Sailing Angels

"Sailing Angels"

Tim's latest video

Song written and sung by our good friend 

Shake Russell

TimReevesVideo on youtube.com

It's all about da love.....and rum

After eight nights in the protected harbor of Hatchet Bay in Eleuthera, we busted out one fair day and made our way westbound 16 miles across to Current Cut, a gap in the islands with a monstrous current. So get your ducks in a row and watch your p's and q's.  We did, making sure the tide/current AND wind were in sync, flowing with us. We clocked our fastest speed yet at 11 knots (12.6mph)------yeah Fiesta!! woohoo!

Spanish Wells

We were on our way to the very northern island in the Eleuthera chain called Spanish Wells.  Its claim to fame is the largest fishing fleet in the Bahamas for lobsters and many other fish varieties. It was a culture shock on several levels.  First was the clean and well-kept appearance of the soft pastel colored houses.  Second was that the citizens were all white Bahamians, descendants of the British Loyalists that fled other parts of the Bahamas when a slave uprising drove them out in the mid 1800's.  It soon became all too obvious to us that there was a definite gene strain common to all. Not only was there a physical similarity with the family name of Pinder everywhere, but there was this... accent, unlike anything I've ever heard.  I kept expecting a Midwest or Texas accent to come out of these common-looking white folks, but instead, it was truly indescribable.  A linguist would have a blast with this one.  One young waitress pronounced Bahamas as Bee-yamas, very cute if not quirky.

S/V Grateful (Dead)---farewell Jamie and Niki

But here's the best part of our stop in Spanish Wells: the first night we had just crawled into the V-berth bed and I checked phone messages.  Lo and behold, an old childhood friend was anchored in the same harbor about 150 yards out from us and they were leaving early in the morning to catch up with us in the last harbor we had just left!!!!  We jumped out of bed and lowered the dinghy. We reinstalled the gas tank and outboard, started it up and off we went into the dark to a distant catamaran with a fading light shining from the cabin. It was a great reunion of Elenbaas and Wyly that our partying parents in the 1960's would have been proud of.

Tim, Leslie, Niki and Jamie Elenbaas--sailors passing in the night

We hung together for a couple of days exploring the island, reminiscing about old times and catching up on the current news.  This was yet another amazing "large ocean... small world" story.  
Jamie and Niki will continue on through the Bahamas, down to the eastern Caribbean and eventually over to the Mediterranean and onward.  

Sail safely, my friends.....may the winds favor your wandering direction.

I tell ya, his whole trip has been about the journey, not the destination. There's been some high hi's and low lo's, as with everything in life.  The lo side of this life is the farewells; it's hard to see a boat pull out of harbor.  It sets in a certain melancholy that says to us, time to move on too.  And so we did. 

Dolphins off the bow

We took our departure from Spanish Wells, westbound to the beautiful Berry Islands and found serenity surrounded by turquoise blue for seven days.

Berry Islands... or is it Gilligan's Island?

The conch critter is still in there!  

Another secret deep blue hole--Hoffman's Cay

  

Great Harbor Cay--north Berry Islands

We spent four nights in Great Harbor Cay waiting for a weather window for a 76-mile passage (19 hours) over to the Bimini Islands, but made a quick decision to leave one afternoon around 3pm and go all night with a full moon. It was one of those difficult passages; though the winds were a perfect 10-15kts, the rolling waves on our beam threw us around quite a bit. Thank goodness for that full moon to keep us oriented. We arrived in Cat Cay anchorage at 10am, wiped out.  

Final Bahamian Island.....Cat Cay---south of Bimini

Gulf Stream---pics can't capture those steep waves....

