Adventures Log

May 26, 2018 Adventures Log, Uncategorized 0 Comments

A few Hard Truths after 6 months of Cruising

May 22, 2018
Palm Cay Marina, New Providence, Bahamas

SOME HARD CHOICES

This next post was originally going to document our trip north back up through the Exumas from Georgetown. However, as I sit here at the beautiful Palm Cay Marina on the southeast tip of New Providence, waiting on weather and watching the early tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico, I am in a more reflective mood. A couple of weeks ago, we made the difficult decision to return to the states for the summer, instead of making the attempt to keep heading south into the Caribbean. Our original plan had been to get into the Caribbean early enough in the season that we could run south quickly if tropical weather kicked up. Maybe we would get down to Grenada to haul out and/or store the boat for part of the summer and head north through the Caribbean at a more liesurely pace next season. The best laid plans…

Boat Monkey thinks it is all fun and games out here…

There are a half dozen reasons for our decision to turn back towards “home”, most of them prudent and obvious. Celia is going to read my post below and say its too negative; that people want to read about the fun and sun and rum. But I need to get it out. I need to read it back to myself and realize we are making the right decision to turn around and head back to where we started and ride out the tropical storm season. I figured I might as well share my idle musings with our friends and families who have been so supportive and all of you who have shown up at our “going away parties”. Some of you in Key West will think I am like a bad penny; you thought I was tails, but I keep turning up!

This is not to say we are tucking our tails between our legs, selling the boat and giving up (although at various moments we have considered it). We are committed to calling the last six months what it is: our first big shakedown cruise and a learning experience. We haven’t quite burned up the cruising kitty yet, so we will stay the course (boating pun) and continue on, even if its in the “wrong” direction.

Our current goal with returning to the Keys is to spend more of our modest (and getting modest-er) savings (hopefully offset with some gainful employment) getting ready for Cruising Life-Phase Two. These will include fixing the important needs and issues on the boat that we’ve discovered while sailing a 20 year old boat the hardest it has been used in 12 years; doing more robust planning of our future routes; digesting our strengths and weaknesses and our lessons learned; letting the Caribbean recover for another season; and giving it another go for points south after hurricane season is over in November.

Keeping it real…might be a little truth in all of these.

However, I won’t lie. We feel a little defeated and as if we failed in our big “year in the Caribbean” dream this time around. I know that we have done more than most cruising dreamers just by getting off the dock and exploring the Bahamas for 3 months. But giving up our careers, house (which ended up destroyed in Irma, so I guess I should be grateful we made that decision), and our comfortable life in the Florida Keys; spending ridiculous amounts of money upgrading and outfitting the boat and countless hours in hot, dirty boatyards sanding, bottom painting, and restoring the teak, trying to figure out how to repair various engine parts; selling all of our worldly possesions…it all seems like a steep price to pay for a 3 month trip around south Florida plus a 3 month sail around the Bahamas. It both vexes me and makes me more determined to see this plan through.

I do occasionally miss the house and our old “normal” life…our old boat was so much easier to maintain!

We got started late this season by not crossing the Gulf Stream until March. As a result, the seasonal trade winds kicked into sporty southeasterly mode (opposite of where we were trying to go) a month ago. In addition, Celia recently injured her shoulder (while doing a leg workout?!) and it has been hard to sail the boat single-handed since she’s mostly out of commission. One of my oversights in upgrading the 20 year old systems on the boat was leaving the original motor mounts in…so we now have an uncomfortable amount of engine vibration which is steadily getting worse whenever we try to use the motor. Where once we could find the sweet spot of RPM’s to get us where we wanted to go under power or motorsail smoothly, for weeks now, we have basically been using the motor only to get on and off anchor and set our sails. Admittedly, this has made us better sailors, as we’ve had to wait patiently for the right wind speed and direction to be able to sail where we want to go next. It has forced us to give up motor sailing and straight lines from Point A to Point B and learn to plot a course which involves going further distances to tack and jibe our way to our next destination. This issue is one of the main reasons we are heading back to the U.S. and one of the main reasons we are heading back to Florida this summer. Getting major work done in foriegn countries is often more expensive and unreliable and I just have not wanted to take that chance.

Gee, I can’t wait to do more of this!

My future…I love Robbies!

So Celia asked me the other night: “What have you learned?” I realized that while I couldn’t quite answer that vague question in the moment, I knew that I and WE had learned quite a bit. In between the picturesque beaches, hours of snorkeling, fishing, hiking, exploring, cold Kaliks and rum punches, new and old friends, beach bars, and peaceful anchorages, have been the moments that made us occasionally question our decision to attempt this madness. While this life keeps you busy, there is ample time to be introspective and self-critical. I sometimes wonder if I really knew, or was really up to, the amount of work and dedication that such an adventure would require of me. I have no idea how retirees do this…my 46 year-old body feels like 76…(must have been one too many late nights at the Green Parrot). I certainly have moments where I wonder what the hell we have done.

OK, I won’t lie. ..there are a lot of beach bars still…

All of that said…in the end, I have come to the conclusion that I would not change our choices. I feel like we have challenged ourselves mentally and physically and are both better for it. On a personal level, we have learned about ourselves and each other. We have learned about our relationship and how strong it is and that we can coexist in a small room for days at a time in the rain and still no one “accidentally” goes overboard on the next passage. We have learned how to be a better team and more efficient cruisers. We barely find the need anymore to speak (a good thing) when setting or retrieving the anchor. We get the sails up and trimmed at least twice as fast as when we lived aboard at the marina. Celia has learned how to bake bread in a kitchen that is smaller than your hallway closet. We have learned what some of our weather and sailing limitations are and what we do and don’t like about this crazy lifestyle we have chosen for a while. Learning what things we do and don’t need to be happy and comfortable on our little floating 34′ hallway should help us shed a couple hundred pounds of gear for our next cruise. I learned that beer is expensive down island and that I should have brought more beer. I also learned I should have spent more on good beer…I am sick of Miller Lite and Coors Light.

We have learned so much more about our boat and how she sails and behaves and what she does and does not like. I am a relatively experienced, safe, and efficient mariner overall. I am more than capable of smoothly pulling a large boat into a tight slip at the marina (most of the time anyway; never forget “somtimes you watch the show, sometimes you ARE the show!”) or setting an anchor on the first try. But I am going to be the first to tell you that even a little casual cruise like this will show you all of the things you DON’T know and humble you on an almost daily basis. I am no expert sailor who grew up racing daysailors at the yacht club. I am self-taught and could definitely use some more expert instruction on sail trim and balance, routing, and how to sail the boat more effectively in different conditions.

And although my father is one of the most gifted mechanical minds I know, is an accomplished large diesel engine mechanic, and can change brake pads, tires, or suspension faster than a NASCAR pit crew, I got none of those genes and didn’t take proper advantage in my exaulted youth of the incredible wealth of skill and knowledge that were at my fingertips. What use would I ever have of needing to be a grease monkey and work on diesel engines?! Little did I know…

I have no idea what I am doing. Should be fine.

The engine is obviously one of the most important systems on the boat, if not THE most. While diesels are known for being reliable, they do need proper care and feeding. My father would say they just need fuel, air, and spark. I would say that is a vast over-simplfication. In fact, I already just dissapointed the old man since diesel engines have no spark plugs…wrong again! I am not what you would call overly handy with tools. I am a hack. As long as it takes no precision, no straight cuts, or is not a vital piece which has to go back together just right, I will give it a shot most of the time with passable results. The diesel engine on a boat is many things. It is your generator for charging the batteries that provide all of your creature comforts (lights, music, charging phones and tablets, fans, etc.). It is the propulsion to get you off and onto anchor, turn into the wind to raise sails, and get you in and out of marinas. It is how you get someplace when there is no wind or the wrong wind. The diesel engine scares the shit out of me. I don’t want it to break. About all I can do is check and change the oil, replace RACOR filters when they need it, adjust the belt tension, watch the guages, and make sure she is topped off and not leaking her vital fluids. The rest is faith in the mechanics I worked with in Florida to put her in good order before we left and a lot of hoping and wishing on my part that something significant does not go wrong. I crawl into the tiny engine compartment a lot just to look around and touch everything. I am constantly checking hose clamps, spraying all the electrical connections with corrosion block and dialectic grease, and making sure nothing is out of sorts. I want to catch small problems BEFORE they become big problems. I have learned the importance of Preventative Maintenance. Maybe I will make my dad proud of my mechanical prowess after all! You can’t expose your ignorance if you prevent the problem that would expose you in the first place!

Another huge thing we have learned is the sense of community, generosity, and kindness of the people who are out here doing this odd soul-searching vagabond life, as well as many of the Islanders we have met along the way. It certainly reminds me of the magic in Key West and the Florida Keys that have made me call that chain of islands home for 20 years. But it is even more enhanced by the relatively small number of people out here doing this and the fact that we are all far from home and many of the things we take for granted living in the U.S. If something happens to any of us or our boats out here, there can often be no one to help except for other cruisers (at least in the immediate moment). We all know this; and the help and support come quick and without expectation of recompense or reward when something goes amiss. The old salts readily share their experience and knowledge with the newbies. I am regularly reminded that there are still a lot of good people out in the world. As this is most certainly an international community, I am also regularly reminded that America is a little crazy and nuerotic, and that we all have to take a step back sometimes from our incessant media and consumption driven culture and rise above the negativity to be the best version of yourself you can be in the moment.

