Category Archives: Bahamas

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Want to party in the middle of the ocean with your favorite NFL stars? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to Key West and the Bahamas next year and they want to bring you with them.

The team has partnered with Celebrity Cruise Line to give fans a once-in-a-lifetime experience at sea.

Its first-ever four-night fan cruise will set sail from Miami on March 2, 2023, and make stops in Key West and Nassau, Bahamas.

Fans will get the chance to sail with current Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean, outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and tackle Tristan Wirfs. Buccaneers Super Bowl Legends Dexter Jackson and Martin Grammatica will also be onboard.

Other celebrity guests will include Captain Fear, Buccaneers cheerleaders, and Bucs Super Fan Big Nasty, the team said.

The team is promising special Bucs-themed experiences for fans on both land and sea, including a Raise the Flags Sail Away Party, Fans and Players VIP Cocktail Parties, a Scavenger Hunt through Key West, and Behind the Scenes with the Bucs Presentations.

To learn more about the cruise, visit http://www.tampabaybucscruise.com or call 1-800-975-7112. Fans can also visit the Celebrity Cruise Line booth in Bucs Beach on gamedays to get more information.

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Buccaneers first-ever fan cruise to Key West, Bahamas will set sail next year - WFLA

Jacksonville, Fl. The Buresh Bottom Line: Always be prepared!.....First Alert Hurricane Survival Guide... City of Jacksonville Preparedness Guide... Georgia Hurricane Guide.

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***** ALWAYS CHECK & RE-CHECK THE LATEST FORECAST & UPDATES! *****

REMEMBER WHEN A TROPICAL STORM OR HURRICANE IS APPROACHING: Taping windows is *NOT* helpful & will not keep glass from breaking.

Realize the forecast cone (cone of uncertainty) is the average forecast error over a given time - out to 5 days - & *does not* indicate the width of the storm &/or damage that might occur.

** FIRST ALERT! ** - Anyone living in - or traveling to - the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Yucatan Peninsula &/or the U.S. gulf coast should stay up to date on the latest forecast for a storm likely to develop - first - over the Caribbean then possible move over the Gulf of Mexico **

** No *inland* impacts from Fiona for Jacksonville/NE Fl./SE Ga.... beaches to be affected by easterly swells, rough seas/surf & a high rip current risk through late week.... & no impacts from t.d. #8 over Central Atlantic **

Atlantic Basin:

Tropical wave - 96-L was upgraded to tropical depression #7 Wed. morning then to tropical storm Fiona Wed. evening & to a hurricane Sun. morning with a Cat. 1 (85 mph winds) landfall Sunday afternoon about 3:20pm EDT along the southwest coast of Puerto Rico near Punta Tocon followed by another landfall (Cat. 1/90 mph winds) early Mon. at 3:30am EDT along the coast of the Dominican Republic near Boca de Yuma. The hurricane strengthened into a Cat. 2 late Mon. then to a Cat. 3 early Tue. - the first major hurricane of the Atlantic season. The avg. date for such an occurrence is Sept. 1.

Fionas steering currents are pretty straight forward & locked in (hence, a narrow forecast cone). The strongest shear is now oriented north & east of the eye & Fiona will remain on the western edge of the westerly shear thereby allowing for further strengthening over very warm ocean water with high humidity. While still restricted some over the western portion of the tropical cyclone, upper level outflow has improved dramatically & all signs point to a powerful Cat. 3+ hurricane for much of the rest of this week. Of note - the center moving a little south of due west into the face of the shear - as was the case Wed./Thu. & parts of Fri. - has led to eventually powerful hurricanes that had a similar trend. And indeed Fiona became the first major (Cat. 3+) hurricane of the season for the Atlantic Basin. As Fiona moves away from the Caribbean, a sharper turn north will occur to near & just east of the SE Bahamian Islands Tue... then northeast to near Bermuda by Thu. night then a turn back north over the N. Atlantic.

FIONA SUMMARY/IMPACTS:

* Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands/nearby Caribbean islands: Improving weather & sea conditions through Tue. though still a few heavy rain bands & flooding into early Wed. while river flooding will last longer.

* Most intense impacts for Hispaniola are easing, but the Dominican Republic will still have to deal with flooding rains/mudslides into early Wed... Haiti escapes most of the wind & rain.

* Impacts to the Southeast Bahamas through Tue. night, especially the Turks & Caicos Islands - strong winds, heavy rain & rough seas/surf though the most severe part of the hurricane will stay a little east. Most of the Bahamas will get through Fiona unscathed.

* Impacts for Bermuda Thu. night/Fri. - wind/rain/rough seas/surf.

