I am unable to place the pictures, so you'll just have to figure them out: SORRY!

Hola todo el mundo! We are in our first Spanish speaking country working with our Lingo to translate and calculate the rate of exchange (36.1 pesos to the buck). W e left South Side Marina at Provo, Turks and Caicos Islands on Monday May 17th for Ambergris Cay (approx. 23 nm SSE) where we stopped over night to check on the weather. We should have gone in the water ‘cause the bottom turned out to be covered in conch. But we didn’t and left Tuesday a.m. for Big Sand Cay 23 nm, again, SSE. This time we had to motor as the wind was once again on our nose. I managed to get us onto an elk horn bed of coral and bent the port rudder up against the hull where it stuck fast. Out came the anchor aimed at a sand patch, but of course not with any luck or accuracy. By hooking a block and tackle around the bottom of the rudder I managed to straighten it where it would once again turn: simple. Now came the fun part: getting the anchor up from under a coral head 28’ down. In the day, 28’ was nothing; today it is a different story. I had managed to break the windless trying to pull it up. So, I got out the hookah (electric, oil-less air compressor) hooked to my SCUBA regulator with a 70’ hose, my mask and fins, and weight belt. As I’m huffing and puffing and bouncing around the trampoline at the bow Linda saw a T&C fishing boat nearby and flagged them down (no she didn’t take off her blouse). In 10 minutes I was able to pull the heavy 3/8 chain up and bring the anchor aboard. Just before I collapsed, Linda brought the guys alongside and thanked them with two pint bottles of Ronrico rum and two $5 bills. We were as ecstatic as they were. Three hours late we decided to make the passage after all and arrived at Big Sand Cay at around five o’clock having crossed with nose on the 20-25 k wind through 6’ seas. Oh, joy. We were very glad to get into the anchorage and put the Rocna down attached to a nylon line: the heavy chain was back in the locker. Wednesday we listened to and spoke with Mr. Parker. He suggested the passage would be ok with 15-20 k winds from 100⁰T and 5’ seas 6 seconds apart. Not!!! Our course was 177⁰T and we couldn’t maintain it as we can only get within the27⁰ of the wind. Added to that were gusts to 32 k over the steady 25 k all night: yes, a night (5 p.m. departure) passage so we’d arrive off Luperon in the early a.m. We averaged 5.4 kph and arrived 12 nm E of Luperon just at the “red sky” dawn. We turned on the motors and headed once again into the wind crossing the swells and waves at about 45⁰ so the ride was a lot more pleasant than the slamming we did all night.

The DR is fantastic to see in the early morning as compared to the Bahamas and T&C. High, green mountains rise out of the sea to greet you, but no land smell as the wind is from the ENE. Stella Maris was 8 nm behind us also beating into the wind to get to the harbor entrance. Another boat, Loose Change, was 30 minutes in front of us having left BSC 6 hours before we did. We followed Van Sant’s guide and promptly ran aground because some G.D. fool (on board a tourist cat named Tip Top) put in a RED buoy (“We didn’t have a GREEN one.”) where a GREEN one should have been. Again the port rudder was slightly bent and will have to be straightened as soon as we find clean water. Yes, clean water as Luperon Harbour is a cesspool for the city: runoff, gray and black water, animal waste, etc. However, it is still very pretty with green mangroves ringing the harbor with steep green, lightly wooded hills behind. We missed Marina Luperon Yacht Club which sits atop a hill on the N side of the N finger of the harbor. Frankly, it is a very small (room for less than 15 barcos) with fixed (tree trunk pilings) plank docks that have seen much better times. Most of the “docks” have cleats that are pulling/pulled out, nonexistent electrical (50 amp) outlets (they open to the wood they are made of), no potable water, and electricity that is on maybe 8 hours a day (not their fault as he DR can’t seem to produce reliable, constant electricity). For this we were told by the owner’s son that they get $1.90 per foot and double for a cat “as we are so wide” even though we take up only one 45’ alongside slip! “Bull pucky” says Linda and launches into Javier with great gusto telling him what a dump this place is (no showers, no laundry, no water, no fuel, etc., etc., etc.), and he’d better think this whole deal over or we and Stella Maris would go out and drop an anchor and he’d get NOTHING. Well, someone called “Dad” and the proverbial s..t hit the fan. We now think we’ll get down to $1.00 a foot on a weekly rate.