Making new friends with some help from Tony Roberts.

Sharing smiles and laughs with old friends Andy and Dude and making new friends Seth and Linda.

Thank you for following along. There will be a few more posts coming soon about our trip back up the Exumas and our journey back across the Gulf Stream and down the Keys. In many ways I am thankful to be coming home. I dearly miss my friends and family, and will make time for both before we head back out in November. I feel that both we and the boat will be better prepared for a real Caribbean cruise after her maintenance haulout and reassesment of our gear. I promise more posts of rum and fun and sun and adventure! Just had to keep it real! Thank you to all who have and will be opening their homes and hearts to us this summer as we prepare to try again in the fall. I will leave you with this…

May 13, 2018 Adventures Log, Where We Have Been 0 Comments

May 5, 2018 – Georgetown, Exumas & Lee Stocking Island

May 5, 2018
Georgetown, Exumas via Lee Stocking Island

LEE STOCKING ISLAND
We departed Little Farmers Cay heading south towards Georgetown on an overcast morning to an anchorage at Lee Stocking Island. We only had a sail of about 20 miles to get there. This leg would get us about half of the remaining distance to Georgetown. There was a nice 15-20 knot breeze with a good point of sail so we figured on a 4 hour trip, anchor up to anchor down.

It was a little more sporty than we anticipated as we exited the cut to Exuma Sound. We had a single reef in the mainsail and let out about 2/3 of the genoa once Eileen was on course. We turned on our trusty new autopilot (which we affectionately call “Number 3”, since he is essentially the 3rd member of our crew; he is a hard worker, doesn’t eat much, and rarely complains…we get along well) and we were on our way once again.

Lee Stocking Island was on my list of places I knew I wanted to stop before we came to the Exumas. Lee Stocking was once home to the Caribbean Marine Research Center. CMRC was managed and partly funded by NOAA (in partnership with universities and other entities), for whom I was a contract worker for almost 10 years. I’d heard what an amazing facility it was and had hoped to visit while it was still an active marine lab. Unfortunately, it closed before I got the chance.

Caribbean Marine Research Center

The large property is located in the heart of the Exumas and boasts over 30 buildings, 2 large docks, a boat ramp, moorings, a nearby airstrip, and access to diverse and pristine coral reef ecosystem habitats nearby. CMRC housed a full service laboratory for resident and visiting scientists, conducting research on aquaculture, geology, climate science, and many other subjects. They even had a two man submarine!

No Trespassing!

CMRC lost their funding sometime around 2013, and the place has been more or less abandoned ever since. I’d heard you could just wander around the property and poke around. Despite some obligatory “No Trespassing” signs, I believe this was true until fairly recently. We were a little disappointed to find out that there seemed to be some new activity at the property. There was a work crew cutting back and cleaning up some of the overgrown landscaping that had accumulated over the last several years. One building also contained new windows and doors and seemed to have been made habitable again. I don’t know if it is in preparation of some private development (unfortunately seems to be the way of things). I have not yet tracked down or researched the current ownership or status of the property. Although we poked around the outskirts a little bit, we didn’t really get to explore the actual labs and buildings. Bummer!

Another beach to ourselves!

Before moving on, I should note that Celia and I had quite the adventure entering the cut to Lee Stocking! Marked at its entrance with a large, slightly phallic stone pillar, Adderly Cut is a deep but narrow cut, one of many that bring you from the open water of Exuma Sound through the islands and west onto the Bahama Bank. Some are too shallow for a sailboat to go all the way through but often offer access to protected anchorages in the protection of the islands. Adderly Cut is one of the latter. When the prevailing east wind is against an outgoing tide from Bahama Bank, these narrow cuts can build up steep, confused waves with the current in your face at up to 3 knots or more in some cases! Most prudent sailors make sure they navigate these cuts with either calm winds, an incoming or slack tide, or both. While we do consider ourselves in that category, mistakes do occasionally happen…

“We are gonna need a bigger boat!”

Somehow, when planning this leg of our journey, we had written in our notes that the tide at 3:30pm that day was a high or incoming tide and would be in our favor for entering the cut. Instead, when we arrived, it was an outgoing tide with fresh winds in the opposite direction! The cut had large, steep, and confused breaking waves. The waves crashed menacingly on the rocky shore to either side. To top it off, one side of the narrow cut has partially submerged rocks which also looked threatening. The waves were breaking and foaming all around them. Since it was late in the day, we didn’t really have time to get to another safe anchorage in daylight. We looked at the cut and its waves through the binoculars and decided it was going to be challenging, but we could more or less safely give it a go.

After making sure everything was secure, we took a deep breath and increased the throttle to give us more control and speed as we fought the waves and current for a half a mile or so. Let’s just say it was one of the most “exhilarating” experiences I have had aboard Eileen since we have owned her. It was basically a washing machine of 3-5 ft. breaking waves with a 2 knot current against us. It took every bit of focus and attention to make sure we stayed straight and in good water. Eileen was responsive and well behaved as she surfed down a couple large waves and smashed into others. Just as I gained a little white knuckle confidence that this was tricky but doable, I heard Celia yell “wave!”. I was focused on what was happening in front of us and never saw the huge wave that came from broadside. It literally hit the back end of the boat from the side like a big roundhouse punch to the back of your head! The unexpected feeling of something pounding into the boat almost made me pee my pants as Eileen shuddered just enough to make me scared for a split second.

In reality, Eileen is a well built boat and it was nothing you would not experience on an open ocean crossing dozens of times. However, in the moment, I thought we had made our first big mistake in attempting the cut. Eileen powered through the last few hundred yards with some active steering by me, and Celia and I just looked at each other and shared a nervous smile for a couple minutes before we said much. These are the moments you learn from and savor later when you tell the tale. As long as we were on our game (and the engine didn’t die at the wrong moment), it wasn’t too awful in hindsight…but it will make me more careful next time!

The other highlight of our couple days hanging around Lee Stocking was a hike to the top of Perry’s Peak. At a whopping 39 meters of elevation, Perry’s Peak is purported to be the highest point in all of the Exumas island chain! After a quick ride down the shore to the trailhead, we beached the dinghy and headed up. 30 minutes later, we were rewarded with likely the most stunning 360 degree views we have seen so far in the Bahamas! So many variations of the color blue! Absolutely a must-do hike if you’re ever here.

View from Perry’s Peak

Perry’s Peak with Boat Monkey

GEORGETOWN, EXUMAS
(aka Chicken Harbor, aka Cruiser Day Camp, aka The Budget Buster)

Georgetown, Exumas lies at the southern end of Great Exuma Island at the bottom of the Exuma chain. This area is a Mecca for cruisers. There is a huge area of relatively protected water called Elizabeth Harbor contained by Great Exuma to the west and Stocking Island (not the same as the aforementioned “Lee Stocking” Island) to the east. Within the harbor, there is room for several hundred boats to anchor with protection from most weather conditions.

The town of Georgetown sits roughly in the middle on the Great Exuma side and is easily accessed by dinghy. One of the local grocery stores maintains a dinghy dock for all the cruisers to get into town and even has free water at the dock! Downtown Georgetown is layed out in a circle situated around Lake Victoria. You can only access the lake on a dinghy or small outboard due to a very low bridge. This is the last major town/provisioning stop in the Bahamas for vessels heading south to the Caribbean or east to the Bahamian Out Islands.

For hundreds of cruisers, Georgetown is the last stop of a journey for those who cruise seasonally and head back to the States for the summer (us included, it seems…more on that later). Over the years it has become its own boating community, and often the boats that come here spend the entire winter without going anywhere else! Once we settled in, it was easy to see why! The place is like adult summer camp; every day starts with the “cruisers net” on the VHF radio where boaters share community events, ask for help, buy or sell items, ask questions, and organize group activities. Every single day offers opportunities to hike, play beach volleyball, snorkel, participate in art projects, go to potlucks and parties, attend music lessons and jam sessions, play Texas Hold’em Poker, attend concerts and special events, go to beautiful nearby beaches, and oh yeah….drink.

Boat Monkey trying a little hair of the dog treatment for his headache.

The world famous “Chat and Chill” beach bar is the hub of hanging out for the cruising crowd. They have food, beer, and drinks in a casual setting for a reasonable price. This is also where the free and open community beach volleyball courts are located. There are dozens of picnic tables spread around under the shade of Casurina trees where people are welcome to “chat and chill” even if you are not patronizing the bar. There are rope swings and places for kids to run around and play while the adults socialize. Forget stopping by for one beer…before you know it, you are 4 beers in and on your 4th game of dominoes or sweaty and covered in sand out on the volleyball court. This establishment lived up to its name as we spent many days “chatting and chilling” here.

Chat and Chill Beach taken from Eileen.