* Impacts for Nova Scotia & Newfoundland this weekend (becoming large/strong post-tropical ocean storm)

* Increasing swells/seas/surf + dangerous rip currents for virtually all of the U.S. east coast through this week (but Fiona well offshore)

Forecast models briefly trended more west Thu. but have trended back east recently which is why one should not become too obsessed with individual model runs. Some of the real time aircraft dropsonde data was used Thu. in the 18Z (2pm) GFS model run *but not* in the 00Z (8pm) model run which is probably why the GFS had a hiccup in the 18Z Thu. run showing a track much more west. I bemoan when real time data is not consistently used within the models as it usually causes inconsistency within the models. Either use it with reach run as long as its available or dont use it at all. The good news is that Gulfstream G-IV research aircraft started consistently flying Sat. & will continue the next several days with the data gathered from the atmospheric environment in & around Fiona then can be used to initialize the GFS for each run. Good clustering & consistency of the models continues keeping Fiona well east of the U.S. mainland. The GFS remains a little faster & bit more east than the European model. Congrats to the GFS model for pretty much winning the model battle on Fiona.

The steering influences for Fiona are distinct & pretty much locked in place in the form of an upper level trough moving to New England then the NW Atlantic while the Bermuda high is well to the east providing the distinct alleyway across the W. Atlantic for Fiona. The upper level trough should then capture Fiona by next weekend bending the transitioning to a post-tropical low to the north & northwest late in the week/next weekend which has implications for Nova Scotia & Newfoundland as the low will remain a powerful ocean storm even after losing tropical characteristics.

So to recap: Fiona is turning northward ... there will be some impacts on some of the mainly SE Bahamas into Wed. - especially the Turks and Caicos Islands - followed by a move more north & - finally - north/northeast with a close pass to Bermuda late Thu. into Fri. morning. Then there will be the bend back to the north or even a little northwest over the N & NW Atlantic late in the week.

Elsewhere... a couple of active tropical waves are over the Central/Eastern Atlantic with the potential for development.

Heres an early heads-up! for the Caribbean & U.S. Gulf Coast anywhere from Fl. to Texas as well as the Yucatan Peninsula. The primary concern for the Caribbean will be this weekend into early next week & mid to late week into the following weekend for the Gulf of Mexico.

(1) A more southern latitude wave that moved off of Africa last week is steadily approaching the SE Caribbean with an increase in tstorm activity. This is a classic wave in that it formed from a complex of intense storms over Africa... encountered hostile conditions (shear & dry air) for days before finding more favorable conditions. Both the GFS & European global models have jumped on this wave now with potential development over the Caribbean by the weekend. The GFS is faster to develop the wave vs. the European but both models eventually show a hurricane if not over the Caribbean then over the Gulf of Mexico. There may some interaction with the north coast of S. America for a time which could limit overall organization but once the wave gains some latitude, it would appear most ingredients are in place for the development of a tropical cyclone.

It looks like this disturbance will stay south of recently hard hit Puerto Rico & Dominican Republic. The time table - *for right now* is Central/Eastern Caribbean through the weekend... near Jamaica early next week... the NW Caribbean by the middle of next week... into/over the Gulf of Mexico by late next week. Still very early on the path & strength of this potential storm. There will be changes!

(2) A combination of a low pressure area/tropical wave over the Central Atlantic has quickly organized & was upgraded to tropical depression #8 Tue. morning. The depression is far to the east of Bermuda & southwest of the Azores will move more north then slowly northeast so no chance to move across the Atlantic, but the system may very well become at least a tropical storm with some impacts on the Azores by late week into the weekend.

97-L:

Spaghetti plots including the ensemble (faint lines showing all the model runs which gives an indication of uncertainty):

The alleyway for Fiona is well established as the Bermuda high shifts east & a series of upper level troughs move to the U.S. east coast & NW Atlantic:

Despite the eye of Fiona moving away, some heavy distant rain bands well to the southeast of the center are still streaming northward across Puerto Rico where rainfall totals will exceed 2 1/2 feet on some parts of the islands!:

Water vapor loop shows some dry air near wave 96-L, but its more moist than past days:

A zone of shear - on the order of 20-30+ mph - remains east/west just north of Fiona. Forecast models gradually take Fiona to the edge then west of the strongest shear.

Hurricane hunter aircraft snapshot of the eye of Fiona early Tue.!:

Sunday morning:

Friday night recon mission:

Thursday recon mission:

September origins:

Averages below based on climatology for the Atlantic Basin through September. This season so far is well below avg.:

Wind shear:

Saharan dust spreads west each year from Africa by the prevailing winds (from east to west over the Atlantic). Dry air - yellow/orange/red/pink. Widespread dust is indicative of dry air that can impede the development of tropical cyclones. However, sometimes wanna be waves will just wait until they get to the other side of - or away from - the plume then try to develop if other conditions are favorable. In my personal opinion, way too much is made about the presence of Saharan dust & how it relates to tropical cyclones. In any case, weve had several large dust plumes spread west to the Caribbean & Gulf with the peak of Saharan dust typically in June & July.

2022 names..... Gaston is the next name on the Atlantic list (names are picked at random by the World Meteorological Organization... repeat every 6 years). Historic storms are retired [Florence & Michael in 18... Dorian in 19 & Laura, Eta & Iota in 20 & Ida in 21]). In fact, this years list of names is rather infamous with Charley, Frances, Jeanne & Ivan retired from the 04 list (all hit Fl.) & Matthew was retired in 2016. The WMO decided - beginning last year - that the Greek alphabet will be no longer used & instead there will be a supplemental list of names if the first list is exhausted (has only happened three times - 2005, 2020 & 2021). The naming of tropical cyclones began on a consistent basis in 1953. More on the history of naming tropical cyclones * here *.

