The Exumas March 2014

March 2014

3/1 The wind was still blowing pretty good when we got up. Rick and Liz decide to leave for Long Island anyway.

Janet and I walk beached and check out a snorkel spot on the ocean side with great views. The ocean was still rough from the recent storms. 

back on the anchorage side it was nice and calm. 

There was a great tail that lead to and from the snorkeling pool and through the jungle.   















Bob picked us up for lunch after our walking/exploring adventure.  












Lady Nelson was still at anchor and joined us at the Chat n Chill for yet another party.

Another night of squalls kept us all awake.  We decided to delay snorkeling because it was too rough so we headed back to the trails for more photo opts. 

 The ocean was pounding over the rocks that protect the snorkel pool.

The tide was also going out which left several boats high and dry for many hours. The current was too strong for anyone trying to get across. 

, 

3/3 dingy behind Rolle cay, very shallow, walk boat across shallows, glory days folks there, moss island, throw anchor, not attached, snorkel ok, jewelry, 

3/4 snorkel reef near chat n chill, not bad, JW pack up, bring her to P&P, check in, #12, pina colada, will come back for dinner later, nice dinner by JW, nice visit

3/5 found some clothes JW left, bob work on changing fuel genset and engine, read relax

3/6 laundry in town, 3 loads, liz and rick back, dinghy ride snorkel at marker, tide going out, cloudy, fair

3/7 cribbage with liz, dinner later, lobster, bob made bread

3/8 weather still not good to leave, kayak to monument beach, hike up then back to boat, communication issues, Bob got stuck in lazarette, had discussion, 

3/9 finally depart GT at 8am.  stay near 200ft for fishing opportunity, no luck, lots of traveling boats, light chop, NE winds 10 -15 sunny motor sail cut narrow but ok, anchored behind children cay infront of private beach.  very  ice, dinghy around snorkel, rick John, and friend stopped by and gave us small lobster and grouper.  they are at williams cay

3/10  leave via rat cay cut around 9:45 try fishing on way to ruder cut, no success, head into rudder cut around 1:15 great scenery, rocks, water color incredible, anchored at end near man made channel, now private of course.  take snorkel gear and dinghy around, did find mermaid and piano, life size.  Ramora  looking for host, barracuda just looking, check out rocks in cut, too much current to go in, bob snorkel along wall near cut and saw lots offish, used weight belt and found it better to stay down.  about ten boats in anchorage, mostly bunched up at entry near cave  private signs posted all around.  nice dinner overcast

3/11 left anchorage a 9:45 most boats left early, try fishing again with no luck, arrive little farmers cay around noon.  missed first mooring ball, picked up second, looks like one strand on mooring line frayed, dingy around visit ocean cabin and very friendly Terry Bain, cute settlement all friendly meet up with other boaters on an apogee 58, very nice but some drawbacks, 7.2ft draft, 68’mast, fair pilot house.  lots of tourists fast boat flying through anchorage, all along exumas, annoying.  nice steak dinner

3/12 may stay here for upcoming storm.  watched 53’ oceans run aground trying to dock, came in a bit too fast on wrong side of dock.  Bob and several other took dinghy over to help.  discover he has fin keel and will have to wait for high tide to move. Walk to beach bar and hang there a bit, great people swam Bob hang out on beach chair, got ride back to town from bar tender, bob got fresh snapper, he ate I was too tired the two drinks didn’t help, fell asleep, weird night. 

3/13 wind picked up, early am, blood red sunrise over last, big black clouds moving overhead, decided to leave around 11am, thought it calmed down enough and there was still enough water to get out, tide was going out.  wind 30-35kts, squall, got to little bay 1hr too early, wind clocking around from west to north, heave too and stayed hove to for 45min while wind direction imporved.  pulled in close and anchored, turned out very nice.  only ones here till later in afternoon.  big yacht and  sailboat pulled in wind still 15 -25 supposed to pick up again.  nice sunset with castle in background. also had internet

3/14 windy night, lots of noise, anchor snubber very creaky, pancakes, reading books, snorkel along wall, lot s of fish, not much color, lots of wind another sailboat and catamaran pulled in