Chat and Chill Bar

Although I am not very good, I very much enjoy playing beach volleyball and had planned on that becoming my daily exercise regimen. There were daily pickup games that started around 2pm. After about three days of playing, I was shaking off the rust and getting better. We had a good group playing every afternoon. However, under the several inches of sand on the courts lies a layer of hard limestone cap rock. It was probably about our fourth day when I tried to make a play on the ball; my foot went through the sand and I stubbed my big toe on the rock below. I knew as soon as I felt it that it wasn’t good. When I rinsed it off to inspect, I found that i had a dime-sized flap of skin off the front of the toe and the toenail was no longer attached! My first injury of the trip ended my brief volleyball career. It also meant I was unable to swim or play volleyball for over 10 days while I let it heal. Bummer!

Letting the injury heal…

Just days after our arrival was a visit from our friends Beth and Cal to celebrate Beth’s 40th birthday. Luckily for all of us, their arrival coincided with Georgetown’s biggest event of the year; The Family Islands Sail Regatta. Three classes of classic Bahamian Cat boats race for three days around the harbor. Teams from every island in the Bahamas compete in what is known as the “World Series” of Bahamian sailing. The harbor and town filled up with both locals and tourists alike to watch this historic regatta. Once comprised of actual working sailboats, the event has evolved to feature boats made and designed for competition. A committee is now charged with raising money for prizes and organizing the event. The rules for Bahamian sloop racing are clear; the boats must be built, owned, skippered, and mostly crewed by Bahamians. The sails must be canvas, the hull made of wood, and contain a single wooden mast with no spreaders, winches, or any kind of wind instrument (including tell-tales). This is sailing in its purest form!

No Fun here..

Each race is 3 laps around a triangular course from a standing start. Once the gun goes off, the crew scrambles to raise both anchor and sail at the same time. This may have been the best part of the race! The crews are yelling at each other as the boats crash into each other and everyone tries to gain their position. Once the boats catch the wind and heel over, the crew shifts the ballast by climbing out on wooden planks called “prys” that extend out from the windward side of the boat about 4 or 5 feet. The crew (sometimes up to 6 people) climb out and sit on the prys to balance the boat and constantly adjust position based on the skipper’s orders. We had some windy days and even saw a few crew members actually fall in! Apparently, boats that don’t stop for their man overboard are disqualified!

Race Underway

What made the event so exciting is that spectators are allowed to get close and follow the boats around the course in their dinghies and outboards! I even got yelled at by a committee boat for being in the race course and had to bob and weave to get out of their way. One of the race boats even hit an anchored cruising boat with its long boom. It was so windy the second day of races that several boats actually capsized and sank! It was truly an amazing experience. To top it off, one of the visiting cruisers had a background in sail racing and called the race on the VHF like an ESPN announcer…he was great and made the race even more dramatic than it already was.

Raising anchor and sail at the start gun

During race week, Georgetown itself transforms the government dock into a makeshift shanty town of bars and eateries, while the nearby park hosts live music on a big stage. The atmosphere is lively and those who are not afraid to party late night were treated to a Junkanoo march; a true island and Bahamian tradition! One of the shanty town bars even billed itself as the “Billion Dollar Bar”. My Key West friends will appreciate that all I could do was think how Don’s Place just got one-upped!

Balancing the weight on a calm day

While our friends were here, we took full advantage of all the area had to offer. We hung out on the dinghy watching 3 days of traditional sailboat racing, we made lots of new friends among the other cruisers (…and our livers will vouch for how much fun we had hanging out with all the great people here). We learned new dice games, Cal almost got kicked out of the Texas Hold’em tournament, we hiked up Monument Hill to see the stone monument (apparently a monument to “nothing” according to the locals), sampled the local food (lots of conch!), checked out more watering holes, visited other boats, had bonfires on the beach, snorkeled, swam, and “chatted and chilled”.

Monument on Monument Hill

View of one of the anchorages from Monument Hill

All of this makes me think of how amazing and generous the boat cruising community is. Strangers came to my boat to help me figure out electrical issues or offered spare parts when we had solar charging issues. We loaned a hard drive of movies to a neighbor boat and they brought it back with a gift certificate for lunch at a local restaurant. If anyone asked for help or a spare part or a engine hose or a ride to town on the morning VHF net, they had what they needed before noon. Two boats that were struck by lightning had new chartplotters and VHF radios and charge controllers by the day after they got here (for free) from fellow cruisers. It’s really a microcosm of how a community should function! Everyone looks out for one another…if someone has something another boater needs, they will share or give it to them…if someone asks for help, someone will step up to help them. It is beautiful to feel and see, and something I will cherish about this experience.

Lots of jockeying for position and yelling at the race start.

So…suddenly it was three weeks later and there we were…still anchored up in Elizabeth Harbor across from Georgetown. Prior to this, we had not spent more than three days in any one spot! Our monthly budget was shot from too many bars and restaurants…my toe was still banged up and Celia sprained her shoulder while exercising (doing a “leg” workout no less!)…I was starting to grab beers at 10am…we were starting to have social obligations every night because we met so many fun and nice people…the anchor chain was growing seaweed. It was obviously past time to go! In our defense, we had not planned on being there so long. There was a weird stalled weather system over much of the Bahamas which caused it to rain for 6 days straight! Everyone in the harbor was going stir-crazy. I felt especially sorry for the families with 3+ kids they had to entertain on a 40 foot boat! Celia and I were ready for some sunshine and quiet anchorages.

Monument Hill

Finally on the 6th day of rain, we couldn’t take it anymore and motored up 12 miles to Emerald Bay Marina where we would be able to stretch our legs and hang out on land a bit. That is a tale for another day though…

Where to next?

As we write this, it is with mixed emotions that we have turned the boat north from Georgetown. Anyone who reads the cruising books will know that Elizabeth Harbor at Georgetown has the nick-name “Chicken Harbor”. It gets this name from the fact that many boaters who thought they would continue on to the Caribbean often only make it as far as Georgetown before they realize the route gets tougher from there with longer passages and contrary winds, especially the later it gets in the season. Many realize they or their boats are not really up to the task. Many more make excuses why they must go back to the States and promise they will head south “next year.” For us, it was a combination of many factors, but I don’t think it was because we were “chicken” (insert Marty McFly reference). We got started very late in the cruising season (i.e. pre-hurricane season). The boat revealed a few semi-serious maintenance issues which cannot be ignored or put off and would be ridiculous expensive to get done in the islands. Our house batteries need to be replaced (this is how we power our fridge, lights, fans, radio, charge phones, etc.); we have a leaky rudder post, our folding prop needs to be rebuilt and is causing vibration (which could also be related to the old motor mounts); some engine hoses need to be replaced; our forward water tank leaks under our bed…blah blah blah. None of them are sinking the boat, but it will be a lot easier and cheaper to deal with them stateside. This was the boat’s first real and extended use in many years and her first long range trip since we set about prepping her for cruising. She has revealed her weaknesses (not many) and the areas we neglected. We have dialed in what we do and don’t need to have and have functioning out here. We will take some time this summer to make a little money and finish dialing in our beloved Eileen. We will likely be back sometime in late June…location TBD. Until then, we will continue to explore the beautiful Bahamas. We might check out Eleuthera or the Abacos, and will certainly hit some more of the Berry Islands before heading back across the Stream. And we WILL be heading south again next year!

Introducing some cruisers and their kids to competitive Hermit Crab Racing

“Snorkeler! Are you OK???”

Keep an eye out for my next post as we stay at giant marina developments, crash exclusive resorts, get invaded by mosquitoes, find a mermaid, explore more caves, and dodge thunderstorms. I hope you enjoy these ramblings.

With much love, Toddo and Celia
Currently anchored off of Rudder Cut Cay, Exumas

May 2, 2018 Adventures Log, Where We Have Been 0 Comments

April 30, 2018 – Black Point Settlement and Little Famers Cay via Compass Cay

April 30, 2018

COMPASS CAY AND COMPASS CAY MARINA

After leaving the Exuma Land and Sea Park, our next destination was what we thought would be a fancy marina with a nice restaurant, laundry facilities, and hot showers. Compass Key is described in the guide books as being a very beautiful and unique island criss-crossed with hiking trails to beaches, bubble pools, and other points of interest. We were willing to pay their premium dock rates to wash the boat, and take advantage of the laundry and shower scene, as well as maybe treat ourselves to a nice dinner. Indeed, the island was beautiful, the beaches straight out of a postcard, and the marina in very good repair. It was other than that, a bit of a disappointment.

The Ships Store and Bar at Compass Cay

The place has long ago sold out the cruising community to cater to the mega-yacht crowd and day-tripper excursions from Staniel Cay or Nassau. I admire what they have done with the place and the family that owns and runs it must be literally rolling in cash! The marina basin is cut into the rock with what was likely a natural basin of some kind. The little harbor is literally a coral reef aquarium, the highlight of which is the nurse shark feeding area. A special dock that gets submerged at high tide serves as the point of entry for scores of day trippers who are shuttled to the island to swim with the sharks. A dozen or so customers at a time stand in the waist-deep section of the lagoon as the head proprietor Tucker Rolle throws scraps of fish in the water and literally dozens and dozens of nurse sharks lazily swim around the people and feed. People pet the tame and well fed sharks and have some awesome pictures to bring home of them literally surrounded by sharks. At night the yachts and sport fishing boats turn on their underwater lights and feed the sharks some more. There was live coral in the lagoon and schools ofreef fish, sea turtles, and nurse sharks were everywhere.

