Monday, March 29, 2010
The migration north begins!
At this time of year, towards the end of March, two definite patterns emerge as far as the sailing activity in this part of the world goes: boats gather in packs awaiting those elusive 'weather windows' and, when the weatherman blows the starter whistle, the boats are off and running either north back to the U.S. or, those who have bet on "better weather the later you leave it", migrate on the southbound route to George Town. We are with the northbound pack, and hoping to eventually make it back to Fort Lauderdale via Nassau, Chubb Cay and Bimini. It is all in the hands of the weather gods!
We stayed four nights in the pristine waters of Warderick Wells and had two very enjoyable evenings with Gail and Michael on 'Southern Spirit'.
Our next destination was Norman's Cay, a part of the world which became notorious during the 'drug wars' of the 70s and 80s. In 1979 Carlos Lehder, a shady character from Columbia, bought half of the 650 acre Norman's Cay. He bought the other home owners out, and threatened and intimidated those who wouldn't budge! He lengthened the island's airstrip, improved the dock, and proceeded to make this little corner of paradise the cornerstone of the Medellin Cartel's cocaine smuggling activities into the southern U.S. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) caught on to this pretty quickly, set up surveillance on the neighbouring islands, and carried out what was supposed to be a surprise raid, but to no avail. The raid failed and many allegations of bribery and corruption right up to the highest levels of the police and Bahamian government, surfaced. However, the DEA prevailed in the end, and Lehder, fed up with all this harassment, and indicted as a fugitive in the U.S., eventually moved back to Columbia. The story has a happy ending, but not for Carlos!
In 1987 he was captured, extradited to the U.S. and was sentenced to life without parole plus 135 years!!
This lurid history adds a certain 'edginess' to this lovely island, particularly as the remains of one of the drug runners' planes sits right in the middle of the main anchorage, and bullet holes still scar the once lovely holiday homes! We enjoyed rambling down the pot-holed highways and by-ways, but did not fancy being there after the sun set! There is one little restaurant on the west side of the island - 'Macduff's'. The signpost with directions from the anchorage is in the shape of a scotty dog, and warns sailors to watch out for planes landing and taking off on the airstrip. Bill insisted on walking along the runway to tempt the gods!
MacDuff's is a great and funky little watering hole, with a nice sit-up bar and hamburgers that cost $18! We had fun.
From Norman's we decided to treat ourselves to two nights at the lovely Highborne Cay Marina. We had called in there earlier in the trip, but this time the weather was much warmer and we could swim from the pretty beach.
At some point between Warderick Wells and Highborne we had found out what had happened to our friends, Marianne and Paul, on Knot-A-Gain. Their boat had sprung a leak in George Town, and they had made a horrendous, thirty hour, non-stop trip in heavy seas back to Nassau to get it fixed! So, after two days in Highborne we decided to move back to Nassau. We are now docked next to them at Nassau Harbour Club Marina and catching up with all their news during the many cocktail hours and 'sundowner' opportunities that seem to crop up around here!
The north-bound pack of boats here is eagerly awaiting promised 'weather windows' later this week (yes, more than just one day!) to head out and back to the U.S. Our plan is to move off on Wednesday, and get to Chubb Cay where we'll anchor for the night. We'll set off before dawn the next day to try to get to Bimini (About 80 miles from Chubb Cay) in daylight, and avoid what could be a rough night at anchor on the Bahama Banks. We may stay in Bimini for a while and await a good day to cross the Gulf Stream back to Fort Lauderdale. This plan is, of course, subject to change!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Heading north
Just because your own anchor is firmly buried in the sand, doesn’t mean that your neighbours’ anchors are situated likewise! We discovered this on the morning of the arrival of the next cold front in George Town. A boat which had come in to anchor fairly close beside us began rapidly edging closer to our starboard side in the blustery, 20 knot gusts. All the inhabitants of the boat must have been sleeping off the previous night’s Regatta Wrap-Up Party, as there was no sign of life on board. So, after much tugging, and straining of the windlass, Bill managed to pull our anchor up, and we left to go……where? That was the question.
Some boats had moved across the harbour to seek some sort of shelter from the strong north-westerly blow. There was no other shelter available, and the alternative was to re-anchor somewhere and ride out the storm. But then we had a bright idea! The much- lauded ‘Marina at Emerald Bay’ – a former ‘Four Seasons’ property – was only seven miles north, and many cruisers had praised the beautiful clubhouse and showers, free laundry and relatively cheap rates. We made an instant decision to head there ahead of the storm – particularly as weather guru, Chris Parker, had forecast that the front would not arrive fully until around 3 p.m.