3/15 windy night but not bad, decide to do snorkel this am then mose over to black pt, brought dinghy to beach in front of castle, after snorkel, lady of the mannor came over to talk with us. she was concerned about fishiing too close to the shore to beach with spear, Bob had spear, no worries there he was not successful, talked about area said her husband not friendly walks around naked, and rather grumpy, we saw hom on his porch later, he did look grumpy, moved to black pt went in for some stuff and haircuts, very short bangs, hmmmm saw 47' pilot house cabo rico, will visit tomorrow am.  there were three together, 1977 dbl masted, 1995 cutter 2006 pilot house. very cool.  got jug water, bread potato eggs

3/16 move to Staniel Cay, top of the majors, pick ourway through reefs and anchored off channel.  windy, current, several boats came in later moxie, and small sail anchor in channel, power boats fly though, tried to kayak, current too strong, paddle hard and still going backwards, dragged it over rocks and then paddle back to boat

3/17 not a bad night, wind going south, roll from cut, some power boats moving over here, another day of wind, cocktails with moxie, snorkel shelling back of sampson cay, very good

3/18  top of major, went to town, no wifi available, 65’ powerboat ran aground on thron of crowns, took all day to tow him off. tried to kayak later, out going current strong, Bob couldn’t find me, some other kayakers were in trouble,

3/19 left anchorage 9:30 and took bank route to to conch cut, several attempt near compass cay for anchorage but ended up at Bell Island off construction site, took dinghy around to compass cay marina, strictly large yachts, no fish

3/20 left Bell Island early and moved to Johnny Depp Island, Little Halls Pond.  snorkel aquariam nice, clear, lots of people, lots of fish, dinghy to Sandy Cay, AKA osprey island, very cool private but ok, water flat clear, great colors, 

3/21 leave anchorage 10:30 head to bank and put up sail, NNE 12-18kts, great sail, anchored at shroud cay around 2:30.  got in kayaks and went across island to ocean, “3 hr tour” but well worth it very cool even if we had to drag kayaks over some sand bars

3:22 left anchorage 6:45am part cloudy 2 -4’ seas, 15kts, have 7kt boat speed, incoming tide, -2.0kt at cut, anchor at end of Rock Harbor sound, Eluthra, dinghy to dock walk to stores, some provision nice sunset calm seas

3/23 depart 6:45am flat calm clear, lots of dew, outside harbor lite chop, lite west wind 12kts, only saw 1 other sail boat near cut.  motor most of way, go thru current cut 4kts, follow a sailboat  arrived at mooring around 3:45 cleaned up boat, nice looking town Spanish Wells

3.24 Bandid out early to collect $20 mooring rent, rent golf cart, drive around island, provision fresh lobster, liquor store, all gift shops, Russell Island, bank, tackle house, return cart around 5pm, more boats arrived, had lobster dinner, Bob’s gout bad

3/25 Bandit collect fee for 2 days, he is piloting boat to harbor town today, tricky area devils back bone, rain for a bit, kayak around pt and then back around mangroves. waves up on ocean side, wind starting to pick up, clear water, lots of small fish barracuda eagle ray upside down jelly egret, heron, back to boat for late lunch, emails photos.  Bob reading with foot up sunny warm wind 15-20 we are well protected, Hobie cat fling around.  Bob fishing and catch small mutton snapper, threw it back

3/26 windy and cool, take dinghy ride, check out canals, look for fishing guy, not around.  walk to Budhas, for lunch, not good on his foot.  Laura returns today after flying out for eye injection .  invited then to dinner thru

3/27 bandit called 2 days rent, weather window not looking good for Sunday, head to pinders for lime and chicken, nice evening with Pan brought medicine for Bob

3/28 Bob rest foot, walk around boat , Pan stop by to see patient, work on taxes not fun. 

3/29 dinghy to beach, watched kids jump off bridge, walk on beach, tide way out, Bob stay in boat and read, storm clouds but no rain, warm humid, saw Pand a lawrie at Joannes take away, we tried out their bikes.  fish guy not in, Bob went back later in day and got 2 big lobster tails. nice dinner. not leaving sunday squalls, maybe tuesday now, may go with “kindred spirits” and take pilot out through reef. 

