Long
Cay to Georgetown 2017
Thursday,
January 19, 2017. Beautiful morning, 75 degrees, no clouds,
very light breeze constantly changing direction. Sognare is having starting battery issues with his dingy (a center
cockpit hard bottom inflatable with a 40 hp Yamaha – can’t pull start that one!
Craig finally figured that it was a bad
battery. He talked to one of the charter
boat captains that bring tourists from Nassau to the Exumas on day trips, and he
took Craig’s old battery and promised to bring a new one from Nassau – probably
Saturday. Nice!
Craig
(retired veterinarian who carriers a mostly complete clinic aboard Sognare) gave Cricket (Yorkshire terrier
aboard Majestic Phoenix) a shot of antibiotics for her eye issue and today she
seems much better.
We
also met Patti, Doug and Sophie (schnauzer mix). Did not get the name of their catamaran
anchored close by.
Lisa
continued cleaning the bottom of the boat.
It’s not bad, but hasn’t been cleaned since Vero Beach – it’s mostly
scum and some very small barnacles – the paint we put on the bottom this year
seems to be doing the job – Interlux ACT (original formula).
We
went to the small beach on the west shore of Long Cay with Phil, Joanne and
Cricket (Majestic Phoenix) and again
there were lots of small conch. Some
empty shells were collected. We donated
ours to Majestic Phoenix’s collection – we have a bunch from yesterday. It’s neat that these shells are perfect, just
small. We then took the dingys south 1
mile to Saddle Cay. Island World is
here. This is an island of tiki huts, a
bar and a big beach where the charter company (Island World) brings people on
their day trips from Nassau for lunch, etc.
No one here today. There are
lemon sharks here and we saw an eagle ray right next to the dingy feeding. Very cool!
Spaghetti
dinner aboard Majestic Phoenix. Very nice day and evening.
The
limestone rocks we are anchored close to are full of nooks, crannies, and
holes. When the waves are small and the wind relatively calm, the waves lapping
against the rocks sounds like a burbling mountain brook.
Friday, January
20, 2017. Beautiful morning again. 75 degrees, only a gentle breeze from the
south, no clouds except way out on the horizon.
We talked to Exuma Park (at Warderick Wells) and were able to get
moorings for both us and Majestic Phoenix – a cold front is supposed to show up
on Sunday – lots of wind and rain. The
north mooring field has sturdy moorings and is pretty protected from every
direction. We have sat out a blow here
in the past.
Anchor
up at 9:40am. Sognare is going into the anchorage at Saddle Cay for the blow and
will also meet his new battery there. Majestic
Phoenix will meet us at Warderick Wells.
We head north to Highborne Cay for fuel, water, ice and to get rid of a
week’s worth of trash.
11:00am. We are on the fuel dock at Highborne Cay
Marina. 39 gallons of diesel, 52 gallons
of water, 4 gallons of gasoline for the outboard and ice for the Gombay Smash
drink. Off the dock at 11:40 headed
south “outside” (which means on the east side of the Exuma islands, the
“Sound”
side, not the “Banks” side). The seas
only have about a 1 foot chop. No
rollers. Wind South at 6-10 right on our nose.
A lovely day to be motoring on the Sound (which by the way is 3000 feet
deep – compared to 15 feet deep on the “Banks” (west) side of the Exumas.
12:40pm
Wind South at 5-10. We see whales
spouting! We can’t tell if it is one,
two or more. We cut the engine and coast
in their direction. We are able to get
within about 40 feet of one of them. A
sperm whale! Huge – bigger than
Rhiannon! We got to watch him for a
couple of minutes before it took a look at us and then sounded with the tail
straight up! Lisa got some great pictures and then discovered no SD card in the
camera – what a bummer. We were 3 miles
east of Norman’s Cay in 3000 feet of water.
No telling when or where they will surface again.
3:40pm
On mooring #12 at Warderick Wells (Exuma Park, part of the Bahamas National
Trust). Majestic Phoenix came in just
ahead of us. We saw At Last who we
met in Vero Beach in November.
Another
great sunset. Dinner on board – Benny
made killer omelets.
27NM
today. 24°23.71’N 076°37.94’W
Saturday,
January 21, 2017. Beautiful
morning, sunny, no clouds. Phil (Majestic Phoenix) lent us his huka (air
compressor and regulator for diving) and Lisa completed the cleaning of
Rhiannon’s bottom. She then made a cake
for the pot luck dinner this evening.