East Atlantic:

Mid & upper level wind shear (enemy of tropical cyclones) analysis (CIMMS). The red lines indicate strong shear:

Water vapor imagery (dark blue indicates dry air):

Deep oceanic heat content over the Gulf, Caribbean & deep tropical Atlantic:

Sea surface temp. anomalies:

SE U.S. surface map:

The rest is here:

Talking the Tropics With Mike: Major Fiona near SE Bahamas... T.D. #8 forms over Central Atlantic - ActionNewsJax.com

As part of its transition to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet, Carnival Luminosa was officially registered today with the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA). During the ceremony, Carnival Luminosas senior leadership team and the classification society completed all necessary registration processes, and Deck Cadet Mark Casson, a Bahamian citizen from Freeport, raised the new Bahamian flag, according to a press release

Were proud and honored to have Carnival Luminosa join the five other ships we have registered in The Bahamas, said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. The BMA is among the most respected administration in international shipping, and we value their level of cooperation and professionalism aimed to achieve the highest safety standards. This moment serves as a symbol of our ongoing commitment to this special country.

When the ship departs for Dubai, she will be flying the Bahamian flag to designate the new ship registry. Eventually arriving to Australia in less than two months, Carnival Luminosa will sail a variety of seasonal itineraries from Brisbane from Nov. 6, 2022 to April 13, 2023, offering something for everyone, before repositioning for seasonal service from Seattle to Alaska next May, including some exotic, first-time-for-Carnival destinations.

More here:

Carnival Luminosa Officially Registered with the Bahamas - Cruise Industry News

At the Miami Heat's media day, forwardJimmy Butler addressed his mental drive for this season.

Thats why I play this game -to win a championship and to gain everybodys respect on the court, Butler said. And that goes for everybody I get the opportunity to play with. Thats why we practice the way we practice, work out the way we work out, for no other reason is to win a championship here. And I think that coach Pat [Riley] and [Erik Spoelstra], they do a great job of getting guys like that on a team. On one team. Or making us play for one another and sacrificing for one another. So as we enter this new year its the same thing, same goal and we can do it. Win a championship.

HERRO WANTS TO BE AN ALL-STAR

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro has been selected to the Rising Stars Challenge game and won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award during his career.

Now, he wants another accolade: An All-Star appearance. At Monday's team media day, Herro said that is among his goals this season.

"Yeah, I thought I should have been one last year," Herro said. "But with another jump in my game, I think I can this year."

NO POWER FORWARD FOR BUTLER

The Miami Heat have looked for help at power forward since P.J. Tucker decided to join the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason.

Among the rumored possibilities was Jimmy Butler moving from small forward to fill the spot. At the team's media day Monday, Butler addressed the issue.

While Butler said he could handle the role if needed, the Heat have no plans of making the switch.

I dont care about those speculations, I dont play the four," Butler said. I could play the four, yes. If they absolutely need me to play the four I could yes. If they absolutely wanted to have a conversation about playing the four, I could yes. But Im not playing the four.

The Heat enter Tuesday's training camp in the Bahamas with Caleb Martin as the starting power forward.

BAM READY FOR MORE SHOTS

After last season ended, Miami Heat team president Pat Riley said he wanted more from center Bam Adebayo on the offensive end.

Riley stated he felt Adebayo should attempt at least 15 shots a game. At Monday's team media day, Adebayo accepted the challenge.

"I want close to 18 shots a game," Adebayo said. "I feel like we're a lot better team when we're shooting the basketball."

Adebayo has often been criticized for playing too passive on offense. Last year he averaged 19.1 points and 10.1 rebounds but only took 13 shots a game. The Heat open training camp Tuesday in the Bahamas.

HERRO COMFORTABLE AS A STARTER OR RESERVE

Last year Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.

While he has expressed interest in being in the starting lineup, he said he has no problem continuing to come off the bench. Herro spoke Monday at the team's media day at FTX Arena.

You know, Im a team player," Herro said. "Whatever [coach Erik Spoelstra] and the organization wants me to do Im gonna do. Whatever role fits me best, thats what Ill do.

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BUTLER DEBUTS NEW HAIR

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler arrived for Monday's team media day with a new look.

Butler debuted his new longer dreads at FTX Arena. He said he is unsure if he will keep the long hair during the season. The Heat open training camp Tuesday in the Bahamas.

"It's still up for debate if I'm going to keep my hair like this," Butler said.

INLINE

Last season Butler almost led the Heat to their NBA Finals appearance in three seasons. They lost in Game 7 to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. Butler missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds that would have won the game.

MORE HEAT-RELATED STORIES

Heat complete roster with Dru Smith signing. CLICK HERE

Two Heat players crack ESPN's 100. CLICK HERE

Heat to hold training camp in the Bahamas. CLICK HERE

For a look at some of the latest Heat apparel. CLICK HERE

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

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For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com

Shandel Richardson is the Miami Heat writer for Inside The Heat. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA.