Luperon is a what I would call a typical third world town with gravel streets lined both sides with trash-clogged gutters; some wood and mostly concrete block, sheet-metal roofed, mostly single and two story shops and homes built a long time ago and mostly ill maintained; populated with motor bikes and a few cars; lots of dogs, pigs, chickens, and goats; lazy policemen (speed bumps) every three blocks; above ground utility lines and non functioning street lights. The people are very friendly and helpful. Meals are on the cheap: breakfast with a large pineapple or passion fruit jugo, two large eggs, home fries, ½ lbs. sausage, and a slice of pineapple: $130 p or $3.60; full dinner $300 p or $8.25; Presidente (22 fl. oz. beer)$90 p or $2.47). Hot, hot, hot; high humidity. We are using the A/C mostly on our generator because the DR gives electrical power sparingly: maybe 6 hours on a good day. Still don’t know what the cost of diesel is. But, so what: pay/cool or die!

We made a road trip by Toyota SUV with nearly 200,000 miles on it with Stella Maris (Luis and Consuelo Adan, Luis, Jr. (17) and Angelica (14). Consuelo is a young retired merchandiser and Luis is a retired 20-police captain both from Tampa. Consuelo was born and reared in Puerto Rico and Luis was reared in a Spanish speaking family. What luck for us gringos! Anyway with Luis driving we wound our way to Santiago, the second largest city in the DR, had lunch and went to the banco. From there we rode the autopista Duarte to Santo Domingo, the oldest city in the New World (listen: the sound of French horns!). What a wild ride in each city consisting of maneuvering on two land roads with three lanes of cars with motorbikes sliding past on all sides. “He who hesitates is lost.” Give even

an indication that you might fall back a few inches from the car in front of you, and the guy in the next “lane” dives in. Everyone is changing isles constantly to “get ahead” at 2 mph. I’ve driven in Paris and Amsterdam, and they don’t hold a candle to this: thank you Luis for driving! Our hotel, Duque de Wellington, was on Avenue Independensia a block or two above the Malacon or seaside boulevard where all the expensive hotels and casinos are. Road maps are a joke especially in Spanish, and finding a turn off is nearly impossible. At one point on the way to the hotel we ended up in a very poor section of the “old Town” when the A/C quit for the fourth or fifth time and the engine died in the middle of an intersection. You’d have thought we were an invading army bent on keeping the traffic grid-locked. Luckily Luis was able to get it restarted before I had to push us out of the way. We toured the sites and paid the entrance fees (Dominicans do not have to pay) and suffered the police trying to give us a ticked for not wearing our seat belts in the back seat: oh, look, no one is wearing a seat belt; cute little trick/trap of radioing ahead as the tourista drives around a monument. Consuelo was able to shame the woman cop into not giving us the ticket. Anyway we toured for a day and a half seeing all the sites (forts, traffic, caves, traffic, cathedrals, traffic, ports, traffic, etc.). We did a little shopping for supplies at the local hardware stores and headed back to Santiago for more shopping and car dodge-ball. Once back on the road, and missing a turn, of course, we sailed through beautiful green forested mountain and valleys studded with palm trees and little villages (beautiful as it reminded me of mauka Kona; volcanic origins, too. Lovely!) back to Luperon.

