with walking there, but walking back with pounds of food on our backs and in our hands wasn't easy. Even with a scooter.

And so, on our way into town, we pulled up next to the Silhouette to say hi. It looked like the family was getting ready to go into town as well.  "Hello!  My kids thought they saw some other kids over here," my dad said. "This is Riley and Wren."  "Hi!  How nice to meet you! This is Robyn and Kerry," said the mom.  The two kids looked almost identical. The only difference was their clothes and the color of their glasses.  They sounded British, but later we found out that their parents came from South Africa. The accents are very similar.  "Hello! I'm Robyn and this is Kerry," said the girl with the purple glasses. Right then I made a mental note.  Robyn has purple glasses and Kerry has red.  After hanging out with them for a few days, we got the hang of the names.  Their parents were Pauline and Peter, who were both very nice.  

The next day we had no plans and decided to go get groceries.  Next we stopped at a café and got internet. Wren and I got bored and went with mom to the hundreds of antique shops in the area.  We saw Robyn and Kerry and arranged to meet that night at a cafe before supper.  We got our own table and we played games and did origami. While the adults were still talking, we went back to Silhouette, who was tied up at the marina, and drew. That night, we said goodbye and arranged to meet the next day. 

These two kids were my dream!  They were nice and polite, loved to read, knew how to sail, were very entertaining, never made you feel bad, were artistically talented, could make the best out of any situation, and had the same tastes as me (not to mention an impressive New York accent, Robyn J).  

The next day, we didn’t see Silhouette at all. We were tied up with schoolwork and boat chores, plus, it was a nasty day anyway.

The day after was better and we met at the Rachel Carson Preserve to hike and see the wild horses that roamed the delicate dunes.  It was a blast!  We saw two horses, millions of fiddler crabs, got stuck in thick black mud and worried about the stains that it would leave on our sneakers.  We went digging for quahogs (similar to clams), found pieces of purple wampum (the purple part of the quahog shell that Native Americans used to trade and make beautiful jewelry out of), and ate jellybeans while brainstorming names for imaginary horses we would see in our future. “If we see a black horse, then we should name it Night Mare,” I suggested, popping a green jellybean in my mouth. “Ooo! I like that name, but only if the horse is a girl,” Robyn said. “Right.  And if we see a white mare, we should name it sugar,” Kerry said. “If the mare has a foal, then it should be named Jellybean!” Wren said.  Some other names included Madame Zeroni and Stanley (from the book Holes, which both girls had read). 

We had so much fun!

When we got back to the beach (yes, a sandy one!) where we left our dinghy, a man in a little sailing dinghy named Sea Raven called out to us. "Hey, could you give me a hand?"  He was clearly having trouble sailing the little thing.  So mom, dad, Kerry, and I hopped in the dinghy and went to help out. Kerry and I ended up in Sea Raven with my dad.  I was really glad Kerry and I got to go along.  It was awesome!  We all had a great time even though we ran over several buoys, ran aground twice, snapped an oar, ripped the sail, crashed into a bunch of boats tied up to a dock (Kerry's fault not mine) and narrowly avoided several other boat crashes.  It was really fun and we learned panicking doesn't make the situation better...

We docked Sea Raven and mom came to pick up Kerry, dad and me.  Robyn and Wren were back on Kiawah, and Kerry and I joined in. We drew and talked about random stuff.  After two minutes I learned that Kerry and Robin were extraordinary artists. Robyn is a master at drawing bearded unicorns, and Kerry could draw stunning fashions.  I don't know how, but Robyn and Kerry ended up staying for dinner!  Pork chops, salted potatoes and salad. Yum!  After a delicious dessert of strawberry shortcake, we decided to play a joke on their parents, Pauline and Peter.  Robin and Kerry switched clothes and glasses before going back to Silhouette.  It only took about 10 seconds of Robin and Kerry explaining their day for their parents to figure it out, but I couldn't tell the difference.

Finally it was time to say goodbye.  I was sad because we might not see each other again.  I could only hope we would be moving to the same place the next day. Even if we didn't see each other again I knew that a friendship like that could never end.
Miss and love you all,

Ri

     (P.S. For pictures, look at the main blog page entitled: Beaufort, NC, sorry!)

