Sent 4/3/2007 From George Town,
Exuma, Bahamas
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I
took a few days off and need to catch up on the log again. It
looked
like a good time to start while Leonard worked on the anchor
line. When
we dropped a lunch hook he happened to notice the original chain had
some worn spots where the line was spliced and decided some foresight
was in order rather than a case of "woulda, shoulda, coulda" when the
wind was blowing and we need to rely on the anchor system. It's
another
case of working on boats in exotic places. We're anchored just
west of
a spot on Great Guana Cay called the Crossing. We could see the
waves
breaking on the sound shore ahead of the boat. The cay may be
less than
100 yards wide at this point.
Warderick Wells park headquarters and dinghy dock
We stayed at the Exuma Park at Warderick Wells longer than we had
intended, filling the days with hikes and snorkeling while the ENE wind
continued to blow. There are worse places to be stuck, but we
were
ready to depart on Wednesday morning and head south again. It was
still
much to windy to consider going out on the Sound and also too windy to
snorkel at the places we really liked last year, so we headed for
Staniel Cay to top off the water and fuel tanks. We planned to
anchor
off Big Major's Spot at the pig beach, and dinghy back to the marina to
use of the WIFI spot they have.
As usual a number of boats had a similar idea, so it took a while
before
we had out tanks topped off, and it was well past lunch time. I
suggested to Leonard that we could move to the end of the dock and eat
lunch at the yacht club, taking the laptop along to use while we waited
for our lunch. Being one of the last boats to have arrived,
staying on
the dock wasn't a problem so we went up to get lunch. Leonard was able
to check our e-mail and the latest weather updates. I would have
liked
to have gone to the store in town since the mail boat had left as we
arrived, meaning fresh produce, but that seemed like a bit too much.
With the anchorage at Big Major's filling up, we headed to Black Point
where we planned to do laundry and get bread. Seeing the mailboat
at the
dock at Black Point I had hopes of picking up produce in the morning.
The anchorage there was much less crowded and we were able to anchor
reasonably close to one of the dinghy docks.
Doing laundry at Black Rock is easy. You dinghy into a dock in
front of
the Laundromat - very convenient. The problem is finding the
woman who
runs the Laundromat to get the tokens for the machines. She also
runs
the store, but they are not at the same place. It took a bit to find
her
since we forgot to bring a hand held radio with us. By the time
she
arrived 2 other cruisers had arrived with their salty laundry.
Regatta boat under construction at Black Point
Interior detail
We took a short walk while the machines were washing, and saw a boat
being built by a local. Not sure if he'll have it done in time
for the
regatta at the end of April. The construction was
interesting. He
found local trees with the right bend for the knees and keel.
There
were a number of local vessels that are used in regattas in the Exumas.
I would love to see them under sail.
We chatted with the cruisers as we waited for the laundry to wash and
dry. Most folks were headed north, but one Canadian couple was
also
headed south. They cruised Long and Cat Cays in the past and said
they
are very nice and reprovisioning there is comparable to George Town.
Like us, they haven't decided if they're going that far this year or
not, everything depends on the weather which continues to blow from the
ENE.
Lorraine's Mom weaving silver palms for baskets while the bread bakes
I picked up bread from Lorraine's Mom, who makes great bread. We
also
got a picture of her weaving palm fronds for the straw market in
Nassau.
She said both she and Lorraine learned to make the finished bags last
year, but don't have the time to make them up. She had made 4
kinds of
bread that morning, and Lorraine runs a cafe. What she sends to
Nassau
is a long roll of woven matting that's about 6 inches wide which is
then
cut and stitched as needed and lined with fabric.
Two of Black Point's boats raced in island regattas
With more boats arriving at Black Point we headed a bit further south
along the cay. We stopped at White Point where the chart showed
some
reefs and nice beaches for walking. As we dropped the anchor we
noticed
some large birds on the shore. We could hear the birds calling
and saw
a huge nest built on top of the rocks. We got some pictures of
the 3
birds which we finally identified as ospreys - the local variety that
looks a bit different than the ones we see up north.
Osprey on the nest
Osprey with a fish
Snorkeling wasn't that great since we didn't find the charted
reef. We
saw some fish and a couple of big lobsters hanging out in holes. Rather
than a reef, there were a number of fairly large holes in the sand and
some of the fish would disappear into the holes. There were also
a
large number of small jellyfish, some so small to barely be visible, up
to the size of a nickel. The more I looked, the more I saw, but I
didn't feel any stings.
We spent a quiet night at anchor, the only boat there. Once again
we
didn't have a chance to see the flash of green at sunset. I think
there
have been clouds on the western horizon every night since we arrived in
the Bahamas.
There was no let up in the ENE wind which continued to blow.
Thursday,
March 29, was the first window for boats to leave George Town heading
north in quite some time. All afternoon and evening we saw a
steady
stream of boats, with a smaller group the next day. The waves out
on
the Sound are still fairly large and we heard reports of 2 boats
having
steering steering problems - one boat was anchored awaiting a tow
through the cut, the other was proceeding using the emergency tiller
and
autopilot.
Waves breaking on the sound side of The Crossing
After resplicing the anchor line to the chain we took the dinghy over
to
"The Crossing", tied the bow to the rocks, put out a stern anchor and
climbed up the rocks to look at the Sound. The guide books
mention a
trail which we thought might begin at a beach, but no such luck.
Both
shores consisted of the very rough coral/limestone rocks with a small
stretch of sand in the middle. There was lots of flotsam that had
been
tossed up by the waves.
The Crossing from the banks side
We also dinghied around the corner to a very small beach and on the way
saw coral heads that looked interesting enough to warrant getting our
snorkeling gear. We managed to drop the anchor close to a nice
reef
with lots of fish. The coral head was probably 12 ft high and didn't
look like there was a lot of water over it. The best part was it
was in
the lee of the shore with very little waves and no current to deal
with.
Once back on board the boat we decided to spend the night there rather
than move. We thought we'd hear the waves hitting the shore all
night,
but the sound got muffled with the wind. Although the forecast
was for
continued winds in the 20 - 25 knot range, they were lighter than that.
About mid morning we sailed south to be closer to a cut into the Sound,
stopping at Cave Cay. A number of other boats had similar ideas,
and at
Galliot Cut, one north of Cave, there were about a dozen boats
anchored.
Lizard and periwinkles at Cave Cay
Footprints in the sand
Since we'd towed the dinghy we weren't prepared to go out to the Sound,
and Leonard was regretting the decision to tow it. It didn't look
all
that rough beyond the cuts, and we could have gone to Lee Stocking Cay
and had a shorter sail to George Town the next day.
Entrance and buildings at the marina at Cave Cay
Instead we went exploring at Cave Cay. A new marina is under
construction with the usual glacial pace of projects down here.
We had
stopped here last spring on our way north, and were surprised to see
how
little had changed. We did dinghy into the harbor which is
enclosed and
dredged and would make a good hurricane hole.
Cave entrance
Interior of a cave
Outside there were caves at one of the little beaches that went a fair
distance into the rocks. At another beach we found a path made by
construction vehicles which took us over all the sand that had been
dredged out of the channel and harbor to the Sound. It would
appear a
resort will be part of the marina at some point in time.
We chatted with some of the other folks anchored by us, most waiting
for
the illusive weather window to head south. The winds kicked back
up
some during the night, with one boat changing their plans and heading
back north up the Banks. Another boat had headed out of Galliot
Cut and
turned around deeming it too rough. Three boats by us headed over
the
shallows to the next cut south, but Leonard wasn't comfortable with
lack
of water.
The woman that does the morning weather from Blue Yonder warned the
tide
levels are lower than usual due to the consistent winds. We have
really
enjoyed her forecasts - she obviously has cruised in the past and takes
the various reports with a grain of salt, giving the conditions as she
sees them and as logic dictates, i.e. waves in the Gulf Stream
decreasing when the wind speed hasn't changed speed or direction for a
week, yeah, right! I wish we could hear her all the time.
After breakfast and a Bonine for Leonard for sea sickness, we headed
out
the cut. The cuts always seem to have worse conditions than
offshore
and this one was no exception. We managed to hit the current
against
the wind which produced short steep waves in the cut. We took a couple
of waves over the bow boat but things quieted down once we out into
deep
water. We reefed the main, unrolled some jib and headed for George
Town.
The wind was a bit more ESE and on the nose than was perfect for
us,
so we keep the engine turning over, motorsailing, making good time,
except for the necessary tacks needed to do to keep us in deep water.
Most of the seas were in the 4 - 6 foot range and we rode over most of
them, but enough washed over the decks to give us a good coating of
salt
again. We saw several boats headed north and a few big power boats
going
south. We arrived at the Conch Cut into George Town by 1700 and
had the
anchor down by 1800 and almost everything in ship shape by sundown.
A selfsufficient trawler with solar panels and wind generator
On Monday, after a quiet night off Hamburger Beach, another large group
of George Town boats headed out going north, and more will depart
Tuesday
when the wind and seas are forecast to be less. We also heard a
report
of a sailboat being dismasted on the Banks after running into a large
(first reported as 60', then 90') power boat while both were on
autopilot heading for the same way point with no one on watch. No
one
was hurt, and the sail boat was limping toward Nassau at last report.
We are looking at our options now that we've made it this far
south. If
the weather holds we'll try to head for Long Island, Conception and Cat
Cay before heading for Eleuthera and the Abacos on the way home.
Right
now the only blip in the weather outlook is a very weak cold front due
later in the week, swinging the winds to the west for a day or so.
We'll spend a few days here reprovisioning and enjoying the town and
beaches.
Boats in the Hurricane holes and Anchored off Volley Beach on Stocking
Island
as viewed from Monument Hill
Boats anchored on the George Town side of the channel as viewed
from Monument Hill
The string of Cays that form the north west entrance to Elizabeth
Harbor as seen from
the Monument Hill on Stocking Island
Looking out the entrance to the Pond at George Town. It is one
dinghy wide with
incoming boats having the right of way.
Sent 4/17/2007 From George Town
Again
George Town to George Town
Wednesday, April 4, was the first day in a month that the winds weren't
at least in the 15-20 knot range. The dinghy ride for provisions
was
the comparatively dry making life a lot easier. It was even easy
to
get into the docks at the marina which was greatly appreciated since we
wanted to take on more water before heading over to Long Island and
very
limited marina services. We thought about getting a of jerry jug
and
hauling water like most of the cruisers, but the thought of multiple
dinghy trips (most likely wet ones) to fill the tank didn't appeal to
Leonard. It would be very difficult to get into the into the
docks with
the wind conditions we had for most of the trip since they are exposed
to E winds and the wave action. With the lighter winds, it was
relatively easy.
The only disappointment was not finding Mom's Bakery van under the tree
in town. The cruiser's net had announced she'd be in town both
Wednesday and Thursday and I was looking forward to one of her
delicious
rum cakes and bread. I even checked a couple of times while we
were on
the dock since we decided, at 10 cents a gallon, we'd rinse some of the
salt off the decks.
After finishing the chores, we anchored off the eastern end of Stocking
Island. Since it was low tide, we took a hike around the end of
the
island and over to a small beach on the Sound before taking a path back
across the island to the boat. With plans to head east in the
morning,
we hauled the dinghy and had the calmest night since we'd been in the
Bahamas.
Morning arrived with light ESE winds, and after clearing all the shoals
we tried sailing. Unfortunately the wind was too light and too
close to
the nose to do the 30 plus NM to Salt Pond on Long Island, so we motor
sailed most of the day. When the wind went a bit more southerly
we were
able to sail for a couple of hours until we slowed to a crawl in the
light winds. The forecast was for light winds the next few days
as a
weak cold front worked its way south.
Morning clouds over Salt Pond on Long Island
We anchored a bit north of town and explored the area by dinghy.
It
wasn't clear if the dinghy docks marked on the chart are just little
beaches or actual docks, but since we hadn't brought shoes we didn't
try
any of them. We took a walk on Flat Cay and the only foot prints
on
the beach besides ours were from birds and lizards.
The morning brought freshening westerly winds, so we moved up to
Thompson Bay about a mile north, and got some protection from the tip
of
the bay that arcs out west and south. Several other boats were
anchored
there already, so we joined them. In the afternoon we ventured
ashore
after watching another dinghy go into a little cut on
shore. A small
harbor had been dug out of the shoreline which was really convenient
because we'd have needed to pull the dinghy way up on the beach to keep
it from getting filled with waves washing over the stern. There
was a
deserted building nearby with a drive that led to a gate. The
sign
on
the gate said "Absolutely" but the rest was faded to nothing.
The settlements are spread out along the 90 mile stretch of road that
runs the length of Long Island (Bahamian urban sprawl?). It was a
good
mile and a half to town along the road, but very little traffic since
it
was Good Friday which, along with Easter Sunday and Monday, are
holidays. We hiked as far south as the fuel dock before heading east on
a road that turned into a dirt track and led to the beach. There
were
some interesting rocks that looked almost like sculptures that had been
carved by the weather out of the headlands.
Rock window
By the time I finished walking on the beach it was a long hike back to
the dinghy. We'd tried finding another path back to the road, but
were
finally stumped at one of the headlands that didn't have a discernible
path over or around it, so we retraced our steps. There are
a number
of ponds on the island, 2 of which restrict access between the Banks
and
the Atlantic at Salt Pond.
One of the salt ponds at Salt Pond
We'd noticed a sign in town announcing a fund raiser for the Long
Island
regatta on Easter Monday which sounded interesting. They would
have a
'rake and scrape' band, food, games and possibly some boat races.
Not
having an agenda, we decided to stick around and enjoy some local
color.
On Saturday we saw some friends we'd met in Black Point had anchored
nearby. We stopped on the the way back to the boat to chat with
them
and learned the boats were having an impromptu a happy hour on the
beach
at the "Salt Run Yacht Club". The yacht club consisted of a few
wooden
planks and a well with water available for cruisers. We enjoyed
meeting
more cruisers and hearing their adventures. They, like us, enjoy
a bit
more solitude than tends to be available in George Town and talked
about
the Jumentos Cays and Ragged Island that run in a 90 mile south
westerly curve
stretching toward Cuba. There is one settlement at Ragged Island,
the
southern most cay with a few folks who really enjoy seeing cruisers
since most boats don't venture that far. The rest of the cays are
unsettled except for birds and lizards. The fishing and diving
draw
cruisers to the area.
We needed to charge the batteries since the wind finally stopped
blowing
and, while the solar panel works fine during the day, the 'fridge takes
a toll on the batteries at night. So we motored the 2 miles to
town and
reanchored the boat closer to the festivities on Monday morning.
Another boat headed toward town with us hoping to get fuel at the town
dock. It was low tide and shallow as we felt our way toward
town. The
other boat stopped about 30 feet from the fuel dock, having run
aground.
We dropped the anchor with less than a foot of water under the
keel,
with plans to move again for the night since the evening low tide would
be a bit lower than the morning's.
The party was scheduled to run from noon to 5, but the reports we heard
on the radio said it no one would show up before 2 and it wouldn't
really get started until 7. They were right, other than one of
the
racing boats stepping its mast, Regatta Point was quiet when we arrived
just before noon. We chatted with the folks on the boat that had
run
ground as they worked their way to the dock with lines and the tide.
Leonard reading in the shade of the window thru the rock
We hiked back to the beach to explore the area further south. The
guide
books mentioned trails over the headlands that link the beaches.
Leonard had brought along his book, so he sat in the shade and read
while I walked the beaches. We hiked over a couple of the
headlands,
then after a snack and I left him in the shade again with his book
while I
hiked over more headlands and found little beaches. It was hot in
the
sun, so rather than climb back up and down the trails, I decided to
take
a track used by cars along a power line to head back to where I'd left
Leonard. We'd seen a number of access points as we'd walked.
A curly tail lizard who joined us for a snack
However, when I got back, Leonard was gone. Seems he found rocks
hard
to sit on for long and went looking for me. He was surprised not
to see
me anywhere on the beach and when he finally did see me standing on one
of the headlands, he couldn't figure out how I'd gotten past him.
I
figured he had enough left to read in his book that he'd gladly stay
put
in the shade.
Two of the boats racing
The party was just warming up when we got back to town. Three
boats
were out racing, with twice that number of chase boats around
them. We
sat in the shade and watched them round the marks. There was a
nice
breeze on the banks and the racers were hiking out planks to keep the
boats upright. A boat from a neighboring town had challenged the
locals. Unfortunately we never learned who won, but the action
was fun
to watch.
Rounding a mark
Last race of the day
All of the cruisers had come to town for the party, so we joined up
with
them for dinner and people watching. While we were getting in
line for
food, a man came with a big box of bananas from his tree and insisted
we
take some. They really were good, and he stuck 4 more in my
bag. He
turned out to be the congo drum player in the band.
Cruisers at the regatta fund raiser
We really enjoyed the music. Rake and scrap is to the Bahamas
what
reggae is to Jamaica. Along with the regular instruments, one
musician
played a saw. We took a few video clips to get both the action
and the
music. Watching the locals dance was a treat. We listened until
the
mosquitos and no-see-ums showed up sending us all back to our boats.
Since the wind had died, Leonard and I decided to stay where we'd
anchored and enjoy the music.
Rake and scrape band - seated man is playing a hand saw
The plan for the morning was to head for Conception Island which is a
Bahamian park touted for great snorkeling and beach combing.
Instead,
as we departed Salt Pond, we headed south for the Jumentos. It's
great
not having an agenda. We figured since we'd heard so much about
them,
that we might as well go see them for ourselves.
To reach the Jumentos requires crossing a shallow bank via the Comer
Channel. With our change of plans we crossed at low tide and the
1.7
meter spots were shallow, but we made it. We were glad to reach
the
deeper water on the other side. We planned to spend the night off
Water
Cay and as we approached we heard another boat mention something about
having been greeted by the resident shark. Much as I'd like to
have
gone for a swim, I decided I'd wait until morning. We joined a
few
other boats already anchored at the cay.
A huge midden of conch shells at Water Cay
An iguana at Water Cay
We explored the cay in the morning before heading further south to
Flamingo Cay. I'd been hoping to find a beach on the Atlantic
side, but
all we found was a cliff with no discernible beach at the bottom.
The
day was hot and humid and we'd heard a cold front was to weaken before
getting this far south. We were drifting along when we looked
back and
saw an obvious wind line on the water heading toward us. We were
just
about to the north anchorage at Flamingo Cay when it reached us and we
got wind from the NW giving us better sailing and drier air.
Cave on the Atlantic side of Water Cay
Pink fish on the beach
The group of boats that had been with us the night before were already
anchored there, and given the wind change, we opted for a more
protected
anchorage a bit further south. We could hear them on the radio
dithering about how long the wind would last and whether or not to move
since it was getting uncomfortable where they were. As we approached
several of them pulled anchor and headed south with us while the others
were going to wait a bit to see if the wind would die. The minor
cold
front wasn't due until the next day, and the conditions had everyone
confused.
Antares at anchor in the Jumentos
We set 2 anchors to keep us off the shore and clear of the other boats
and went for a quick snorkel. There were a couple of coral heads
nearby
with a few fish. Leonard also swam out to check the anchors and
said
there was a 3 foot shark hanging out under Antares. I was glad I
hadn't
seen him, neither of us is keen on swimming with sharks.
We took the dinghy to the next anchorage to the south where a couple of
the boats had gone. I had a short walk on the beach before we
headed
inland on a path. After crossing a narrow creek we climbed up to
a cave
that went down to the water on the other side of the hill. It had
several sink holes providing light as well as the water entrance.
It rivaled Thunderball (almost) and of course we didn't have the
camera. We also tried to rescue a duckling that had been on the
beach. Leonard carried it to some shade, but we didn't see a
mother duck anywhere.
By the time we got back to Antares, most of the other boats had crowded
into the anchorage with us, making for some rather cramped quarters.
With a big multihull in front of us, it was like being behind a semi on
the highway. We could but hope for a quiet night.
I slept through it for once! In the middle of the night the wind
switched to the south with thunder and lightening which got Leonard out
of the bunk to check on things. We were fine with the second
anchor
keeping us away from the other boats, but the other boats had a much
less restful night trying to keep in the deeper water and not play
bumper boats. One actually moved back to the north anchorage during the
night to avoid grounding. Chris Parker's (an SSB weather
forecaster for
cruisers) morning report mentioned that the front inexplicably had
arrived 12 hours early.
We debated heading further south to Racoon Cay, but decided to start
back north again since we don't fish and don't like snorkeling with
sharks. Of course the wind had died by the morning, so we spent
the day
motoring back to Long Island. As we were going through Comer
Channel we
saw a boat that appeared to be on the sand banks to the south of the
channel. We watched as a dinghy maneuvered back and forth in
front of
what looked like a sailing canal boat with the sail down.
Eventually
they made their way through the sand banks and sailed off to the south.
Vessel working toward deeper water
We decided to try anchoring off Baine's Bluff a bit north of Salt Pond
to see some place new. The spot we wanted turned out to be an new
entrance channel that wasn't on the chart, so we dropped the hook a bit
further off shore. After a long hot day, I was looking forward to
a
quick swim and a rinse to cool off after dinner. Leonard said to
watch
out for the alligators, since according to the chart this was
Alligator
Bay, allowing however, that we hadn't seen any flamingos at Flamingo
Cay. I got about 10 feet off the boat when I felt a stinging on
my arm
and thrashed back to the ladder. Leonard thought I was joking,
but I
had blundered into a jelly fish, and the sting wasn't much of a
joke. I
had a series of red welts and spots on my right arm that began itching
like crazy the next day.
Stella Maris - cliffs on the north end of Long Island
We did finally make it to Conception Island. We saw a few boats
approaching from the south and a couple were anchored in the north
anchorage. We'd picked a spot a bit further south thinking we'd
have
less swell. After my prerequisite beach walk, we dinghied into
the
creek that fills the center of the island at high tide to check
it out. On the way back to Antares we did a drift snorkel by
putting on
our masks and just leaning over the side of the dinghy. The
bottom was
a series of coral ledges and we saw a number of fish. On one of
our
passes, a big turtle swam past.
Anchorage at Conception Island
In the morning I was surprised to see a US Coast Guard vessel approach
the northern anchorage. They dispatched a smaller boat that
checked out
the boats up there. We had decided to move north to be
closer to the
reefs shown on the chart, and once underway, we too, were approached
and
asked for our document number. It looked like a joint venture,
with one
Bahamian officer on board, perhaps for drugs or illegal aliens. I
asked
if they knew the weather forecast since we hadn't been able to catch
the
30 second morning AM radio report. They had no idea!
Once anchored, we joined the other folks on shore and hiked a short way
to the north side of the island to snorkel. The coral looked in
very
bad shape, although there were a few pockets that looked healthy with
coral, sponges and anemones. We were disappointed that we didn't
see
many fish, although we did follow a lobster for a way. We talked
briefly to one of the women who told us a strong cold front was due
around midnight the next day. That put a damper on our plans to
head
for Cat Island which is very exposed to W or NW winds. Most of
them
planned to head for George Town to get some protection from the winds.
We explored another little cay before heading back for lunch and some
time out of the sun. While we were on board we were listening on
the
VHF (entertainment like multiple party phone lines used to offer)
and over heard plans for a pot luck shore party with a fish fry.
A
couple of the boats had caught mahi mahi the day before. Frankie
Avelon and Annette Funnichello were reportedly going to attend, so I
finally, to Leonard's chagrin, got on the VHF and asked if we could
crash the party if we brought Tab Hunter. I was told sure, but to
also bring my grass skirt.
We reported ashore sans Tab Hunter and grass skirt at the allotted time
and joined a fun group of folks who were heading home after having done
the 2006 Caribbean 1500. It was a fun evening and the fresh mahi
mahi
was delicious. One of the women crew members seems to have a
knack for
catching fish. Our added treat of Lake Champlain Chocolates
for dessert also
went over in a big way. Two of the boats planned to move to the
east
anchorage to wait out the cold front while the others planned an early
morning departure to George Town.
Conception Island sunset
In the morning we joined the parade of boats heading west. The
Gang of
6, as we were called, all headed toward George Town and hopefully a
safe
harbor. We had a rollicking sail in the south winds that made for
a
fast trip. While most of the 1500 group anchored together in a
protected hole, we were joined by 2 of the deeper draft boats off
Stocking Island waiting for the midnight arrival of the cold
front. I
heard one comment on the VHF as we approached George Town that it was
snow from
Maine (including NH, VT and NY) to Boston, then rain further south
with the tail end of the storm down at Cuba with lots of orange and red
on the map,
indicating nasty weather. This was from an internet radar site
and
given by one of the George Town cruisers who give daily weather reports
on the morning net. She also came back on later with another
update
that pushed the arrival out until 0200, and a reminder to secure
dinghies and stuff on the decks, and to use anchor lights (required,
but
often ignored) in case boats needed to reposition in the dark.
In reality, the wind switch occurred about 0530 and we set a second
anchor to keep us from swinging in the wind, making it easier to sleep.
The squalls missed us this time. George Town got 30 knot squalls
when
we had the wind switch in the Jumentos. Unfortunately the hoped
for
fresh water rinse didn't occur, leaving the boat with salty
decks. Our
anchorage, with few boats in it, gave us no problems and more
protection
once the front passed. The next day it began to fill with
everything
from mega yachts to little vessels seeking to escape the white caps off
the town anchorage. One mega yacht had under water lights that
lit up
the water around it with a blue glow, a rather interesting effect.
Under water stern lights on a yacht at anchor at Sand Dollar Beach
It was too rough to dinghy into town in the morning, so reprovisioning,
e mail and phone calls got put on hold for a day. The scuttlebutt
has
it that Wednesday and Thursday would be good days to move before the
next
cold front arrived and after the NE winds die back from this one.
With
a day off, we hiked around the east end of Stocking Cay, either on the
beaches or scrambling over the rocky headlands before taking a more
official path back to the dinghy.
Some fancy graphics on a multihull in George Town
At any rate, we've gone full circle and are back in George Town.
Maybe
I'll get some of Mom's rum cake and bread yet. Given the
forecasts
we'll most likely work our way up the Exumas before hopping over to
Eluthera and working our way up the Abacos. Cat Island will have
to
wait for another time.
Lynnea
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