Back in Luperon, we fuelled up via a fuel boat ($4.50/gal; 103 gals.), paid our $7/ft/ week, said our goodbyes, and headed out for Rio San Juan a short sail away. Missed the shallows and left the “Red” mark to starboard this time. From Rio San Juan, a sleepy, but much more prosperous fishing village (must be the European influence from the Jews during WWII that were deposited along this coast ‘cause Uncle Smiley wouldn’t take them in), and made our way on to Samaná, another beautiful port with overhanging hills covered in green. Our Dispacho expired here and we had to get another one for Punta Cana, our last stop. It’s a “Get out of jail free card” from the DR Navy, at a small cost of course. After two swell days and nights of sailing and motoring, we got it once again with 3-4’, short period waves/swells and 20 k winds: the weather forecast said 5-10k. But, Samaná exuded a feeling of unwelcome and higher prices as this is a tourist cruise ship destination, so we bugged out probably faster than was needed.

Punta Cana is the heart of eastern DR’s all inclusive resorts. Club Med is here. It is an ecological reserve within which development is very controlled and thoughtful. Old marina, but friendly staff. First time we had a cabbie give us one price before we got in ($25) and then said the fare was $35, (veinte cinco v. treinta cinco) Yah, I fell of the turnip truck this morning. And all this in dollars for a 20 minute ride and wait for us to a over- priced grocery shop on the resort property. Anyway we’ll be here probably until Friday afternoon when we’ll make the run to Boquerón, PR. I also learned there is a conference here of 30 nations trying to figure out what to do for Haiti. The USA method of throwing unsupervised money at a problem isn’t working apparently.

4/26/2010: Good Bye Georgetown

 Yul and Linda at Baycayneer with junkanoo costumes

Junkanoo costumes

 Bone fishing flatsConceptionDanielle Solan at RumDC-3 at MayaguanaFawn, Linda and Bobby @ salt pond inlet.  Bobby

 cutting up the conch with his mud mask on.

L-R John & Linda and Chris Lone Star; Dave & Heather Mann Wild Hair; L&H at Sumner Pt. Marina dinner

Salt pond inlet, RumFlat MayaguanaL&H at BaycayneerSumner Pt. Marina, Rum.  Kuhela in foregroundBone fish flats, MayaguanaAnother drug wreck

0700 and the alarm went off…Linda has been up for an hour listening to Chris Parker, the weatherman, and will make the coffee when she hears me rustling around. Our 0800 departure is on Bahamian time (“later mon”) and we emerge into the Exuma Sound at around 0830 to find 15-18 K SE winds, seas 1-2 ft. also from the SE, and us on course to Conception Island cutting across the waves at about 50⁰: nearly perfect sailing. Clear, blue skies with cottony cumulus clouds over Long Island and inky blue seas; what more could a cruiser ask? At 1640 we dropped the hook off a western beach south of Southampton Reef. Tomorrow we’ll snorkel the reef which is said to be spectacular as Conception Island is one of the national parks and thus protected.


Well it didn’t happen…Mr. Parker informed us that another front with 20-30K squalls was due in this evening and would put us on a lee shore (the shore being down wind), so we hightailed it out first thing in the morning to Rum Cay 20 km to the ESE. Unfortunately, there were 2-3 ft. swells 3-4 seconds apart and winds and currents nearly on the nose, so we had to tack and motor sail. Oh, well, can’t have a great sail every day, right? We snuggled in at Sumner Point Marina at Port Nelson, the only settlement of this 9 mile by 4 ½ mile island/cay. The highest point is 121 ft. so it’s virtually flat as are all the Bahamian islands and cays: good for bicycling mon. We met Danielle Solan, a 30-ish South Beach (Miami) model who was a close friend of Bobby Little the marina owner. They took us under their wing and showed us their rather beautiful and quaint island sites: the salt pond entrance where we slathered spa mud all over us and had beer and wine with a conch salad lunch from conch we caught wading in the pond; north beach paddle boarding collecting Whelks, a black and white conical snail attached to the iron rock shore. This is a great place to vacation and lie-back, especially if you love the sea: conching, shelling, diving, snorkeling, deep sea fishing, etc. One night we had dinner “in town” at Kay’s Restaurant and Bar owned by 78 year old Delores and her daughter Donna. The other daughter, Judy, ran the “grocery” store and made shell jewelry. The rest of the nights we dined high on Mahi Mahi, Wahoo, Snapper, Tuna (all provided by the sport-fish boats to accompany our sides), Peas-n-Rice, Mac-n-Cheese, Whelks (like fishy escargot)and crabs. We stayed a week.