This was our final stop in the Bahamas. Time to go home for real. We slept all day and spent an extra day and night resting and waiting for that picture-perfect window to cross the BIG river, the Gulf Stream, back to Florida, about 70 nm. It was Friday, April 22 (oops, mariner taboo says never leave a harbor on Friday). When we woke up, the winds were on the frisky side for a GS crossing, SE at 15-20kts, which means the waves will also be high, but we went for it because the next few days were going to be calm and we're not into motoring for the next 60 miles.  With a reefed mainsail and full jib, we made 6-7kts for the first part of the day.  Winds were actually perfect, but the waves were exhilarating, with the taller ones hitting us on the broadside at about 10 feet. The weather experts predicted these waves to be 4- 6 ft because they take the average height of the highest 1/3 of the waves, but individual waves may be more than twice this height.  Nonetheless, we were so happy to have an Island Packet yacht that day. We sailed her strong and she handled it beautifully.  To compensate for the strong GS current, we steered 25 degrees southwestward off our direct 240-degree bearing for eight hours, until we finally felt the Gulf Stream push against us, dropping our speed to 2-3kts. Oh yeah, here she is.  So we had to fall off northward of our intended bearing to make any way.  There's nothing that says: "Gulf Stream River here!"  

Gulf Stream approx location

The edges move around east and west over the 2000ft deep trench.  You just know it when the compass and speed go weird. 

Long after a beautiful sunset, we pulled into Key Largo to the north side of Rodriguez Key and dropped the hook among a dozen sleeping boats at 11pm, exhausted.  The downstairs salon area looked like a war zone. There was stuff everywhere.  Even when I thought everything had been tucked away or battened down, the mighty ocean showed me otherwise.  The mighty ocean---keeping sailors humble for centuries and chasing that bottle of rum.  

This current blog is being reported to you from the warm and secure bosom of Boot Key Harbor in Marathon, Florida Keys, where we will hang for the next month on a mooring ball.

Here we have run into several of our crazy neighbors from C-dock in our home marina of Regatta Point and more are en route on their way here. It's gonna be fun to see them all again.  As of today, we are scheduled to return to Palmetto, FL (Regatta Point Marina) by June 1st and then decide where our future will be from there.

       

So friendly :)

Last note observations: there are a few things we would like to include after our 4.5 months in the Bahamas.  First of all is the abundance of friendliness among the citizens.  Except for one tyrant in one harbor, the general majority of Bahamians are "all about da love".  It's customary to say "hello!"  to everyone you pass. It is so warm and friendly.
Also remarkable here is the security we felt while drifting around.  At no time did we feel ourselves or Fiesta or our dinghy in jeopardy. (Though we did not visit Nassau, Freeport, or Marsh Harbor, where caution is prudent). 

Another note of interest was the availability of fresh veggies.  Most come from afar and always via the Mailboat, though that's typical anywhere in the world these days. We ate very well, supplying our meals from the little mom-and-pop stores all over the islands.  We actually both ate well, lost weight and gained muscle in this live-aboard transient lifestyle.

Lastly, because we don't favor the drama side of life, we went prepared and though there was a daily risk to everything we did, we stayed on the cautious side of that fulcrum.  With due diligence on engine and boat maintenance, we had only three minor repairs and returned happy and satisfied with a journey of 1138 nautical miles (=1309 standard miles). All those miles and only $300 spent on diesel.

Well done... now let's have some rum!

Big ocean....small world

The date was March 13, 2016, and the place is Georgetown, Exumas, a grand Bahamian harbour many sailors call home for the winter. 
At last, the four-day-long 20+ kt winds subsided and the next morning witnessed the departure of many boats that had patiently waited for this perfect weather window. Anchors were hauled up, followed by the large mainsail, as 7-8 boats fell in line, departing the south end of the wide Elizabeth Harbour.  Many will return next year, while others will sail to new and different shores, a bittersweet departure, as we're all ready to continue our journey, but sad to say goodbye to friends of good times.  With Fiesta provisioned full of water, diesel, food and beverage, we too pulled out into the farewell line of sailboats. Though unrehearsed, the flotilla appeared to be a synchronized chorus line.

