Staniel Cay & James Bond's Thunderball grotto

You never what what you are going to see out here.  If we had to have a monohull, this looks nice...

We were informed by some fellow boater's in Warderick that today is New Years eve, and there is a big party in Staniel. Huh?  FaceBook usually keeps me abreast of holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this one snuck up on me.  We need water and groceries, so we release the mooring ball by 7:45 am with the 2.5 current coming in the cut. The forecast 15 kt winds are more like 20 (with 2 ft waves on the nose), so after a few tacks, we give up, drop sails and motor along shore. Staniel Cay announces on the radio that there is a regatta today! Dang. Our first choice anchorage is across from the marina, just east of Thunderball's grotto. (Snorkel, baby!) 

As we near Big Major, we can see at least 20 megayachts anchored around the corner from Staniel. Uh, oh. That was plan C.  As we near the entrance channel, two more race boats are headed out. We think we see a few openings in our second choice anchorage.  "I smell pizza."  Focus, people.  As I head back around the grotto, The Captain says, "What about over there?"  Yep, that's our first choice anchorage. It starts to look like there is not enough room with the other cat (Switch 51, sv Neko) until I swing around their stern then a huge patch of sand opens up. Score. Internet and Naps!  Too tired to drop the dinghy in the water.  (I was awoken by the fireworks on the beach and popped outside to watch.  The Captain slept right through!)

Chartplotter on the way into Staniel.  Yikes!

Stats:  Total time 5:15, avg speed 4.7, total mileage 24.8 nm.  One hour sail.  Motored 4:15.

Year end total: 1765.1 nm.  Averaged 75 miles/week (excluding 3 months at Brunswick for hurricane season).  Averaged 100/week since departing for the Bahamas.

Day 2:  We are headed to the marina by 8:30 am for 3 jerry cans of water & 2 of fuel. We're lured to the yacht club restaurant and have a huge breakfast that ends up being brunch! At first we were told the stores were probably closed, but after several requests, the marina calls around to advise everyone to open. We walk into town to the Blue store (groceries), then by the laundry/liquor store--brilliant!  I scramble back to the boat for sheets & towels while DH does another water run (he gets it up to 3/4--just enough to slosh). Kalik is $64 for 24 bottles, cheaper than going to a bar, at least. I'm back in time for an afternoon swim. We're told by the locals it's unseasonably warm and fortunately, we're anchored in our own little swimming pool--a triangle of sand that is 5 ft at low tide. We can see our anchor chain & bridle laying on the bottom. Too lazy snorkel, I grab a noodle and a deck line and tie myself to the boat and float around while DH snorkels the anchor and scrapes the bottom.

Nirvana.  This saves a stop!

Even the Staniel dinghy dock is scenic!

Day 3:  I do some bucket laundry and hang it out before heading back into town. We walk to BTC to top up our data plan but they're closed.  We head to the "grocery by the creek" where we score a dinghy anchor ($44 reasonable), a new Bahamian ensign flag ($24 less than West Marine), oranges, some veggies (potatoes, onion, bell peppers--hash scramble!) and diet coke (not expired). Big Dogs & Purple Restaurant are closed so we retire to the boat for lunch and an afternoon snorkel around the boat. I graduate from the Captain's school of snorkeling--"here's your scraper!"  Win, win. An afternoon swim to cool off, exercise and Odin gets his belly rubbed.

Dinghy beach

It's Sat, the weekend after New Years. In my previous life, day after Christmas through the weekend after New Year's was always busy.  I spent the last several years in Marsh Harbour. Apparently the customer service industry in the islands refers to it as "hell week".  The planes flying into Staniel are constant. A Prout and a beautiful Island Packet monohull (spoiler alert, Sasha) tuck in behind the grotto with us in anticipation of the west winds. We're all pointing in different directions because of the current. Calm winds mean bugs :-(

Odin behind the grotto

Our swimming pool

Day 4:  Low tide has worked his way to 8:00 am, so we head for the grotto with our snorkels and new dinghy anchor (moorings are all gone?). A little confused about the entrance, we were hoping for someone to follow, but we finally find our way in--about a foot clearance, just enough for my snorkel without holding my breath. As we exit the other side, the morning sun in shining down on the reef and the visibility is excellent. We can see Odin, but have to swim back around for the dinghy.  All the yacht tenders have shown up. At the boat, I jump in to wash my hair and discover I can touch bottom!  That means about 2 ft under our keels. Grab your scraper!  With extra money in our restaurant budget from Land & Sea, we hit the Yacht Club again for lunch. 

Staniel Cay airport

Staniel Cay FBO

Day 5:  The wind is supposed to swing around through west today. There are few anchorages that have protection from west winds, so more boats try to join us on our little patch of sand--we're up to 6! We forgo one more pass at the grotto, but by afternoon it's declared a nice day. Naps, reading and an afternoon snorkel. The Captain bails just as another ray cruises by the edge of my view. All of a sudden, the dark line of clouds associated with the front roll over the horizon. Heads pop out of every boat simultaneously. All hands on deck zipping, securing, stowing on every boat. It's over as quick as it starts. At least the boat is clean! Bean salad for dinner. 

Day 6:  We're officially bored and ready to move but the forecast calls for 30 gusting to 40!  The movie marathon starts at 9:00 am. All of our neighbors pull up anchor and by 1:00 pm, the incoming tide combined with the 20 kt NE wind has us sea sick at anchor. Despite the fact these were the conditions when we first anchored (and our anchor has to be BURIED), we decide to bail for Big Major anchorage around the corner.  It is considerably smoother here and we can see at least 4 pigs on Pig Beach, that run out to each dinghy that approaches. It begins to rain sideways just before sunset and we hunker down for the evening. We decide on anchor watch with a steady 25-30 kts gust 36. Is that megayacht getting bigger?

Stats:  Total time 0:20, avg speed 5.1 kts, total mileage 1.8 nm.  Motored

Being in these conditions on our boat is referred to as the bouncy castle--not uncomfortable but annoying after awhile. Throw in some rain (similar to a tin roof), sloshing water (next to our berth) and fuel tanks, bridge slap (waves hitting bottom of bridge between hulls), howling winds and humming rigging (wind blowing contrary to our standing rigging can create a vibration) and you've got yourself a party!  Seriously, who can sleep in that?  For variety, our depth finder is drunk--giving random alarms despite 10 ft of water, to make you run into the cockpit.