Charleston, South Carolina

Yes, It's true, I'm in South Carolina! It doesn't look or feel a lot different from Florida, though.

Charleston, the city that we're staying in, is a great place with a ton to do! My grandma and grandpa came to visit us from their condo in Myrtle Beach. They stayed at a Comfort Inn close to the marina that we were anchored off of.

The first night, once hugs and kisses were done, we all went out to a restaurant called Pearlz. It was delicious!  My mom and Wren loved the raw oyster bar (Ewww!), and my grandparents and my dad had fun sampling the wide variety of fresh seafood. I am not much of a seafood fan (except for fish), so I ordered linguine with butter and garlic.

greetings!

The next morning, we went to the Charleston Aquarium. It was so much fun! They had lots of sharks and rays, and tons of other fish. Most of them we'd already seen in the Bahamas, but it was still cool anyway. My favorite exhibit was the otters. I love otters. They are so playful! I also liked the albino crocodile, great blue heron, and the bald eagle.

oooooooooooooh!

We also went to the 4-D show about sea monsters. That was awesome! The fourth dimension was moving seats! There was a little tube with a feather on the end that whipped around your feet, making everyone gasp. There was also a plastic rod that poked into your back at scary moments. I scooted forward in my seat to avoid being poked again, and once I discovered that the two little holes in the seat before me sprayed water, I plugged them with my fingers and grinned as a giant sea monster jumped out of the water, "splashing" my grandma, who screamed her head off, while I didn't feel a single drop.

Sea Monsters in 4-D

After the aquarium, we went to Fort Sumter National Monument, where we all got a history lesson about the Civil War, which wasn't as bad as it sounds...

Fort Sumter

When Abraham Lincoln became president in 1860, he declared it illegal to have slaves. The northern states were fine with this, since they had gotten rid of slavery a while ago, but the southern states, who had plantations and needed slaves to make money, were furious. So furious that the day after Lincoln's presidency began, they said that they no longer wanted to be part of the U.S. They wanted to become their own country with their own rules. They proceeded to act on this by taking over the four forts off of Charleston harbor. Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson, and Castle Pinckney.

Lincoln didn't approve and sent 85 soldiers and Robert Anderson (commander of the Union troops) to South Carolina to defend the forts. Anderson settled into Fort Moultrie, then realizing it was very vulnerable, snuck his men into Fort Sumter at night. When General Beauregard (commander of the Confederate troops) found out, he was angry and told Anderson he had one hour to leave before he would open fire on Fort Sumter. One hour passed and Anderson hadn't left. Beauregard gave him another half hour, but Anderson still didn't leave.  Then, on April 12, 1860 at 3:20 am, Beauregard gave the command to fire the signal shot, letting the other forts in the area know that the battle was starting. That was the first shot of the Civil War. 

For 36 hours, forts from Charleston harbor bombarded Fort Sumter. Anderson and his men returned fire a few times, but mostly just stood back and watched. When the men's barracks caught fire and most of his guns were unusable, he surrendered under three conditions: #1, there would be no prisoners of war, meaning Anderson and his troops could all get home safely. #2, the Union got to keep the American flag. And, #3, Anderson would be considered a war hero. Beauregard consented and Fort Sumter, now reduced to a pile of brick, its 5-foot thick walls crumbled, was his.

Fortunately, no one was killed during the first battle, however, Private David Hough lost his life when a cannon misfired during the Surrender Ceremony.

Wren and I working on earning our Jr. Ranger badges

Grilling the intern for info

Piece of cake

When Anderson got home safely, Lincoln started making an army. He said that anyone who wanted to fight, could. It was probably more successful than forcing men into signing. Thousands showed up, wanting to fight.  Including many freed African American slaves!

And, so, the north and the south went to war, the north winning and demolishing slavery.

Pretty cool, huh? I think so.

That night, we said goodbye to our grandparents, but it was temporary. We are going to sail up to visit them at their condo in Myrtle Beach in a few days. I'm so excited!

Miss you all,

Riley  

The Kingsley Plantation

Slaves at Kingsley Plantation 

The Kingsley Plantation is a National Park located on Fort George Island off the ICW (Intra-Coastal Waterway). Thousands of enslaved African Americans were brought here to grow cotton, rice, fruits, and vegetables. The people have now perished, but what remains, a kitchen house, barn, slave cabins, wells, main parlor, and several gardens, is all over 200 years old.