Well, we made it, but only just! The front actually arrived at 11 a.m., and we managed to get ourselves tied up at Emerald Bay at 10:45 a.m. Phew! En route we were treated to a smorgasbord of VHF radio activity which told of 42 foot boats breaking their mooring lines and heading for the rocks, and boats rapidly sliding closer together in some of the already tightly packed anchorages. There was also an ominous weather warning telling of the ‘heaviest rainstorm in living memory’ that had just hit Staniel Cay to our north, and was rapidly bearing down on us!
Emerald Bay Marina has only just re-opened. ‘Four Seasons’ recently sold the marina and the nearby resort to ‘Sandals’. It was closed last winter, but re-opened in November 2009. A short walk from the marina is a lovely, crescent shaped beach where we swam each day before moving on to the pool bar at the ‘Grand Isle Resort’ nearby! It’s a great place for sailors to clean up (yes, literally) after the rigours of being at anchor!!
After a few days we had to drag ourselves away from all this comfort to head north to spend a night at anchor at Lee Stocking Island. This island is the home of the ‘Caribbean Marine Research Centre’. We were lucky enough to pick the day of the tour of the centre, so off we went with Sue and Bruce from Andiamo to learn about the research projects taking place there.
The next day we took advantage of the comparatively calm seas in the Exuma Sound to move north and re-visit ‘Little Farmers Cay’. It can be tricky entering or leaving the ‘cuts’ between the ‘Sound’ (Atlantic side) and the Banks (shallow waters which surround most of the Bahamian islands). However we managed to get through Little Farmers’ Cut at slack tide, and all went smoothly. As we came closer to our destination we could hear Ernestine from ‘Ocean Cabin’ advertising ‘Happy Hour’ with free conch fritters. Conch is a shellfish used in many Bahamian recipes. So, as soon as we had picked up our mooring ball, we dinghied over to join the throng of happy sailors, and say hello once again to Terry and Ernestine at Ocean Cabin. Terry had composed a song for a couple celebrating their anniversary and we serenaded them raucously!
The next morning we went to the ‘Yacht Club’ – which is not really a yacht club, but a restaurant and bar – and Roosevelt Nixon, the owner, cooked us a delicious breakfast. From here we braved the coral-strewn waters north of the Cay and moved further north to anchor at the settlement of Black Point. We had heard a lot about Black Point. This little town is particularly renowned for its laundry! Many sailors, whether north or southbound, are getting desperate at this point for some clean clothes. The laundry has its own dinghy dock and has ‘Lorraine’s Restaurant’ right next door. So the routine is to move from one to the other while the suds are doing their work. Luckily we didn’t need to use this service as we’d laundered everything in sight at Emerald Bay! That afternoon we tried to go ashore but had to give up as it was too rough to tie up the dinghy safely. By morning the seas had settled down and we toured the little town, bought some groceries at the small store, and some coconut bread at Lorraine’s.
By midday we had to up anchor and move on as we had booked a mooring at Exuma Land and Sea Park – Warderick Wells. We were anxious to get there as we were meeting up with Gail and Michael Dixon on their 42 foot Catalina, ‘Southern Spirit’. Gail and Michael are from Toronto and are RCYC members. We often meet up with them during our summer wanderings around Lake Ontario - we on ‘Vectis’, and they on ‘Winged Spirit’.
The prize moorings at Warderick Wells are in the north mooring field, but neither ‘Southern Spirit’ nor ‘Southern Vectis’ were lucky enough to be allotted one of these for our first night, and we were both in the Emerald Rock mooring area. However, when we arrived, we were welcomed by Gail and Michael and their friends, Suzy and Gary on ‘Happy Sails’, who actually dinghied out and handed us our mooring line!
The next morning we had to wait to hear if we would be given a north mooring. We were quite anxious as yet another cold front with strong north-westerlies is coming in on Monday, and the Emerald mooring field is very exposed! We were in luck, and so were Gail and Michael, but not so Gary and Suzy, who were given the south mooring area.
The wind and waves really got up that morning as we made our way to the north mooring area. We had almost made it when Michael called us on the VHF to say that someone (a Quebec boat) had just taken our mooring ball (#14). Luckily Darcy, the Park Ranger and organizer of the moorings, sorted this out – and a little later we were able to come in from circling in the raging 27 knot winds and tie up in paradise! (Thank you, Michael, Gail and Darcy!) We needed a strong rum and coke, and an ‘All Day Breakfast’ of bacon and eggs with all the trimmings, to recover from this!