There's more. Stay tuned!

Warderick Wells, Land and Sea Park

Odin from the Boo Boo Hill

Warderick Wells--we had never heard of it until we started planning our trip to the Bahamas. What a fabulous place. If you don't snorkel, you have to learn!  A majority of the things to see are under water!  However, we enjoyed daily hikes and the all-around scenery also. There were a lot of charter boats here, which I would have to recommend if you don't have your own boat.  We're told this is some of the best snorkeling in the Bahamas.  We stayed as long as our food & water allowed. 

Day 1:  We decide to depart Hawksbill later than our usual "be there by lunch."  The winds seem stronger overnight and die down after lunch (backwards for us midwesterners). This will put us entering the mooring field near high tide.  We tune in to the 9:00 am broadcast to confirm our mooring ball request as we start engines. 

The park office is already closed when we arrive, so fellow boater's direct us through the narrow mooring field. We pick up the ball on the first try and I'm working on the bridle before The Captain makes his way to the bow (yep, big audience--everyone is lounging in the cockpit or on the beach until slack water). We're one of 14 boats in the main field. We ended up on ball 12 near the office and between beaches (there is a lot of begging to be "near the beach, near the office or not near the cut-side entrance"). After lunch & naps we go for a quick snorkel around the boat and along the beach, seeing some more kinds of coral and fish that aren't afraid of people (no fishing!). At 3 o'clock, all the other dinghies head out to the same spot--yep, slack water at Ranger's Garden. Tomorrow. We head out on deck to investigate an annoying noise (boat faced into the current and wind is coming from the side always makes the rigging hum) and discover we've lost our Bahamian courtesy flag--not shocking, considering the constant wind here!

Stats:  Total time 3:30, avg speed 4.3 kts, total mileage 15.0 nm (estimates)

The Captain at Boo Boo Hill

Day 2:  After the 9:00 am broadcast, we head over to check in and then out for a morning hike to Boo Boo Hill. We walk across limestone boulders and then end up wading through thigh-high water to cross a creek, nary a sign advising, "wait for low tide, silly!"  At the top of Boo Boo Hill, a family asks us to take their picture, and we end up stopping to chat for quite awhile with the crew of sv Oopsea. We didn't bring our driftwood sign, but I suddenly get a cell signal, so we'll be back!  We head down to the beach and then back over to the blow holes. 

Looking for the blow holes...

Atlantic side

As we arrive back at the boat, we realize we can still see Boo Boo Hill & hear the blow holes. What if we hoisted the cell phone up the mast? (Active Captain told us there would be no cell coverage here & it's $15/100 mb of data). Wahlah--FaceBook!  The Captain digs through tools to donate to the Park and then goes to work on our driftwood sign.  A large motorboat and motor yacht arrive, unleashing jetskis and center console dinghies, running full throttle through the mooring field. Not cool. 3:30 is slack water, so we head out to the dinghy moorings at Ranger's Garden. It's my first snorkel off the dinghy, so hubbs sends to me in first to get comfortable.  A quick glance below reveals every kind of coral in our Bahama Reef Identification Guide--I gave up trying to memorize them all. We stayed together this time which allowed us to do more, "Hey look over there." including a small nurse shark, and 2 turtles. Seriously, it's like swimming in the main tank at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago!  We take a quick break, then swim out to the second mooring and drift back. Now the tricky part--getting back in the dinghy!  Swimming to shallower water is an option, but I use a trick I learned on the internet to climb up the outboard--it wasn't pretty and I'll probably have a bruise, but I'm in first try and hubbs is not!  Back at the boat, I decide to jump back in the water while The Captain scrapes the hull. I swim up the our mooring and as I round the bow, I'm greeted by one of the large spotted eagle rays we saw swim by this morning. He's gorgeous and gives me a sideways glance ("Hey...") and keeps going.

Causeway Trail to the Atlantic-side beach

Warderick Wells Causeway beach

Warderick Wells Causeway beach

Day 3:  We head out on the Causeway trail, then circle back to Boo Boo with our sign for the pile.  The mooring field thins out to 5 boats again.  This morning's entertainment is a 65 ft motor yacht (with the obnoxious jet skis) doing 3-360's of their mooring ball as he tries to depart--with another 70 ft motor yacht heading into the channel.  Wow. 

Runaway dinghy

We swim over to the sunk sailboat on mooring #9, just before low tide at 4:00 pm. The current was still pretty decent--we learned our lesson while near shallow water--wait for slack water!  As we got ready to jump in the dinghy for a return trip to The Ranger Garden, a shiny, new Lagoon 39 picked up the ball behind us (wait for it). After a great snorkel, including several lionfish (invasive species) and an almost perfectly camouflaged, tiny round stingray ("I can't believe you spotted him.") we head back. As we near our boat, we saw one of the 40 hp rigid inflatable dinghies come flying in front of the Lagoon then do a hard turn back. First we curse--then realize nobody is in it--then became concerned about the safety of us & our boat. We shove the dinghy between the hulls and clamber on the boat. A quick radio call revealed the driver was safe. The dinghy was flying around pretty wildly, then settled into a tight circle between the Lagoon, another large cat and a monohull. The first thought is to wait until it runs out of gas. Then the hope is it will run aground in the shallows (low tide) behind our boats. The park rangers start to assemble on the radio. Another brave dinghy arrives to help and the driver hops in, hoping to throw a rope into the prop (terrible, dangerous idea). Then he jumps in the water--lots of screaming "get back in the boat."  (People are killed or seriously maimed by being run over by their outboards every year.). The dinghy runs itself aground a few times, but they don't react quick enough (don't blame him--not his dinghy). Then, the old salt on the monohull Copper Penny, calmly climbs in his dinghy and slowly motors out as it runs aground again (he probably had the best view) and reaches over to pull the kill switch. He calmly returns to his boat (quick visit from the park warden).  After playing with it for awhile, they can't get it started, and pull it back to the boat.  Light-bulb moment--shampoo hair while wet with saltwater, then rinse with fresh!  Afternoon entertainment over. 