3/30 up late, Bob slept in, last 2 nights slept in cockpit, hot and foot not doing well.  swelling, has gone down, did some laundry, rained on it, very low tide, was going to kayak too windy, squall, nice dinner on Pan & Lawries boat, curry chicken

3/31 rent cart to go to bank, pharmacy, pan wrote prescription for Bob’s foot, smoothie and shirt shop, get gas for dinghy and drinking water.  grab sandwich at Budhas, wine return cart and ate sandwich on wall then brought food back to boat. took long dinghy ride around island.  Some nice homes pork chops for dinner, bed

The Exumas February 2014

Feb 2014 Exumas 

Abby is coming for a visit and we will head back to Nassau to pick up Abby on 2/7/2014.

We stop at Highbourne Cay on 2/3 and anchor near the Patelco tower.   Lady Nelson (Betty and Bob) were also in the anchorage and we will hang out with them tomorrow.  
OH, and the dinghy injector is clogged. 

2/4 We dinghy into the marina with Betty and Bob but could not walk around island without paying a fee, that was annoying. But, it was ok to buy food at their very high price store, we    

bought one loaf of bread. 

The fishing boats had just brought in some Mahi Mahi and were busy cutting fish and keeping the sharks fat and happy.

After checking out the view from the bar we head back down to the dock and return to our own yachts for some rest and kayaking. 

Our departure from the marina was pretty exciting, the wind picked up creating very chopping conditions at the inlet.

I did kayak to the end of the Cay but did not go very far around because of the choppy conditions. It was much calmer at the anchorage. 

We ended the day with a nice sunset and cocktails on board with Betty and Bob.

2/5 After a very lumpy night with surge, we made for Rose Island and anchored on the north side in a very nice little anchorage with two other boats. This is a very popular snorkeling spot for tourists from Nassau, the cat boats bring out a new group every hour.  

We discovered why when we kayaked over the reef and saw all the marine life.  So we also spent some time snorkeling.  
The little beach was beautiful with all white sand and the Island in the distance was filmed in the opening scene of GIligans Island.  

2/6 The next morning was perfect for a kayak to shore and a walk on the beach. I met a couple from Australia prepping their 50’ CAT for charter in the Exumas. 

We departed our beautiful anchorage and unsuccessfully tried to set the sensor on our erratic auto pilot.  So we fueled up at Harbor Town marina and pulled into a slip to wait for Abby.  
Abby made it though customs with all of our boat parts and got a ride to the marina from a fellow passenger.  We did some provisioning and sent emails to the passengers wife to let her know he was ok and would try to contact her later.  Getting to sleep was a challenge due to the very noisy dive charter boat in the slip across from us.

2/7 Sunrise in Nassau was spectacular.  
We took showers and did our laundry but the dryer did not work so will have to air dry clothes on the boat, always a nice Clampett hill billy look, Bob's favorite.  
We spent some time looking for and booking flights for Abby, then departed slip at 10am for Allen Cay.  

Upon arrival in Allen Cay we got into the water and kayaked around the anchorage. Bob and Abby did check the anchor first.  There were only two other boats there so it was very nice. 

We checked out the iguanas and then they checked us out, a little freaky.

































While Bob worked on the generator, installing the motor Abby brought for us, we went swimming. 


At the end of the day Bob was pretty tired but he still made spaghetti, broccoli, garlic bread, and served wine, not too shabby.

2/8   We left Allen Cay heading for Staniel Cay at 9am with a little visitor that did not want to leave.

We had breakfast on route and arrived at Staniel Cay at 3:45pm.  Betty and Bob on Lady Nelson were there and all the ladies went kayaking. The water was calm, clear and warm, and the day turned out to be one of the best ever.  

Kayaked right through sunset.  Awesome!  And to finish, pork chops, nice wine, sweet potato, drinks at the bow.

2/9 Thunderbolt Cave/Grotto was on the schedule for this morning with Bettty, Bob, Abby, Bob and Marsha. 

We explored the cave and surrounding area and a great time was had by all.











After drying out we took off for Cave Cay and anchored just beyond the Cave Cay Marina entrance around 2:30pm.  
We did the dinghy ride around the area, and snorkeled along the beach and rocky shoreline.  