Calabash Bay, Long Island

Fiesta was heading for 25 nautical miles towards the top end of Long Island, a beautiful full sail day into Calabash Bay for the night.  It felt good to be "on the road" again after a full month in the same harbour.
Calabash paid off with a peaceful night's sleep and inspiring sunrise.  This early morning was another departing chorus line of about five other boats (all independent of each other) and though we all took a north bearing up and around the top of Cape Santa Maria, we watched with Fiesta as the other sailboats peeled off east and south into the big Atlantic Ocean. This was the turning point---north for returning US-bound vessels or south for far Caribbean destinations unknown.  

Conception Island turquoise

We were alone floating northeast, under the azure sky, watching friends with white triangular sails disappear over the horizon, like a white flag of surrender, looking for the next peaceful scene.  This day we were blessed again with perfect winds in full sails for 19nm to our next island destination in paradise called Conception Island.  A small uninhabited island (not even a single ugly iguana anywhere) belonging to the Bahamian National Trust parks.  We began to think we would be the only ones on this deserted island for the next couple of nights, which was fun and a bit eerie sometimes, but as we drew closer, we could see a spread of ten masts and hulls anchored against a brilliant white beach in the tropical sunshine.   But wait a minute, why are all the boats painted turquoise blue?  Is it a sailing club?  A gay militia fleet escaping the US political persecution?  While most boat hulls are stark white, my binoculars were freaking me out with this new-blue coordinated color of boats.  Though it seemed like a hallucination of the mind in the haze of salt air and too much sun, it was simply a blonde moment (I do confess to those every now and then).  It was the reflection of unbelievable intensity from the TURQUOISE waters surrounding the bay. This was by far the most extreme turquoise we had encountered in all the Bahamas.  There is a rare and costly turquoise gemstone from  Arizona called Sleeping Beauty. Its blue is indescribable, as were these waters.  Our close friend Kit Lynch, a vibrant Taos artist full of color, would consider this pure heaven.  It was beyond magnificent.  Did I tell you how clear the water was?  At midnight under a full moon, you could read a book 20 feet down; I exaggerate not.  We have met sailors who have sailed around the world and exclaim that no other place in the world can compare to these waters. Period. Ok, have I blissed you out yet?  Another highlight in this harbour: we reunited with some good friends who had left George Town a week before us, Rex and Amy on Xtasea, so much fun.  

Typical breakfast--one dish meal

New Mexicans doin' a Bahama 'ting

In this bay of blue was another big ocean, small world experience.  Anchored next to us was a green-hulled Tartan 33 called Emerald City. Lee and Shelby Leonard, with grandson Eric, were from Dixon, New Mexico. Yep, we had friends in common.

We stayed here two nights, but could have been a week.  We knew the isolation was going to be one of our last for a while.  

The next day, en route to Cat Island, it was a sea of glass as we glided gracefully along- beautiful, but it meant the iron genny cranking us onward. 

Hermitage

One of our unexpected treasures on Cat Island was a small historic Hermitage atop the highest point on the island above the sleepy little settlement of New Bight. Built by beloved Father Jerome early last century, he spent his last years in seclusion here... wow.

Pigeon Cay Resort--Cat Island

We sailed on up Cat Island, a low-key cay of friendly folks.  Up on the north end we dropped the hook near the very charming and relaxing Pigeon Cay Resort and went ashore for a beer.  Found the "honor bar"; yep, just leave your money on the bar and help yourself.  But most noteworthy were the owners of this small resort, Leslie and Ned; they used to live and ski in Santa Fe and Taos.  Large ocean, but small world---a trend for us.  

Not quite as dark as the locals :)

Next stop was at a private island owned by Carnaval Cruise Lines, now called Half Moon Cay.  The anchorage was perfect and we shared it with another Island Packet 35 called Peacekeeper (both well-travelled ex-UN peacekeepers). They were based out of Twin Dolphins marina across from our home base on the Manatee River on the west coast of

Half Moon Cay---cruiseship playground

Florida---large ocean, small world. Along the white sand beach on this island is a cruise line company's prefabricated fantasy playland of air-conditioned 3-sided cottages (yep, AC for the outside tropics...?), shops, water toys galore, horseback stables and a GIANT replica tall ship of Captain Morgan's, which was the bar.  The playland was void of those white and splotchy pink tourists the day we were there, so I metal detected the entire beach looking for cruise liners' gold.....nada....dang.

