01 March 2009 | N25*04.493 W77*18.748 Nassau Harbor Club, Nassau Harbor, New Providence Island
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Good morning world... I'm waiting for the coffee to finish perking and thinking about the day. The clouds are really building!
I'm not sure where we'll end up but I'd sure like to be able to touch the Tropic of Cancer before we turn around and head north again for the season. Why? Well most people know I love maps, charts, etc... so as we come closer and closer to one of these amazing points on our globe, I'd like to be able to say to myself "I've been there!" I keep watching our latitude and longitude as we've gone from 42 degrees North, further south we keep inching ever so slowly towards one of the Tropics. So close I'd like to be able to visit that point on earth. The Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn and the Equator are all imaginary lines of latitude that circle the Earth. The Equator at zero degrees latitude is the longest one that circles the Earth at its widest part and if you imagine - cuts the world in half (creating our N/S boundaries). The Tropics each lie about 23 degrees 27 minutes (23*27') north and south of the Equator. When the sun is directly overhead at the equator we have the vernal equinox (spring) on or about March 21, and the autumnal (fall) equinox around September 21. So on these two dates when the sun is directly overhead at the equator - 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night (equinox - equal day and night). As the sun travels north from the equator to reach it's northern most boundary at noon (The Tropic of Cancer) around June 21 we have the summer solstice (solstice - sun stand still) and the longest day of the year for us in the northern hemisphere. Then it heads back south again to begin it's transit to the Tropic of Capricorn - touching that point at 23*27' south around December 21 (our shortest day of the year) the winter solstice.
While I can't be at the Tropic of Cancer on June 21st (what a kick THAT would be!) it would be really sweet to reach that latitude, any time of the year. While I'm on this unintentional subject of our seasons... the area bounded by the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn (known as "The Tropics") don't experience seasons like we do back home because the sun is always high in the sky. Okay, okay, I know - once a teacher always a teacher... But that's what was going through my little mind... Time for coffee and to get on with the day. I have snorkel gear to buy, tomatoes to find, hulls to give a fresh rinse to, and a shower awaits...
Most things are closed today because it's Sunday - people are mostly conservative and religious in the Bahamas. So after making breakfast (potatoes, bacon, eggs) we walked to the Shopping Center. They have a Domino's Pizza and Dairy Queen combination place where we got some ice cream (the first in a long time). It was pretty tasty. I noticed a young family sitting there (they were waiting for their pizza) still dressed in their Sunday best. When the pizza was ready, they all bowed their heads and the father led them in prayer before dishing out the pizza to the kids. It was really nice to see because we've heard about nothing but the soaring crime rates here (don't go out alone, don't go out after dark, etc...) so to see this family was heart warming. After the ice cream we walked to the City Market. They were open which surprised me but shouldn't have since they probably cater to the cruisers from the marinas nearby. I picked up some bread and some fresh vegis. I never realized how good our onion crops were back home. I had to really search to find a few good, hard onions but find a few - I did. We need to find an ATM to get some cash for the smaller islands too (they don't take credit cards and if they do they hit you with a 4% increase, then the credit card company does too - what a racket!) but we'll wait for tomorrow to do that. Wayne's foot is bothering him so we cut our walk short and I put some chicken in a lime/honey marinade for dinner then proceeded to scrub the decks. They reallllly need it. Our little boat is growing salt crystals and rust all over it. Wayne needs to find the stainless cleaner me thinkest. I made it back to the cockpit in my scrubbing but left the rest until tomorrow. I'm pooped and it's time to make a salad to go with the chicken. I can't believe its about dark all ready...