Bob made a delicious casserole for dinner and everyone crashed.  Abby has a sun burn and Bob is not feeling well.

2/10 We depart early and motor sail to Georgetown. As soon as we dropped anchor at Monument beach an official "greeter" came out to welcome us and give the local scoop. 
We went to Chat n Chill then across the bay to Georgetown and picked up frozen lobster tails, drank a few pina coladas, and a couple of beers. 

The tunnel is the only passage way to get into the dinghy dock, there are lots of rules for this passage.

The big event of the day was the Alcohol Rehabilitation Group (ARG) meeting, or excuse to have a big party.  We kayaked by and saw that is was packed with 100s or cruisers.  We skipped this event.

2/11 Abby departs today and we had a taxi meet us a the Exuma market for her ride to the airport. Abby left with more clothes than she brought, all our winter clothes. Now we have a little more space. 

We waved goodbye, walked around town, found wifi, pina coladas, and a conch salad. The dive shop told us about a blue hole and we checked it out later in the day.  Bob was still not feeling well so we went to the dentist at the local clinic, turns out his tooth is ok, but that may not be the problem. 
On the way back we stopped by the St Francis YC and stocked up on ice. 

Our day ended with a cocktails on board Michelle and Ian's boat, Southern Flite.   We had a fun time but way too much to too much to drink.  

2/12 The morning excitement in GT is flagging down the trash boat that comes by twice a week and for a small fee they take all your trash. A big storm was heading our way so to avoid the high winds most of the boats moved to other side of bay. This is known as the GT shuffle. 








We stayed put and took dinghy to town to pick a hose for the generator for the salt water intake so Bob could work on the engine, the generator and other small projects. It was a pretty lumpy ride into town. We met up with Ian and Michelle for a very slow lunch at the Yacht Club. 


The GT regatta is coming up soon so the T-Shirt booth was set up in town to raise money. 

We could see the sky getting blacker and moving our way so off we go for another lumpy dinghy ride back to the boat.  We got back to the boat on time but not without breaking the seat in the dinghy crashing over a rather large wave. We did take down the awning, and bring in all our laundry so the Elan Hillbillies would not lose any underwear in the storm.  Bob so loves that, I really should take a picture of the boat all decked out in laundry. ;-}

Since we were now all ship shape we visited Ian and Michelle on Southern Flight for a very nice, very fresh Mahi dinner. We had a nice time and did not drink too much, lessons learned. 

2/13 The squall started in earnest around 2 am, lots of lightening and high winds, the anchor held so no problem there.   Another squall came in about 10 am, leaving some very dark clouds hanging about for most of the day.  It was a good day to work around boat or just be lazy.  Bob is still not feeling well, but he put up the antenna, I set up 3 months of Bahama wifi, and then we went to town looking for computer stuff with no luck. But we did find ribs, yum.

We also checked out he boats in the harbor and on the way back snorkeled at the blue hole. 

2/14 Happy Valentine Day. Bob and Betty arrived, we are all going to opening dance at Chat and Chill. It was very crowded but we did manage to find our friends and had a great time. 

2/15 There was another Squall in the morning that gave way to some interesting clouds. It was a good day to walk on the beach with Ian and Michelle and enjoy the scenery.

2/16 We were invited to go fishing with Ian Michelle, and some of their friends, Donna, Dave, Brent, and Elle.  We had a great day with an interesting group of people.  We caught one Mahi and had it for dinner.  My first introduction to fresh Mahi, it was very good.

It did take some time to get the dinghies tied up.

There is one on the line
and it did get reeled in, rum poured in the gills to quiet it down and then dropped into the cooler. 

 back at the anchorage, the fish was cut up shared with the crew.

The Ladies were happy, fish for dinner and more drinks. 

2/17 Todays organized event was the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) lunch. We sat with Betty and Bob through a very long speech.  We left as soon as possible and took a dinghy ride around the harbor and picked up some ice. 
I kayaked to the northern point in very windy conditions, the cut was pretty rough, it was a good workout getting back to the boat.

There was a dolphin swimming around the anchorage checking out the boats. He hung around for a couple of days






Another nice sunset completes the day. 