Instead of being held on the beach as usual, it was held on the deck at
the rangers’ residence in honor of Sherry’s birthday (she’s who you hear on the
radio most often and who works in the park office). I think every boat here came to the
event. In addition to the cake, we also
brought chicken stew. Majestic Phoenix contributed candles to
the birthday cake. There was lots of
food and a good time was had by all. The
cold front approaching has slowed and the weather tonight was lovely. However, all but two boats have left the
south mooring field, which will be very exposed to the west wind when the front
comes through.
Sunday, January
22, 2017. Another cloudless morning. The wind has picked up a bit out of the
south, now 10-15, 75 degrees. Because
the wind is out of the south, when the tide is coming in here, the tide and the
wind are opposed, which means Rhiannon
winds up riding up on her mooring. The
result is the mooring ball banging against the hull. Noisy at 2 in the morning.
We
have a pump for the forward head that is leaking (just intake water), so this
morning I decide to change it out. We
have a spare. Lisa and Phil and Joanne (Majestic Phoenix) are working as
volunteers painting signs for the park.
I get the pump changed out and the brand new one leaks! After disassembling both the new one and the
old one, the place where the screws go in to hold the top and bottom of the
pump together is broken – on both pumps.
I don’t know if it is a manufacturing defect or what, but luckily, I
have another pump – and that one is not broken.
Last
night, Mirabella was looking for a
bilge pump, and we have an extra on board.
I plan to install it as a back up to the one we have (2 are better than
1), but offer it to them as theirs has quit.
They came by this morning to look at it and then decided it was not what
they wanted.
Lisa
and Majestic Phoenix returned from
sign painting at 2:00pm. They received
an invitation to watch the NFL Playoff games (Atlanta vs. Green Bay and New
England vs. Pittsburgh) from Dave (the head ranger). So at 3:30pm, we show up at the rangers’
house. In addition to the Park Rangers,
there is a contingent of the Bahamian Defense Force and the Bahamas Air Sea
Rescue (BASRA) stationed here. They all
share the same facilities. Dave is the
senior in charge, and does a lot of the cooking for the group. There were 11 of us, including Lisa and I and
Phil and Joanne. There was an incredible
amount of food including stuffed mushrooms and halapenias, 3 kinds of pizza
including crawfish (lobster pizza), several kinds of conch fritters (several of
the rangers each made their favorite), macaroni salad, barbeque chicken, baked
stuffed crawfish (lobster) and homemade cake (Dave said it was his first ever
home made cake – spice cake – delicious).
Atlanta beat Green Bay, which did not make us happy, but New England
beat the Steelers which everyone seemed pleased with except Sherry. What a great bunch of people and a great
afternoon/evening!
It
is very dark and the wind is coming up as we head back to the boats. By 2:00 am, the wind is howling and the
mooring field is getting rough. The wind
gauge says it is blowing 25-30 with gusts to 35 from the south. It continues that way all night.
Monday, January
23, 2017. This morning is still clear, but the wind is
howling. At 9:30am we get a weather
update. The front is passing Nassau now
and will arrive here about 11:00am. Wind
supposed to build to 35 with gusts to 40.
After the front passes, the wind will go into the west and within 24 hours
will die down to 10-15 from the North.
Right on schedule, we can see the front approaching from the North. By noon, lots of rain and wind. By 3:00pm, the rain has passed, the wind has
swung into the West and is blowing a steady 30.
It is supposed to continue this way all night. At least we are not riding up on the mooring
ball!
I
made some ham and beans for lunch/supper and we started watching the series Lie
to Me. The wind continues at the same
intensity all night. At high tide the
waves are bouncing off the rocks behind us and we are getting both the original
eave and the ricochet waves. Very
bouncy. A most uncomfortable night. We were up many times checking on everything.
Tuesday, January
24, 2017.
It cleared overnight, bright and starry.
However, the wind did not lessen until about 8:00am, and then it was
still blowing 20, but it seemed like a lot less. By noon, the winds are down to 10-15. It is supposed to die off overnight. Everything made it through the storm ok.
At
9:30am, Lisa and Phil and Joanne went in to the Park Office and resumed work on
the signs they were painting. The
rangers gave both Lisa and Phil and Joanne dinner to take home to the boat
(baked chicken, baked barracuda, 2 kinds of Bahamian Mac and Cheese (vegetarian
and meat). Again, we are eating their
cooking, and again very good.