Samana Cay was an interesting stop. I re-read the National Geographic (November, 1986) – thanks again Jim and Jane – article and re-learned the extensive reasoning that declared Columbus must have stopped here first in 1492 and not at San Salvador or Whatling or Plana or… The Acklin islanders come here to fish and gather conch and bark from trees that is used in making Compari: Kathy, maybe you should move here. The entrance to the anchorage was not nearly as treacherous and difficult as the charts lead us to believe. We anchored in sand behind Propeller Cay in 12 ft. of clear water where Columbus probably anchored, too, over 500 years ago. We were the only boat in this idyllic spot. We didn’t go ashore and left the next morning for W. Plana Cay in 5k of easterly wind: not so good for a sailor and we had to motor/sail once again. From there we motored straight into the wind (known as having it on the nose) the 40nm to Mayaguana arriving on Friday, May 7, our Aimee’s birthday: “Happy Birthday, Aimee Arnold Riebold!!” We expected to collect from the post office our courtesy flags - 1 X 2 country flags a boat flies after clearing in (presenting oneself to customs, immigration and health) - that had been mailed here a month ago from a flag company in the US of A. No show, maybe on the mail boat Monday, or Sunday, or Tuesday or BahamasAir on Monday or Wednesday. Dimes to doughnuts we’ll end up calling Nassau’s main post office to (hopefully) find them. Yul Charlton (“Papa Charlie” and the first really enterprising entrepreneur we’ve run across in the Bahamas) called on the VHF next morning having heard we asked about renting a car and offered to take us around the island for $30 less than the rental. Deal! Turns out this island is even flatter than most with an old US Army Air Corps airfield littered with confiscated drug aircraft to include a DC3: all stripped of course. They still use the strip 3X/week for flights from the rest of the Bahamas. We had a few Kaliks along the way at T.N.T. bar with owner Jingles and pork chop or fried chicken and Kalik lunch at the “Baycayner” resort near Pirate Wells. This north side of the island is a bone fisherman’s paradise with a mile out reef fringing shallow sand bars under aqua/gin-blue waters.

Today, Sunday, we’ll do projects: laundry, dive the boat for barnacles, change out the starboard fresh water pup (it keeps tripping the breaker), defrost the Engle (freezer), and go ashore to send this to BlogSpot and get email for free. It turns out the flag company cancelled the order ‘cause they didn't like the shipping address: huh?? So, we’ll buy them as we go along instead. The zincs had the barnacles, not the props. Yahoo!! It took 10 minutes to clean. We then took up the dingy, had dinner and went to bed. Back up at 2030 and pulled up the sails and motor/sailed back out through the reef following our bread crumbs on the chart plotter (the chart plotter leaves little dashes – bread crumbs – showing where we’ve been: really convenient for moonless night passages). We sailed all night in 20 k winds gusting to 25 k and 6 ft. seas 5 seconds apart making an average of 6.7 k/hr. Arrived at Sandborne Channel, Providenciales (Provo), Turks and Caicos around 7 am as directed by the Van Sant cruising guide to have the sun in our eyes and no chance to see the bottom/coral heads. Made it handily, however, to South Side Marina by 0830. Given the weather forecast we got on our way in from Simon at the marina, looks like we’ll be here a week.