A little SHARKY around here.

Unfortunately for us however, small cruising sailboats are sort of an afterthought to this place. They no longer have showers or laundry. There dockage rate is obscene and the highest we have seen. They charge 50 cents a gallon for water and we desperately needed to rinse some salt off the boat at this point. The beers in their otherwise cool bar area were $7! Again the highest price we had seen anywhere (we drank our personal stash). When we got the bill the next morning, I felt violated and was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. We had plugged in to top off the batteries and charge our electronics and vacuum the boat. We probably used about $2 worth of electricity. Imagine my surprise when the bill included a flat rate charge of $50/day to hook up to power! I think this is the same rate they charge the yachts!

Back Beach at Compass

In a nutshell, we can sum up Compass Cay Marina with a fitting slogan for their next brochure; “Twice the price, none of the amenities.” We won’t be back. It was undoubtedly a very cool stop for cruisers at one time. That time is gone. It belongs to the wealthy crowd now. That surely includes the owners at this point too.

Classing up the joint with our laundry…

Next up was the Black Point Settlement. We were pretty over the touristy and yachty areas at this point so we bypassed the infamous Staniel Cay and its Thunderball Grotto to continue on to Black Point. This area was basically the opposite of that, so we were excited to be in the first cruiser-centric community we had seen in a while. Black Point is a large harbor with good wind protection from every direction except for westerlies. It also begins a stretch of islands which as a result of being further south are generally less overrun by the big yachts and more cruiser-centric.

Government Dock at Black Point

Black Point is known for being very cruiser friendly and one of the last stops for provisions and “civilization” before the world famous Georgetown in the Southern Exumas. One of the highlights (which will demonstrate the realities of my new life) was Black Point’s laundromat. Clean sheets are a luxury these days and the Black Point Laundry may just be the nicest in all of the Bahamas! It is huge with all new machines, has a nice shaded gazebo and general store, fresh bread and snacks, and seems to be the hub of town. I can’t believe I just wrote a whole paragraph about a laundromat.

Back Deck at the Laundromat

One of the first people I encountered on the island was a man named “Stick”. We introduced ourselves as we were walking from the dinghy dock into town. As we were wandering the Main Street on our first day there, we were poking our heads in each little grocery store and restaurant to see what was available. We went into the second little grocery and no one was manning the counter. Stick was walking by and asked if we needed help since his sister owned the store. Then we went to a little bar and Stick walked in and stepped behind the bar to serve us. The next day we went to do our laundry and it was Stick again working at the laundromat! I asked him if he had every job in town?! He laughed and seemed to agree. I henceforth dubbed “Stick” the Mayor of Black Point and proceeded to call him “Mister Mayor” every time I saw him afterwards. A few days later when we went to rent a golf cart, I went right to Stick for a recommendation. He made a phone call and said “stay here, I will go get it for you.” 15 minutes later, Stick pulled up with our golf cart.  This man was surely the hardest working man in the Exumas!

The kids love Boat Monkey! This girl wanted to take him home!

The main bar in town was called “Club Scorpio” complete with scorpion logo on the tinted windows. They had a great happy hour with 2-for-1 rum $6 punches that were the best rum punches I have had in the Bahamas; 2/3 of the glass was the local Ricardo light and dark rum (as good as Cruzan and only $9.50/bottle!) and then topped with a couple splashes of juice and a floater of Myers rum. One HH round was generally enough to catch a good buzz! Outside was the town domino table where there was a spirited ongoing domino tournament complete with a chalkboard scoreboard nailed to the nearby telephone pole. There was always a game going here day and night with lots of yelling and slamming down of dominoes and the strong odor of marijuana. Another famous bar/restaurant in the area is Loraine’s. Her daughter is apparently a Patriots fan! The main decorations in the bar area were all New England Patriots swag! I asked if she had gone to college in New England or something. She said, “No, I just like the Patriots.” I said, “Oh, so you just like a winner!”. That got some laughs and I had a new bar for the week!

Bahamian Patriots Fans are a thing! Go Pats!

We also were invited in to the home of the former Superintendent of Police in Nassau. Mr. Brookie Wright has semi-retired to this area and was building a new home on his family property. He was hanging out in his front porch with some local characters and seemed to be mildly drunk and mildly offended that some other cruisers had taken a picture of him in front of a run down shack and had been audibly wondering why someone wouldn’t have nicer accommodations on such a prime piece of waterfront property. Well apparently that had been his mother’s house and she had become very old and just wanted to live out her remaining years in her home as it was. I don’t know why he gravitated to us as we greeted the group with a hearty “good morning!” As we walked by but he did. He motioned us over and in a slightly sad and reflective tone decided to tell us his story. He showed us his medals and uniform from his long and distinguished police career, as well as a DVD copy of the documentary about the infamous cocaine drug lords which he had helped prosecute back in the 70’s and 80’s. He seemed eager to share his story with us and talk about his family and his life. He was a very interesting character and I am not sure why he chose Celia and I to invite into his home but he had a lot of interesting stories to tell! Being in the Nassau police force for 30 years and rising to the equivalent of Chief will do that I guess! Just about everyone we met in Black Point was friendly and genuine. I was a big fan of our experience there and would certainly linger here if we found ourselves in that area again.

Boat Monkey won a little cash from the locals playing dominoes!

As we were running short on fresh vegetables and fruit, we were excited to learn that the Mail Boat would arrive the next day! For those that don’t know, the Mail Boat is basically the fleet of large ships that distributes most of the commerce throughout the islands of the Bahamas. Each large settlement or town has a “government dock” where official and commercial boats can land and usually include a dinghy dock for cruisers and small boats to access the towns. Mail Boats come around once a week but sometimes not that often so the arrival becomes somewhat of a local happening. All the local businesses are waiting to help unload and get their merchandise and supplies. The next day, there is an island-wide rush to get to the stores and get first pick of fresh veggies and other commodities. We got up early and beat most of the other cruisers in the harbor to shore to get our veggies! Again, this is our new reality; the only American style grocery store we have seen has been in Nassau. It basically catered to the yachts, tourists, cruisers, and more affluent Bahamians…and had the prices to match. I digress…

Celia takes the wheel for the Golf Cart Tour…Look Out!

Our golf cart tour of the island was interesting but not quite as cool as we had hoped. Once we went a few miles in any direction, the paved roads ran out and the dirt roads became too rough and rocky for us to feel comfortable on the golf cart. We did find a couple of really cool beaches and what were purported to be blow hole formations on the east side of the island. One side of the island was where the dump was and on this day they were burning trash. Unfortunately the thick acrid smoke was choking out the road and we had to turn around. Boat Monkey had us make stops at the local Police Station (the local Constable could more often be found at the bar or the dominoes table than the Police Station) and the local clinic. I don’t know what he was doing or why, and I didn’t ask.

Beaching it near Black Point

One thing we continue to notice is that there seems to be a lot of half finished real estate and marina developments everywhere. Some were obviously ravaged by past storms, but others seem to have been started and abandoned for no reason. A lot of half finished houses are just allowed to rot and spawl back into the earth. This area was no different in that regard although it looks like one really cool waterfront bar and restaurant was about to open for business. It seems an oddity that there are not more waterfront or beach bars throughout the Exumas. The cruisers, yachties, and tourists would certainly support a few more!

Don’t ask questions…

We were thankful for the warm welcome of the Black Point community, but after a couple of nights of the anchorage being super rolly and uncomfortable to the point where I had not slept well for a couple nights, it was time to think about moving on.

Some weird technology…

We had settled in for a few days and it is always an effort to get the boat back to sailing status and get moving again. We decided to move just 8 miles or so to the south so we could get going on our own pace and not have to be upping anchor at dawn for a long sail.

Are we lost?

Little Farmers Cay was our next anchorage and is supposed to be a great area to explore. We were eager to keep moving south towards Georgetown and were only spending the one night however. I will however go out of my way to mention that we visited the one local restaurant/bar/marina that was in operation on the island and had a wonderful experience. For reasons I am not sure anyone can explain, it seems like the islands and regions in the Exumas ebb and flow in their popularity with visitors.

Near Little Farmers Cay

Little Farmers once supported 2 restaurants, a beach bar, a couple gift shops, and a small marina. Now just the marina/bar/restaurant were operating and seemed a little tired at that. The proprietor, Roosevelt was another warm and genuine man. I loved him and his wife as soon as we met them. There were about 4 boats in the anchorage and all day I think they had about 6 customers. Celia and I had the place to ourselves and ordered a couple orders of cracked conch and some beers. The wife went outside, took two large conch off a string she had in the water and prepared them perfectly right there on the spot. It was the best conch I have ever had from a restaurant. The building was a large space which at one time you could tell was a bustling and lively scene. There was an old tired pool table in the back room that was still level and had one serviceable cue. I kicked Celia’s butt at billiards and had another beer with Roosevelt before we called it a day and headed back to Eileen to get her and us ready for the next days sail. I would love to stop here again if the opportunity arises.