Another
beautiful pink sunset.
We
watched some Lie to Me and went to bed early.
Wednesday,
January 25, 2017. Beautiful morning, sunny, 70 degrees, no
clouds, wind South @ 5. We went to the
office and Lisa worked on the Park sign project. I worked on the outboard motor lift. Majestic
Phoenix left this morning for Cambridge Cay. Lisa and I walked up Boo-Boo Hill with Dave
(senior Park Ranger). He told us the wet
area in the middle of the island (covered at high tide) is a breeding ground
for Lemon sharks and that at the right time, you can see the babies swim past
as they head for the open water. The tradition is that you make a sign
(preferably out of driftwood) with the name of your boat and the year and then
place it in the pile on Boo-Boo Hill.
The pile is huge! This guarantees
you will return. When you return, you
update you sign with the current year and replace it on the pile. Last year we were lucky enough to find Rhiannon’s sign, this year we could not
find it. Dave said a lot of the signs
“got blown all over the island” by Hurricane Matthew. When we got back to the
office, Dave gave us a piece of teak that we can use to make a new sign for Rhiannon.
Lisa
and I went kayaking in the 2 person blow up kayak I got her for Christmas. My seat deflated, so I let Lisa do all the
paddling over to the big sand bar in the middle of the anchorage. Nice afternoon.
Benny
made Thai Curry Shrimp and then we watched another episode of Lie to Me.
Thursday,
January 26, 2017.
We went to the office to check out and to say good bye for now. We will probably return in March, but one
never knows. Dave gave Lisa a bunch more
teak to take hone so she can use her sand blasting machine to make them really
nice. All the wood is either teak or
mahogany. It is sunny this morning, no clouds, wind SSW at 10-15. We dropped the mooring at 10:15am. We are motoring south into the wind.
1:00pm
Passing around the North side of Bell Island, which has 3 large houses, a
support dock and maintenance facility (including water purification, electric
generators) and a 20 room hotel with its own beach for “guests, and a
conference facility. The island is owned
by The Aga-Kahn, leader of the Ismaili Muslims.
Who says religion doesn’t pay!
More info:
1:20pm
We are on a mooring at Cambridge Cay (still part of Exuma Park). Still sunny, puffy clouds, wind SSW @
10. At Last is here. They come by in their dingy and invite us to
their boat for cocktails and appetizers at 5.
Destiny IV US comes by and
Lisa goes snorkeling with them to Rocky Dundas and meets Majestic Phoenix.
At
5pm, we go over to At Last. They have invited all the boats in the
anchorage, which is very nice, but 16 people on their boat is a bit crowded. A
nice gathering tho’.
Majestic Phoenix – Phil and
Joanne
At Last – John and Jackie
The Riot – Gene and
Cherie (+ 1 Lab and 1 Springer)
Radio Waves – Jim and Chris
Sandy Seas – Larry and
Sandy
Destiny IV US – Pierre and
Emile
Mira Bella – Armand and
Slow Dance – Louie and
Helene
14NM 24.18.17N 076.32.40W
14NM 24.18.17N 076.32.40W
Friday, January
27, 2017. Beautiful
morning. Several boats leave early. Sunny, wind SW@10. No clouds. Saw something float by in the current. Lisa went after it in the kayak. Turns out to be a CD case full of CDs – some
in French. She goes over to Majestic Phoenix to ask if it is theirs
(they are from Montreal and both Joanne and Phil speak French). It is not theirs, but they will check with
other Canadian boats.
At
1:00pm (low tide), we went snorkeling with Majestic
Phoenix and At Last at the Coral
Garden at the south end of Cambridge Cay.
Beautiful beach there (called Honeymoon Beach) and some very nice coral
with lots of fish – but quite a ways from the beach. We then all dingied North to the Seaquarium
by Soldier Cay. The seas are very calm
and we took the outside route (in the Sound) – beautiful scenery. Lots and lots of fish and beautiful coral at
Seaquarium.
A
long ride back to the boat. Lisa made
stir fry for dinner. Afterwards, we went
to Majestic Phoenix for a movie. At Last
came also. REDS. Great movie! Nice day!
Saturday,
January 28, 2017. Sunny,
70 degrees, wind South @ 5. No
clouds.Anchor up at 9:10am. We left
Cambridge Cay through the south entrance, which has one very narrow and shallow
spot (called Kiss Rock – that’s how close you are to it), but no issues
today. It is almost high tide. At Last
and Majestic Phoenix follow us
out. We are motoring at 6.5 knots.