It is truly beautiful here – the water is an amazing pale turquoise and totally clear. We will stay here through the next front and for a few days!
Some boats had moved across the harbour to seek some sort of shelter from the strong north-westerly blow. There was no other shelter available, and the alternative was to re-anchor somewhere and ride out the storm. But then we had a bright idea! The much- lauded ‘Marina at Emerald Bay’ – a former ‘Four Seasons’ property – was only seven miles north, and many cruisers had praised the beautiful clubhouse and showers, free laundry and relatively cheap rates. We made an instant decision to head there ahead of the storm – particularly as weather guru, Chris Parker, had forecast that the front would not arrive fully until around 3 p.m.
Well, we made it, but only just! The front actually arrived at 11 a.m., and we managed to get ourselves tied up at Emerald Bay at 10:45 a.m. Phew! En route we were treated to a smorgasbord of VHF radio activity which told of 42 foot boats breaking their mooring lines and heading for the rocks, and boats rapidly sliding closer together in some of the already tightly packed anchorages. There was also an ominous weather warning telling of the ‘heaviest rainstorm in living memory’ that had just hit Staniel Cay to our north, and was rapidly bearing down on us!
Emerald Bay Marina has only just re-opened. ‘Four Seasons’ recently sold the marina and the nearby resort to ‘Sandals’. It was closed last winter, but re-opened in November 2009. A short walk from the marina is a lovely, crescent shaped beach where we swam each day before moving on to the pool bar at the ‘Grand Isle Resort’ nearby! It’s a great place for sailors to clean up (yes, literally) after the rigours of being at anchor!!
After a few days we had to drag ourselves away from all this comfort to head north to spend a night at anchor at Lee Stocking Island. This island is the home of the ‘Caribbean Marine Research Centre’. We were lucky enough to pick the day of the tour of the centre, so off we went with Sue and Bruce from Andiamo to learn about the research projects taking place there.
The next day we took advantage of the comparatively calm seas in the Exuma Sound to move north and re-visit ‘Little Farmers Cay’. It can be tricky entering or leaving the ‘cuts’ between the ‘Sound’ (Atlantic side) and the Banks (shallow waters which surround most of the Bahamian islands). However we managed to get through Little Farmers’ Cut at slack tide, and all went smoothly. As we came closer to our destination we could hear Ernestine from ‘Ocean Cabin’ advertising ‘Happy Hour’ with free conch fritters. Conch is a shellfish used in many Bahamian recipes. So, as soon as we had picked up our mooring ball, we dinghied over to join the throng of happy sailors, and say hello once again to Terry and Ernestine at Ocean Cabin. Terry had composed a song for a couple celebrating their anniversary and we serenaded them raucously!
The next morning we went to the ‘Yacht Club’ – which is not really a yacht club, but a restaurant and bar – and Roosevelt Nixon, the owner, cooked us a delicious breakfast. From here we braved the coral-strewn waters north of the Cay and moved further north to anchor at the settlement of Black Point. We had heard a lot about Black Point. This little town is particularly renowned for its laundry! Many sailors, whether north or southbound, are getting desperate at this point for some clean clothes. The laundry has its own dinghy dock and has ‘Lorraine’s Restaurant’ right next door. So the routine is to move from one to the other while the suds are doing their work. Luckily we didn’t need to use this service as we’d laundered everything in sight at Emerald Bay! That afternoon we tried to go ashore but had to give up as it was too rough to tie up the dinghy safely. By morning the seas had settled down and we toured the little town, bought some groceries at the small store, and some coconut bread at Lorraine’s.
By midday we had to up anchor and move on as we had booked a mooring at Exuma Land and Sea Park – Warderick Wells. We were anxious to get there as we were meeting up with Gail and Michael Dixon on their 42 foot Catalina, ‘Southern Spirit’. Gail and Michael are from Toronto and are RCYC members. We often meet up with them during our summer wanderings around Lake Ontario - we on ‘Vectis’, and they on ‘Winged Spirit’.
The prize moorings at Warderick Wells are in the north mooring field, but neither ‘Southern Spirit’ nor ‘Southern Vectis’ were lucky enough to be allotted one of these for our first night, and we were both in the Emerald Rock mooring area. However, when we arrived, we were welcomed by Gail and Michael and their friends, Suzy and Gary on ‘Happy Sails’, who actually dinghied out and handed us our mooring line!