2/18 There are now over 300 boats in the harbor, most anchoring too close to each other and us.  We decided to pick up prescriptions for Bob and take a ride to Red Shanks. It was  long ride through very shallow areas in windy lumpy conditions. There was a boat or two that did not make it through the shallows. 

2/20 what a fun day we had with Ian and Michelle touring the Island.  We rented a car and drove around most of Exuma Island with with only a few mishaps. The best was getting stuck in the sand. We found some resorts and local spots with great food and drink.

                                                               Cheers

The entrance to Emerald Isle  Marina was tricky

Sandals at Emerald Bay was nice

 The local spots were the best

Where else can you get stuck in the sand and really enjoy it. Well, the girls enjoyed it. 













2/21 After weeks of preparation and hoopla the kick off party for the GT Regatta gets  underway in the town park.  Food, drink, stage show and a dinghy ride back in the dark with no lights.  It was different........

Before the next event we did mange to get in some kayaking around the blue hole

2/22 The first sail boat race of the regatta started today.  We watched from Ian's boat anchored right at the second mark. It was the best place to take pictures of all the boats rounding the mark.   

Of course there was an after race party at Palm Bay. Unfortunately the food and drink lines were long and some folks did not demonstrate good behavior. We ignored the annoying people and had a great time playing pool and socializing with lots of cruisers with better attitudes.  The dinghy ride back in dark was tricky, it was shallow and there were two big rock formations to avoid, it all made for a memorable evening. 

The second day of the Regatta was around Lee Stocking Island and took most of the day.  And, surprise, surprise, at the end of the race there was another party at the St Francis Yacht Club. It was crowded with long lines waiting to get in for appetizers and drinks. We did find a back door and were served fairly quickly.  ;-}

2/24 For the finale there was an awards dinner dance party at Chat n Chill.  Our group actually won their division, not bad. 

2/24 After all the Regatta excitement Michelle and I decided to go kayaking and snorkel along some of the smaller islands across the Bay. We started at Palm Bay and ended up at Rolle Cay, Bob did give us a lift part way.  
Quite unexpectedly we met the owner of the Island where we were enjoying lunch, we may have been trespassing, but Mr Rolle was very gracious. 

 Rolle Cay was probably the best spot in the GT Harbor for viewing the area

Rolle Cay boardwalk to several private cottages. 

2/25 Lots of boats were leaving GT,  some on an organized sail to Long Island and others just exploring on their own.  Ian and Michelle headed to Emerald Isle Marina to enjoy the Spa at Sandals and the nice laundry service at the Marina. We are waiting for Janet to arrive tomorrow afternoon.

There was a very nice and very large custom cat boat we both liked in the anchorage, we just had to check it out.

2/26 After several squalls we moved Elan to the ExumaYC in downtown GT to top off fuel and water. Since we arrived later in day we were allowed to leave the boat at dock while we did laundry and shopping. When Janet arrived we had cocktails at the EYC and stayed there for night, that was very convenient. 

2/27 At 6:30am we back out of our EYC slip, turn around and turn head off to Conception Island about  40nm away.  It was sunny, warm, hazy sky, following seas  and a 15-20kt SW wind moving us along at 8kts. Making good time we anchored around 2:30pm and head into the beach to snorkel and look for shells.  Janet was not feeling well went to bed with a migraine,  Unfortunately it was a very rough night, the wind picked up and changed direction causing a nasty surge.

2/28 After not much sleep we get up early to make a hasty departure but had tough time putting the dinghy on the davits because of the surgy conditions.  The davit handle wacked the back of my hand and I thought it broke my knuckles.  Janet stepped in to help with the dinghy and soon we were on our way to GT.  It was a tough ride most of the way, squalls with 30-35kt winds pushed us off course, and we were not sure we would make it. But the wind started changing direction and we could head up a bit more and we finally made into the eastern entrance around 2:30pm.  We worked our way through reefs with no problem and pulled in next to Lady Nelson and Sorceress anchored at Sand Dollar beach.  
We had cocktails with liz, Rick, John, Barb, Janet, Bob and me. It was a good way to end a very stressful day.