12:40pm
Anchor down at Big Major Spot. There are
about 20 boats here including some we have met previously (Mirabella, Destiny IV US, Slow Dance). Majestic
Phoenix and At Last follow us in.
This is the site of the famous Pig Beach , home of the swimming pigs, and there
are many tour boats bringing visitors from the area resort to feed the
pigs. If you have an inflatable dingy
(as most cruisers do), you have to be careful that a 300 pound pig does not try
to climb into you dingy – and tear a hole in it with their hooves.
14.5NM
today. 24°11.26’N 076°27.49’W
Dinner
on board.
Sunday, January
29, 2017. Sunny,
but the wind is beginning to build from the East. I took a load of trash over
to Staniel Cay (very bumpy ride) and while I was gone Lisa cleaned out the aft
stateroom (currently used for storage) so we can change out a defective
macerator pump. The pump is the
mechanism used to empty holding tanks at sea – always a fun task. Lisa went exploring around the north end of
the island while I changed the macerator.
The job was not as messy as it could have been, and we now can empty the
aft tank.
We
made a cucumber, onion and carrot salad (that we learned how to make at Publix)
and had dinner at At Last with Majestic Phoenix. We played Mexican Train – a fun night for
all. Back on board at 9:00pm.
10:00
pm, the wind swings to the Northwest and picks up significantly. Bumpy in the anchorage tonight. Heavy rain overnight.
Monday, January
30, 2017. Clouds and rain
until 10:00am. Cleared in the afternoon.
Wind North 15-20. The wind lets
off a bit late in the day. Majestic Phoenix is rolling badly side to side and
decides to move a bit north to Samson Cay.
He reports later that it is more comfortable there. By evening, the wind has gone into the
Northeast and we are now in the lee of Big Major. The wind appears to have let up some also.
Dinner
is left over Thai Curry Shrimp and sautéed Brussel Sprouts.
Tuesday, January
31, 2017. The wind died
off completely overnight. Cloudy and
cool this morning, looks like rain. By
9:00am, the clouds begin to clear. We
take the dingy over to Staniel and drop off more trash, then visit with Karen,
the nurse. We have three bags of
supplies for her. Some we purchased
and donations from 2 other boats in Vero
(Lynks and EllandI).
 |
| Nurse Karen and Happy |
Our next stop was
at the BTC office to get our phone registered.
Not sure why this is an issue, but last year it took three visits as
well to get everything working. The
store is closed and there is a sign on the door saying “Outage, Closed,
Management”. I was able to call BTC, and
this time they were able to make what ever correction was required over the
phone. So, we are good for now and out
voice mail is working.
We
walked to Isles General Store to buy some groceries and say hello to Berkie
Rolle. He and his wife Vivian own the store and he is also the pastor of the
Mount Olive Baptist Church. We attended
Easter services there last year. Quite
an experience!
We
visited Eloise at “The Blue Store”, and then made a stop at “The Pink Store”.
We walked over to Staniel Cay Yacht Club.
We had lunch at the bar with several other boaters – Fried Mahi and
Onion Rings – yum! We headed back to the
boat. Shortly afterward, a dingy comes
by with New Hampshire registration and we beckon them over. They are Rich and Ruthie on Spirit from Sandown, NH. Cool.
We hear Orient Moon on the
VHF. We originally met them in Saint
Augustine in 2014. We talked to them and
maybe will see them tomorrow.
Dinner
on board – left over stir-fry.
Lisa
made a great Lasagna for tomorrow night.
Majestic Phoenix left today
for Black Point. At Last has left also.
Another
beautiful sunset and we see our third “green flash” of the trip!
Wednesday,
February 1, 2017. Rain overnight – heavy at times. Finally began to clear around noon
today. I did computer stuff (email,
bills, typing this blog). Lisa went
snorkeling at the Thunderball Grotto (where some of the James Bond film of the
same name was filmed) with Ruthie (Spirit).
We
put all the “stuff: back in the aft statertoom.
I put an additional support under our new shelf (it is 6 feet long and
we don’t want it to bow in the middle).
The the inside of the boat got a good cleaning.
At
5:30pm, Rich and Ruthie (Spirit) and Terry and Leslie (Orient Moon) came for
dinner. We had Lisa’s lasagna and Caesar
salad. We then played Mexican
Train. A good time was gad by all.