The next morning we had to wait to hear if we would be given a north mooring. We were quite anxious as yet another cold front with strong north-westerlies is coming in on Monday, and the Emerald mooring field is very exposed! We were in luck, and so were Gail and Michael, but not so Gary and Suzy, who were given the south mooring area.
The wind and waves really got up that morning as we made our way to the north mooring area. We had almost made it when Michael called us on the VHF to say that someone (a Quebec boat) had just taken our mooring ball (#14). Luckily Darcy, the Park Ranger and organizer of the moorings, sorted this out – and a little later we were able to come in from circling in the raging 27 knot winds and tie up in paradise! (Thank you, Michael, Gail and Darcy!) We needed a strong rum and coke, and an ‘All Day Breakfast’ of bacon and eggs with all the trimmings, to recover from this!
It is truly beautiful here – the water is an amazing pale turquoise and totally clear. We will stay here through the next front and for a few days!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
We made it to cruisers' paradise...George Town, Exuma
On Friday we finally tore ourselves away from lovely Sampson Cay Marina after nine days packed with three cold fronts and their accompanying ‘pre-frontal troughs’, ‘re-enforcing fronts’, and 30 knot winds with accompanying heavy seas. (Our ‘weather-speak’ is developing with each new front!) As usual, it was a busy day on the water as boats nosed tentatively out of their ‘sheltered’ anchorages and mooring areas, and the lucky marina dwellers cast off their lines.
We headed south for about 18 miles, along with Sue and Bruce on Andiamo, towards ‘Little Farmer’s Cay’. This would be our jumping-off point for our final southward leg to George Town. ‘Little Farmer’s’ is only ¾ mile long and has a population of 55 people who are mostly related! We decided to take a mooring ball for just one night as the weather was supposed to settle down to allow for a smooth passage down the east side of the Exuma chain in Exuma Sound – the exposed Atlantic side. This was ‘subject to change’ as 25 knot north-westerlies built up overnight and forced us to put off our Atlantic leg until Monday.
We had reserved our mooring ball on the south-east side of the island with Terry Bain and his wife, Ernestine, of ‘Ocean Cabins’ – a restaurant, bar, book-swap and internet station at Little Harbour. Once ‘checked in’, we pre-ordered our Friday night lobster dinner for 6 p.m., and had a very entertaining evening with Sue and Bruce, and other boaters, crowned by Terry and Ernestine singing the lovely ‘Little Farmer’s Cay’ anthem!
On Saturday our ‘buddy boat’, Knot-A-Gain’, which had been weather-marooned in Warderick Wells for 11 days, arrived on the mooring ball next to us, and we explored the island and visited the other meeting area – the ‘Yacht Club’, run by Roosevelt Nixon (real name!). We also bought a delicious take-out dinner from “Brenda’s’ on the beach at Little Harbour and had a lovely ‘dinner party’ on Marianne & Paul’s boat.
We had planned to move south on Sunday through the ‘Little Farmer’s Cut’ into the Atlantic. The winds were still blowing about 20 –25 knots, but the real problem was the huge swell which we could see crashing against the rocks either side of the ‘cut’, and the towering ‘white horses’ further out. ‘Andiamo’ decided to make a break for it, but ended up going out one cut and in the next (Galliot Cut) as the huge seas would have made a really uncomfortable 7 hour ride to George Town!
At last, on Monday, the time was right for our last leg south - to ‘cruisers’ heaven’, George Town. We set off at 7:30 a.m. to get the slack tide at the ‘cut’ as the seas were still fairly high, and arrived at our anchorage spot under the Monument just off ‘Hamburger Beach, George Town at 3 p.m. This anchorage is one of the few marked as ‘good holding’ for anchors, and it has proved to be fine so far even though the winds have been blowing from the south east at a pretty consistent 20 plus knots since our arrival. We had expected to see a wall of boats with little space left for our anchor, but even though there must be about 300 boats here, there’s still plenty of space off the three main beaches – ‘Hamburger Beach’ (Monument), ‘Volleyball Beach’ (Graviata Bay), and ‘Sand Dollar Beach’.
As it’s regatta week there are a lot of activities going on – all of which are ‘advertised’ by volunteer cruisers on the 8 .a.m. morning ‘net’ (broadcast on VHF Channel 72). The net also gives a very good weather forecast which we have found to be more accurate than Chris Parker’s 6:30 a.m. morning forecasts on the single sideband radio (SSB). The ‘net’ is a wonderful way to find assistance or information as all cruisers are eager to share their expertise, equipment, and knowledge. Some of these cruising boats have been coming here for twenty or more years and really know the ropes! As usual there are a great many Canadian boats – two from Toronto right in front of us!