Plantation layout

Reading about slave trade routes.  (Kiawah, anchored in the background)

Dad explains how the holds of ships were designed to carry as many slaves as possible, packed in like sardines.  It was very sad.

The slave cabins (built by slaves themselves) were made out of a cement-like substance called tabby. Tabby is made from oyster shells, water and sand. First you put the oyster shells in a fire, making them crumbly, then you shovel the burnt oyster shells into a bucket of salt water. The oyster shells create a chemical reaction, causing them to break down and make a goo. Then you add sand, making it thicker. Put some whole oyster shells in, and you're good to go! The cabins contained a bench, fire place, and a sleeping area.

Slave cabin made of tabby

Only half of the semi-circle of slave cabins

The plantation was owned by Zephaniah Kingsley, and his wife, Anna Kingsley. Anna was once a slave, believe it or not. Here's the story:

Zephaniah bought Anna in Haiti,  and on the ship back to America, he fell in love with her. Anna gave birth to his son, secretly, on the ship. When they got back to America, he freed Anna and their son, and he and Anna were married. Later on, Anna had two more sons.  Anna lived on the Kingsley Plantation as a slave driver, although, she never treated her slaves harshly.

Crazy, isn't it?

Zephaniah was Spanish. The Spanish believed in the task system. Each slave had one task to get done each day. As soon as that task was done, they could have the rest of the day off.  

The tabby slave cabins were arranged in a semi-circle, because in Anna's hometown, that's how the villagers would arrange their houses. I thought that was pretty cool.

The Kingsley plantation is now owned by Timucan National Preserve, and they have made it a really beautiful place.  But I was very sad to see how the slaves were treated, even at Kingsley Plantation with Anna in charge.  I think slavery is wrong.  Taking people from their home, chaining them to a ship and forcing them to work for nothing just because of their skin color is sickening.  I can see why the people in the south weren't happy when Abe Lincoln said that he wanted to abolish slavery.  They were all relying on slaves to make all their money!  I am really glad that the north won the Civil War and people realized that slavery is wrong.

Love,

Riley

P.S. I am really sorry I haven't been responding to any of your comments. I just wanted you to know that I am reading them all, and they are really wonderful! Hope you understand...

Bobette

"Breaking news, everybody!" "You know Bob, Riley Fraser's outstanding pet cockroach, right? Well, recent news reports tell me that Bob, is a... a...a GIRL!"

Yup. Bob, is a girl. She proved it by laying an inch long, brown egg sac. It's a very odd, cylinder shaped egg case. At first, I was going to take the egg case to shore and let it go, but Bob made sure that didn't happen by pasting it to the side of her cage with goo. Even though I love bugs and creepie crawlies, I was too disgusted to take it off. Mother and unhatched offspring remain together. The egg case hasn't hatched yet, but I'll let you know as soon as it hatches. 

Auntie Wendy, you must be thrilled!

Love you all,

Ri

FOOD!

I will never , ever appreciate food more than I did on March, 10 2014.  We had just pulled into Nassau and we had just been in the Exuma Land and Sea Park for two weeks.  There are no towns, no fishing and NO FOOD!  It was crazy!  Mom eventually threw the last bit of cabbage out because we had been conserving it for too long.  Dad and mom finally decided that the weather was calm enough for us to make the crossing to Nassau.  Wren and I let out let a squeal of delight.  Not because we were going to Nassa, but because that's where the food was.

When we got to Nassau, we were greeted with dirty water, gigantic power yachts,  rock music blasting our ears off, and stinky city air.  The only good things about Nassau are FOOD, fireworks (on Sunday night from one of the resorts), and infinite water and power (If you were hooked up to a dock, which we were).

Laundry day

The first thing we did when we got a dock space, or "slip", was GET FOOD!  As we walked into the air conditioned grocery store, we all gasped.  Asparagus greeted us on the nearby shelf.  Apples and oranges said hello.  We were in heaven.  Lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, apples, oranges, bananas, mangos, avocados, pineapples, pears, plums peaches, meats, gourmet cheeses, crackers, bread, milk, juice, ANYTHING you could have asked for was there.  We stood there drooling.