Lots
of boats anchored here now. The Farmers
Cay First Friday in February Festival begins tomorrow (known as the 5Fs) - (I
know, tomorrow is only Thursday) and runs through Saturday. Many of these boats are headed that direction
(south – about 10 miles).
Thursday,
February 2, 2017. We
texted with our son Jeff today concerning the health of one of the dogs. He took the Schnauzer (Precious) and the Lab
(Costis) with him when he moved out to Salt Lake City. You may have read about that adventure
previously. Anyway, Precious is getting
older and having some issues and a special diet is called for. We told him we would assist with the
cost. It’s good that the dogs have
adjusted and are with family.
It
was clear early today, but murky now, looks like rain coming. Anchor up at 10:30am after putting 11 gallons
of fuel in the tank from the jerry cans.
We also dumped the three jerry cans of water into the tank – and 3 cans
that Majestic Phoenix had extra. We made
our way over to Staniel Cay Yacht Club to top off and refill jerry cans and
between the time we called and asked to come in and the time we got there a
large motor yacht scooted in and beat us to the dock. We decided not to wait until he filled his
tanks and set off for Little Farmers Cay.
Fore sail out, making 5 knots as we cruise south.
Noon
– sun peaking out, wind ESE @ 10-15.
2:30pm
Anchor down in 10 feet of water at the southwest corner of Little Farmers
Cay. Wind East @ 10-15, sunny, big puffy
clouds. At Last anchored nearby. Majestic Phoenix on the opposite corner of
the island close to the west shore of Big Guana Cay.
There
were free food and drinks at the Little Farmers Yacht Club at 4:00pm. We did not get there until 5:00pm and all the
“free” stuff was gone. Lots of people
here. We decided to head over to the
other side of the island to Ty’s Beachside Grill for a burger. Bill and his
“new” companion/crew Patricia (Providence)
are here. So is Spirit (Rich and Ruthie), At
Last (John and Jackie) and lots of other boats – some we have met, some
not. Ty’s is out of buns, so Lisa’s
Cracked Conch salad turns into Cracked Conch and Fries and my hamburger turns
into a plain patty (way overcooked). Won’t
eat here again during this festival.
 |
| Beach in front of Ty's |
20NM 23.57.11'N 076.19.29'W
Friday, February 3, 2017. Rain and wind ( East @ 20) overnight and this morning. We rode over to see Majestic Phoenix and saw a lot of the Class C boats being rigged and “warming up”. On the way in to the harbor, we saw Submit (Reggie and Barbara) anchored in the channel, so we went over and said hello. We met them last year in Bimini and then again in Georgetown. All of us wound up “in town”, where we were told that in previous years there were many vendor tents with food and items for sale. This year there are only a couple here and we are told that they have limited vendors to residents of the island. There are only 55 residents, so that severly limits the size of the “festival”.
Friday, February 3, 2017. Rain and wind ( East @ 20) overnight and this morning. We rode over to see Majestic Phoenix and saw a lot of the Class C boats being rigged and “warming up”. On the way in to the harbor, we saw Submit (Reggie and Barbara) anchored in the channel, so we went over and said hello. We met them last year in Bimini and then again in Georgetown. All of us wound up “in town”, where we were told that in previous years there were many vendor tents with food and items for sale. This year there are only a couple here and we are told that they have limited vendors to residents of the island. There are only 55 residents, so that severly limits the size of the “festival”.
There
are lots of sea turtles and rays in the harbor and someone if feeding them and
another person is in the water with a go-pro.
Great until a shark shows up!
 |
| Turtle in Little Farmers Harbor |
We
had cracked conch from Percurties Market and bought a t-shirt. Two places are playing very loud music with
DJs, but very few people here. We decide
to head back to the boat in the face of some very black clouds rolling towards
us. We get back to the boat just ahead
of the deluge.
Today
is supposed to be a Class C warm up race and there are many boats out, but there is no wind and the rain is
heavy. We did get some great pictures
tho’.
At
sunset, we head back over to Ty’s and had a beer. Saw Temerity,
Providence, Radio Waves, Spirit and
lots of others. Probably 100 boats
anchored around the island and the
island restaurants are all jammed.
We
are back aboard at 7:30pm as it starts to rain again.
Saturday,
February 4, 2017. Cloudy,
70 degrees, looks like rain, wind East @ 15-20.