Ok-ok...you got right of way....jeesh

The next morning, as we pulled out of the bay, small power boats were bringing in the employees from neighboring islands to work for not one, but TWO oversized Carnaval monsters waiting to unload their thousands for a day at the beach.  So happy and grateful to be on our humble little boat.

Next stop was a day-long motor/sail up to Rock Sound in southern Eleuthera Island, which had great, almost perfect facilities for small cruisers like us.  All-around protection from strong winds in the large harbour paid off when another stink blew through and clocked around all directions (something Cat Island did not have).  The only questionable and somewhat typical issue for the town of Rock Sound is the lack of safe dinghy docks.  When the tide drops (every 12 hours), it is difficult to crawl up (and down) a splintery, mucky and often broken 3rd world hand-made ladder to the dock.  We came back one day to our dinghy sitting on the mud bog bottom.....fun.  And if not careful with the timing of the tides, the "dink" could be caught UNDER the dock on a rising tide...."dink-unda-da-dock-doo-doo"......not good either.  

Now being read in the Bahamas----Taos News!

Another highlight of Eleuthera for us was a set-up rendezvous with friends Carl Gilmore and Francie on vacation from Taos!  They had rented a house and jeep, so we tooted around with them for a couple of days exploring and snorkeling. So good to catch up with the news from Taos.  

After three nights in beautiful and quiet Ten Bay and its sandy beach, we sailed up to Governor's Harbour for a look around and found a vibrant and fun town of colonial houses from a time when this was the capital of the country before it moved to Nassau.  We didn't dare stay in this harbour with a cold front blowing through, as it's known for its poor anchor holding.  But we will be back because this has one of the few government offices for us to renew our tourist permit.  We were given 120 days when we checked into this country back in mid-December and guess what, it's almost up.  Govt officials don't like to renew too far in advance of the expiration, so we sailed through a squall on our way up to Hatchet Bay, a unique enclosed bay with a narrow opening cut in the limestone cliffs around it.  Hatchet Bay had boasted of being THE safest hurricane-proof harbour in the Bahamas, that is, until Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Irene in 2011 proved them wrong, and wrecks still line the shore.  
Here we sit out another cold front coming soon. So we rented a car and headed down to Governor's Harbour to renew our stay for another 90 days!  

Waterspout over narrow cut in cliffs

Free boat wash and water tank refill

Alice Town on Hatchet Bay

Since our last blog, we have decided NOT to head up to the Abaco Islands.....perhaps another time.  But we feel the winds will blow us toward the Berry Islands instead...more on the way back to Florida. 

Onward we go through the big ocean.....and small world.


With peace and respect......Leslie and Tim

Check out Tim's latest video and 

you'll wonder why we are ever coming home.

              

                  

GeorgeTown Exumas

Where we are...or where are we?

We have been here in George Town, Exumas for a month; can't figure out where it's gone.  So much to do and see. There are the daily hikes on the beaches and through the jungle trails crisscrossing all over the narrow, long Stocking Island.

This has been a big plus for us, as most of the Bahamian islands are privately owned, hence no trespassing. The air and water temperatures have been a little chilly for swimming and snorkeling, but we're so deeply in love with the turquoise waters and clarity.

The underside of airplanes and clouds passing overhead reflect the brilliant blues of the waters, unbelievable. The Bahamas are everything we have dreamed of and more.