Farmers Cay Marina and Restaurant

We have now been chilling in Georgetown for a couple of weeks. Before that we stopped at Lee Stocking Island, home to an abandoned Marine Lab. My next post will be following this one very soon to talk about those places. Georgetown is like summer camp for adult cruisers (and kids). We were lucky enough to catch the Family Islands Sail Regatta, and have hosted friends aboard, played days of beach volleyball (until I was injured), hiked, snorkeled, explored, saw a junkanoo band, and made new friends. Can’t wait to tell you all about it! Tune in next time for a more exciting post than this one! Until then, we love and miss all of our friends and family! We wish we could teleport you all around with us!

Much Love from Todd and Celia, Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas

April 12, 2018 Adventures Log, Where We Have Been 0 Comments

April 11, 2018 Exumas Land and Sea Park and Other Tales

April 11, 2018

Exumas Land and Sea Park

Dingy Levitation Fun in Exumas Land and Sea Park

After visiting a few of the islands in the northern Exumas, we made our way into the area known as the Exuma Land and Sea Park. They claim to be the oldest protected marine park in the world. The park is managed by the Bahamas National Trust, which is a non-governmental non-profit organization. We met the new-ish administrator Joe, who is trying to update the management of the park and improve the facilities by increasing their available funding. One way they are doing this is by charging a fee for all boats which enter the park, whether they pick up a mooring ball or just anchor. This has miffed a few cruisers off, but the reality is that the park has been woefully underfunded and this should help with a lot of capital improvements (better visitor facilities, more mooring balls) and an increase in enforcement of the park rules. The park has a partnership with the Bahamian Defence Force to help enforce their resource protection and no fishing rules (think Coast Guard).

Park HQ with Bahamian De”Fence” Force Boat

SHROUD CAY

We started our exploration of the park at Shroud Cay. Again, it is tempting to pronounce “CAY”, but is actually pronounced “KEY”. What a cool spot! We were joined here by our cruiser friends we met in Marathon; Andy and Sarah. As they once joked (but its true), once you find other cruisers in our age bracket without kids or pets, we tend to want to stick together when we can! We have certainly observd that we are an outlier as a demographic. I would say our age bracket (especially without kids) is maybe 5% or less of the people we meet. There also seem to be a lot of boats which travel with pets. This is not a negative observation, as we have made lots of friends of all ages and many have been generous in sharing their experiences and knowledge which far surpass ours! While there are certainly the people who are out here in retirement who came from Michigan and have zero boating experience, I am most amazed at the world traveller types who are in their 60’s and 70’s and who are out fishing and snorkeling every day more than we are! It gives me hope that maybe we can do this for a while yet. We knew there would be a varied demographic of people out doing this, but the eclectic mix of old and young, kids or no kids, rich or poor, from different countries, on vacation or cruising around the world, etc. is something that I am still digesting. The young families amaze me the most though I think..2 adults and 3 kids sometimes on a 35 ft. boat! I don’t know how they all keep their sanity or how the parents have time to drive, maintain, clean, and fix the boat; all while homeschooling kids from 5 years old to 17 years old plus keeping the crew fed and watered! I do enjoy the kids though! We had a great game of beach baseball with a super nice family we met who have the sweetest kids ever! Driftwood bat and a tennis ball…palm frond bases. That shit keeps you young right there! Speaking of the rich crowd down here, one thing we have been noticing and been told is that the Exumas are being taken over by big money in the form of more giant yachts everywhere and the marinas catering to them instead of small cruising boats. We have seen the most insane yachts with whole crews who come early to secluded beaches and set up the place like it was the Hilton with umbrellas, beach chairs, tables, coolers, jet skis, paddle boards and the whole deal. Then they ferry the people to the beach. Many of the privately owned islands within the Land and Sea park are being developed with luxury accomodations, giant yacht marinas, fancy bungalows and restaurants, or bought up by celebrities, therefore shunning exploration on these islands which were once more open to the public for use. Celia is obsessed with having at least one celebrity encounter while we are here…every sea plane or helicopter or fancy island hopper mini yacht is always greeted with “Hey Brad! Brad, over here! It’s us! Todd and Celia!” in hopes that Brad Pitt will invite us for a cocktail. So far, no luck. We are however, scheduled to stay in an exclusive fancy marina tomorrow with a hook up from an old high school era friend from back home who works on mega yachts. We might be out of class here while we try to do laundry and put soap on the boat for the first time in over a month! Alledgedly they are filming for the bachellorette their this week. I might have to fight off all the spurned horny bachelors and keep them away from my lady at the bar!

Hanging at the beach with our new friends Andy and Sarah.

One of the mangrove creeks at Shroud Cay

So…Shroud Cay! Shroud Cay is sliced through from west to east with several winding creeks through the mangroves that make up the center of this Cay. Most of the other islands we have seen so far are rocky and dry, so we were excited to see something new. We dinghied through the northernmost creek (the only one open to motorized craft) to a really great beach on the other side of the island. We saw sharks, turtles, rays, birds, and all kinds of wildlife. A new bird to me is the “tropic bird”. They nest here in the Exumas during March and April. They are a very cool bird to look at. A tropic bird is a medium-small bird, mostly white. What makes it fun is that it has a super long tail that you can see very well when they do their acrobatics and mating dance in the sky. Look up an image if you have never seen one!   This island also famous for “Camp Driftwood”. Before the area was popular, a hermit lived off shore here on his boat and built what would become known as Camp Driftwood on the highest hill on the island. He would hike up with pieces of driftwood and make all kinds of tables and benches and chairs out of them. This was sometime in the 60’s Apparently, it looked like a little Robinson Crusoe village until not too long ago. We did not see much left of it on our visit, but the hill does offer some amazing views! Apparently, this is also the hill that DEA agents used to spy on cocaine kingpin Carlos Lehder on his nearby island of Norman Cay which we had visited previously.

Celia navigates the creeks like a pro

Celia has been experimenting in the galley and we were excited for “burger night” while we were at Shroud Cay. Celia made the most amazing dill hamburger rolls from scratch! She has tried a few bread recipes, and lets just say they have had varied results. These buns though were the best. Andy and Sarah were also doing burgers this night and delayed their dinner to see how Celia’s buns turned out, as they were out of bread products. They were awesome. I can’t tell you what an amazing job Celia has been doing in the galley. I don’t know how she comes up with all these delicious meals! Neither Todd or Boat Monkey is going hungry; although our provsions from the mother land are starting to dwindle noticibly! No more potato chips or granola bars or cookies! Potato chips are about $8/bag here locally…a bit beyond our provisioning budget. I will pass along that we have found high quality canned chicken breast to be surprisingly good! We knew we would go through our frozen meat supply as our freezer is tiny, so we supplemented with canned tuna, crab meat, smoked salmon, etc. and as an afterthought grabbed some canned chicken at Trader Joes. It’s actually good! We have done it in stir frys, chicken salad, on salads, you name it.

Just another beach

HAWKSBILL CAY

Next up to the south was Hawksbill Cay. We were excited because we had read in a guide that the snorkeling was great here. We went exploring the entire perimeter of the island on a perfect calm day on the Exuma Sound (open ocean) side of the island. We found lots of rocky bottom with some cool fish but very little in the way of live coral. It was a little dissapointing overall. This will not be on our list of places to come back to. One cool thing that happened here was that the crew of a mega yacht set up and launched a quite spectacular fireworks display for one of their guest’s birthday. It was very out of place (and against the rules) in this otherwise secluded and quiet anchorage inside the Land and Sea Park.

Boat Monkey lifeguards for Todd during a drift snorkel

WARDERICK WELLS

Warderick Wells Cay is the Land and Sea Park’s Headquarters. Here are stationed a few permanent staff who are the wardens, rangers, and administrators for the park, plus a few members of the Bahamian Defence Force who rotate in every few weeks to patrol and help enforce the parks no-fishing rules. The famous north anchorage is a skinny, high current creek of water where they have moorings installed. We had read about but were still taken aback by how much current runs through the cuts between islands! It means that you really have to be aware of and time the tides to get through the cuts safely and to visit many of the best snorkeling sites. Try going to a spot you want to swim when the current rips and you may never be seen again! Anyway, to get into the mooring area you have to navigate a very narrow cut and work your way around the other boats moored there. One guy coming in almost crashed into us trying to weave through the boats as he underestimated the current!

North Mooring Field at Warderick Wells

Overall, this area is ripe for days of exploration. We found so many nooks, crannies, beaches, coves, ruins, and snorkel spots here. We could have stayed for many days, but we are anxious to keep moving since it is late in the cruising season and we are not yet sure where we will end up for hurricane season. There are miles of trails on Warderick Wells that are in various states of grooming and marking. Poisonwood was everywhere on and off the paths in the hammock areas. We were lucky that we noticed it early on so we could avoid it. We could only feel sorry for some family from Ohio that didnt know what the hell poisonwood is. and having to suffer a miserable poison ivy-like rash for the rest of their charter trip! We defintely missed the trail and got lost a few times, but in between we found some of the coolest beaches, views, ladders to nowhere, and other weird stuff. Most of the time we had the places to ourselves, as it seemed many of the cruisers stuck to the main beaches, or visited other areas via dinghy instead of the trails on land. They missed out on some coolest stuff! Boo Boo Hill, giant solution holes, fresh water wells, strange birds and lizards…Butterfly Beach all to ourselves, good times! We found a couple cool snorkeling spots; in fact there was a wrecked sailboat that burned down in the mooring field several years ago right under our boat! People kept buzzing us in their dinghys looking for it and snorkeling it. It definitely cut into the amount of time Boat Monkey could prance around naked on the boat! We had game night with our friends playing “mexican train” dominoes (dominoes are a huge past-time in the islands..games in general really).