On Tuesday we dinghied in to George Town – about a mile across the bay on the shores of Victoria Harbour. You enter the town under a narrow, low bridge and are immediately faced with a long dock filled with dinghies. There are quite a few rules of etiquette which are daily drummed into the cruising community – the most important being to leave a long line tied to your dinghy so that it can be pushed out of the way to allow other dinghies to move up to the dock! We stocked up on groceries from ‘Exuma Markets’, an excellent store beside the dinghy dock, bought fresh coconut bread (delicious) from ‘Mom’s Bakery’ van, and found an internet café where we almost froze to death in the air-conditioning! We also filled up our water containers with ‘free’ water (it can cost 50 cents a gallon at some places) and got rid of our garbage. These are all activities which we don’t really have to think about back home, but if you want to eat, shower, or keep the boat smelling fresh in the islands they are top of the list when looking for a place to drop anchor!
Yesterday we spent the day at Volleyball Beach watching the volleyball finals and drinking a few beers from ‘Chat ‘n Chill’ Beach Bar. We also had a delicious lunch at ‘St. Francis Resort’, just two minutes away by dinghy. It was very rough on the water yesterday, and we decided not to risk getting soaked taking the dinghy ride into town. Today we’ll do it, as I need to get a haircut. We also need gasoline for the dinghy and to find a good internet signal so that I can post this blog and some photos. Tonight there is a party on Hamburger Beach – right beside us, and tomorrow there will be the closing party for the regatta on the beach at ‘Chat ‘n Chill’. A small (we hope) cold front is coming in on Saturday, but after that we may have a few settled days. We may move back north with Marianne & Paul from ‘Knot-A- Gain’ on Monday. As usual, all our plans are subject to change…and weather!
We headed south for about 18 miles, along with Sue and Bruce on Andiamo, towards ‘Little Farmer’s Cay’. This would be our jumping-off point for our final southward leg to George Town. ‘Little Farmer’s’ is only ¾ mile long and has a population of 55 people who are mostly related! We decided to take a mooring ball for just one night as the weather was supposed to settle down to allow for a smooth passage down the east side of the Exuma chain in Exuma Sound – the exposed Atlantic side. This was ‘subject to change’ as 25 knot north-westerlies built up overnight and forced us to put off our Atlantic leg until Monday.
We had reserved our mooring ball on the south-east side of the island with Terry Bain and his wife, Ernestine, of ‘Ocean Cabins’ – a restaurant, bar, book-swap and internet station at Little Harbour. Once ‘checked in’, we pre-ordered our Friday night lobster dinner for 6 p.m., and had a very entertaining evening with Sue and Bruce, and other boaters, crowned by Terry and Ernestine singing the lovely ‘Little Farmer’s Cay’ anthem!
On Saturday our ‘buddy boat’, Knot-A-Gain’, which had been weather-marooned in Warderick Wells for 11 days, arrived on the mooring ball next to us, and we explored the island and visited the other meeting area – the ‘Yacht Club’, run by Roosevelt Nixon (real name!). We also bought a delicious take-out dinner from “Brenda’s’ on the beach at Little Harbour and had a lovely ‘dinner party’ on Marianne & Paul’s boat.
We had planned to move south on Sunday through the ‘Little Farmer’s Cut’ into the Atlantic. The winds were still blowing about 20 –25 knots, but the real problem was the huge swell which we could see crashing against the rocks either side of the ‘cut’, and the towering ‘white horses’ further out. ‘Andiamo’ decided to make a break for it, but ended up going out one cut and in the next (Galliot Cut) as the huge seas would have made a really uncomfortable 7 hour ride to George Town!
At last, on Monday, the time was right for our last leg south - to ‘cruisers’ heaven’, George Town. We set off at 7:30 a.m. to get the slack tide at the ‘cut’ as the seas were still fairly high, and arrived at our anchorage spot under the Monument just off ‘Hamburger Beach, George Town at 3 p.m. This anchorage is one of the few marked as ‘good holding’ for anchors, and it has proved to be fine so far even though the winds have been blowing from the south east at a pretty consistent 20 plus knots since our arrival. We had expected to see a wall of boats with little space left for our anchor, but even though there must be about 300 boats here, there’s still plenty of space off the three main beaches – ‘Hamburger Beach’ (Monument), ‘Volleyball Beach’ (Graviata Bay), and ‘Sand Dollar Beach’.