The 36th annual week-long George Town Cruisers Regatta festival with so many fun events just concluded, all organized by volunteer cruisers/snowbirds.  There are over 300 boats in the harbor—about 70 fewer than last year, apparently.  We participated in a scavenger hunt (mostly picking up garbage that floats ashore along the beaches) but won a $20 gift certificate to the local meat market.  The meat market is about three miles from town, so two times a week, they have a pickup truck for a shuttle that we pile into (felt like a teenager again).  Also got to race a Sunfish-type small boat around---that was REALLY fun, best sailing for fun by far.  There have been volleyball events, beach golf, variety show, pet parade, large boat races, etc.

                                                                   

Dressed up but too shy to parade

Active Captain Jeff Siegel talking about sailing apps changing the future

It's like an adult summer camp. The Elizabeth Harbor is full of an amazing, supportive and friendly community of boaters.  

Chat-n-Chill beach----main hangout

George Town has friendly locals and carries a good assortment of supplies a cruiser needs.  Except when we needed a “vented loop” or anti-siphon valve for our engine exhaust system.  We ordered this part online at $36 from Defender.com, but paid a $40 expedited delivery fee and had it successfully installed on da boat within da week.  Just a small stressful moment when a tracking email notice came through saying it’s undeliverable and we would have to pick it up in Nassau, but it came on down the island chain anyway.

We wanted to also mention here the cost of cruising the Bahamas.  American dollars are the same as Bahamian dollars, no difference and they take both.  Cruising permit (good for a year) costs $300.  Though we’ve only been in two marinas, they cost anywhere from $1 per foot to $4.25 per foot. So for us it would be anywhere from $40/night to $160/night, electricity and water extra.  R/O (reverse osmosis) water usually runs 40 cents per gallon, but here in George Town—FREE! (thanks to Exuma Markets).  Diesel is comparable to the US at $3.50-$4.25 per gallon and gasoline is $3.50/gallon.  The highest cost by far is food and drink.  Gallon of milk (if you find it) $8.  Dozen plain white eggs $5.50. Box of Wheat Thin crackers $9.  Bag of tortilla chips $7.  8oz prepackaged sliced lunchmeat $7.  Nestle’s Quick (for Tim’s habit) $6.  Small can of mixed nuts (no peanuts) $14.  Bag of coffee $14.  Bag of chocolate chips $7.  Small jar of pickles $7.  Bag of 3 romaine lettuce $5.50.  There’s always a 7% VAT added.

Guess what's available for $3.45 per can?

Obviously, this is American-imported eating habits.  Bahamians love to eat fish, chicken, ribs, peas and rice, coleslaw, mac and cheese and of course, conch anything.
A rum punch or mixed drink in a bar is usually $7-$12 in a plastic cup.  Beer is $4-6.  We did find a box of wine at $35, while it's usually $15 in the US.
We gave a really poor-looking beggar $2 the other day and he complained it wouldn’t buy him a cup of tea. We honestly don’t know how they make ends meet here; everything is so expensive by US standards.
Thank goodness anchoring is free.  Which, by the way, a battle in Florida to keep all waterways free and open for anchoring was just lost.  The legislature has banned anchoring in certain areas of Florida’s waterways. Rich homeowners win.

One of our newest and most exciting additions was an outboard engine upgrade.  We had been running around in our 9ft dinghy with only a 6HP 4-stroke Tohatsu.  Though it was only a year old, it was temperamental and always had us on edge about whether it would start (or break down) or not. It literally hated me; I couldn’t get it started to save my life, which meant Tim was the only captain on this boat, and I was SOL for going anywhere without him, like metal detecting on that beach over there.  On top of that, it was a slow struggle on a calm day to get across the mile-wide harbor to George Town; forget it if there were high winds with choppy waves. So we found and bought a brand new 15HP 2-stroke Yamaha. 