Day 4:  The mooring field turns over almost every day. We're down to 4 boats until after lunch, when it starts to fill up again. We're getting lazy and start to plan our next leg. I play on the internet, while The Captain tightens the standing rigging. A couple rainshowers go through in the morning (we usually just have a brief shower overnight). I lost track of the boats that should have run aground today--a monohull, the 4-300 hp tender, a Lagoon picks up the mooring in front of us from the back step--and & ties it off. And leaves it there. In the middle of the channel. We dinghy in to pay for one more day and have a few laughs with Sherry ("Did you see that?"). We'll do our afternoon snorkel off the dinghy dock. When I get back to the dinghy, The Captain advises that he jumped in on top of a nurse shark--"careful, he's under the dock."  Um, what?  (Reef Fish Identification,  "Habitat and Behavior:  In all habitats, from shallow water to outer reefs  Often lie on sand under ledges and overhangs.  Reaction to divers: Appear unconcerned; usually lie motionless unless disturbed.  Tend to bite if provoked."  Apparently, this is a lot of the shark attacks at beaches. Moral of the story, don't step on the shark or he will bite!) I jump in & he leaves, supposedly, but it turns out there's 2!  The second one herds us to the other side of the dock and sits there on the bottom. Not nice to play with the tourists!  (I don't care if it's a nurse shark at a park--they still make you gasp at first sight--tricky in a snorkel). There is an amazing congregation of fish on this small reef, but no lobster. We drift around to the beach and I glance over and see the other nurse shark laying on the bottom just off the beach. I'll stick to snorkeling--You never know what you'll step on. We circleback to the dinghy. "Sherry, You should put those sharks on a leash."

We use the last of our fresh (frozen) meat to make gf spaghetti. Main 80-gallon water tank is at half (we use about 5 g/day)

Float Plan

How quickly we forget. In a world were the internet is at the tip of your fingers, many don't consider what happens when we are out of cellphone range. As cruisers, we're still learning. In our crossing window from Florida, a fellow sailor was reported overdue. On top of notifying the Coast Guard, a combination of internet (FaceBook, messenger & email), VHF radio and SSB radio was used to send out a BOLO (be on the lookout) to local boaters. Several relays resulted in communication with the overdue boat--he had mechanical issues and was heading to a different port. 

As pilots, we're used to filing flight plans, but with sailing there is more to take into account. Here are some emergency contact ideas for family and friends:

Our "float plan" person is a family member with boating experience (to avoid false alarms) and tech savvy enough to text/email/skype. They have a partially completed copy of the Coast Guard float plan form with all pertinent info such as MMSI number (http://www.uscg.mil/d17/staketch/docs/float_plan.pdf). Then each leg, we email departure time, route mileage, eta and intended destination (with marina or buddy boat contact info if available) and "when to call the Coast Guard" info--(usually by sunset unless it's a previously planned overnight). 

Another thought--give as much information about your intended destination as possible. Great Turtle Cay is a "small" island with Black Sound to the south and White Sound to the north. There are at least 6 marinas/docks/mooring fields in addition top of anchorages possibilities outside the entrance.  Yes, destinations change based on weather or availability. You can update when you close your float plan. Make sure they have a guidebook or access to Active Captain.

Make sure your float plan person has a good photo of the boat and a description (black canvas, kayak on starboard bow, hardtop bimini with solar, dinghy in davits). If you have a blog or "boat" Facebook page, it should also have good pic of your boat.

Our emergency plan is an Iridium GO sat communicator for when we are out of cellular range. We have limited text, email and phone capability, along with access to Twitter (more than one set of eyes making sure "we're here!")

We also have a VHF radio for short range radio communications, but not long range SSB (we have a portable-receive only SSB for receiving weather faxes and Chris Parker broadcasts in remote areas).  However, a lot of our fellow sailors do have SSB, making a relay a possibility if we're running late.

Another option is the local cruisers net. The Abaco cruisers net is broadcast on VHF 68 at 8:15 am, then available on the website (barometerbob.org). Family can email cruisers.oii.net (boat name & contact person in subject line) and they will broadcast a BOLO or an emergency "call home."  Georgetown also has a cruisers net.

Another way to communicate a BOLO is Chris Parker. He has a weather service that broadcasts throughout the US Atlantic coast and caribbean. Even if you are not a subscriber, sailors can listen to his broadcast on SSB. Even if you don't listen to his broadcast, a fellow boater may. You can contact Chris to put out a BOLO at chris@MWxC.com

We aren't active with Seven Sea's Cruising Association, but many cruisers are. They have a net and Facebook page. 

Consider allowing a family member or friend access to your blog or Facebook page. As soon as we had internet access, we checked on all of the people we knew who crossed with us.

Fair winds and following seas, my friend--but just in case...

Motor-sailing and the Thorny Path

What is motor-sailing?  Using the engine and sails together. It can be one or both sails up, with one or both engines running (full or partial power). A majority of the time, our configuration is full genoa and one engine at 50% power. (This changes based on current, pounding into the waves slowing our forward speed, and desired ETA). Leaving the main up helps with stability but it's more difficult to raise and lower--requiring someone to go out on deck. The genoa can be unfurled and furled quickly from the cockpit and gives us the most speed.  Our boat is built to be a SAILBOAT and the stability and directional control suffers when we are forced to motor with the sails down (too windy or headed straight into the wind).

Why motor-sail?  We first heard about motor sailing when we went to our live-aboard cruising course in St Pete. Our instructor told us we would be doing it a lot?!  At the time, we used it to move from one anchorage to the next to keep to the classes' timetable, despite the wind speed & direction. We did more pure sailing in our early days on our boat, but as the days have gotten shorter, the daylight dictates whether we can clear a cut or anchor at our next destination before dark.  On Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, there was 11 hours of daylight (vs 14+ mid-summer). The difference between 5 kts & 6 kts on a 55 mile trip (ie. crossing Northern Channel to Eleuthera) is 11 hrs vs 9 hrs!  The downside, of course, is the noise, vibration, drag (most PDQ owners agree that we gain 0.5 kt with engines retracted) and expense. Even with all the motor-sailing, our average fuel burn from Lake Worth to Marsh Harbour was 3/4 gal/hr. 