We bought as much as we could possible carry.  When we were walking back with the groceries, I couldn't wait, so I got a pear and bit into it.  Nothing ever tasted that good. 

That night we had steak on the grill.  Yum x infinity! 

I'll never forget how lucky we are.

Love,

Riley

BOB...

"No! Don't kill it!" I shouted. "Well, what are you going to do with it?" my mom asked. "Keep it as a pet. Pleeeeeeease?" "Riley, no, we are not going to have a pet cockroach on our boat" "But Mom..." "NO!" "Fine, can I at least put it in a jar, and let it go next time we go to shore?" "Ok, Fine."  The family that owned the boat (we were visiting for dinner) was more than happy to send dinner guests home with a cockroach.

I was shocked. My mom was NOT the killing type. Especially when it came to bugs. I wasn't either (except for the occasional ant to magnifying glass trick). My sister, no. But my dad on the other hand, um... Yeah. He wasn't too happy when Wren ran up to him shouting "Daddy! Daddy! Guess what! We have a new pet! He's a cockroach!"

 It took a lot of persuading, 3 melt downs, 4 cheerios, and a lot of cabbage to get my new boat pet  in shape for being one of our family members.  I named him Bob.  Sorry grandpa, the name just fit.

My mom said that cockroaches are just about the worst boat pet you could have, But eventually, she admitted that he was "cute". My dad is still on the "throw him overboard to the sharks" side. Wren and I completely adore him.  I love how he cleans his antennae after every meal.  He feasts on a diet of cabbage and Cheerios. That is the one thing we have a lot of on this boat. We have been in the park for 9 days, so we can't get food until Nassau. We are conserving food.  He lives in a plastic container tipped on its side with food and a toilet paper tube. It's fun to experiment with the foods and to see which ones he loves to eat.

Take lots of pictures of the snow for me!

Love,
Riley

Iguanas and Swimming Pigs

As we pulled into port on Bitter Guana Cay, we could see dark splotches on the pure white sand beach. As the binoculars came into focus, I could see lizards. To be more specific, Iguanas.

The Exuma Rock Iguanas are really rare. They used to be on all 700 Bahamian islands. Now, they are limited to about 4 islands. I only know the names of two, Bitter Guana, and Allens Cay. They are now protected, but they used to be eaten. If you ask any of the locals if they've eaten iguana flesh, they would all say yes.

 Wren and I were practically jumping up and down for joy. "Iguanas, Iguanas, Iguanas!" we shouted. Even though we were the only ones in the anchorage, my dad told us to quiet down.

     We grabbed what we needed in the shortest amount of time possible, jumped in the dinghy, and headed to shore. I felt like we were intruders, and the iguanas were soldiers, waiting for he command to attack. They just kept coming out of the underbrush, which was not very tall. Due to heat conditions, all of the plants were desert plants. Like cacti! It was all very cool. 

     The iguanas were no more than 2 feet long, and very chubby. I think that the soldier-like behavior was an effect from cruisers feeding the iguanas. They  were funny, though, aside from their  snappish behavior. Especially when my dad ran through a whole bunch of them, flailing his arms and legs like a maniac and screaming at the top of his lungs. Sometimes, you just have to be a dufus...

Yup.  Scat.

Lil' guy

The next day, we hiked around all over the island. We went to the north side of the island, where we found a pretty beach. We also found a big limestone cliff that had a trail leading to the top. 

Kiawah, having some alone time

     That afternoon, we said good bye to the iguanas and went to Staniel Cay. As soon as we got there, we went shopping. There was a big old black lab sitting outside of the cute pink building that was the grocery store. We are missing Blue terribly....

A "Blue" moment

 After we got some food, we went to theThunderball Grotto. It was really cool.  It is a cave that is partially filled with water. You have to dive underneath a rock ledge to get in. There are a ton of fish around the grotto, because all fishing is prohibited. See Wren's blog for more on that.

 The next day, we went to Piggy Beach. The island is taken over by pigs!  Here are some pics of these crazy beasts!  They swim out to your boat to beg for food.  They are quite friendly though.

Oink, oink!
Love,
Ri