As it’s regatta week there are a lot of activities going on – all of which are ‘advertised’ by volunteer cruisers on the 8 .a.m. morning ‘net’ (broadcast on VHF Channel 72). The net also gives a very good weather forecast which we have found to be more accurate than Chris Parker’s 6:30 a.m. morning forecasts on the single sideband radio (SSB). The ‘net’ is a wonderful way to find assistance or information as all cruisers are eager to share their expertise, equipment, and knowledge. Some of these cruising boats have been coming here for twenty or more years and really know the ropes! As usual there are a great many Canadian boats – two from Toronto right in front of us!
On Tuesday we dinghied in to George Town – about a mile across the bay on the shores of Victoria Harbour. You enter the town under a narrow, low bridge and are immediately faced with a long dock filled with dinghies. There are quite a few rules of etiquette which are daily drummed into the cruising community – the most important being to leave a long line tied to your dinghy so that it can be pushed out of the way to allow other dinghies to move up to the dock! We stocked up on groceries from ‘Exuma Markets’, an excellent store beside the dinghy dock, bought fresh coconut bread (delicious) from ‘Mom’s Bakery’ van, and found an internet café where we almost froze to death in the air-conditioning! We also filled up our water containers with ‘free’ water (it can cost 50 cents a gallon at some places) and got rid of our garbage. These are all activities which we don’t really have to think about back home, but if you want to eat, shower, or keep the boat smelling fresh in the islands they are top of the list when looking for a place to drop anchor!
Yesterday we spent the day at Volleyball Beach watching the volleyball finals and drinking a few beers from ‘Chat ‘n Chill’ Beach Bar. We also had a delicious lunch at ‘St. Francis Resort’, just two minutes away by dinghy. It was very rough on the water yesterday, and we decided not to risk getting soaked taking the dinghy ride into town. Today we’ll do it, as I need to get a haircut. We also need gasoline for the dinghy and to find a good internet signal so that I can post this blog and some photos. Tonight there is a party on Hamburger Beach – right beside us, and tomorrow there will be the closing party for the regatta on the beach at ‘Chat ‘n Chill’. A small (we hope) cold front is coming in on Saturday, but after that we may have a few settled days. We may move back north with Marianne & Paul from ‘Knot-A- Gain’ on Monday. As usual, all our plans are subject to change…and weather!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Marooned in paradise
The third cold front in a week is still with us. The last one has been the 'mother (or father) of cold fronts', with gale force winds and high temperatures only in the low sixties. However, we feel very lucky that we have been safely tucked in at our dock at lovely Sampson Cay Marina. The marina has been full for a week now with all boats 'sticking', and many boats on the waiting list. There's a good group of stranded sailors here - and there are also some very nice powerboaters! We've had some good get-togethers either at the restaurant or the gazebo. Bill and I do our daily walk to the south beach which looks out over Fowl Cay. It is usually sheltered from the prevailing west and northwesterly winds and one day it was actually warm enough to snorkel! We have nurse sharks and rays swimming under our boat (that's why we don't swim right here!) and there's always lots going on. We've taken some dinghy rides to Staniel Cay and to Pipe Creek and Compass Cay, and come across other sailors we've met at other ports-of-call en route. Staniel Cay is an interesting settlement consisting of both local and vacation properties, a beach bar/restaurant called the Yacht Club, and three grocery stores - the Pink Store, the Blue Store and the Isles General Store. These stores get mobbed when the freighter arrives with fresh provisions! There is also an airport on the Cay. We took a look at the Thunderball Grotto in Staniel Cay harbour, featured in an early James Bond film, but it was a little cool to get in the water and swim into it. (When other sailing friends mentioned bringing their wet suits on their Bahamas trip we laughed at the thought - but now we don't!)
Tomorrow will be 'moving on day' for us and the majority of boats that have been stuck on anchors, mooring balls or at ports during the past week or so. We will move south about 18 miles to Little Farmers' Cay together with Sue and Bruce on 'Andiamo'. We've already booked our moorings with 'Ocean Cabins'. Then, on Saturday, we'll make the final run south in Exuma Sound to Georgetown. The Georgetown Regatta is in full swing, so we are looking forward to getting into the swing of all the activities that take place at this time. We have been given a four, or maybe even five day weather window (no winds above 20 knots and even some blessed easterlies!) - such a luxury ....and a relief!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