There are supposed to be three races today. At 10:00am Spirit and Silhouette are going
for a hike to see the cave by Oven Rock on Big Guana Cay. We decide to join them, but by the time we
get to Spirit in the dingy, it is starting to rain. We wait for a bit for a break in the weather,
and then head to shore. By the time we
get ashore and the dingy secured, it has dumped rain on us and everyone is
soaked. Luckily, the rain and the
temperature are warm and there is little wind.
The cave has a huge opening and goes down about 90 feet and ends in a
large pool. One end is deep and there a
small shrimp in the water. I don’t care
for caves, but everyone else thought it was great. Lisa wants to come back at some point with a
snorkel and a light.
We
all then trekked over to the small beach and looked for sea beans. Everyone found at least one. Silhouette found 6 and Spirit 3. Lisa and I found 4. All of them were heart beans and found in the
rip-rap at the high tide line.
We
headed back to the boat. The Class C
races are in full swing, but in the dingy, the water is very rough.
 |
| Class C Boat from Nassau |
A late
lunch, then Lisa went back out in the dingy to take more pictures. She went ashore at Ty’s and the dingy swamped
in the waves and she had to empty out the water and sand before returning to
Rhiannon. Rain late in the day
again. At Last came to dinner – roasted
chicken and potatoes and salad – then Mexican Train. Nice evening.
About
8:30pm, a big Lagoon 45 catamaran comes into the anchorage and anchors right in
front of us. Once they drop back, they
are only about 50 feet from our bow.
What’s up with that? If he drags
his anchor at all, he will be on top of us.
Lots
of wind and rain overnight.
Sunday, February
5, 2017. Super Bowl Sunday. Cloudy and rain
again this morning. We see TBD in the
distance aground on a sand bar. 4 dingys
show up and push him sideways, then spin him around off the bar. Nice to have help!
At
11:00am, Partly Cloudy, cool 65 degrees, wind ENE @ 10-15. We weigh the anchor
and head north towards Black Point. Most
of the boats are gone now and the race participants are towing their boats home
or loading them on the mailboat Captain C in the harbor. One of the Class C
boats sunk yesterday when making a turn with too much sail – swamped and went
down. No one was hurt. This morning they are trying to raise it (its
only in 12 feet of water). By noon, the sun is out and the wind has settled to
10-15 out of the East. A nice sail north
11 miles. You can still see rain in the distance, but it seems to be moving
away.
At
1:30pm, anchor down close to Rockledge Laundry.
About 30 boats here. Lorraines,
DeShamons, Scorpios all having Super Bowl specials and happy hours.
At
6:00pm, we head to Scorpios to meet a bunch of boats (Majestic Phoenix, At Last, Orient Moon, Sandy Seas, Spirit, Sea Turtle). There are about 60 people in Scorpios, some
from boats, some locals). We had ribs,
mac and cheese, salad. The food was
great. Once the third quarter started
and the score was 28-3 Falcons, the satellite feed went out, so we headed back
to the boat – pretty dejected, but the Falcons fans were ecstatic. Once back on the boat, I was able to get the
game on NFL.com and the score was 28-20.
The game ended in a tie 28-28 and then the Patriots won in overtime
34-28. First time anyone has come back
from such a deficit, first time anyone won in overtime, first time anyone has
won 5 Super Bowls – I won’t go on. BUT,
I would have loved to see Goodell had Kraft the Lombardi Trophy!
Lisa
and I jumped in the dingy and went around to all our friends who a Falcons fans
and blew the air horn and made sure they were awake and knew the outcome of the
game!
14NM
today. 24°05.90N 076°05.18’W
Monday, February 6, 2017. Beautiful,
75 degrees, sunny, wind East @ 10. At
9:00am, we load up all our dirty laundry and head in to the laundromat. Lots os
people doing the same thing. Lots of
hangovers this morning. After filling 5
washers, we visited Mrs. Adderley (who Lisa brought fabric to last year). And then to Lorraine’s mom (Peermon) for her
famous coconut bread. We dropped the
supplies we brought at the nurses’ office, but she was not there, but someone
who was cleaning said she would make sure the nurse got them. We met Eualise, who works at the school. She brought Lisa a dry coconut to the laundry
when we were putting the laundry in dryers.
Miss Ida (who owns the laundromat) always has something for her patrons
to eat – this morning it was pastry twists and carrot cake. We shared a twist – hmmm good! Laundry finally done and we head back to the
boat.
Submit
is here and we invite them to have drinks and appetizers. Nice visit.
Tuesday,
February 7, 2017.
Sunny and more windy this morning – ESE 10-15+.
Lifted the anchor at 10:00am and went south to Jack’s Bay. Anchor down at 11:00am. We dingied to shore
and walked across the short path to the Sound side of the island. The area is fairly low and you can tell the
water overflow it during a storm as there is “beach junk” strewn
everywhere. The cove on the Sound side
is small, almost like a pool, with a very small opening. Nice swimming. We looked everywhere, but found no sea beans
and few shells.
Back
to the boat and the anchor up at 4:00pm.
The wind has switched more to the south and it is rolly here. We head down Great Guana Cay to White Point
and then to Heddy’s Land and find the same conditions. We decide to head back to Black Point (only 5
miles).
Anchor
down at 5:30pm next to Submit at
Black Point. After dinner, we went to
Submit to play Pinnacle – haven’t done that is a long time and Lisa has never
played. Lisa and Barbara wound up as
partners and won! Nice evening!
12NM
today. Jack’s Bay 24°03.32’N
076°22.63’N Black Point anchorage
24°06.06N 076°24.07’W
Wednesday,
February 8, 2017. Walked
into town and dropped off trash and went to Lorraine’s for breakfast. She made us scrambled eggs, bacon and
pancakes, coffee and orange juice ($12).
A huge meal. We then walked next
door to the laundromat and Benny got a haircut (another of Miss Ida’s
services). Back to the boat and
good-byes to Submit who is beginning
the trek north. They may go to Lucaya
and may see Whisper there. We told them to give Vic and Marilyn a hug is
they see them.
12
noon Sunny, wind West at 5, 75 degrees, puffy clouds as we raise the anchor and
head south toward Galliott Cut. We stay
on the Banks side of the islands and arrive at the cut at 2:45pm. The next island south is Cave Cay and we
decide to head there. We anchor off the
marina at Cave Cay. at 3:30pm. There was a lot of
construction here not long ago. There
was to be a resort, golf course etc. The
marina is in a cove and is complete, but no one is there, just a big sport
fishing boat sitting at one of the docks.
There are three big houses, some smaller cottages and an air strip, but
no people. Lots of sheds and
construction equipment and signs everywhere saying the island is private. The
houses are built high above the water, there are nice beaches and two protected
coves – one where they built the marina.
For more information
The
sound was calm, so we took the dingy and circumnavigated the island. We stopped at a very nice beach on the sound
side. The beach was very clean and
again, we found few shells and no sea beans.
We
went into the cove north of the marina and there is a big grotto, lots of sea
turtles and lots of fish – all sizes. If you were going to own an island, this
would be a good one.
Musha
Cay is directly across from Cave Cay.
Musha Cay and neighboring Rudder Cay are owned by David
Copperfield. If you are looking for a
luxury getaway, Musha Cay is available for rent beginning at a mere $39,000 per
night (for 12 guests – all inclusive).
See this link for more information
http://www.vladi-private-islands.de/en/islands-for-rent/caribbean/bahamas/musha-cay/
Only
one other boat anchored here. Luck of a Fool. We stopped to say hello.
Benny
made French Toast with Miss Peermon’s coconut bread and bacon for dinner. Delicious!
We
filled the fuel tanks from the remaining two jerry cans and prepared Rhiannon
for an early departure.
16
NM today 23°54.14’N 076°16.20’N
Thursday,
February 9, 2017. Cold front due
to pass through tonight, so lots of boats headed to the relative safety of
Georgetown. Weather is benign now,
sunny, wind S @ 5, big puffy clouds.
8:00am Anchor up. We are motor sailing on the sound at 6.5 knots.
8:00am Anchor up. We are motor sailing on the sound at 6.5 knots.
We
receive an email from Heather, whose husband Zack (ZD Tree Service) at home –
that when Zack plowed the driveway yesterday, he found the side door to the
garage open. We thought it had been
nailed shut! Our son James went over to
the house to check and said that the door was not nailed, or locked. Nothing seems to be missing and nothing else
is disturbed. Thank Goodness! He closed and locked the door and put in a
couple of screws. Zack went by later and
put a couple more from the outside.
James and Laura stay at the house a couple of night a week (depending on
their work schedules) to make sure everything is ok.
10:30am,
wind south 8-10, we are passing Glass Cay and you can see a blow hole spouting
water on the shore. Neat!
Noon,
wind variable less than 5. Sail
furled. 5 miles to Conch Cut – the turn
for the entrance to Elizabeth Harbor (Georgetown).
2:30pm
Anchor down at Sand Dollar Beach, Stocking Island across the harbor from
Georgetown in the lee of the island for the coming high easterly winds. As we are getting settled, Island Pearl comes over in his dingy to
inform us “don’t get close, because my engine is dead and I have 150 feet of
chain out”. What??? The water is only 10 feet deep and the proper
“scope” for anchor is 7 to 1- so even if the water were 12 feet deep and his
height off the water were 3 feet (his is a relatively small boat) the proper
length of anchor rode would be 105 feet – and that’s with rope not chain – with
chain it is usually 5 to one so the proper length is 75 feet, which is what we
have out as does everyone else in the area!
We have heard of people doing this before and it is usually a tactic to
keep anyone from anchoring near them.
Anyway, we watch him over the next couple of days and he is not swinging
a circle of 300 feet. Maybe he did not
tell us the truth or maybe his chain is in a ball under his boat. He is still telling everyone that comes in
the “150 foot of chain” story.
Larry
and Sandy (Sandy Seas) come by in
their dingy and welcome us to Georgetown. Cignet (Bob
and Chesley) call on the radio and said they saw us come in and welcome
us. They are members of Jubilee in
Beverly, MA, and we have known them for a long, long time. We saw then this year in Vero and talked to
them on the radio when they were in Black Point a couple of weeks ago. Majestic Phoenix got here yesterday and
is anchored over by Georgetown provisioning.
44.8NM
today. 23°30.80’N 075°44.56’W
Friday, February
10, 2017. Today was very windy, so we stayed aboard.
Majestic Phoenix moved over to this side of the harbor. Later At Last came in, but it was
uncomfortable where they anchored, so they move over close to us and far enough
from Island Pearl to not cause an
issue. Later Mariposa (catamaran) came in and anchored right in front of us –
not 50 feet away – why to catamarans do that?
Aftagla came by. They had been on the radio asking for help
with their tablet. Apparently, it weant
to reformat the SD Card where everything is stored. We managed to get their
pictures and documents off onto a flash drive so the SD card could be
reformatted without loosing everything.
Their email is Gmail, so that is on the cloud and should be ok. Ilene weaves, so tomorrow, she and Lisa will
get some palm fronds and Lisa will at last be able to learn to weave them.
We
went to Majestic Phoenix for dinner. At
Last was there too. Phil had caught come conch and someone showed him how to
clean them and make conch salad. We had
that, baked pasta and cake for dessert.
Quite a feast. Afterwards,
Mexican Train. Lisa and Joanne have low
scores, John and Phil high ones. Jackie
and I are sort of in the middle (at least so far). Nice evening.
Very bumpy getting back to Rhiannon.
Saturday,
February 11, 2017. Nice sunny morning. Wind still strong out of the East, but we are
close in to the lee shore and the water is relatively calm. We hear a call on the radio for some screws
for the prop zinc on a MaxProp. We have
some, so Valentine came over. 2 good deeds in 2 days. Lisa and Ilene went in search of the correct
palm fronds and I worked on this blog.
Lisa went back after lunch and constructed a hat, but then gave it away.
We walked across the island with At Last, Majestic Phoenix and about 5 other boats - to the beach on the Sound side. The whole east side of Stocking Island is a beach.
We walked across the island with At Last, Majestic Phoenix and about 5 other boats - to the beach on the Sound side. The whole east side of Stocking Island is a beach.
The
wind has calmed down quite a bit.
Since
we left Brunswick, we see little black ants every so often. Not a lot and not often, but we have never
had the issue before. We have sprayed
and set out the traps where they carry the bait back to the nest and they go
away for a while, then re-appear a few days later. We have looked everywhere and have not found
a nest or even a concentration of the critters.
We today, I pulled out a shamoix. These are stored in plastic tubes and
each tube has a little hole in the bottom.
In this was the nest! The ants
were coming and going out of the one little hole and had built their home in
the tube with the chamois. Doused it in
ant spray, sealed it in a zip lock bag and then in a trash bag to go
ashore. Hopefully, that was the end of it. Still not sure how they got on the boat in
the first place, but we never had an issue before this summer in Brunswick.
Dinner
on board – chicken, sweet potato and green breans.
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