Oh, we finally got OCENS (satellite weather and email) up and running. Seems the handset which I thought was the way to the satellite wasn’t right (and the “experts” at OCENS and Vizada – the satellite provider - didn’t catch it either) wasn’t the way.. Turned out just ‘cause I happened to look behind the cradle in the cupboard that the 9-pin cable connected to the DTE socket was the way in. Bada-bing it worked with a little adjustment on timing-out! So, now we can get both weather and our email – not daily ‘cause it’s expensive to use the satellite – when we don’t have a Wi-Fi connection.

PLEASE REMEMBER we are ready for company. Send us an email to let us know your desires. We can then let you know approximately where we’ll be. But, remember there is little accuracy in that the further out in time you want to come; like we stay a week in Rum ‘cause it’s fun, or don’t explore Conception because of the weather. But don’t let this stop you: COME!

Near Georgetown, April 9, 2010

As I started to write this I asked Linda what was the date we went to the party given by the Watsons (owners of Indiantown Marina, FL) at the Chat ‘n Chill on Volleyball Beach, Stocking Island, Exuma, Bahamas. Holy Cow! We are starting to forget days and dates. We’ve already taken to looking at one of the battery clocks to remember which day of the month it is, but forgetting what happened when is new. Guess we’re really getting into the swing of retirement cruising. Anyway, since our last post, we’ve been hanging around Georgetown, anchoring between Volleyball Beach and Kidd (yes, the real deal) Cove at Georgetown. Took in a local music fest with some pretty bad bands, but good food (BBQ ribs, mac-n-cheese, and coleslaw for $10), Kalik beer ($3, usually $5), and a fair junkanoo: like Mardi Gras or the Philadelphia Mummers (see the pics); $20 to get in and $10 for the food: not bad for the Bahamas. I’ll bet Linda knows how the Bahamians make their mac-n-cheese, but let me tell you it is the best ever: almost crispy on the top and lightly moist thru-an’-thru.

Three Sundays ago, we hopped a SkyBahamas flight to Nassau connecting to Marsh Harbour ($148 each), taxied ($80) to the Green Turtle Cay ferry, and then on board to New Plymouth at Green Turtle Club ($22). We hung around the club after lunch to meet with Lee and Kathy Maidenberg (our dear friends whom we had cruised with annually since our Ionian adventure in 1998), Tony and Trixie DiDiminico (we’d met them 11 years ago here at G.T.), and Pat and Shirley (ya, ya, “Don’t call me Shirley”) Payne (Likewise 11 years ago plus a week’s cruise in St. Maartin). A week of food and drink debauchery coupled with sunning, beachcombing walks, and electric cart exploration. “A good time was had by all!” New Plymouth hails back to 1780’s when American Loyalists fled the brand new U.S. of A. for Canada and the Bahamas to set up a fishing, wrecking and sponging village. My “relies” also fled PA for Ontario, Canada to set up a grist mill. The trip back took all day having to layover at Nassau for four hours. It was great to dingy back across Elizabeth Harbour to the Second Pond at Stocking Island where we had left our home well tied to a mooring ball ($15/day) provided by the St. Francis Resort and Marina. They are somehow affiliated with the St. Francis catamaran of St. Francis Bay, South Africa. St. Francis is a cat similar to our Royal Cape in design and cost: both lovely and comfortable.

Jose and Bill left us this morning to head back N. They need to be in Indiantown, FL by the first week in May. Their friends Pierre and Diane left yesterday after 10 days of sun and fun aboard Caper and Kuhela. A delightful couple also from Canada whom we were sorry to see leave, too.

Chris Parker, our weather guru on the single side band radio (4045 MHz) at 0630 daily except Sunday, says we may be down to one more front in a week or so. So, it looks like we can take off for parts east and south: Conception, Rum Cay, Samana where Columbus may have first landed in 1492 (according to National Geographic), Mayaguana, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. Winds are probably going to be out of the E and NE which are conducive for sailing most if not all of the way in this direction for the rest of the Spring and into Summer.

The way things stand we’ll probably start out on April 17, ‘though we could go on in the 16th even if it is bad luck (Christ was crucified on a Friday, don’t-cha-ya-know) to start a journey then. In actuality we are just continuing a journey that started in January however slow it is going so I ‘spect we’re ok. We’ve hooked up with two other boats, both sloops: Lapidus, Larry and Paula Waller; and Solar Eclipse, Doug and Marlene Ridgewell. We will be chasing another cat, Naughty Naughty, Alan and Patricia (?) whom we haven’t met except on the radio and a steel trawler Peking, Jerie and John Miici. We hope to catch up with them in Luperon, D.R. We would have gone with them except that we had to repair our jib using our Sailrite sewing machine which kept breaking needles on the very stiff and thick cotton strapping at the head, foot and clew. We ended up drilling needle holes and sewing through them by hand

Dingy dock at lake Victoria, Georgetown, Great Exuma Island, Bahamas

Linda’s B-day celebratory hat at Bollinger’s home on Green Turtle, Abacos, Bahamas

Junkanoo at Georgetown

New Providence, Green Turtle, Abacos, Bahamas from Pineapples

Party! Party! Party! At Pineapples: (L-R): Shirley Payne; Trixie (Shirley’s sister); Pat Payne; Kathy Maidenberg; Linda; Lee Maidenberg; and Tony (Trixie’s better half)

,

Georgetown, Grand Exuma Island, Bahamas

Nurse Shark at Staniel Cay                                  Staniel Cay Marina

Harry at BooBoo Hill, Warderick Wells Cay                                    Farmers' Market, G'Town

Fowl Cay Sunset                                                        

                                                               Dinner guests at Fowl Cay: Bill, Ted, Jose, Suzanne, Linda, Harry

Staniel Cay                                                                 Anchorage between Big and Little Majors Spot

                                           Arnold's Eggs Benedict and Dress-up breakfast

From Marsh Harbour, Abacos, Bahamas we slipped between fronts and low, green and rocky cays to pull in to Buckaroo (no kidding) Bay for the night with Caper and Harlequinn as part of our little fleet. Next stop was Little Harbour just down the way where Caper couldn’t get over the 3.5 ft. bar across the entrance. Pete’s Pub has a delightful rum concoction whose name escapes me, but wonderful just the same at $6.00. The weather continued to be cooperative and we headed out at first light for the Exumas. This is across the N.E. Providence Channel which we have crossed before going NE. Wind and waves were a little high, but all in all a good sail through beautiful blue waters; unfortunately no fish rose to our lure. We arrived at Little Egg, turned N and sped up to Royal Island Harbour under full sail and a delightful NE fresh breeze.

Next morning we shot across to Current Cut still with a nice NE breeze and trailing a bright red diving (has a bill on the front) plug with three sets of very sharp tri-hooks. “Fish on!!” and I’m reeling in a large, unfortunately, barracuda: unfortunately because if they are bigger that elbow to wrist the chances are they carry ciguatera, a nasty poison found in the reef fish they eat. Anyway, Harry forgot to get the hook puller so he tried to release the monster by hand. BANG, THRASH, WHAM!!!! And the next thing I know I’m hooked and trying to get us both off. BANG, THRASH, WHAM!!!! And I’m hooked again this time the right little finger. Holy Crap!! And you are not going to believe this (yes you are), but “numba tree” (Hawaiian pidgeon for # 3) BANG, THRASH, WHAM!!!! And now my hands are hooked together. “Linda!” and she’s there like instantly. “Get a pair of cutters!” The stainless kooks are too strong for the dykes we have. “OK, get a razor knife!” She does and we cut thru the one in my little finger freeing my right hand. Somehow I got the hook out of the monster and he slid back into the deep: dead I hope; bugger. Now at least I don’t have the thrasher pulling more hooks into me. Yah, I know, poetic justice. Anyway, we’re coming up on the Cut under full sail and I’m still the “Fish On”. Next thing is to stop the boat by turning into the wind, starting the engines, and taking the sails down. Linda was magnificent. Next, get the Dremel with a cutting wheel and tap-cut, so it doesn’t get hot, through the hook. (Almost) Free Last. I shove the hook all the way thru and pull it out with my trusty, dusty Leatherman needle nose pliers. While I’m cutting, gently the last hook with the Dremel, Linda calls Harlequinn who has gone thru the Cut and asks them for help. They anchor in a small cove just S of the Cut. We whipped thru the Cut at around 12 knots as the tide was running in towards Exuma Sound, swing the right turn and spot our salvation: a doctor (retired) who surely has an extensive medical kit to include drugs and Novocain. James dingys over and produces needle nose pliers! At least he confirms my feeling that going on thru would run the hook thru the nail bed. So, James grabs the cut end of the hook with vice grips and pulls it back out the way it came in. Thank Linda as she had some left-over hydrocodone which helped to dull the pain. Are we having fun yet living the dream?!? Oh, yah. We continued on to Highborne Cay with Linda as Captain, and anchored for the night, just S, at Oyster Cay which had the right price (nada) and better protection from the wind and waves.



We decide two days later, yes another front, to see Carlos Lehder’s x-drug smuggling hot spot and the home of the “famous” MacDuff’s cheeseburger. Boohoo, the place is an abandoned dump with working airstrip and a not-even-up-to-McDonalds’-standard $18 (with fries) burger The Kaliks were $8. Yes, about $3 higher than anywhere else. To beat the next front, we went out the Cut (and caught a 6 lb. grouper, yum yum) next morning and negotiated/navigated NE to Exuma Sound and then SE skirting the leeward islands down to Warderick Wells Cay and the Exuma Land and Sea Park where we took a ball for two days at Emerald Rock, the S mooring field. Unfortunately, the weather is still too cold as is the water for swimming, so we hiked over the Cay for a couple of hours. The water was the color and clarity of Sapphire gin: almost unreal.

Next stop was Cambridge Cay which is still in the Park, so no fishing or taking anything. Hadn’t changed must from our first visit in 2007 except for more $20 mooring balls. Harlequinn left us to head straight to Georgetown. We opted for a more leisurely run thru Cambridge, The Pipes, Staniel Cay (to pick up Suzanne, a friend of Jose on Caper), and Fowl Cay so we could dine in luxury at the Fowl Cay Resort now owned by Sandals. What a meal; what ambience; what great all-you-can-drink booze! Well worth the $100/head. Thunderball has closed. This is the club/restaurant on the bluff at Staniel overlooking the islet grotto featured in the James Bond movie of the same name. We hung out between the Major Spots to hide from another, you guessed it, cold front.

We left Staniel Cut on an outgoing tide which made for a very rough (water over the bows with lots of plunging) 10 minutes until we got into the Sound. Next stop Little Farmers Cay off the southern tip of Great Guana Cay. We tucked in on the SW edge of GG Cay and hooked up to a motley mooring ball that ended up holding for the two days we were there weathering another front. We visited Ocean Cabin and were beered, dined, and regaled by Terry Bain, owner and local color mayor.

Caper decided we should run down to The Marina at Emerald Bay (a Sandals’ property) 15 or so miles N of Elizabeth Harbour and Georgetown to wait out another front (Are you as tired of these freaks of nature as I am?). We rented a van and drove to Berraterre on the N end of the island. Sleepy, little village where the people are very long lived (100+ is not uncommon) and very friendly. We met Julia at the store there who had lived many, many years in Cocoa, FL. She had moved back with her Bahamian husband to take care of his 95+ parents who were still going strong. She said that she’d lost 40 lbs. and reduced per B. P. by30 points both top and bottom in a very short time. We had lunch at Big D’s on the way back. Good prices and the best conch salad and cracked (batter fried strips) conch we have ever had. A definite spot to visit is you are ever down that-a-way.

Once again out the Cut after 5 days of free laundry, ice, and WiFi into an outgoing tide with its turbulent bumps and rolls SE to Conch Cay Cut and Elizabeth Harbour. Lovely sail between fronts – they seem to be getting farther apart – to Chat ‘n Chill at Volleyball beach on Stocking Island. There are not the usual 600 (yes, that’s right) boats this year: probably closer to 300,and another sign of the economy. We’ve seen the Harbour race and the around the island race. Great fun. We were also at the Chat ‘n Chill for Racquel and Scott Watson’s, owners of the Indiantown Marina (FL), advertising/thank you party with free drink tickets. Lovely couple with three small kids. Georgetown in the winter playground for retiree sailors from Canada and the US who come here year after year for 3 or 4 months of games, races, volleyball, bridge, basket weaving, golf, beaning (collecting strange/foreign beans to make jewelry from) etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum; very organized.

Here We Go Again

After a night of HEAVY drinking at the Jib Room, Marsh Harbour Marina, Abacos, Bahamas and then back aboard while playing Mexican Train, I woke to my first hangover in years and a guilty feeling that I haven’t updated the blog in months. So …

We left, hopefully for the last time this time, Titusville, FL on 1/14/2010. It was 69⁰ and sunny with the wind out of the NE for a lovely sail south to Port Canaveral. From there we sailed down to Ft. Pierce where we anchored and waited for four days for the weather to moderate. We met our Canadian friends, Bill and Jose Andersen on Caper, at Port Salerno (Manatee Pocket)and headed straight for Memory Rock and Great Sale Cay. We beat the next weather front anchored over night and then checked in (Customs and Immigration) at Spanish Cay where we waited out another front. Sadly the marina had only five boats and no fuel for us or their own electric generator. Tough economic times continue for the Bahamas, too. Next stop was White Sound, Green Turtle Cay where there were a lot more boats, but more evidence of the poor economy: the Bluff House Marina was empty and on the verge of bankruptcy. While trying to get into the pocket off the E side of the anchorage there, we had our first bottom encounter and had to wait for the tide to lift us off; thankfully no real damage. From there we made an aborted try to round the Whale, turning back when Caper developed engine trouble and encountered the Atlantic swells. Our second attempt was fine with 18-22k winds out of the NE and four foot swells. We sailed through Bakers Bay, a huge resort with multi-million dollar LOTS (40% sold would you believe!), to Fishers Bay, Great Guana Cay, home of the Guana Grabber (a very sweet rum drink) and our first Wi-Fi hotspot. This is the place we had our dingy “grabbed” the last time we were here. We found it with the help of the Cruisers Net in Marsh Harbour the next day. For the next blow, we shifted off the anchor and went into Orchid Bay Marina, a lovely, sheltered and mildly expensive spot. The number of boats and Canadians has been increasing as we move E, but the atmosphere is still that of hard times. Today we are in Marsh Harbour Marina at 65¢/ft. plus $4/day for water, metered electric at 65¢/Kw, and $3 laundry tokens (one per wash and one per dry). We are still having front after front roar through every three or four days: the one for tonight (2/12/2010) is suspected to have sustained gale force winds (34-40 mph) and gusts to 50!. The Harbour has pretty much emptied out with everyone seeking shelter in the various marinas.

The current plan is to stage to Little Harbour SE of here on Sunday, cross the Northeast Providence Channel and tuck in at Royal Island, Eleuthra, near the site of Bill’s near drowning. From there, weather permitting, we’ll go through Current Cut, and cross the shallow flats at the top of Exuma Sound to the Exuma island chain.

If anyone is using Google Earth or similar program to follow us, let me know and I’ll put the lat/lan back in.

All the boats at Spanish Cay 

Looking N at Great Guana on a typical morning

 

Caper and her new sails off the Whale Cut