New 15HP outboard Yamaha---taking a siesta

The 2-stroke (vs. 4-stroke) outboard engines are not available for purchase in North America due to lack of energy efficiency, but they are everywhere here in the islands.  The main advantage for us is the weight issue. The 2-stroke is 79lbs vs. the 4-stroke at 115lbs.  It can propel our dinghy “up on plane” with both of us, a five-gallon water jug, a six-gallon tank of gas and groceries heavy on the liquid side.  “Up on plane” means skimming on top of the water (very exhilarating ride) at about 24 mph, staying virtually dry, instead of slogging through the waves, taking face shots, and getting soaked.  Although our excursion to town yesterday was in 20-knot winds with 2- 3 ft waves, we should have worn our masks & snorkels instead of drowned rats.  Now we are practicing the popular George Town art of dinghy-running while standing up. Tim calls it the Aqua Man superhero mode, but this will help keep us drier…..I think.

Aqua-woman superhero mode

Anyway, we will be here for about another couple of days, waiting for some strong winds to blow through for 3-4 days. We've actually had a long reprieve from winds the last 10 days; it's been lovely.  Veteran cruisers still maintain this has been a very windy year.

We have finally decided, for a variety of reasons, NOT to continue south, but to return to Florida for the summer (and hurricane season) and live on the boat, get a job and refill the cruising kitty.  We're looking at trying to get a slip in St. Petersburg Municipal Marina right in downtown. It's a young and vibrant city, but there's a long waiting list, so not sure. We're shooting for being back in the US around mid-May to mid-June.  We know it will be hot, but we have AC onboard if plugged into 110V on a dock.
So that's our latest update in the direction we're heading, unless that special profitable job opportunity drops in and changes the winds. Ya never know.

Beachcombing and metal detecting treasures

From here, north we will go back up through new, unexplored-by-us islands like Cat Island and Eleuthera. They say the Abaco Islands in far northwestern Bahamas are beautiful in April. They also say the months of April-May-June are the best cruising months for these endless turquoise waters; we shall see. We’ll go with the winds and enjoy the ride, taking our time.

A beer and a beach 

Adios G-town

Video---Sail'em Full

Ahoy again from Georgetown!

Here's that promised link to Tim's latest great video....

"Sail'em Full"   his best one yet.....enjoy!

(be sure and "like" it!)

PS....we got more to come soon....

Blowin' in the Wind...

The time has blown by; I can't believe it's been over three weeks since the last blog post.  So here's an attempt to bring you up to our current clear water anchorage position. 

Lots of time to read....

In our last episode, we had left you to go hide, once again, from the next big nasty 30+ knot blow.  The veteran cruisers in these waters have all claimed that this El Niño winter has been unusually tough, with so many strong cold fronts.  It's not that it's actually been terribly cold, but more that these frequent fronts bring strong winds that clock around from the predominant east-northeast direction, which makes it easier to find those hidey holes in the calm western shores of the beautiful Bahama Islands to drop a hook and wait it out.  When it blows from the south to west to northwest, every boat scrambles to find good holding in the less common eastern side or lee of the land out of the wind and waves, like kids playing musical chairs or hide and seek. We've been doing this since we arrived in the Bahamas in mid-December. Don't get me wrong, it's still paradise, but it's restrictive and we're all ready for more fair winds.  In the aforementioned 30+ knot blow, there were about 15 or more of us hunkered between two islands near Staniel Cay that we call The Majors.  That night was sleepless, with constant vigilance not only for our boat, but for others who might drag their anchor into other boats, or worse and end up on the rocks.  About 2:30am that night, in the howling wind (it's always worse at night), we did watch a boat drag for about a quarter of a mile before he either caught himself or his anchor reset itself. Actually, all we could see in the pitch black was his anchor light atop his mast in motion and other boats yelling on the VHF radio while also blasting an air horn to wake him up.  The next night, in one cove south of us, we listened on the VHF radio as two boats did collide and their attempts to maintain and/or regain position while assessing damage.  These winds create a dramatic, lonely, howling sound on the boat as they pass through the various shroud cable lines holding our mast up. Can't really call it music, but rather like a background noise for a cold Jeremiah Johnson flick.