Our current route from Florida down the Caribbean chain is called "the thorny path", which means sailing to windward (into the prevailing southeast trade winds), our worst point of sail (we can only point to 60 degrees off the wind where most monohulls can do 45). It is also our slowest and most uncomfortable point of sail--and requires a lot of attention from the helmsman.  Jimmy Cornell, author of World Cruising Routes describes our intended path southbound as the "...inter-island route (AN113E) that threads its way through the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and the northern coast of the Dominican Republic to reach the Caribbean Sea through the Mona Passage."  "The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South" by Bruce Van Sant (http://thornlesspath.com/) breaks it down even further into short stages and is summarized by Cornell:  "..take one's time and watch the weather carefully.  Even in winter, when strong easterlies are the norm, the frequent fronts provide a respite of calms and light winds.  The recommended tactic is to sail ahead of such fronts and then run for shelter as the front approaches."  We have a lot of motor-sailing and waiting-for-weather-windows in our future. Now we are waiting for the Christmas Winds to blow through (strong winter trades). Chris Parker further defines benign crossing weather as "less than 15 kts and less than 4 ft waves"

Many fellow cruisers advised us to "take our time and enjoy" the Bahamas.  However, much of our schedule is dictated by weather--as each front comes, we either have to stay put for 3-5 days (if it's a protected) or make a run towards our next intended stop. Great Guana was my favorite spot so far--I would have loved to stay and snorkel, explore and visit with sv Willful, but it wasn't protected from the north and a blow was coming. Although the decision, the jump to Eleuthera was ours, Chris Parker predicted it would be "after Christmas" before cruisers could move farther south--10 days!  Some of the best advice was from our new friends Harriett & Skip. They sat us down in Vero, and went through the chart books with us page by page. Our takeaway was--be ready to move when and where Mother Nature says!

Exuma musical anchorages (Christmas)

It's hard to get scale for the size of the megayachts, but check out the crew member on the bow...

One of the surprises in the Exumas is the megayachts. There's at least one in every anchorage and they keep getting bigger!  We are also learning to play Exuma-musical chairs--"Everyone raise anchor at 9:00 and race to the next cay." 

Norman Cay:  The Captain, who isn't a morning person (no chit chat before his second cup of coffee or longer), comes out of our berth in Highborne with, "Where to next?!"  After double-checking that this is our last fuel & water stop before Warderick Wells (Land and Sea Park has no services. Compass is the next water stop), the dinghy goes in the water. Seriously, we can barely get the outboard on because of the swells. I hand him the handheld radio and tell him the proper radio protocol is, (overheard from the megayachts) "Odin, Odin, shore team." Lol.  My Captain, Oh Captain, My Hero dinghies the mile to the marina for 3 jerry cans of water, and 2 of fuel (he returns with a bottle of vodka as a present for his First Mate--smart man). I watch him through the binoculars until he is out of sight, then crank up VHF channel 16 and begin our departure prep. When I go to flip some breakers, I see the batteries are 12.09--below the bosses' 12.15 minimum. Yes, the fridge is running, but flipping it off brings us up to 12.14. Dang it. We'll be motoring soon, but that could be an hour?  The Honda is still in the cockpit, so with trepidation, I crank it up.    (No explosions. That's good!)

Shallow boat route

When he returns, the anchor is quickly up. He plops down for a break while the First Mate motors out to the route. It's rough away from shore, so after clearing the reef, I duck back in to pick up the shallow draft route. I'm concentrating on the the chartplotter and autopilot while the Captain identifies the coral heads along the path. Pretty soon, we pop out out an anchorage with a megayacht and 2 sailboats. We find a spot close to the beach just in front of the megayacht and drop anchor in a light swell. The water is 7 ft and clear. We could probably swim to the beach. We also have a view of the airport. A surprising number of airplanes are arriving and departing the north-south runway in 20 kts of SE wind.

Norman's used to be the hideout of drug lord, Carlos Lehder (and yes, the setting of the movie, Blow). The island is now privately owned with a small resort. 

Stats:  Total time 2:04, avg speed 4.7 kts, total mileage 9.8 nm, motorsailed.

Merry Christmas, family & friends.  Wish you were here!

Christmas Eve:  Our second day in Norman is regrouping. We have a great nights sleep (no howling winds!). Over a leisurely breakfast, The Captain decides we should dinghy to the DC-3 wreck off the end of the runway (drug smuggling plane?), then swing back by McDuffs Restaurant, however the waves are pretty big for our dinghy and we're soaked before we reach the point. We turn around, electing instead to take a walk on the beach (Is this our first walk on the beach?  That can't be right!). It's an interesting beach, with natural limestone slabs scattered in the sand. Weird! (Yes, we have a rigid bottom dinghy). We confirm the restaurant is still open (it was closed in 2013 after a hurricane and wasn't always open to cruisers--part of the private resort), then walk out to check out the runway. 

Christmas Eve dinner @ McGruffs.   Norman Cay, Bahamas

After changing into dry clothes, we warmly welcomed at McDuff's for our Christmas eve meal of Bahama Mama's, Kalik, and 8 oz angus cheeseburgers with onion confit ($25 each but they were fabulous!  The crews from a few other boats stop by but balk at the prices--seriously private resort. The next nearest restaurant is...I don't know!).

Norman Cay beach

After lunch it's SNORKEL TIME!  My third attempt, it takes me awhile to get set up, then we're off on my longest snorkel. We check the anchor, then follow the limestone down the beach. Seeing brilliantly colored fish (I've only seen in aquariums!), shells--still in the water, several sea stars (starfish) and I believe, one very shy tube anemone. Amazing!  When you get tired, you just float for awhile (or let hubby take your hand and pull you along)!  Even The Captain is fun to watch--normally one to keep moving, he floats above things for a long time, observing--making me smile. We work our way out the the nearest small coral head then back to the boat--being followed by a decent-sized Great Barracuda (not recommended for eating in the Caribbean because of ciguatera poisoning).

Sunset, Norman

By sunset, our little anchorage has swollen from 5 boats to 13. Our neighbors on the 52 ft cat, Aristo are circling the anchorage with their center console dinghy, pulling the kids on a SUP. "That looks fun."  I want a SUP.  "I want a dinghy that can pull skiers!"  Christmas Vacation The Movie is popped in the DVD player.  Before bed, I pop out one more time and discover another catamaran has nudged up between us. Too close my friend. Too close. 

Christmas tree, Norman

Short sail on Christmas Day/Shroud Cay:  As soon as we're up, we start getting ready to move. A loud roar comes from the boat next to us. "Did they bring their Harley?"  Wow, it's early for a generator that loud. By 9, the anchor is up and I turn the helm over to My Cappy. It's 6 miles around the corner to Shroud Cay. Our path is basically an arc, which means I'm constantly grinding a winch to keep the sail trim up to his standards.  Halfway over, we cross into the Land & Sea boundary. We see 4 masts and a megayacht (seriously, I think it's a cruise ship) at the mooring field, so we elect for the more shallow, northern anchorage. At the last minute, we change our mind about where to anchor--"It's still rough out here (frowny face)," so I snuggle farther in to 6 ft of water, just south of the entrance to Driftwood Camp. We have tiny beach off our bow and crescent beach off our port side. "Nobody else will come back here!"  

Anchored in Shroud Cay

Stats:  Total time 1:23, avg speed 4.5, total mileage 6.3 nm (1/4 motor, 3/4 motor sail genoa/1 eng)

Jimmy Buffett, The Christmas album is on!  Mele Kalikimaka, friends.

My Captain is ready to explore, so we dinghy over to the tiny beach off our bow. The water is deep all the way in. When we step out, I sink several inches into the softest white sand I've ever experienced. There are no footprints. It's like we are the only ones who have ever been here. A tiny barracuda is fishing the area. The view back towards our boat is stunning! (I forgot the camera and the light won't be the same later.) Merry Christmas to us!  We dinghy down to check out the entrance of the creek entrance we'll do later. 

The 25ft powerboat aground (again) on the dinghy creek

After naps, we are back to a rising tide for the dinghy down the shallow Sanctuary Creek (Explorer Chartbook Exumas, "dinghy traffic at idle speed") through the mangroves to Driftwood camp ("Built during the 1960's by a sailor living on his boat just inside the creek, the camp was used by drug agents in the 1980's to spy on aircraft flying from Norman's Cay."):  You want to leave on the rising tide, because there are some shallow spots on the way in. We leave a little early, so we swing by our little beach and then head over. For some reason, I end up out of the dinghy in the shallow water and pulling. It's a great lesson in reading water depths, as I plop my butt on the bow for ballast and give hand signals. Near the end, I see a woman sitting on a sand bar, holding a baby. Photo shoot?  We round the corner and see the 25 ft powerboat hard aground. The Captain stops to help pull, but seriously, they'll float in about an hour. ("They had to come in for the ocean side."). They speak very little English, but we heard, "Armando, Armando!  Jet ski!  Jet ski!"  OK, you're on your own. We hop up to the beautiful beach and tie up then look for the trail up to Driftwood Camp. We can see our boat, Norman Cay and the powerboat heading back where we came from!  We head back and find our foreign friends aground again. "Get a picture of this!"  No, we can't pull you with our 4 hp dinghy!

Warderick Wells/Hawksbill:  We decide to skip Hawksbill and head for Warderick Wells. The anchor is up by 8:30 am and we pass by the shallow boat route for a favoring wind "outside". Mistake. We have the genoa out and are, basically sailing @ 6 kts (one engine at idle). The winds build to 26 kts and we are taking 3-4 ft waves over the bow, when I hand the helm over to the Captain (Thornless Passage, "On the passage down the banks behind the Exumas you'll close reach on 20 kts of wind without a ripple on the water."  NOT!)  I open the companionway door to check on the cat, and the water out of her bowl is hitting the ceiling and she is sitting on the salon staring at me--soaked!  "I know our house moves, but I didn't know there is water involved!"  One hatch, closest to the cockpit is cracked 1/4", so I scramble to close it. Then hold the cat for a few minutes. The couch is soaked. A quick walkaround reveals the hatch next to our berth is also letting in water (I left on the external hatch covers. The seal will take a leech line without leaking, but NO CLOTH.). As the 9:00 Warderick broadcast comes on, The Captain says, "Do you want to call or shall I?"  Seriously?  After discussing 3 more hours of this, the amount of wet things below and the perfectly good anchorage over there, we make the turn. After dropping anchor as close to the beach as we can get (the two monohulls on the moorings look rolly), all the wet things go flying out the companionway into the cockpit.  The Captain starts hanging things up without asking questions. The cat is SUPER pissed. She's dry now and gets more some hugs. She's calmed down but her nap spot is GONE (hanging outside to dry)!  Dad gives her an old t-shirt. "Who are you trying to kid?"  Her old blanket?  "NO!"  She gives up and goes out in the cockpit for a nap. 

My souvenir conch pic, from Land & Sea

After lunch and naps, we drop in the dinghy in the water. As I look down, I see a decent sized ray swim under our boat. Why, hello there!  Where's my snorkel?!  We head off to explore the ruins & find a beach covered in conch shells?  Someone has punched the hole to get at the meat, but we're in Land & Sea Park?  How old are they?  There are hundreds!  There isn't much to the ruins. (How much were we expecting from 1735?!). We get a beautiful view of the bay. On the way back, we stop at our beach for another walk.  Apparently, it was a plantation and there is a field full of palm trees?  And this bench?  More questions than answers.

Hawksbill.  No idea.

We're back at the boat just as the "shore team" from the mega-yacht (aka aircraft carrier!) arrives and this afternoon's entertainment is--3 kite surfers. That looks hard. "How do you even learn that?"  They tack back and forth near our boat but the wind gradually carries them farther and farther out. The less experienced surfer ends up WAY out there, and the tender goes to retrieve him. Red beans and rice in the pressure cooker. 

Stats:  Total time 1:30, avg speed 4.6 kts, total mileage 6.8 nm, motor-sailed genoa/1-engine.

Sunset over the megayacht.  Hawksbill, Exuma, Bahamas.

Hatchet Bay to EXUMAS, BABY!

Hatchet Bay, Bahamas

(Pics added later when I have better internet access)

Hanging out in Hatchet Bay (Fri):  Our second day, The Captain does some chores including changing the problematic starboard bilge pump and changing oil on the port engine. I decided to join in and defrost the fridge. Later, we went in & checked out the grocery store.  (We picked up a large can of Dole pineapple juice $3.39, Lays Stax--his new thing--"cheaper than Palm Beach!", a can of Friskies $1.34 and some guava juice to go with our passionfruit.) Yes, the options are limited and prices vary widely from cheaper-than-home to twice as much. However, they have a small mailboat on Thursday, big mailboat on Friday & a high speed ferry from Nassau. Afterwards, we wander down to Da Spott (bar) and are quickly hugged by some intoxicated locals--The Captain was a very good sport!  We had a few drinks and ran updates for our electronic devices, then headed home. (The "big" boat doesn't show up until 6:00 pm--through the entrance channel after dark!)

Day 3 (Sat):  At exactly midnight, The Captain bolts out of bed--"The wind just switched!"  Either we miscalculated, or the winds aren't as forecast because now we are closer to the limestone cliffs than we planned. By mid-morning, the winds are a steady 20 and he doesn't like our position. (The winds were forecast to be N-NE at 25 thus the reason we tucked back in this corner. Instead they were E-NE. Dang it!). However, moving is a problem. The water is too stirred up to see another sandy patch on the bottom. It's too rough to snorkel and check the anchor set. I propose doing anchor watches through the night instead of moving. An old fishing mooring pops up just off our starboard stern. "Did you see that?"  Eventually, we decide to tie a float to the mooring and use it as a reference. We also score some decent wifi since we swung around. I scramble to upload a blog, research posting blogs through our Iridium, update Google Maps and send a few Facebook pics. With nothing but free time, I also finally figured out why my Canon Rebel wouldn't connect to my laptop. Score!  We could hear music coming from town, but after lunch the overcast drizzle moved in. Our only neighbor pulls up anchor and moves to a mooring closer to the dinghy dock. No town for us.  There are two airports on the island and we see several planes going overhead, even in these winds. 

Day 4 (Sun):  The next morning we decide to move farther from the bank. We raise the anchor but when I try to increase port thrust to turn, the wind blows us sideways. Craig rushes back and puts the boat in reverse, backing out into the middle of the cove. "There's no thrust from the port engine."  Did we hit the dinghy or the mooring?  "No, the prop is slipping." We drop anchor to reassess. We decide we're holding and he confident the anchor in sand. He pulls the engine up & looks at the prop.  It doesn't appear to be loose, but he gets in the dinghy to reach under the bridgedeck to change it anyway. The waves were bashing him around and he took of a couple waves in the face. (Don't drop the nut!). Yep, the rubber drive looks deteriorated. 

I'm officially tired of the free internet, so I go back to reading. We've given up on regular meals because of the sleep schedule, instead munching all day while running the generator and watching TV. Will the winds ever quit howling? 

Day 5 (Mon):  They keep amending the forecast. We were hoping to get down to Rock Sound for water, fuel (and laundry), then wait for a weather window to take the southern channel to the Exumas. However, we get word some sailors may take advantage of the forecast--less than 15 SE winds, to cut across to the "middle grounds" instead. "Yeah, that would work!"

Underway Eleuthera to Exumas

Tuesday, Exumas:  We put the main sail up (one reef) while still at anchor (we're already facing into the wind.  Cool trick!), then lift the anchor at sunrise to clear the entrance. The genoa is unfurled and our heading out to clear the shoal & Findlay Cay at the southwest end of Eleuthera puts the wind on our aft quarter, perfect for us. We're flying as fast as 8-9.5 kts without our engines. 

At 9:30 am, we spot the sails of our friends, Kelly Nicole behind us. When we make the turn southbound, we're close hauled and an engine comes back on to maintain our arrival time. AND the starboard bilge light is back (after confirming the water in the bilge isn't a problem, he switches the new pump to "auto". We use the emergency hand pump in the cockpit every hour or so as a precaution.  Apparently, we have a small leak--bad check valve?). We enter the "middle grounds"--the water is so clear you can see the rocks on the bottom!  Cool--and a little nerve-wracking. By afternoon, the wind is gusting to 22. We feel pretty comfortable, despite the "sporty" ride, but a trip down below reveals, you can barely walk. The circuit breaker panel had fallen open, flipping the VHF breaker. A glass bottle of mouthwash has fallen & broken--now the boat smells minty fresh (down below on your hands and knees cleaning up glass with a strong odor is not where you want to be in a rough ride!). Everything from the salon table is on my side of the couch, including the cat's water bowl.  (They said that's not supposed to happen in the catamaran brochure!). However, as we get in the lee of the Exumas, the waves decrease, so we elect to pass our original anchorage at Ship Channel (1:00 pm) for Highbourne Cay, where we can get water and fuel. 

There are 2 megayachts in the anchorage, including a shore party of jet skis, sups, volleyball, horseshoes & lawn chairs. The Captain, anxious to get out of the waves, considers driving all the way up onto the beach! We're tired (and both a little snippy) by the time we're anchored and the mess is cleaned up.  A couple more boats anchor around us and are dinghying around in weather we don't like in our 36 ft catamaran!  Kelly Nicole arrives and anchors down from us. The Captain grills some burgers and I'm in bed by 7:30 pm.  The winds are still from the SE instead of the east, so we're not in a protected anchorage.  Every 15 min or so, the boat rolls hard port, hard starboard. Yuck. Rolly rolly puke puke, Exumas. Just when I get to sleep, there's a rainshower. Then another. Then another. We feel like we have hangovers in the morning.

Stats:  Total time 8:08, avg speed 6.3 kts!, total mileage 51.5 nm, sailed 20 nm/motorsailed 1-reef main & genoa close-hauled.

Sunrise in Highbourne Cay, Bahamas

Stay tuned!  We're about to get to the fun part ;-)

Goodbye Abaco

Sea of Abaco between Marsh & Tahiti Beach

The high winds had blown through and there was a weather window for crossing to Eleuthera on Wednesday so it was time to get moving.  I have very few pics of Marsh Harbour.  As the Captain said it's a "big" town that is similar to being in Florida.

It was Monday morning, so we were at Maxwell's grocery store (largest in Abaco) by 8:00 am and the bank by the time they opened at 9:30. We hit the marine store on the way back for more engine oil. We were back to the boat and anchor was up by 10:30 am.  This was late for us, but as I looked around, 4 other boats were also pulling up anchor.  The catamaran behind us had his main sail up as he raised his anchor, so The Captain scrambled to unfurl our genoa as we entered the channel ("When is there a sailboat race?  When another sailboat with sails up is in sight!"). 

We motorsailed until we made a turn, then motored to the anchorage between Elbow Cay & Lubbers Quarters.  It's called Tahiti Beach and pictures don't do it justice.  There was only one other boat here.  We both grabbed our snorkels and jumped in for a swim--(it's not near as clear, calm and pretty as Great Guana). We noticed the anchor missed the sandy patch we had aimed for and ended up in the grass, so we pulled up anchor and moved forward a little.  Three more boats joined us before nightfall. For city folk, there is an all new kind of darkness at these out islands. The stars were fantastic and we could hear the waves crashing on the other side of the island as we fall asleep. 

Stats:  total time 1:53, avg speed 5.2 kts, total mileage 9.8 nm, 1/2 motorsailed, 1/2 motored.

Our view of Tahiti Beach

We departed Tahiti Beach by 8:45 am and snuck by Kelly Nicole who anchored farther down. It was a zig zag route past a shifting sand bar and down to Little Harbour and we're able to cut a few more corners than they could which kept them behind us. We passed by the North Channel (a wider inlet that the mailboat uses) and the ride was rougher than we had expected. We can see Kelly Nicole's mast swaying back & forth. The Captain briefly let out his trolling line, hoping for some errant fish that came in the cut. No go. We passed Pelican Land & Sea Park. We're in 30 ft of water and can still see the bottom!  It's supposed to be a great snorkeling area but the water looks too rough for me!

Kelly Nicole peels off at Lynard Cay and we continue on to the anchorage inside Little Harbour Bay. We slowly motored in until the swells from the inlet subsided, following the 7 ft contour line (we're at 2 ft high tide) out around we found a sandy patch. Kelly Nicole later tells us he calls this Bight of Rolly Rolly Puke Puke (thanks for the warning) but we didn't find it uncomfortable. This will give us a straight shot to the inlet tomorrow morning. I won't sleep great anyway. The Captain whips up a beef stew for dinner--good leftovers for after our trip tomorrow.  We watch Bad Santa, "to get in the Christmas spirit" (replacing his old standby of Christmas Vacation.  It was clarified that Jimmy Buffet christmas carols will be allowed on Christmas eve). 

Stats:  total time 2:32, avg speed 5.1 kts, total mileage 13.0 nm, 1/4 motorsailed, 3/4 motored.

"You never know what you're going to see..."  (This what happens when I let the Captain have the camera...)

Little Harbour Bay/Bight of Old Robinson (sv Kelly Nicole, "Rolly Rolly Puke Puke")

Eleuthera--Another crossing!

Sunrise while underway on the Atlantic

Another crossing:  I'm awoken by a 2:00 am rain shower and never really fell back to sleep. I'm up by 3:30 (the alarm was set for 4--just about the time The Captain started snoring). Amelia the Cat was game and had breakfast then joined me in the cockpit while I began preparations. Weather was confirmed. Checklist was started. Captain was awoken at 4:20 am and handed a Red Bull. Anchor was up at 5:00 am with the First Mate at the helm through the cut (seriously, he's not a morning person!).  We had got a look at the inlet on our way in, and had our iPad Garmin BlueChart side-by-side with the chartplotter to confirm the course line.

By 5:30 am, we were through the inlet and headed southbound.  We would follow the coast of Abaco almost half of the 55 miles to the coast of Eleuthera.  We were 11 miles out and I still had cell coverage!  The sun slowly rises from 6:00-7:00 am.  It was a relatively smooth ride with 1-2 ft seas with 8 kts of wind close hauled at 5.5 kts, motor sailing on one engine. We can see the sails of Silver Heels (AIS).  No sign of our friends on sv Kelly Nicole.

Amelia the Cat took a nap.

Favorable winds & waves forecast for our crossing

As the Captain got up from a mid-morning nap, Angie W reminds me on FB to put out the trolling line (pink squid with squirt of WD-40). At 9:30 am, I was looking back when the Mahi jumps at the lure from the side.  FISH ON!  "He's not on. He's small.  GRAB THE RUM.  GRAB THE CAMERA!" The throttles went to idle but the sails are still up as The Captain reels in our first fish.  He vibrant and shimmering greens, blues and yellows were visible as he neared the boat.  (Yes, I'm an animal lover, but I want this fish in my tummy!)  He went crazy every time the Captain tried to raise him out of the water and up the steps.  (I should have taken video but I was sure we wouldn't land the first one.)  He finally landed him and my camera shy hubby immediately poses for his picture.  Now what?  "Throw him in the dinghy."  He can't stand it.  He's giddy, so he decided to clean it while underway (we later decided this should be done after anchoring, up on the trampoline with the fresh water wash down hose).  "Please don't cut off a finger out here.  I will kill you."  If you think it's hard to reel in a 5 lb fish by hand, try taking his pic or cleaning it on a boat pitching in 1-2 ft ocean swells. So freakin proud of my husband. He really can do anything. The fillets aren't pretty but in 20 years, I've never seen him clean a fish, so he was probably out of practice. This is huge. Free fish could mean a drastically reduced grocery bill or more money for rum!  Now we need a fillet knife and a net--seriously, if he was any bigger we would have had trouble getting him on the boat!

(zoom in) At the stern step--"Here fishy, fishy!"

My hubby's first Mahi.  Look at that smile!

Yeah, he knows how to do everything.

We're still celebrating our 2 lbs of organic, fresh and FREE mahi--we're guessing $30 at Whole Foods--when I look down and see a bilge light on. That's never good. "Yeah, that's the pump I need to change." What?!  He disappears below. It was just enough water to trip the switch--less than 1/4 of the bilge, and quickly cleared by our emergency hand pump in the cockpit. He also takes down the hand siphon & a bucket to get it completely empty. At 11:30, the light comes back on while he's at the helm.  I jump on the hand pump--it's relatively easy to pump & keep an eye on the chartplotter & light.  Luckily, we've done this before (http://planesboatsandbicycles.blogspot.com/2015/04/left-maryland-in-south-ya.html

In the afternoon, the wind picked up to 12 kts with 1 ft swells but, they are closer together so a little choppy.  We see two sets of sails behind us now, and finally Kelly Nicole pops us as an AIS target passing Silver Heels.

At one point, Amelia was sitting inside the companionway, in the perfect "underway-wide-legged-stance"!  I should have got a pic but she had on her "super pissed" face. Where's my LUNCH?!  I heard something about a fish...

The last hour before entering Egg Island cut, we had 16 kts of wind, but it was starting to shift.  We were already close-hauled, as close as we could point, doing 7.5-7.8 kts, so we followed it out and tacked back towards the entrance (just enough for Kelly Nicole to run us down like a freight train!)

Google Earth shot of Eleuthera

We cleared the cut by 2:30 pm, so we decided to head across and anchor short of the Current Cut as Kelly Nicole turns for Royal Island anchorage.  By 4:00 pm, we were starting to get tired and as we prepared to anchor--The Captain asked why I've slowed down with a mile to the beach.  I respond, "I don't want to drive up on the beach!"  "Yeah, at 5 kts people will be scattering!"  Woof.  Silly conversation.  Tired.  We end up close-in to a pretty beach at Current Settlement with a few homes in view (this town was battered by 200+ mph winds from Hurricane Andrew).  As the sun sets, we can see the Christmas lights on one of the patios.  The grill was immediately cranked up to cook our Mahi.  "What do you service with fresh caught Mahi?  Nothing!"  OK, rum & mango chutney were later recommended by friends.  Next time I'll be more prepared!

"I prefer my Mahi without lime juice, but I'll let it slide this time..."

Stats:  total time 11:01, avg speed 5.7 kts, total mileage 63.2, motorsailed with full main, full genoa, 1/2 one-engine, 1/2 2-engines.

Time to hunker down

The tricky part about Eleuthera is there are very few sheltered anchorages with good holding (or marinas for that matter).  We would have loved to make sheltered Rock Sound on the south end, but we didn't have the weather window or energy.  In fact, at one point, The Captain considered "skipping" this island altogether, just stopping overnight and continuing through to the Exumas!  However, Mother Nature and Chris Parker had spoken.  Time to hunker down while another cold front passes through.

Current Cut

We're up early to clear the tricky, Current Cut at slack water. Some reports say the current can be 4 kts in the middle!  We were going to sail across to Hatchet Bay but it was pretty rough, with short set waves like the Chesapeake, so we tack over near shore and motor down the coast--call it sightseeing! (It turns out the guidebook also recommended this alternative route).

Glass Window

Limestone cliffs of Eleuthera, Bahamas

The beautiful limestone cliffs are covered with lush vegetation (pictures don't do it justice). Homes are built out on the edge overlooking the water, with steps carved down to the waters edge.  According to Explorer guidebook, "The most distinctive geological feature in N Eleuthera is the Glass Window, now a bridged breach at the island's narrowest part.  On its ocean side, where the reef is not continuous, waves gnawed at this weak point and broke the island's natural bridge in two.  The manmade bridge over this scenic crevasse was knocked 7 feet to the west by the rogue wave in 1991 and impassable for some time."  Yeah, let's rent a car and drive across that!  There is also a scenic resort at Gregory Town, the home of the Pineapple Festival (although the predominant crop now is tomatoes and cabbages).

He get's bored quickly.  Shortening the reef lines while underway.

Hatchet Bay entrance

There is the occasional "rock below the surface. No depth noted" to keep you on alert. I actually saw a quite large one. Nothing prepared us for the narrow limestone entrance to Hatchet after 4 hours of slogging into the waves.  I think sv Summertime Rolls tried to warn me. The guidebook didn't give any warning, so maybe sometimes it's better not to know what is awaiting you. And then we saw the dinghy, in the middle, just inside the entrance. The Captain usually gives me "the look" for the occasional cursing, but he was cursing like a sailor when he saw that dinghy. He cut the engines and then said screw it. I hollered as we entered the limestone and the fisherman turned around. Did he move?  No just reeled in his line. We were rewarded with a beautiful, protected little bay to sit out the weather. Always worried that each anchorage could be full, we only saw one other boat anchored and 3 on the moorings near the government dock. Per the guidebooks, we tucked into the shallower north corner where it was sandy (love.our.catamaran). Our hefty Mantus anchor skipped a few times before biting--perhaps a rock under the sand?  The Captain dove on it to confirm the sand bottom and that it was buried.

Our "old" chartbooks :-)

When I went to stow the "Near Bahamas" chart book, I realized how our nav station has filled with charts from places we've already been!  We scouted out the two dinghy docks and went for a walk in town (both bars with wifi have been identified!). We stopped at The Front Porch, which has a beautiful view of the bay and had 2 rum punches made with fresh passionfruit (and scored 2 as a gift from the proprietor, fresh off his tree). After chatting politics and what time the "big" boat comes through the entrance (5:00 on Fridays, "we can do that with our eyes closed!"), we made our way back home. Watched Indiana Jones. 

Stats:  total time 3:54, avg speed 5.4 kts, total mileage 21.1, motor sailed 1/4 main & genoa (7 kts), motored with main 3/4.  TOTAL MILEAGE TO DATE:  1650.9!

"Mommy, did you know we have a window?!"

Everyone has asks how Amelia is doing.  She's doing great.  She has much more energy and spends a lot more of her day up and around.  She has gone from eating a 1/2 can of food a day to a full can & is still begging despite the dry food also available.  Luckily, the info about not being able to find cat food in the Bahamas is not true (we still have quite a stash, but she likes variety).  She scored some of her favorite Whiska pouches in Marsh (10 for $10) and a big can of Friskies in Hatchet Bay ($1.39).