Friendly Lizard in repose on Cairn

Another amazing thing you read but can’t imagine till you see it is the color of the water in the Bahamas! EVERY SINGLE VARIATION AND HUE OF BLUE! There were stone cairns assembled everywhere for marking paths and landmarks or just for fun. Some of the view spots really showed off the variations of blue as the water went from shallow to over a thousand feet deep. Another fun thing (in the park especially) was the names of stuff…Missionary Bay…Ballast Cove…Powerful Beach…Bush-Basher Beach…Meteorite Beach…Jumbie’s Lair…just to name a few. I hope to visit Warderick Wells again.

BLUE

CAMBRIDGE CAY

Our next and last stop in the Land and Sea Park was Cambridge Cay. This area was a highlight! Although privately owned, cruisers may still access a few of the best beaches on this island via designated trails that lead from beaches near the anchorage. The unique geology in this area is a big draw for visitors. One beach had a gigantic boulder with a door-sized hole/window in it just yards off the beach. Lots of other unique geologic structures are found nearby including a snorkel and dive site we visited nearby called the “Rocky Dundas”. Basically composed of two giant rocks,they have some of the most amazing sea caves I have ever seen. At slack low tide, you can swim into these huge caverns under the island, walk up and explore via the sunlight shining magically through holes in the roof of the cave! It was amazing. The Go-Pro pictures barely do it justice. There were two of these caves. Around these rock islands is a mini wall dive down to about 25 feet deep with some of the best coral we have seen so far. Lots of big fish and healthy coral structures. A few nice stands of elkhorn and pillar coral.

Nice Coral Colony

Off the Rocky Dundas

Caving

Crazy Caves

Cave Selfie

Another nearby snorkel we tried was off of O’Briens Cay where we checked out an area known as the “Sea Aquarium”. It was a really nice garden of mostly soft corals and a good variety of fish in shallow protected water. The chart showed a plane wreck in about 20 feet of water in the same bay, so we found that and snorkeled there too. It was a smaller 12 or so passenger plane and actually had some really nice high relief coral structures all around it. Unfortunately the current here made it a little more work than I wanted after my nooner rum and juice, so we called it a day.

More Exploration

Sperm Whale skeleton at Warderick Wells

I wish we could stay and explore more of this place as there are several more highly recommended snorkel spots nearby. However, we are running out of water and toilet paper, all of our clothes are salty and smelly, and both the boat and us need a real shower/bathing experience. I might even take Celia out to a nice fancy dinner! Until next time, toodles. “Hey Brad! Over here! It’s us, Todd and Celia!”

Don’t forget, you can use the link/screen at the bottom of this website to see exactly where we are in real time on the map via our Iridium/PredictWind satellite subscription. It does NOT work very well on a phone, but you can click on “map” or “satellite” in the top middle to view and zoom in and out on the spots we are visiting really well on a tablet or laptop. Thanks for checking in. We really miss all of our friends and family and it is weird being away from the Keys for so long! Much love from Todd and Celia in the Bahamas.

April 3, 2018 Adventures Log, Where We Have Been 0 Comments

March 31, 2018 – Allens (Allans) Cay and Normans Cay, Northern Exumas

Briefly, we took a slip in a marina in Nassau on New Providence Island. We wanted to top off fuel, water, and restock fresh veggies. There was also a day or so before the crossing to the Exumas would be more favorable. There are a few marinas on the south side of Nassau Harbor where you can dock up for a reasonable price and be near provisioning stores. We got the one we planned at the far east end of the harbor. Grocery store and shopping center right across the street. All good. This entry is a little short on text and heavy on pictures as I am short of time. I hope you will continue to check back and see what we are getting into. I will try to have more entertaining stories next time!

Aside from briefly entertaining Celia’s idea to bet half our cruising kitty on black at the roulette table over at the Atlantis so we could cruise longer, we didn’t do a whole lot in Nassau so I will skip to the fun part. The only place we went was the “Green Parrot” Bar. We saw it on the guidebook and of course that’s where we were headed! While it was great and we had some good fresh made conch salad, there were no root beer barrels to be had and the Key West Green Parrot is still my favorite bar in the world.

Found it!

ALLENS CAY

Much like conch is pronounced “konk”, Cay in the Bahamas is pronounced “Key”. Who knew? So our first stop in the Exumas was Allens Cay. It is a beautiful little set of islands southeast of Nassau about 35 miles. There is a protected anchorage on the inside and the island is home to the endangered “Rock” Iguana. This species of Iguana is found nowhere else in the world except for the northern Exumas. They are the same Iguanas they used as dinosaurs in the old horror movies. They have redish color scales and spines and are apparently of a type of Iguana that has a pineal eye, also known as a third eye in the center of its forehead. Strange. Regardless, they are aggressive beggars who come out of the bushes at the first sign of humans. There were a lot of day trippers and yacht tenders that would come through the area just to see the Iguanas.

The Rock Iguana!

Run!

We had a couple of short hikes which afforded nice views of the area. We also explored by dinghy, as we are wont to do and discovered some nice little beaches and snorkel spots. There are some nice patch reefs and coral heads in the area and we had an great time spending a couple days here.

Hiking Allens Cay

NORMAN CAY

By the third day, the wind had picked up and the currents in the inner anchorage were making it quite rolly in there. We decided it was time to head south to Norman Cay. This island came highly recommended as a great spot to snorkel and explore by dinghy. Also, there are several large scale development projects starting so it is a chance to see the area before it likely changes somewhat. There is a giant marina development being constructed next to the airstrip and we saw other large development projects underway on what were some pristine isolated beaches on the east side of the island.

The island today is pretty quiet and has an interesting history. In the late 70’s, Norman Cay was bought out by a notorious cocaine dealer from Columbia named Carlos Lehder. He used it as a base of operations running drugs through the Bahamas from South America that were bound for the U.S. via Florida. He had the old airstrip on the island lengthened at one point to accommodate larger aircraft for his drug running operation. He had recently purchased a DC-3 and his pilot was doing touch-and-goes on the runway when something went wrong and he crashed in the shallow waters just off the runway. The plane still sits there today and is covered with coral and marine life. It makes a great snorkel and is right near the inner anchorage. We saw some nice sized grouper on the wreck and some nice mutton snapper in the grass flats and channel nearby. None came close enough to our pole spears though (spear guns are illegal in the Bahamas).

DC-3 wreck at Norman Cay

Celia striking a pose.

Carlos Lehder’s would-be drug plane

We spent two days exploring and snorkeling the area. There were dozens of little beaches we found to walk or have lunch on. We hunted one whole day and while we passed up a couple of small snappers to spear, Celia managed to come up with a decent sized conch and one nice lobster. I was shut out. We later learned from a local that this area gets picked pretty hard and we were lucky to get dinner. We went out to the open ocean side and timed the slack tide to hunt there to no avail. We drifted before and after all through the cuts and patch reefs and grass flats for quite a while. There were so many interesting spots with lots of healthy coral, seagrass, and a solid showing of marine life. While we didn’t end up with a lot, we had dinner thanks to Celia!

The Huntress stalks her prey!

Shark Infested Waters!

Exuma Sound, where we snorkeled at slack tide…

Sand bar fun.

Future Cracked Conch!

Lastly, we found the hurricane hole in the middle of the north end of the island. Allegedly, you can get a boat with a six foot draft in, but it sure looked skinny and sketchy from the dinghy! They call it “The Pond”. There are also a couple of caves near the entrance to The Pond which we found interesting.

Cave in “The Pond”

Next we are on to the Exumas Land and Sea Park! This area is highly protected and we are looking forward to seeing some big fish on the reefs and exploring all the cool areas around the park. We will be out of cell and data range for a bit but will check back in soon! Tune in next time.

Norman Cay

 

 

 

 

 

March 29, 2018 Adventures Log, Where We Have Been 0 Comments

Chub Cay and Frazers Hog Cay Anchorage, Berry Islands

March 25, 2018
ANCHORAGE AT FRAZER’S HOG CAY
After crossing the Gulf Stream and the Bahama Bank, it had been a long passage and it was mid afternoon on our second day under sail. We had been blessed with good weather as was forecast and were feeling good but tired. We had reached Northwest Channel Light which for all intents and purposes is the Gateway to the Berry Islands, Abacos, and Exumas regions for cruisers coming from the U.S. East Coast. Normally, anchoring on the shallow (less than 15 feet) banks can be uncomfortable or even a little dangerous in high winds. However, it was nearly calm; and rather than motoring on for 15 more miles just to anchor up at Chub Cay too late for clearing customs anyway, we decided to anchor where we were and get some rest.

Coming Into Chub Cay

We started fresh early the next morning and even got a nice little sail for the next couple hours heading over to Chub to clear Customs and Immigration. Chub Cay is kind of snubbed by “salty” cruisers as being uninteresting and uninviting for sailors. The marina, airport, and facilities there are centered more on upscale clientele who come to the posh resort and marina located on the west side of the island. This area is a haven for sport fishermen who come to this area to catch mahi, tuna, wahoo, and other pelagic fish who flock to what is known as “the tongue of the ocean”. The northern part is called “the bowl” and is the dead end of deep water that comes up from depths exceeding 10,000 feet to less than 10 in just a few miles. There was only one sailboat mast in the harbor.
My experience however was quite pleasant. I found all the staff friendly and helpful. The dock master was happy to let us top off the small amounts of diesel and water we needed without charging us the “docking fee” they can charge people who are coming to only check in (not a marina guest). They even arranged a free ride over to the airport a mile or so away where the Customs and Immigration offices were located. The driver, Dan, was the most genuine and friendly Bahamian I have met to date. He chauffeured me over to the airport (more like airstrip) to a little trailer like building which contained a small lounge, a bathroom and two offices; one each for Customs and Immigration. Inside was the fireman for the airport who didn’t seem to have to do much as there were not any planes at this time. The customs officer was at lunch with the airport’s police officer and would be back soon. My driver and the Fireman decided to kill the time with a lively game of backgammon while we waited. The Immigration Officer was kicking back watching a movie on his laptop and laughing. It was good to be back in the Islands! The officer left the movie going and invited me in. He was very friendly and simply stamped some papers, answered a couple of my questions and told me we were good to go. A few minutes later, the Customs Officer arrived and stamped the passport and that was that.
Just around the corner from Chub was our first planned stop on the trip. A cool little anchorage off of Frazers Hog Cay. Until this day we were under the impression there was a fun, laid back little local business here called the “Berry Islands Club” that catered to cruising boats with little rental rooms, showers, laundry, fuel, etc., as well as a fun little bar and restaurant. They were also supposed to have 23 moorings if you didn’t want to anchor or the anchorage was full.
Unfortunately, the Berry Islands Club was now defunct! It was a victim of Hurricane Matthew and had never been rebuilt. It had been highly recommended by friends and we had been looking forward to it. However, it ended up being a really cool spot anyway, and we were happy to spend a few days in a nice protected anchorage to tidy up the boat after our crossing and enjoy our first shore time on a beach in the Bahamas! The fact that the only business (or thing really) on the island was not there actually meant we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We had some beers on the beach and enjoyed the sunset.

Beach at Frazers Hog Cay

The next day, we decided to go explore the ruins on the north end of the island that were visible from the anchorage. We hiked up the old road that had once been there from the beach and found the path that used to be the driveway to the first property. It had been ravaged by some storm likely decades past and was basically the raised concrete foundation of what looked to be a large house or fishing lodge at one time. There was a separate building that looked to have been a generator room. We made our way through the brush to the house and poked around. I almost stepped into the cistern where some of the concrete floor was collapsed. The foundation still had remnants of the big pipes that used to deliver rainwater to what were pretty big cisterns.

Boat Monkey takes a break after the hike to the first ruins.

Climbing up to the top of the foundation afforded us sweeping views of the bay and our boat. We took some pictures and then decided to see if we could get to the second set of ruins from what was left of the old road. Unfortunately, it dead ended at what could only be described as a dump for old cars and appliances. We went back to the first ruin and went out the front of the house to where the concrete remains of the dock had been to see if we could follow the rocky shoreline up to the second property. The shoreline was craggy limestone which had a very interesting look to it.

Shoreline of Frazers Hog

Celia surveys the scene from the first ruins

Eventually, we made it to the shoreward edge of the second set of ruins. I was regretting that I had not brought my little machete that I had bought before leaving the states. We finally bushwhacked through the brush and came onto what was once the front porch of a rather large structure. Celia is a great amateur naturalist and was paying attention to the native vegetation. Lucky for me because she was the one who noticed the poison wood trees which allowed us to avoid them. (For those friends not familiar, they are a tropical tree which has an oil on all of its parts that causes a reaction similar to poison ivy) This structure appeared to have been some kind of lodge with numerous bedrooms, a commercial kitchen, a common room with a big fireplace, a generator building and some overgrown remnants of landscaping. Why they wanted or needed a big fireplace in the Bahamas was a mystery to us. This place had also been ravaged by a storm and apparently abandoned since. Judging by the floral patterns on the pillows in the common area and some food containers in the kitchen, we guessed that this place saw its last guests sometime in the late 80’s or early 90’s. It was a little creepy…kind of like the abandoned places in some of the post-apocalyptic movies; it really looked like no one had bothered with the place since the storm that wiped it out.

The common room in the second set of ruins

As Celia and I were poking around, I went to the backside of the property and found one of the uses for the fireplace; on the outside part of the chimney was a big hearth or bread oven. I was looking out into the overgrown back yard and generator house when I glimpsed a big healthy citrus tree through the overgrown bush! It was full of beautiful ripe fruit! I called to Celia and hacked my way through to get to it. Celia was convinced it was just sour oranges but I thought they looked more like lemons. We took a bunch of the fruit and stuffed them in our backpack. We figured even if it was some kind of sour fruit, we could marinate some meat in it.  When we got back to the boat and cut one open to taste, it ended up being the sweetest, most delicious lemons I have ever tasted! We wished we had taken even more to give away, as it was certain no one had been that deep onto the property in a long time.  Now its our little secret.  We will certainly be stopping there again if our route home takes us that way!

The back porch

The bread oven

The spoils of our pirate expeditions! Delicious lemons!

The walk back was highlighted by a giant stingray and a curious trigger fish in the shallows. We had been here for a few days by this time and were ready to move on to Nassau to top off fuel and water, do some laundry, take a hot shower, and restock our fresh vegetables. As I write, we are in the Exumas. I have the feeling we will regret not spending more time in the Berry Islands as we already see that the Exumas are very “discovered” and we will likely not see as many remote or isolated anchorages like Frazers Hog. Many seasoned cruisers enjoy the Berries best for just this reason; they are less crowded and often overlooked by people eager to head south. I have a strong suspicion we will be back to explore more of this area before we are through. I hope you enjoy a few of the pictures we took. We had a lot of fun relaxing and exploring at Frazers Hog.
Tune in next time to hear about our brief experience in Nassau and our trip down to Allens (aka Allan’s) Cay in the northern Exumas to kick off what should be a fun month or two exploring this famous chain of southern Bahamian Islands! Thanks for checking in with us. Don’t forget, you can track us in real time at the bottom of the web page with our PredictWind subscription. If you’re on a cell phone, you have to turn the phone sideways to play with the map. It’s much better on a tablet or computer.  There is a button at the top of the map to get the Google Earth (satellite) map to really see what the area is like. Much Love!

March 24, 2018 Adventures Log 0 Comments

Crossing the Gulf Stream

March 20, 2018
Crossing the Gulf Stream. Sounds so simple. It is just a little 50 mile stretch of water between Florida and the Bahamas; so why does it instill such awe and fear in novice cruisers such as myself? The Well, because it’s a giant river of water that runs warm and clear at a sometimes brisk 3 knots or more! Considering Eileen usually averages about 5 knots of speed, that means we could only be making 2 knots of headway at some point! There are scary stories of big 20 ft.  waves stacked up in the north flowing current, especially if the wind blows against the current. Everyone agrees you do not want to cross the stream when there is any north component to the wind direction.
Another consideration the current brought was that you need to start south of where your destination is in the Bahamas…the current averages speeds of 2-3 knots, in effect carrying you that many nautical miles for every hour you are crossing it. You can use this to your advantage of course.  As we steered a course due east, we were also being carried north at the same time, so our total speed was increased towards our destination which actually lay northeast of us.
There was also the conundrum of from where and at what time should we leave. Do you want to cross at night or during the day? Do you want to make the shortest run across or just go from further south where we were? We staged at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon and considered going north to jump off from Key Largo which would mean a roughly 75 mile crossing. This would be advantageous if there continued to be only short windows of weather decent enough for us to cross comfortably. It was very important to us not to be in a rush to get there and get beat up in rough seas.  In the end, we found a 48 plus hour window and decided to leave directly from Marathon and get as far east as we could in one shot…this would also allow us to bypass Bimini where we know it could be crowded (lots of cruisers were waiting for the same weather we were and it seemed like most were heading to Bimini first) and we could get stuck there a while if the weather wasn’t good.  We were already running late in the season and really wanted to get down to the Exumas and spend some quality time in that region.
We left the comfort of the Boot Key Mooring Field and anchored just south of the seven mile bridge.  The next morning we got up early and finished our preparations.  We were both a little nervous but the weather was forecast to be fairly calm, so the ride shouldn’t be too rough.  That was what we had been waiting for. Although we wish there was a little more wind for sailing instead of motoring, a safe and uneventful passage was the goal. We decided to leave at first light so we could navigate the trap buoys and got out past Sombrero Key lighthouse by about 10 am.  It was a gorgeous day, we were well rested, and we had a positive attitude for the long passage ahead.
The final consideration of crossing the Gulf Stream is that there is a super-highway out there of giant 900 ft. long container ships and huge cruise ships crossing to and from ports all over the world. You have to be very alert on watch as these huge ships are going considerably faster than you are and while you can see the cruise ships lit up like cities and judge their speed and distance fairly well, it is not so with cargo ships.  We knew this and had long ago purchased an AIS receiver and radar partly for just this purpose of helping us navigate shipping lanes and working through offshore fishing fleets.
All was going well.  We started trading off night watches around 8:00pm and the off watch person tried to get a couple hours of sleep. By the midnight tradeoff, we had been lulled into a false sense of security by the fact we had seen all of one container ship and one cruise ship so far. Then it happened…and it happened fast.  I was woken up only 3/4 of the way through my nap time by Celia’s slightly frantic voice.  “Honey, can you come up here?” I heard some mild fear in her voice and wondered what was happening. I tried to shake the cobwebs out of my head and jumped up into the cockpit to see what was going on.  It wasn’t as bad as I thought. “I have two giant ships crossing right in front of us…what should I do?” Celia asked.  “No big deal” I thought; they are miles away, we can slow down or alter course or just wait and see if we could cross behind one or the other or maybe they would be out of the way by the time we got close.
Then it all happened at once.  The AIS started beeping and there were targets everywhere. The range for the AIS was set on 10 miles. Lights we had thought were way off in the distance and of no concern to us were all of a sudden on a collision course with us and even each other.  We had no less than 7 huge ships criss-crossing and surrounding us and each other.  Only problem was we were an insignificant, slow moving speck to them and they cannot easily alter course or speed. We looked at each other and had a little moment of panic. We heard them talking to each other on the radio and clarifying their intentions for safely getting around each other. I will date myself here, but I very much felt like the frog in the old video game “Frogger”. Somehow, we managed to slow down, speed up, and alter course enough to not have any “wet your pants” moments, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t seem a little dicey at the time. If you look at our track across the stream, you see a little bump in the middle; that’s where this went down. Thankfully, after this, it was smooth sailing (is it still a pun if its literal?).
First of all, let me say in hindsight I would NEVER EVER want to do this without AIS. Seeing the large ships on your chart plotter with their name, length, type of vessel, speed, and course is amazingly helpful to help you navigate and avoid them. Radar also can help you figure out distance to boats and lights you may see on the open ocean that do not transmit AIS signals. This has been very helpful particularly with fishing boats.
Upon reaching Bahamian waters, we decided to go into the southernmost cut onto Bahama Banks called South Riding Rocks. Just this part of the passage was about 120 miles and we still had to make another long trip across the Bahamas Banks before we could legally check in/enter the country at Chub Cay. We got to South Riding Rock at 4:30am and nervously went through the narrow cut in complete darkness, relying on electronics and the depth sounder. We somehow stayed awake to motor the 60 or so miles across Bahama Bank and anchored at the far end south of the Northwest Channel Light in calm weather. We woke up the next day and came off the Bank and into the “Toungue of the Ocean”. Look at this on a chart. In just a couple miles, you go from 10 feet of water into 3500 ft. of water.  The northwestern end is called the “Bowl”. On a south wind, the bait fish get blown up into the bowl, and the pelagic sportfish follow them in. Chub Cay Marina and Resort is a haven for sport fishermen from all over the world who come to take advantage of this dead end of deep water. We pulled up to top off fuel and water, and a nice gentleman named Dan drove me out to the airport to clear Customs and Immigration. Once back to the boat, we sailed a few miles to the east to Frazer’s Hog Key to settle in for a couple days of rest and relaxation.  Tune in next time to hear all about Frazer’s Hog.
Thanks for checking in!

February 28, 2018 Adventures Log, Where We Have Been 0 Comments

Dry Tortugas National Park

While we have been to Dry Tortugas National Park many times, this was our first time going on our own boat.  We were excited to be there on our own time with no agenda.  We had the most amazing beam reach sail on a perfect 15 kt wind out to the Marquesas Keys (see post), where we spent a couple days exploring the beaches and doing a little spearfishing.

The wind was not going to be favorable for much longer, so we upped anchor and continued on to Dry Tortugas National Park, which is located approximately 70 miles west of Key West. The only ways out there are aboard a fast ferry from Key West, via seaplane, or on your personal vessel.  DTNP is one of the least visited parks in the system due to its remoteness, but it is one of the most beautiful and unique places you will ever visit.

Garden Key is the hub of the park and home to Fort Jefferson, a civil war era fort that was basically obsolete before it was finished being built due to advances in naval weaponry. “Fort Jeff”, as it is known to Keys locals, remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War. It later was used as a prison until abandoned in 1874. Dr. Samuel Mudd, famous for being the doctor who treated John Wilkes Booth in the wake of the Lincoln assassination, was imprisoned here until early 1869. He was later pardoned after helping to treat soldiers during a yellow fever epidemic. During the 1880s, the Navy established a base in the Dry Tortugas, and it subsequently set up a coaling (refueling) and a wireless (radio) station there as well. During World War I, a seaplane base was established in the islands, but it was abandoned soon thereafter. From 1903 until 1939 the Carnegie Institution of Washington operated the Marine Biology Laboratory on Loggerhead Key which conducted most of the early research on coral reef ecosystems.

Arrival

Today, you can explore the fort via foot, which is over a square mile in size (reputed to be one of the largest masonry structures in the Western Hemisphere). The brickwork and views are amazing so bring your camera! Overnight tent camping is an option if you come on the ferry and want to stay longer than a few hours. Bush Key is the island next door and is closed parts of the year for bird nesting (terns that nest here nest on the ground in the dune vegetation).  However, it is worth the walk around the island if its open.

Other options on Garden Key include a nice sandy beach to chill on and some good snorkeling on coral heads about 100 yards off the beach at 1 o’clock if facing the water. IN my opinion the better snorkel is around the pilings of the old coal docks.  There used to be the biggest barracuda I have ever seen under those pilings.  He was 7 feet long if he was an inch and about as big around in the middle as a good sized Christmas ham!  Unfortunately, have not seen him on my last few visits.

The Big Guns!

The highlight for me on this trip was a visit to Loggerhead Key, located about 7 miles west of the fort. We motored over on a calm day to visit the historic lighthouse and do some snorkeling.  Off of this island is some of the best snorkeling I have ever done in the Florida Keys! This is said by someone who has lived and worked on the water professionally in the Keys for over 20 years! There is a mooring buoy you can pick up on the east side of the island and a dinghy landing area on the beach next to the Park Service dock. While you can’t go IN the lighthouse, it is still fun to walk around it and the rest of the island.  If you have time, you can walk to the north end of the island and find the remnants of the old marine laboratory.  On the west side of the island is a shallow inshore patch reef called “Little Africa”. It is one of the healthiest patch reefs I have seen in in the Keys in 20 years.  All types of brain, plate, and branching coral can be found here in their full glory. Giant hogfish, mutton snapper, and grouper are everywhere (this is a highly protected area where fishing is not allowed and it IS enforced). Look for the non-descript marker buoys, put on your snorkel gear and be ready to be blown away!  The reef is so named because if you look at Google Earth, you can see it is indeed shaped like the African continent. We snorkeled the entire circumference of the reef which took us about two hours. If the markers are no longer there, it is about a couple hundred yards up from the building that has broke in half and fell partly into the sea.

Loggerhead Light with S/V Eileen in the foreground.

The other amazing snorkel off of Loggerhead Key is about a half mile south of the island and known as the “Windjammer” wreck.  There is a mooring on it as well, but the depths there are a bit shallow for our 5 ft. draft so we took the dinghy over. Coordinates can be found in the park literature. This is a huge wreck that breaks the surface in some areas and is in about 20 feet of water in others. The park’s website has a 3D underwater movie of the site you can check out. Be aware of tide and current.  The wreck is huge and covers a wide area. Celia and I saw the biggest turtle we have ever seen…its head was bigger than a basketball! It was riding the current along the bottom and hunting. Absolutely another must-do if you are out here on your own boat.

Boat Monkey Hanging Around

For avid divers, there are several amazing dive sites within the park boundaries that have mooring buoys for day visits from the fort.  Again, more info can be found on the park’s website and literature.  They routinely rotate the available mooring balls at the dive sites so check with the park.  Anchoring is not allowed outside the main harbor.

All boats must anchor each night in the main harbor just off Garden Key. Holding is good to fair in sand and grass. There is plenty of room for several boats. The day ferry comes each day and if you talk to the Captain, they will usually be happy to sell you a couple bags of ice or anything else from their ship’s store (like ice cream!). They will usually tolerate a quick rinse under their aft deck showers, but don’t show up with your soap and shampoo and try to take a leisurely shower!  Bring what you need and pay special attention to the weather…it is not a fun trip to beat all the way back to Key West once the easterly winds set in at 15-20 kts! You can sometimes get stuck here for a while if you are not watching the weather closely.

Bush Key

Anyway, enjoy the pictures and make sure to put this on your itinerary if you are in the area.  When sailing from Key West, we usually break up the trip with a stop at the Marquesas Keys (about 20 miles west of Key West). Highly recommended!

The Moat Wall

Sunset from Staff Quarters

Headed Home 🙁