We have an app on our tablet called Drag Queen (luv the name). We set its GPS coordinates according to where our anchor dug in.  A terrifying middle-of-the-night alarm will sound if we drag outside of the designated circumference.  It's not perfect and we've had several heart-attack false alarms, but we learned real quick to scan the horizon points before assuming we were in danger.  So far, our faithful 44lb Rocna anchor with 3/8 chain rode AND our well-rehearsed anchor procedure has stuck (knock on wood as we sit waiting the next inevitable blow)  

Back at the Majors anchorage,  I did a quick scout with my metal detector on the nearby beach  (nothing but a few aluminum cans).

We left the Staniel Cay area after two weeks and headed for Black Point; a beautiful large harbor with a claim to fame for its new modern laundromat and great happy hour bars and old faithful blowhole. 

 

Black Point

We stayed here for four days, meeting a wonderful variety of other cruisers.....and stocking up on provisions for the next leg.  But alas, the next "leg" found us running back up north to our fav hidey hole (the Majors) for another westerly blowing cold front. Sorry to be so redundant in my weather reporting, but can you see what the pattern is here?  Two or three days of calm and 1-3 days hiding.

  

 

Finally, on January 30th, we left our snug comfort zone between the Majors on a promised beautiful day of 10-15kt SE winds.  With full sails (read: no motor), we buddy-boated with Butch and Susan from S/V Dreamcatcher for the next three hours to a peaceful anchorage north of Little Farmers Cay and it was peaceful.

The next morning found us onshore exploring inland to a large cave with a large freshwater pool complete with bats amongst the stalagmites-n-tites.  

Lil' Farmers Cay

Harbor sea turtles

The entire next week was a long overdue calm reprieve on the quaint and VERY friendly Little Farmers Cay.  They were preparing for their largest annual event of the year, the 5F's festival.....First Friday in February Farmers (Cay) Festival.

Wood carver and conch horn seller----JR

Part of my search in the Bahamas was for a conch horn. and I found it at JR's woodcarving!! It takes practice, but it's a tradition amongst cruisers to salute the setting sun with a symphony of blowing conch horns.










One of the 5F's main events included the popular C-class Sailboat Regatta and was supposed to draw 300 spectator boats.  We anchored ourselves right in the middle of the race course amongst other cruisers and had a blast.  

Sail 'em full!

The 17ft Bahamian sloop racing boats carry a huge cotton sail and use up to 3 planks called Pry Boards for human ballast.  It was a beautiful day and really very exciting.  

?? Fun Can't Done ??

Woohoo! Found a ring for a $200 reward

The last evening at a party on the beach, a Bahamian woman lost her gold diamond ring while playing volleyball. She was very distraught.  The next morning, I scanned the area with my metal detector and found it----earning a $200 reward--- woohoo!

 

For a week, Tim interviewed and recorded local folks for one of his best documented videos yet----don't miss this one----soon to come and will post when ready.

We're hidden behind the large yachts 

We could have stayed a few more days, but on the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, we hightailed it two miles south to ride out another front while tucked into Cave Cay Marina (aka Safe Harbor Marina), where the harbormaster's name is Shark (a personal highlight of this marina for us). This marina  (only our second in two months) is in a dredged-out cove with all-around protection.  We were the small, humble sailboat tied amongst the very large power boats seeking refuge.  But another reason we chose this marina is that at the regatta we had met a lovely couple, Vic and Gigi on Salty Turtle, who were heading there and invited us onto their large yacht to watch the Super Bowl. But the odd part was that they had been invited onto another VERY LARGE yacht for the party, so they left their yacht to about eight of us to enjoy (while the wind raged outside). Love the trust amongst fellow cruisers.   (yeah Broncos!)

Next morning the winds had subsided. 

Copperfields mermaid & piano

 

So while we waited for the tides to turn in our favor, we headed down two miles to Rudder Cut Cay in search of a mermaid and a piano in about 12 feet of water.  A commissioned life-sized sculpture by David Copperfield, who owns the nearby island.  With GPS coordinates, we found her---truly a highlight as I thought about my mermaid sisters---Nancy, Krista and Susan.  But snorkeling in the strong current was exhausting and we left her way too soon.  