MORE HEAT-RELATED STORIES

Heat complete roster with Dru Smith signing. CLICK HERE

Two Heat players crack ESPN's 100. CLICK HERE

Heat to hold training camp in the Bahamas. CLICK HERE

For a look at some of the latest Heat apparel. CLICK HERE

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson

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Jimmy Butler Says The Miami Heat Have Championship Aspirations - Sports Illustrated

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Tom Brady, had a unique off-season. When the training camp started, he took unexpected leaves. This, as one knows, grabbed the attention of various people who came up with many creative conclusions. Now, there is information about where the NFL GOAT was for 11 days.

In the off-season, Tom Brady announced his long-incoming retirement from the NFL. He thanked the teams he played with, New England Patriots and Tampa Bay, and everybody who helped him become the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

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Then, only after 41 days, he changed his mind. And was ready to throw touchdowns again. But his wife, Gisele Bndchen, rued his decision, which caused friction between the power couples marriage.

And when the NFL world met with Tampa Toms absence news, they wanted to know more since there were telltale signs of their tense marriage already. The couple went on a vacation to the Bahamas. It was their first trip together as a family after two decades. However, after the trip to the Bahamas, Gisele Bndchen did not tag along with her husband.

DIVE DEEPER

God, I Need One of Those: Tom Brady Felt an Emotion He Rarely Felt WhileDropping His Son at Camp Before Returning to His Life of Turmoil With NFL and anAngry Gisele Bndchen

8 days ago

And in those 11 days, after the trip, Brady flew to New York to meet his previous girlfriend and the mother of his eldest born son, Bridget Moynahan. They met to celebrate the birthday of their son, John Edwards. Even though their mother did not join them, little Vivian Lake and Benjamin Rein kept their father company.

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Since his arrival at the training camp, reports circulated about the big arguments between the couple. When Tampa Tom attended a press conference of the team, reporters asked him about his leaves. He explained the leaves were merely personal and that he is 45 years old, man. Theres a lot of sh*t going on.

Gisele Bndchen expressed her concerns several times over the violent nature of the sport. And her complaint regarding Brady not spending enough time with the family is something he accepted in the past.

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News also came out that the couple has not been living together. The model went to New York City for modeling commitments. Meanwhile, her husband prepares for games.

Watch This Story: Tom Brady Went to The Same High School As This Controversial MLB Hall of Famer Who Was Also A 14x All-Star

Excerpt from:

Tom Brady Reported to Have Left the Bahamas With Gisele Bndchen Staying Behind During His Hotly Debated 11-Day Absence From Training to Meet...

To mark the 40th anniversary of the South Atlantic conflict, the Bahamas Locomotive Society agreed to have flagship locomotive, LMS Jubilee No. 45596 Bahamas, renamed and renumbered to 45606 Falkland Islands.

The original 45606 was built in 1935 but was scrapped in 1965.

The naming ceremony took place on Thursday 22nd September 2022 at Swanage station on the Swanage heritage railway.

The locomotive had earlier that day arrived at the Swanage Railway with a Railway Touring Company tour from London Victoria.

During the break at Swanage, the newly cast nameplates, which came from the original, were unveiled on the platform.

Following the ceremony, the locomotive hauled the tour back to London Victoria and it is hoped that the locomotive will carry the nameplates until it returns north.

Once the locomotive has hauled the Railway Touring Company tour on the 11th November, 45596 will return to its usual identity and the nameplates will be donated for auction for a Charity fundraiser.

Keith Whitmore, Chairman of Bahamas Locomotive Society said We are delighted to be able to facilitate a commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Falklands conflict and to remember the fallen on both sides of the conflict. We have never before allowed 45596 Bahamas to change identity, but we consider it really important to remember the fallen along with the veterans from this conflict, as a one-off our loco will carry the identity of long scrapped sister LMS Jubilee Class locomotive 45606 Falkland Islands.

Originally posted here:

45596 Bahamas: Jubilee steam locomotive renamed at Swanage for anniversary of South Atlantic conflict - RailAdvent - Railway News

ANDROS, BAHAMAS: After impulsively deciding to buy an old, rundown hotel in Andros, Bahamas, everything turned upside down for the Baeumlers. Bryan and Sarah Baeumler transplanted their whole family from their cushy life in Canada to embark on the "adventure of a lifetime". The couple constantly kept reminding the audience of their HGTV show 'Renovation Island' about how they 'risked everything' to take on this adventure.

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'Renovation Island' fans watched in anticipation as the Baeumlers fought against ever-growing budgets, deadlines, a global pandemic, and even a hurricane, to convert the abandoned property that they invested all their money in into a luxury tourist hotspot- Caerula Mar Club Resort. Now that the resort is finally open to guests and operating smoothly, the Baeumlers decided to move their home base to Florida. As they juggled between Florida and the Bahamas, Bryan and Sarah couldn't help but sit down and have a serious discussion about their future and plans for the resort. The Baeumlers always knew that they wanted to grow and expand their business, so when they came across a project in Salt Lake City, Utah, the couple got immediately excited.

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But the reality of juggling between their Florida home, running the Bahamas resort, and taking on an ambitious new project weighed them down. The recently aired episode of the HGTV show featured Bryan and Sarah discussing some hard-hitting topics such as whether they should sell the resort or bring on a new partner, or even move back to the Bahamas which felt like home to them.

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The couple dwelled upon how while they were still trying to settle down in their new Florida home, whenever they came to their resort they couldn't help but feel like it was their home. Sarah also pointed out how she wasn't yet done with the island life and the adventures. Later in the episode, Bryan and Sarah revealed that they received an offer from someone who was interested in acquiring the resort from them. While Bryan and Sarh prepared themselves to meet the mystery investor interested in the property, we couldn't help but wonder if Bryan and Sarah are still the owners of Caerula Mar Club Resort or if they sold it.

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As of September 2022, it looks like Bryan and Sarah still own the resort, and are continuing their nomadic lifestyle of juggling between their homes and running the resort. Despite briefly shutting down the resort during the pandemic, the couple is still going strong with their dreams of running the luxury resort and experiencing the "adventure of their lifetime".

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'Renovation Island' airs every Sunday at 9/8c on HGTV, and is available for streaming on Discovery+ and HGTV Go app.

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Do Bryan and Sarah Baeumler still own Caerula Mar Club Resort? 'Renovation Island' stars toy with the idea of - MEAWW

NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has announced the appointment of Sameer Bhatti to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

In a press statement from the company, BTC said that Bhatti will have overall responsibility for the companys operations across The Bahamas.

His appointment makes him the fifth person to occupy the role in the last five years, following past CEOs: Andr Foster, Garfield Garry Sinclair, Dexter Cartwright, and Leon Williams.

Inge Smidts, BTCs Board Chair, and Chief Executive Officer, described Bhatti as an experienced telecommunications executive with demonstrated success.

She continued: He is a visionary and analytical leader who possesses an unwavering commitment to building teams with integrity and excellence. We are happy to welcome him to BTC and we wish him much success.

Smidts is also the Chief Executive Officer of C&W Communications, the operator of the BTC brand.

The most recent stop on Bhattis resume was American-based telecommunications conglomerate Comcast, where he spent ten years as an executive in commercial and channel development roles.

Prior to that, he held senior positions at Juniper Networks and Verizon in the United States. Bhattis distinguished career spans three decades across sales, marketing, product management, private equity and consulting, strategic planning, channel development, performance analytics, go-to-market strategy, and customer engagement.

A Bahamian national, Bhatti holds a bachelors degree in Management Science and Statistics from the University of Maryland and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Duke University.

Of his appointment, Bhatti said: This is such an exciting time for our industry and for The Bahamas and I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead BTC.

The technological advances we are pursuing as a company will provide multiple avenues for growth and development across the country. I look forward to rising to the challenge and working with such a dedicated team.

View original post here:

BTC gets fifth CEO in as many years - EyeWitness News

45596 Bahamas will be back on the mainline this Thursday (22nd September) as it hauls a tour to Swanage.

Departing London Victoria at 08:45, the tour will pass through Clapham Junction (09:03), Staines (09:32), Woking (10:03), Winchfield (10:26), Basingstoke (10:48), Southampton Central (11:32), Millbrook (11:44), Beaulieu Road (12:12), Bournemouth (12:49), Wareham (13:12) and Swanage at 13:45.

A diesel will take the tour from Swanage, departing at 16:40 and passing through Wareham (17:16) and Bournemouth (17:45) before arriving into Southampton Central at 18:23.

The tour, now hauled by 45596 Bahamas again, will depart at 18:34 and will pass through Basingstoke (19:52), Brookwood (20:25), Woking (20:46), Staines (21:19), Brentford (21:43), Clapham Junction (22:04) and London Victoria at 22:19.

Want to be notified when these timings are confirmed? Become a RailAdvent Plus member today!

For full timings, please click here.

If you do go out and see 45596, why not sign up to LocoStop. This is our railway community, and allows you to share your photos from your adventures! Click hereto sign up.

As always, please respect the dangers of the railway. Please do not trespass on the railway to see this iconic locomotive stay to public access spots.

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Steam locomotive 45596 Bahamas to haul London to Swanage tour this Thursday - RailAdvent - Railway News

The golden marshes around Ossabaw Island, Georgia, offer a placid anchorage and a spectacular sunset. Leslie Davison

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Just as we stepped through the rusted, wrought-iron gates of St. Simons, Georgias so-called Strangers Cemetery, from hot daylight into a shadowy overgrown world of Spanish moss that dangled from the twisting branches of live oaks and wafted over eroding gravestones, we were startled by a ding from Jennys phone. Its message sent a quick chill down her spine: You have arrived at your destination.

Perfect chance had brought us to this spooky and wonderful place, though the journey began simply enough. Many weeks earlier, wed asked Lesleys cousin Scott Perrin, a veteran of several annual Intracoastal Waterway migrations between New England and Florida, for his favorite barbecue joint along the route.

Southern Soul, Scott said without hesitating, on St. Simons Island.

So when our friend Jenny Gifford flew to Savannah, Georgia, to join Lesley and me aboard Billy Pilgrim in Georgias Sea Islands for her Thanksgiving holiday, we built our wanderings around a visit to Southern Soul.

The Atlantic coast Sea Islands preserve constellations of microcultures spanning from the coastal Carolinas through northern Florida. Isolated within semipermeable borders, these communities are separated by swiftly moving tidal waters with such Muskogee and Creek names as Ogeechee, Wassaw, Ossabaw, Sapelo and Altamaha. Other rivers and sounds are named for European saints: Catherine, Simon, Andrew, Mary. Through this Lowcountry stretches a US National Heritage Area called the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, recognizing the speakers of the only distinctly African Creole language in the United States. All fall wed been looking forward to lingering a while among these islands.

As Lesley and I sailed south from Annapolis, Maryland, we eased ourselves from a jangly initial shakedown mode into a more satisfying cruising mode. Aboard Billy Pilgrim, a sweet rhythm evolved as we alternated between bursts of overnight doublehanded passagemaking off the coast, then longer stretches of daylight runs through the inside waterways, where wed anchor at night and spend time ashore. Our prior experience on the Jersey coast (see Ready or Not, Sailing Billy Pilgrim South, September) had shuffled our ongoing refit priorities, bumping new radar up to the top of the list. In our early fall migration from New England to the Chesapeake, wed been thrilled to sail from sweater weather back into swimming weather. But when we paused long enough in Annapolis to install the new radar, winter overtook us again. Ice on the deck let us know when wed dawdled too long.

So, on one of the first days in November, we bundled up and jumped on the back side of a fall cold front. With a clear three-day northwesterly gusting to 30 knots, we set the genoa and raced at hull speed over Chesapeake whitecaps with just two overnight stops, one on the Little Choptank River, the other in Deltaville, Virginia. Though the cold temperatures stayed with us as long as the front, we were excited to see other signs of our southbound progress. The Potomac River mouth, still some 60 miles inside Chesapeake Bay and straddling the Maryland-Virginia state line, gave us our first pelicans. The next morning, our first bottlenose porpoises joined us in Deltaville.

At Norfolk, we faced a navigational choice: sail out into the Atlantic Ocean to round Cape Hatteras offshore, or proceed inside the Intracoastal Waterway starting at mile zero? On the outside route, we reckoned that three days would take us to Charleston, South Carolina. By contrast, in the ICW, where shoaling and stumps rule out running at night, the same three days would get us only to Beaufort, North Carolina. As it happened, an offshore forecast with winds of gale and hurricane force for the next five days simplified our decision. Inside we went.

Here, again, we were excited to see the proof of our southbound progress. As we moved through Virginias North Landing River, bald cypress trees replaced maples and beeches, and through the Carolinas, palmettos proliferated. Approaching Beaufort from the Neuse River, we met our first majestic shrimp boats. Later that night, we savored the seasons first shrimp and gritsbut not before visiting the Royal James Cafe, one of the ICWs finest pool halls (in a cash-only Budweiser and Tom Petty kind of way).

Sailing offshore from Beaufort in a brisk but dying westerly, we made Charleston in another day and a half, a total of seven from Norfolk. We might have shaved off a day or more, but when the ICW started reminding Lesley of too many I-95 transits between Massachusetts and Florida, we took an off-ramp at Albemarle Sound and poked up the Scuppernong River to Columbia, North Carolina, to celebrate her birthday.

At Charleston, finally, we felt wed arrived in the South. We knew we could still experience chilly cold fronts, but theyd no longer bring certain snow and ice. We paused for a long weekend, availing ourselves of the citys Holy Spokes bike-share program, pedaling between our Ashley River anchorage and Charlestons South of Broad neighborhood, and enjoying the many delights of that charming city. Cruising friends Dave and Sandy Gillespie from the Tayana 42 Bel Canto introduced us to the Pour House on James Island, a live-music venue that would be my second home if I lived just a little closer.

As we moved on down the Stono, Edisto and Cooper rivers toward Georgia, the music of the place began to fill Billy Pilgrims saloon. We started with Ranky Tanky, a contemporary Sea Islands roots band featuring ecstatic horns and harmonies and an infectious bamboula beat. After they won the 2020 Grammy award for Best Regional Roots Music Album, trumpeter Charlton Singleton described the bands Gullah influences to an interviewer: It consists of a bunch of islands that stretch from right off the southern part of North Carolina in the Wilmington area, down the coast of South Carolina, down the coast of Georgia to the top of Florida. On these little islands you had descendants of former West African slaves. They maintained a lot of their customs, a lot of their beliefs, a lot of their ways oflife. The way they cooked, the way they worshiped at the church, the way they entertained themselves, the way they spokethey had a very unique language. And so in Ranky Tanky, we interpret a lot of those songs, a lot of those kids games. Now some examples of those songs would be songs that youve probably heard, like Kumbaya. When you see seagrass basket weavers, when you see little girls and boys playing patty-cake and theyre clapping on two and four, all of those things are uniquely Gullah.

Ranky Tanky was our gateway backward through time to the music of Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers, based out of St. Simons Island. Id first seen and heard them in footage from 1960s Newport Folk Festivals. Encouraged by anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston and folklorist Alan Lomax beginning in the 1950s, Bessie Jones and company brought Gullah music and games to audiences at Carnegie Hall, the Monterey Folk Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, and Jimmy Carters 1977 presidential inauguration.

In Thunderbolt, Georgia, near Savannah, Jenny Gifford joined us. With her, we ambled down the Skidaway River past the genteel porches of Isle of Hope and across the Moon River of Johnny Mercer fame. On some future passage through these islands, well pause to visit Wassaw Island, said to be the best example of what Georgias barrier islands looked like before Europeans arrived. A national wildlife refuge accessible only by boat, Wassaws forests were never cleared for cotton, cattle or timber.

Instead, we cruised down the Vernon River and up the Ogeechee through a wonderful marshland maze. As we passed inlets to and from the ocean, the sweeping tidal currents frequently flipped directionnow behind us, now against us. Toward nightfall, we anchored in Big Tom Creek alongside Ossabaw Island with good holding in 12 feet, and with porpoises playing and feeding alongside us in the golden sunset.

We made a short hop across St. Catherines Sound on Thanksgiving morning and dropped the hook in Walburg Creek, where Lesley and Jenny dinghied ashore. St. Catherines Island is privately owned for zoological research but accessible below mean high water to those arriving by boat.

We stepped into prehistory, Lesley wrote on Billy Pilgrims blog. Huge driftwood trees stacked up on the sand like pickup sticks. We clambered our way around, over, under the trunks, doing our best balance-beam routines and limbo, guessing at which animals made the footprints coming out of the primeval forest of saw palmetto and moss-festooned oak trees.

For our Thanksgiving feastroasted chicken, creamed spinach and mashed potatoes served in Billy Ps saloon under the warm glow of LED-powered candlelightwe anchored in the placid Crescent River, just inshore from Sapelo Island. Managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the site of Hog Hammock, said to be the last known Gullah community, Sapelo is restricted to visitors with a permit from the state.

Far more accessible are St. Simons, Jekyll and Cumberland islands. Highway bridges join St. Simons and Jekyll to the mainland near Brunswick; Cumberland is served by regular daily ferries from St. Marys, Georgia, and Fernandina Beach, Florida. On St. Simons Island, Morningstar Marina offers courtesy bicycles to transient guests (dockage at $2.25 per foot); Jekyll Harbor Marina offers them in exchange for a dinghy-dockage fee ($20). We rode dozens of miles exploring these islands. Jekyll stood out, with its groomed off-road trails winding through the interior oak forests and riverside marshes to stunning unpopulated beaches and a pair of villages that make good stops for meals and libations. Cumberland Islands wild horses, armadillos, and 16 miles of undeveloped beach lit up Lesley.

But it was St. Simons and the Strangers Cemetery that marked me with the most lasting impressions. We anchored Billy Pilgrim in 10 feet of good mud between Lanier Island and St. Simons, dinghied ashore, and Ubered to our long-anticipated rendezvous with Southern Soul barbecue. (You could order the Soul sandwich with collard greens, Soul slaw and hoppin John, and not be sorry.) As we hadnt yet discovered the marina courtesy bikes, we followed directions from a guidebook to a bike-rental shop near Southern Soul. When we arrived, the shop was closed; whether for an hour or forever was hard to tell. So we started walking the couple of miles back to our dinghy. Near the entrance to a Georgia Power right-of-way, Jenny noticed a small sign: Union Cemetery, Strangers Cemetery, circa 1876. We paused in the heat, then turned down the dirt track underneath the power lines. Several hundred yards later, we hesitated when a large, feral-looking cat stood staring at us from the center of the path. We eased forward, and that gatekeeper in feline form edged aside, never taking its eyes off us. When we still saw no sign of the cemetery, Jenny entered it into her phones mapping app.

Despite the initial jolt from her phones alarm as we stepped inside, we found the place enthralling. Relatives of Jim Brown, the legendary Cleveland Browns running back and film actor, are buried there, as are influential teachers who devoted their careers to the children of St. Simons. But for us, the biggest surprise came in a quiet corner near the cemeterys back edge: the final resting place of Bessie Jones herself.

A book I found the next day at a St. Simons shop, Gullah Geechee Heritage in the Golden Isles, tells how she came there: If you did not belong to a plantation, you could not be buried in a plantation cemetery. Union Cemetery was established for the people who were not born on a plantation. That is why it also has a second name of Strangers Cemetery, since people not born on St. Simons were, in essence, strangers. Theres a Gullah Geechee expression of come yah and been yah. Been yah means been here, or those people who were natives and longtime residents. Come yah means come here and was the label of people considered newcomers.

Jones, born on the mainland, spent more than 50 years on St. Simons. Still, after all shed done to bring Sea Islands culture from here to the rest of America, Miss Bessie lived and died as a stranger in this place thats charged with so many histories.

We, strangers ourselves, left St. Simons hungry to return.

Any wistfulness we felt at exiting St. Marys Inlet on an early December afternoon ebb and putting Georgia behind us for now was more than tempered by our excitement about, and then our actual experience of, Billy Pilgrims next legs.

We sailed through two nights from Cumberland Island, entering Floridas Fort Pierce Inlet at dawn the third day. This was a homecoming for us on several levels. Harbortown Marina (now Safe Harbor Harbortown), just inside the inlet, was the first place Lesley and I ever saw Billy Pilgrim (ex-Sam, ex-Rachel E., ex-Water Music), Passport 40, Hull No. 141, back in August 2017a very happy occasion. Also, my sisters family lives in Vero Beach, just a dozen miles from the inlet, and we looked forward to spending time with them. Billy Pilgrim entered the inlet on a ripping flood, and so intent were we to miss the shoals and avoid colliding with the outbound fishing fleet that we missed the text from Monica.

Look left!

My sister and her husband, Charlie Jennings, had awakened before dawn and clambered out the jetty to celebrate our arrival. They were waiting on the beach with hot coffee and apple-cider doughnuts as soon as we dropped the hook near the Indian River junction. It was a sweet reunion that carried across the inlet to the Little Jim Bait & Tackle tiki bar, where I was reacquainted with one of the best examples of what, in these parts, they call smack: tasty smoked fish dip. A Billy Pilgrim river cruise the next day with Monica, Charlie and some of their friends took us straight to the Jennings backyard dock, where Billy P spent the holiday season. As wed experienced with our families in the fall, a developing themethe way traveling by boat can deepen otherwise old and familiar relationships in wholly new waysproved still more true than wed known.

We took these warm feelings with us after the holidays, when we finally crossed the Gulf Stream.

As teenagers in the early 1980s, Monica and I had spent a season sailing in the Bahamas with our parents; for Lesley, this was her first time. Across the deep Northwest Providence Channel and the shallow Great Bahama Bank between the Berry Islands and the Exuma Cays in the Bahamas, Lesley countedand namedmore than 20 shades of blue. Deep delicious ultramarine. Turquoise. Robins-egg blue. Tiffany blue. Powder blue. Chambray. Rich periwinkle. Cerulean. The Gulf Stream had been a slow-motion water bed of sapphire. Biscayne Bay was translucent aqua, more lurid than even my childhood drawings dared to portray.

In the Exuma Cays, for the first time, Lesley and I experienced an entirely new feeling aboard Billy Pilgrimof taking our foot off the pedal. For nearly a year, wed been pushing ourselves with pressing refit deadlines, pressing launch deadlines, pressing passage deadlines. Here, finally, we were able to settle in and focus on endeavors beyond simply running or fixing the boat.

Of course, the winter weather patterns of the Bahamasalternating cold fronts with periods of gentler easterlies, several days eachstill set our agenda and sent us scurrying for shelter when the more vicious northers came through. Our only deadlines now were friends and family arriving in late March. We planned to explore some of the Far Out Islands with them.

For an idyllic month, our ambit was reduced from a scale that took in the entire US East Coast down to the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park: 22 linear miles and 16 major cays. For the first time in months, we daysailed for the fun of it. We took long dinghy excursions, exploring beaches and snorkeling spots. We hiked trails, chasing iguanas and blowholes.

Times when we desired more society or proximity to a cell tower, we made our way to Staniel Cay or Black Point or Little Farmers. At Staniel, we visited the Mount Olivet Baptist Church, whose congregation arrived Sunday morning with tambourines and full-throated voices. After a good hour of solid praise, spoken and sung, and just as we thought the service might be winding down to a close, the elder organist stepped forward and raised the proceedings up another notch.

Let God in! he said. Let him spear the grouper! Let him catch the crayfish!

Alas, the god of Mount Olivet was not with us during our 2022 fishing season; we came home empty from our (for my part, admittedly halfhearted) spearfishing expeditions.

The day before our Bahamas season suddenly ended, as Lesley wrote in the blog, was a perfect day: It started with sailing off our anchor at Big Majors Spot. We rounded the end of Harvey Cay and headed to a cove off Bitter Guana Cay, where the week before wed taken a dinghy excursion to visit the local iguanas. We wanted to see if we could catch some lobsters. We found a couple, and used our tool, which we call the French tickler, to rouse them out of their hidey-holes, but we werent quite bold enough to grab them. We saw all kinds of fish and coral, picked up a huge conch, and enjoyed the random ray elegantly flying past. An amazing underwater world of color and surprises. Back aboard Billy, we sailed off the anchor and headed to Little Bay. We showered off the salt and dinghied in to the beach to walk into town for happy hour.

The next morning, March 4, I woke with a high feverending this story, and beginning another, which Ill tell in some future issue of these pages.

Tim Murphy, a CW editor-at-large and longtime Boat of the Year judge, is the author of Adventurous Use of the Sea: Formidable Stories of a Century of Sailing from the Cruising Club of America (Seapoint Books, 2022). See Lesley Davisons account of Billy Pilgrims 2021-22 southbound season, at svbillypilgrim.com/blog.

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Sailing South To The Islands Aboard Billy Pilgrim - Cruising World