Our next big adventure and challenge was something I've read and researched ---navigating the "cuts".  The cuts are the openings between the cays that connect the shallow "banks" side of the island chain with the deeper "sound" side of the islands.  Most cruising in the Exumas is straightforward daysailing with land in sight.  The potential danger is caused by the huge volumes of tidal waters flowing off the shallow banks through the restricted narrow cuts between the cays, especially when this easterly flowing ebb current meets strong easterly winds at the cuts at mid-ebb tide.  The steep, confused breaking seas are locally called a "rage", a wall of water-waves with short intervals like a washing machine gone bad on steroids.  As long as the current flows with the winds, it's no problem.  So we timed ourselves with the current and winds heading east out of Rudder Cut, then bearing southeast for eight nautical miles on the Exuma Sound to dodge back west into Adderly Cut and tuck up between Norman's Pond Cay and Leaf Cay. Whew, this was a big accomplishment for me, as these Bahamian ocean currents demand respect.  You'll hear story after story of boats that "went for it," punching their way through the cuts---white knuckles on the helm, wishing they had their snorkel on. Nope, not for this sailor girl if I can help it.

Now, the other part about all this tidal current in the shallow waters of the Bahamas is that it frequently is stronger than the winds.  So, an anchored boat will tend to face the direction the wind is coming from, but if a strong current dominates, things can get cattywompers and pretty soon your anchor chain is running aft under your hull with the anchor way behind off the stern, which creates a loud scraping of chain on your hull in the middle of the night. And then there's always that unknown mysterious noise at night---what was that?  Hold your breath and listen---"dunno, maybe a bear....or a barracuda?"

Between dragging anchors, shallow waters with coral heads, raging currents, and the weekly high winds (usually every Sunday) on a  Beaufort Scale force 7-8 (28-40 knots = 32- 46 mph = gale force).  Are we having fun yet?  Yes, we actually are.  Continuous sleep through the night is rare, so maybe that's why cruisers drink rum and go to bed by 8pm every night. :)   Ok, I digressed; where was I?  

Leaf Cay

We had fun around the Leaf Cay/Lee Stocking Island area, where we spent three nights. The large pink iguanas tried to steal our dinghy.

Dead research center

 

The island of Lee Stocking was known at one time for being the base of the Caribbean Marine Research Center since the late 80's; a project of NOAA, Perry Institute for Marine Science and several US universities.  But since 2012, it's an eerie ghost town of buildings that resemble an apocalyptic Hollywood movie set, where the humans were beamed up in the middle of their daily duties. 

The highlight of the island was a hike up to the highest point in the Exumas, Perry's Peak at 123ft.

Perry's Peak--our anchorage in distant cove behind us

On Thursday morning Feb 11, with a slack current and northerly winds, we made a smooth pass east back through Adderly Cut into the deep sea Exuma sound.  We had a reefed mainsail to give us power and stability in the waves.  On the "outside" of the cut we hoisted the jib and sailed beam-to-broadreach strongly, no motor, only pure wind for 6 hours at 5-6knts with following seas and 15-18kt easterly winds all the way to Georgetown, or the Emerald City/OZ as we dubbed it---looking for a salty wizard to give us a life direction? a million dollars? bottle of rum? or maybe just some sense.......or some-thing.  

Georgetown.....at long last

Gtown is actually where we're planning on staying for a couple of weeks? or months? figuring out what's next in our life as we know it.  In the meantime, we're hunkered down once again with 25 knot winds and a free fresh rainwater bath for Fiesta--- it's not all bad.  We'll explore this large harbor and islands amongst the great support of a couple hundred other great floating salty adventuresome vessels like ourselves that are also looking for the Holy Grail of Life.......or not. 

Till next time blog-followers----cheers!

Cruising Bahamas video: