Category: Sailing

Arrival in the D.R.


Luperon, Dominican Republic
June 1, 2006

Hola Amigos! We are now in the Dominican Republic! Luperon is a small town/village on the north coast and we are safely anchored in the Bahia Luperon (harbor). We arrived on Monday, May 22 after an overnight sail from Big Sand Cay in the Turks and Caicos.

We are planning to work on our Spanish and see the sights of this beautiful country! Hispaniola, the second largest island (after Cuba) in the Caribbean, is comprised of the Dominican Republic and Haite. It is green and mountainous, featuring the highest mountain peak in the Caribbean islands at over 10,000 feet. Quite a change from the low-lying, dry islands of the Bahamas. There is much to see here, waterfalls, beaches, spanish colonial architecture, and even possibly the bones of Columbus are buried here. Plenty to keep us occupied for a while!

Stay tuned for a more detailed update on our adventures in the D.R.

Hasta luego!

Providenciales, Caicos Islands – Turks and Caicos


Providenciales, Caicos Islands – Turks and Caicos
May 17, 2006

We dropped the hook in Sapodilla Bay on the southern shore of Providenciales (“don’ hurt your tongue, mon, jus say Provo”) at 6 a.m. on Sunday, May 14 after a 49 hour crossing from Rum Cay, Bahamas. Two nights at sea! Our original plan was to sail one overnight and then stop at Mayaguana (eastern most island of the Bahamas), but the conditions along with our spirits and energy were great so we had a team meeting and decided to modify the sail plan and keep going – next stop Provo, another day/night away.

Our course from Rum Cay to Mayaguana was going to be from 121 to 138 degrees true. If you were to consult your compass you would see that is a southeasterly course. Trade winds in these parts blow southeasterly about 90 percent of the time and sailboats can’t sail straight into the wind, at least not this one. So when the forecast reported winds going south and light we knew that was our window. We said goodbye to Greg and Cindy on Day Dreamer – we’d had such a great time together since meeting them at Allan’s Cay in early April. We experienced the Exumas for the first time together; dinghy-pooling to various sites, taking a million pictures of each other at these sites, sharing meals, great conversation and laughter. We were going to miss them on the next leg of our journey. Their course was taking them to Cat Island and then Eleuthera – the opposite direction from our course.

At 9:00 a.m. on a Friday (yeah, we know, we shouldn’t leave on a Friday – but the winds were in our favor!) we were sailing out of the Rum Cay anchorage. The sun was shining, the water was sparkling, and the winds were south at 10 knots! On the cons side of the daily attributes list was the ocean current going against us at about three quarters of a knot. As we settled into our course, pointing a bit higher to the wind to counter the current and leeway, we were close hauled (point of sail very close to the wind direction) and needed Forrest (remember Forrest? He’s our trusty engine – “Run Forrest Run!”) to assist in order to keep our speed up for a daytime landfall (the next day) at Mayaguana. Rum Cay to Mayaguana = 120 miles. Averaging 4 knots of speed this would take us 30 hours. Our first planned overnight passage! (Our last overnight passage was almost a year ago to Key West and was unplanned)

In preparation I had boiled a dozen eggs, made sandwiches, and positioned items in the fridge for easy access while under way. We agreed on a schedule of two hour watches, and settled into that pattern as soon as we were on our course. The seas were calm and the winds were light (actually a bit lighter that we would have preferred) which made for good naps when not on watch.

At 3:30pm, while Rod was below taking his afternoon nap and I was at the helm the fishing line that we were trolling with came alive. FISH ON!!! And it was a big one! Rod’s nap was over. I slowed Lucky Peek down while Rod started reeling in the line (we’re still using the caveman hand line). We could see the flashes of bright blue, green, and yellow in the water about 75 feet behind us and knew that we had a dolphin fish on the line (Mahi Mahi, not Flipper). And then it confirmed its identity and size by flying out of the water, dancing in the air and fighting hard against the pull of the line. What a sight! Rod was reeling it in, then letting some line out, then reeling it in. Meanwhile, my adrenaline is surging while I’m taking the boat out of gear, easing out the main sheet to slow us down, turning the auto-pilot on, getting the gaff out of the starboard lazarette, getting the big net out of the port lazarette, getting the long handle for the big net off the port side of the cabin top, attaching the long handle to the big net – dang it! I can’t get those metal knobby things to push in so the handle can click on! There, I got it! Getting a line and making a slip knot in it so we can tie it to its tail. Slip knot! I’ve just mastered the bowline, can I remember how to make a simple slip knot?! The pressure! There, I got it on the first try! Getting the giant bottle of cheap vodka (not the Ketel One) to use to stun and sedate the fish – I think I need a swig. Rod now has the Mahi Mahi alongside the boat. The colors are stunning and we could now see that we were about to bring aboard a 4 foot female. The male dolphin fish has a very distinct flat forehead and the females, like the one on our line, have a more rounded head. She was getting worn out and was not fighting as hard now. We can tell that she’s definitely not going to fit in the net but we want to try and stop her from swimming about and possibly losing her. She doesn’t like the net. When I put it in the water and try to scoop her head into it she goes crazy and dives deep – yanking the Cuban reel (caveman handline spool-like yo-yo thing) right out of Rod’s hands! Fortunately, one of the things I had done among my other frantic tasks was put the orange rubbery gloves on Rod’s hands earlier on in the reeling, so now he was able to hold directly on to the line. Now I’m using the big net on the long handle to scoop the Cuban reel out of the water! Got it! Rod suggests to me that I turn away as he needs to use the gaff on the fish to get it aboard. I do as he suggests. But then he needs my help – I am to take the line with the slip knot, loop it around the tail, pull it tight and tie the other end to the boat. I somehow manage this in between getting flipped in the head with wild tail flaps. We follow the advice of other fisherman and cover her eyes with a towel so she’ll calm down. She’s on the deck of the boat now. I’m giving her a stiff drink in the gills from the vodka bottle. I’m witnessing with my own eyes now what I’d read about and heard in other fish stories – as the dolphin fish gets anxious its colors actually change, and when they die all the colors fade away to a muted grayish green. As her color started fading my vision becomes severely blurred. I go to the cockpit and sob. (In fact my vision is blurring as I write this.) I may be a sailor but I’ll never be a fisherwoman.

We had grilled Mahi Mahi fillets for dinner our first night at sea. They were delicious. We have more fish than we’ll be able to eat in a week, so we’ve been sharing the fillets with others. I’m so glad that we won’t be putting the fishing line in the water again for another 7 days or so.

As the sun set on our first night out the water looked like liquid silver. It was so calm and the slow movement of the darkening sea made it look heavy, like it was molten. The winds had gone even lighter so we were still using Forrest on low RPMs. The full moon was rising in the east to light our way through the night. After we cleaned up from dinner I took the first watch: 8pm – 10pm. I relaxed at the helm, letting Otto (auto-pilot) keep us on course. I identified constellations in the sky – it’s always oddly comforting to me to spot the big dipper. Like a friend I’ve known since childhood. And then at 9:30pm I thought I heard a helicopter. It sounded close but I didn’t see any lights in the sky. Just as I was leaning back to look above us – there it was, making me jump! A stealth coast guard chopper with no lights on flying low, about 100 feet off the water, to get a look at us. He must have been satisfied that we weren’t transporting any ganja or Haitians as he kept on going and quickly disappeared into the darkness. Probably laughing at seeing the whites of my eyes shining as big as saucers when I looked up at him.

Other than the stealth helicopter fly-by, the night watch was, well, boring. On my second watch, which we agreed to extend to three hours from 1am to 4am, I did exercises in the cockpit, sang an extended medley of songs – Margaritaville, Me and Bobby McGee, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, etc., ending the medley, of course, with Amazing Grace – in several different keys. Who needs a karaoke machine!

As we approached Mayaguana the following morning we calculated the distance to continue to Provo and decided to stay the course without a stopover. It meant another day/night on the water but we were game. The seas continued to lay flat and the wind was barely a breeze. Forrest was still humming along and helping out the sailing. All was well. We only needed to average 3.5 knots to make an early morning landfall.so we weren’t in any hurry. We enjoyed the sunset, reminisced over our crazy experiences thus far on this adventure, and marveled at the beauty of the water – which was again taking on the quality of liquid metal. Our second night at sea, once we went on watches and didn’t have each others company was even more boring than the first.

Provo’s northern shore has an extensive outer reef providing world class snorkeling/diving. That beach is lined with 5 star resorts intermixed with more resorts being rapidly constructed. There is a ton of money being pumped into this island. Lots of speculation and land prices are skyrocketing. Culturally, it is very, very different from the Bahamas. Here there is a large mix of ethnicities – people from Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philipines, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad, and a few people originally from the Caicos. We anchored on the southern shore, which is beautiful but is not where the resorts are. It still has a third world feel on this side of the island. Pretty wild. The island is relatively large so we rented a car for a day to do some land touring. They drive on the wrong side of the road here! Ok, not to offend some of our potential British readers (James) – they drive on the left side of the road here! One of the guide books on the island gave the impression that the island was quaint by stating that there were no stoplights. Not quaint. No stoplights, but instead there are crazy round-a-bouts – like leaping onto a moving merry-go-round while some of the riders are jumping off in your direction. And if you don’t jump in quick enough you get honked at from behind! Rod was the driver and my job was to frequently remind him to “Stay Left!” while I consulted the map of the island.

Provo is a popular destination but for us it is just a stopover. We did have to check in with customs/immigration upon arrival and we checked out today. If the forecast holds we are leaving here first thing in the morning. We will stop for the night at Ambergris Cays, on the southeastern side of the Caicos Banks, and then the following morning we will set a course for Luperon, Dominican Republic. Hasta luego!

Rum Cay, Flamingo Bay, hunting with Anderson


Rum Cay, Bahamas
May 2006

Rum Cay is just 20 miles southeast of Conception Island. We spent three days at Conception exploring its protected waters and Rod was getting anxious to get away from the Land and Sea Park rules of the island and go where he could fish!

We reached the northern shore of Rum Cay on the afternoon of Sunday, May 7. As our guide books advised we took a wide arc around the reef that extends a couple miles out off the northwestern corner of the island. Then the tricky part – we had to navigate through coral heads to get closer to shore to anchor. We knew it was possible as we could see Maja, Asolare, and Pathfinder already in the Flamingo Bay anchorage. Rod went up to the bow for better visibility and I manned (womaned?) the helm. I could see the coral heads pretty well just under the surface of the water but I needed Rod’s hand signals for affirmation of which direction to turn. He looked somewhat like an aircraft controller wagging his hands to the right, then left, then RIGHT! Breathe deep. Okay, he’s giving the OK hand signal to stay the course. Left, left, right, left, right, LEFT, LEFT, right, OK, OK, etc. And so this goes until we reach the shallow turquoise waters near the shore. We find a sandy spot in 7 feet of water (we only need 5) and we drop the hook. We make sure it sets well as we can see some exposed heads just 20 yards behind us.

This 10-mile-long isle only has about 100 residents, none of which live within sight of Flamingo Bay. All we see is a beautiful beach with an occasional wild cow on it. Rod gets some male bonding time with the guys (William, Anderson, Paul, and Greg) on the other boats by going on several spearfishing expeditions. The first day he got two groupers – one black and one strawberry. He returned from the following day’s hunt with a 12 pound Nassau Grouper! The associated story with this fish was quite dramatic; highlights included: deep water free-diving, fish swimming into a hole in the rock with the spear, coming to the surface several times for air, getting the spear but losing the fish, sharks, then retrieving the fish from the other side of the rock. In the verbal telling of the story that night over a potluck dinner aboard Day Dreamer there was much emphasis and animation regarding the sharks. But I’ll omit those details to save our mothers from having heart attacks. Moms, they were little itty bitty baby sharks that didn’t even have any teeth yet. One detail that should be mentioned is that the Nassau Grouper was actually a 2-for-1 deal. When cleaning the fish, Rod discovered a whole lobster in the grouper’s belly! That explained why he was so fat! No, we didn’t eat the lobster (yuck), but of course we took pictures to document the bizarre finding.

After spending two days in the isolated waters of Flamingo Bay we threaded our way back through the coral heads and went to the southern side of the island to explore its only settlement, Port Nelson. Dinner at Kay’s Restaurant and Bar was a real treat for us, Terra and William (Maja), and Greg and Cindy (Day Dreamer). On these small islands you have to be sure to make reservations for dinner so that the cook will have something to serve. We told Kay that afternoon that we would be back at 6:30 that night for dinner and when we arrived at 6:30 she had our table all set and she served us a fantastic meal family style; lobster bisque soup, fresh baked bread, fried chicken, baked chicken, green salad, peas and rice, baked pumpkin, and a delicious casserole that we were surprised (and saddened) to learn had turtle meat in it. Even though we were stuffed we managed to eat the coconut pie she served us for dessert. We were the only customers that evening for dinner, but the small sandy-floored bar next to the dining area drew in many locals.

Rum Cay is small now but it has been discovered. The Prime Minister was arriving the morning we left to be part of the ground breaking ceremony on a large housing/hotel/condo/marina project. Rumor has it that the planned development will employ 2000 people! The hard working entrepreneurs of Rum Cay will certainly benefit from the increased customer base, but I’m sure glad that we were able to experience this beautiful sleepy island as it is today.

Conception Island, Bahamas


Conception Island, Bahamas
May 7, 2006

We left George Town, along with almost every other boat in Elizabeth Harbour on Wednesday, May 3. Most boats leaving were heading north; there were about 7 of us heading southeast. We had an exciting exit from the Middle Channel cut out of the protected Elizabeth Harbour and into the Exuma Sound as we rode on 10 foot waves and carefully navigated our way around the nearby reef where those same waves were crashing noisily. Once we were out the cut the waves were benign and we had a great sail over to Long Island where we anchored in a beautiful serene bay – all to ourselves, as others had chosen different anchoring destinations.

Anchoring at Long Island was just for the night. The following morning we pulled up the hook and set a northerly course to Conception Island. Conception is an uninhabited island that is under the same protection as the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Look but don’t take fish, shells, etc. That evening we anchored on the western shore of Conception among other boats including Day Dreamer, Glide, and Asolare – from Ketchum, Idaho! When we were in Georgetown (at a Red Bull sponsored VIP party that Rod managed to get us into – yes, a Red Bull party!) we met Pam and Dennis aboard Glide. When they learned we were from Idaho they surprised us by saying they knew another boat from Idaho! The next day we had the opportunity to meet John and Ann. They keep Asolare in Florida while they enjoy Ketchum and in the winter months they cruise in the Bahamas.

The snorkeling/diving at Conception was phenomenal. Southhampton Reef on the northwestern corner of Conception is an extensive reef system stretching out 4 miles from the island. Twenty-five to thirty foot towers of coral over a sandy bottom reaching vertically to the surface like skyscrapers. Snorkeling there was like flying around and through the buildings of Manhattan with piscine residents. Amazing.

We toured Turtle Creek by dinghy with Day Dreamer and watched the schools of sea turtles coming to the surface for breaths of air. If they saw us watching them as they surfaced they would make a large splash as they quickly dove back into the water, making it impossible to get any good pictures of them!

Even though Conception Island is just a small speck on the map it was well worth the stop. It’s always hard to leave paradise, but we hear that Rum Cay is just as spectacular, so that’s our next stop.

George Town – Great Exuma


George Town – Great Exuma
April 2006

Anchored in Elizabeth Harbour between the community of George Town on Great Exuma Cay and Volleyball Beach on Stocking Island we are positioned to have a first class view of the The National Family Island Regatta which goes through this week. This regatta is one of the biggest annual events in the Bahamas, drawing in crowds of Bahamians and others from the world of yachting. The Family Island Regatta began in 1953 and has become a fierce tradition in the islands where the participating racing sloops represents their home island. The 14-28 foot boats are all handmade with masts up to 60 feet tall. They carry a crazy amount of sail on that giant mast with 40 foot booms that extend well beyond the stern. For ballast while under way the crew sits on a pry, a board that sticks out off the side of the boat. When the skipper tacks the sloop up to nine crew members have to slide themselves and their pry across the boat to balance out the new point of sail. In preparation for this highly anticipated event locals have set up business along a waterfront road in quickly constructed plywood shacks serving food and beverages. Kind of like the Western Idaho Fair, only these very small kiosks are all connected and all offer any kind of spirit and conch fritter. Betting on your favored boat also seems to be a common activity in this neighborhood. There are three classes (A, B, C) for the different sized boats and while there is a good amount of prize money in store for each of the winners, the real goal is the glory of first place. The A class (largest boats) winner will receive approximately $7000. Not bad, until you consider that a main sail alone for one of these boats costs somewhere around $5000. It has been exciting to watch the preparations and now be a part of this spectacular event.

Prior to arriving in George Town, population 1157, we had been in some very remote locations. We ended up staying at Warderick Wells a full week because a low pressure system developed and stayed over our heads for 4 full days. The resulting squalls kept us on the boat and yes, we started going a little stir crazy. We ate, read, ate, listened to the radio, read, ate some more. The lack of physical activity that week definitely put our calories in/calories out in a state of imbalance. The positive effect of the heavy rainfall during this time is that we were able to fill our almost-empty water tank. This was a very good thing because there was no other source of drinking water at Warderick Wells. To fill the tank, Rod first scrubbed the side deck of the boat as the rain began. Once sufficiently clean we were ready to capture the water by simply opening the 2 inch diameter cap to the water tank on that deck. We knew that we had to be down to our last few gallons of water in the tank, given our typical usage and the time that had elapsed since our last fill. So we were amazed that in just 25 minutes the 80 gallon tank was full! That is how hard it was raining. Over the next three days we were able to perpetually keep the tank full with the rain water! Pretty exciting since we have been paying 50 cents a gallon for water in the Bahamas!

As soon as the weather permitted we were more than ready to be on our way. We left Warderick Wells on Friday, April 16th. Not something that Rod was completely comfortable with given the lore of bad luck befalling those who leave port on a Friday. We escaped any unfortunate events and enjoyed an exhilarating sail to Big Majors Cay near Staniel Cay. And since we took our chances with leaving on a Friday, we were able to have dinner out with Greg and Cindy aboard Day Dreamer at Club Thunderball on Staniel Cay that evening for their Friday night BBQ ribs, which are prepared on an outdoor backyard BBQ. Delicious! This was our first meal out in three and a half weeks and the same amount of time since our last trip to a grocery market so we were running quite lean on our fresh stores. Especially after eating nonstop during our extended stop at Warderick Wells!

Our three days anchored off of Big Majors Spot near Staniel Cay were highlighted by snorkeling the famous Thunderball Grotto, Rod giving himself a haircut, and a trip to a beach to feed the pigs. Yes, pigs. These are not wild boars that you would expect to find on a deserted island, but these are the big pink pigs you would see on a farm. Years ago someone placed a breeding pair on the island and they have been busy ever since. These pigs run out of the island shrubbery as they hear your dinghy motor approaching, just like the iguanas at Allan’s Cay they associate people with handouts. I came prepared with a bag of stale bread but I was unprepared for just how enthusiastic they would be over our arrival. They immediately charged toward us and one pig started to jump in our dinghy! I couldn’t throw the bread at them fast enough!

Thunderball Grotto is a must-see if you are ever in this part of the world. At low tide you can swim into the cave/grotto and frolic with all kinds of fish that make this protected area their home. There is an opening on the opposite side of the common entrance so it’s best to explore at slack tide to avoid the strong current that rips through here as the tidal change picks up speed. And yes, this is THE Thunderball Grotto from the James Bond movie “Thunderball”, as well as where parts of the movie “Splash” were filmed.

It had been six weeks since the haircut Bryan gave to Rod, and Rod was starting to make comments that it was time for another one. If we had been near a phone we would have called Bryan to ask for his barber skills, but instead Rod just pestered me to do it. When I had put it off longer than he liked he got out the clippers and did it himself. Win-win, if you ask me. He got his haircut and I didn’t have to do it. And it turned just fine. The downside to his new number-two-all-over-do was that he proceeded to sunburn his scalp that afternoon while he spent 4 hours in the water cleaning the waterline of Lucky Peek. It had been a couple of months since the algae growth had been scraped off and according to Rod we had quite the eco-system developing on the bottom of our boat. When he emerged from this lengthy task he actually had itty-bitty teensy-weeny little shrimp clinging to his neoprene shirt. They were the size of tiny ants and as he scraped away their condos they were trying to set up a new life on him. The haircut/bottom cleaning day was Easter Sunday and we ended the beautiful day with a nice dinner of canned Danish ham, scalloped potatos, and green beans. We talked about how we missed our family and friends and how impossible it is to describe what we are experiencing on this adventure. As the sun started to set we laughed at the sounds from the nearby shore of the little goats bleeting as they moved into the cave that we were anchored just off of for the night. On a night where we were experiencing a bit of homesickess there was some surprising comfort in the sounds that were less island-like and more like the mainland of home.

From Staniel Cay we sailed down to Little Farmers Cay. After some uncertainty over where to anchor for the night we finally decided on a spot that was just behind Day Dreamer off the shore of the tiny settlement of Farmers Cay. Greg and Cindy greeted us on our arrival and once our anchor was settled into the sandy bottom we dinghy-pooled with them over to Great Guana Cay (not the same Great Guana from the Abacos) to explore in hopes of finding a cave that we had read about. After searching the island for over an hour, which at some times meant bush-whacking our way through since there was no apparent trail, we backtracked and took a different route. Voila! This cave descends some 90 feet into a cavern which offers two fresh water pools at the bottom. Cave divers actually hike in with their gear to dive the 70 foot deep pool which then branches out over 700 feet. We all agreed that would take bigger cajones than any of us had. The day was hot but the cave was cool and sometime in the distant past someone had put a bucket in the cave to catch the refreshing fresh water that drips from one of the many stalactites. The bucket has become completely consumed in the calcification from the water and is now a permanent part of the cave. A cup hangs from the bucket for the benefit of the thirsty explorer. Rod took a drink and proclaimed it quite good. I thought I’d give it some time to see if the water had any ill-effects so I just poured the water over my head. Hey, if it does happen to have some fountain of youth magic to it then maybe I’ll get some benefit from the dousing. The hike back to the dinghy on shore was a quick 15 minutes now that we knew the way. Greg and Cindy were going to the Little Farmers Yacht Club restaurant to celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary that night so Rod and I decided to give them some romantic space and go to the other dining establishment, the Ocean Cabin. We tried to hail the Ocean Cabin on the VHF for dinner reservations but when we didn’t get a response we just decided to show up. Point of clarification, the reservations are not required so that you have a table, they are required so that they have food ready to feed you. When we arrived unannounced it was uncertain whether Ernastine would be able to serve us or not. She didn’t want us to see the menu because she knew she wouldn’t have all the ingredients at such short notice to make anything we wanted. So we settled on what she had available. One order of cracked conch and one order of lobster. Homecooking, Bahamian style. It was wonderful! I should also note that when we first arrived there was one table of six customers (other cruisers) already eating and by the time our dinner was ready we had the whole place to ourselves, except for the friendly bartender with an impressive head of dreds and his visiting girlfriend. It was a very warm, inviting place for a tasty dinner. And for an extra special treat we ordered a bowl of chocolate ice cream for dessert. What would seem to be a simple request caused a series of activity. First the search for a key. A key for ice cream? Thankfully, the key was found and the outside shed that housed the freezer could be unlocked. Two scoops of heaven and we were heading back to Lucky Peek with very satisfied tummies.

We spent only one night at Little Farmers Cay and were on our way to George Town at 7am the following morning. We would travel the 44 miles on the Exuma Sound, on the opposite side (eastern) of the islands on which we had been traveling since arriving in the Exumas. It was a beautiful day and the winds were close to ideal. Along a good stretch of our course we were traveling along a steep drop-off, where the depths drop from 50 feet or so to over 5000 feet. This is a prime fishing zone. Rod selected the cedar plug for our first attempt at catching dinner. This fishing lure is supposed to look like a flying fish swimming through the water and therefore attract a dolphin fish (Mahi Mahi, not Flipper). We were pretty excited when something hit the line and by the bright green and blue color flashing in the water behind us we knew we had indeed landed a three and a half foot dolphin. We reeled it in (yes, we’re still using our caveman hand line) and got it up to the side of the boat, up to the side deck, and when his tail brushed past the life lines he flipped and flopped himself right off the hook. Bye-bye dinner. Again, while I didn’t like the prospect of the fish being in pain or the gruesome reality of what Rod was going to do to end his pain, I was really looking forward to the delicious fillets. Not to be deterred, Rod put the line back in the water and added another makeshift handline so we could double our chances. But the lucky guy that got free must have spread the word that there was a flying fish imposter in the neighborhood. We didn’t get another bite the rest of the day.

Since arriving in George Town we have made the one mile dinghy trip from our anchorage off of Stocking Island over to the settlement of George Town many times which depending on what the winds are doing can be a days worth of excitement just in that single activity. The harbor is quite large therefore the winds can create quite a fetch making the dinghy ride a bumpy and wet venture. Rod is perfecting his “George Town Standup”, a term we use for the crazy people around here that drive around in their dinghies standing up. But if you can actually stay in your dinghy while standing up at least you avoid “Dinghy Butt” – a soaked bottom. I am currently using the wi-fi connection at the St. Francis Resort which is near our boat on Stocking Island. Resort is a big word for such a small quaint establishment. I’m sitting on their sunny deck under a shade umbrella watching the Class A boats racing in the Family Island Regatta. Beyond the sounds of the waves lapping at the shoreline below me I can hear the strong beat of the Bahamian music coming from the shantytown kiosks over in George Town a mile across the harbor. There is a nice breeze blowing to keep the temperatures comfortable. It would be a great day to so sailing…

Paradise Found! The Exumas!


Paradise Found!

We’re in the Exumas! First and foremost we are now witness to beauty beyond words. We had been told over and over that the Exumas are the pinnacle of the Bahamas. We now understand.

We left the Abacos, from Little Harbour at the crack of dawn, on Monday, March 27th. We sailed the 54 miles south to Royal Harbour at the northern tip of Eleuthera. We talked about exploring Eleuthera but came back to our initial plan of hopping a little bit further south to the Exumas. So we left Royal Harbour on Thursday, March 30th and sailed the 50ish miles to Allan’s Cays at the northern end of the Exuma chain. We had been warned, and our charts confirmed, that we would be sailing through coral heads that are dangerously just beneath the surface of the water. We had intentionally planned our departure from Royal Harbour so that we would be transiting through the heaviest coral area with the sun directly over us for the best water visibility. Also important to have someone up on deck looking for the tell-tale signs of coral heads and relaying back to the helmswoman on which course to take. This was not an area where one of us could go down below to make a sandwich or take a nap. We had been told that the coral heads are obvious and that in the right light you can see them from perhaps 100 yards. Until we saw the first one with our own eyes it was difficult to imagine just how clearly we would be able to spot them. We soon learned that when sailing on a turquoise sea they are like big black beacons on the surface! Black as night round patches in the water that were usually ringed by brighter turquoise water, indicating shallower sand around the coral. We were relieved to see how obvious they were to spot. It still wasn’t a relaxing tour through this coral garden, but it was an amazing experience. One that boosted our confidence in our abilities to read the water – a necessary skill in these waters surrounding the Exumas. We were sailing on the west side of the island chain in the shallow waters of what’s referred to as the Exuma Bank or the Great Bahama Bank. The eastern shores of the hundreds of cays that make up the Exumas face the body of water known as the Exuma Sound – very deep water of the Atlantic Ocean.

As we approached the small anchorage between Allan’s Cays and Leaf Cay we were worn out from the long day from Royal Harbour and our first practical experience with sailing through coral heads. We were looking forward to getting the hook set and relaxing in this picturesque location for the evening. The other part we were looking forward to was visiting the beach at Leaf Cay where there was supposedly a large population of “Bahamian Dragons”, the local iguana. As we pulled into the anchorage we could see the beach fill with the iguanas who came out of the brush to greet us and possibly coax us to their shore. From anchor we could get a pretty good look at them but the following day we dinghied ashore to get a close up view. Wild! They are certainly prehistoric looking. If we sat still on the beach they would come out and join us in the sun. We didn’t have anything to feed them but it quickly became apparent that they were accustomed to being fed by curious humans. Making an arm motion like we were tossing food to them would cause a stampede of iguanas in our general direction, searching the ground for invisible food. They were so entertaining that I think we left with approximately 52 pictures of these large lizards!

At Allan’s Cays we met Cindy and Greg aboard “Day Dreamer”, a 42 foot Privilege catamaran. They too are taking some time off to sail about and experience life outside an office for a while. We have much in common with them and have really enjoyed their company as we’ve continued down the Exuma chain.

Rod continues to hone his spearfishing skills and speared a trigger fish and a small grouper at a reef near Highborne Cay, which was our next stop after Allan’s Cays. Those two fish were supplemented by a gift of a large batch of fresh caught mahi mahi from a fishing trawler anchored near us. They had spent the day on the other side of the island in the deep water and finally had to just stop fishing because they were catching so many dorado (mahi mahi)! Fresh fish for dinner was delicious! We were joined in this beautiful anchorage by “Highlander” – the Forbes yacht. This particular yacht had its own helicopter on top, which the following morning we watched take off. Pretty cool! Somebody must have had an important meeting to get to. Poor soul.

Norman’s Cay is notorious for its history as a hub for drug trafficking through the Bahamas in the ‘80s. Carlos Lehder, connected with violent Columbian cocaine smugglers, purchased the cay in the 1970’s and proceeded to run out most of the island’s residents with his armed thugs. He built a landing strip on the island and set up shop, so to speak. Carlos subsequently spent some time in prison for his business activities and is supposedly now in the US witness protection program for testifying against Manuel Noriega. Norman’s Cay is now a quiet stop, still has charter flights using its airstrip – but those planes now carry tourists and the locals that have returned since Lehder’s demise and departure. We were disappointed that McDuff’s, a famous spot among cruisers to stop for a cold beer and a burger, was closed. Ownership has changed and they’re getting ready to reopen. We just happen to be a month or so too early. We did have a nice chat with Stephen, who is running the property for the new owners, and he shared a cold beer with us from his personal cooler. Stephen is a 14th generation Bahamian and was a wealth of knowledge on these islands. It was a real delight visiting with him. And, not to leave out this important detail, Stephen had a 6 month old yellow lab named “Salt” that was a spitting image of Moon when she was that age, except maybe a little smaller. I loved on Salt and thought of my puppy girl back home. Since we missed out on cheeseburgers at McDuff’s, Rod went spearfishing and provided 4 fish for our dinner that evening!

A stop at Shroud Cay, which is where the photo in this posting was taken, gave us an opportunity to explore the beautiful salt water creeks that run from one side of the island to the other. When we reached the other side of the cay we were awestruck at the perfect beach that lay before us. And not another person in sight. We hiked to the top of the hill to leave a momento (“Lucky Peek” carved into a found coconut) at Camp Driftwood, where other boaters leave messages on various items. One message left on an old water jug was left just the day before our visit from a group from Sun Valley! After the hot hike back down the hill we took a refreshing dip in the crystal clear waters. We couldn’t imagine it getting any better than this. A new bar has been set.

We’re now at Warderick Wells Cay, in the middle of the 175 square miles of protected islands and seas of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. This small island is home of the park headquarters and its warden. We are connected to post this update via the headquarters internet. Rod won’t be doing any spearfishing here but we will enjoy seeing all the sealife that make these protected waters their home. We plan to do some hiking on this cay along its 4 miles of nature trails.

From here we plan to stop at Staniel Cay and perhaps some other cays between here and Georgetown. Did I mention how beautiful it is here? Breathtaking.

Guests, the “Rules”, and “Barefoot Man”

Bryan and Allison Mann Visit – March 2006

On February 28, after much anticipation, Bryan and Allison arrived! They were brave souls to use their precious vacation time to come stay with us aboard Lucky Peek for 8 days and we were very excited to have them aboard. When they arrived right on schedule at 10:10am Bryan hailed “Lucky Peek” on VHF channel 68 from the taxi in route to the planned pick-up spot, The Jib Room at the Marsh Harbour Marina. We were anchored in Marsh Harbour so we dinghied over to the Jib Room to pick them up – a detail that we probably didn’t clarify well enough beforehand is that visitors, hosts, and all luggage would have to go for a short dinghy ride to reach vessel. Sizing up the luggage we thought we may have to make two trips, but we were able to fit in one snug trip. The amount of luggage was not due to heavy packing visitors – well, kinda, but most of what they brought was for us! After a quick tour of Lucky Peek for Allison (it really only takes about 10 seconds to tour a 37 foot boat) it was like Christmas for us as we unpacked their bags which contained more guide books and charts for the islands, a good stash of novels to add to our dwindling library, lots of beef jerky, and what Rod was most looking forward to – Ritz crackers!

After settling down just a bit from the rushed excitement of reuniting with friends, unpacking gifts, and having a celebratory glass of Rod’s special “RodRum” punch (said with a quick double bend of the index finger), we pulled up the hook and set sail for Treasure Cay. Under way we had a light lunch of cheese and crackers, with little squares of SPAM, of course. Another detail that may have slipped when describing what a sailor’s diet includes. They were courteous, or perhaps it was just food deprivation from traveling for two days to get here, and ate the SPAM and cheese crackers enthusiastically. With enough RodRum anything tastes pretty good. (Side note on safety: Captain and Co-Captain were not drinking while under way.)

The weather was still warming up from the most recent cold front that had just passed so our trip the following day to the Treasure Cay Beach wasn’t as tropical as we had hoped. We had a typical Bahamian lunch of Conch burgers at the beachfront bar and grill and then enjoyed a lazy afternoon of visiting in the chaise lounge chairs on the beach in the powdery soft sand. Temperatures in the low 70’s with water temps equal to that were not enticing enough to draw us into the sea this day but it didn’t stop us from taking in the beautiful view.

By this time, day two, Bryan and Allison had been well briefed on the Rules of Living Aboard Lucky Peek. There really aren’t that many rules, but Rod liked to reinforce the lesson by repeating the rules as he deemed necessary, which seemed quite frequently to this author and I believe also to the guests. By the end of their stay we were referring to Rod, with affection none the less, as the Energy Nazi for his fervent monitoring and enforcement of the Electricity Usage/Conservation Rule. That rule, along with the other Rules of Living Aboard Lucky Peek are below:

Head Usage (This means Toilet for you landlubbers)
Overview: Lucky Peek has a Raritan PH-II Manual Head. In simple terms Manual means than when you want to flush you pump a handle that on its upward stroke pulls sea water into the bowl and the downward stroke discharges the waste either into the holding tank or directly overboard.
Rule #1: No TP, or anything else that has not first been eaten goes down the head. TP is disposed of in a bag in a wastebasket that is removed from the room regularly. This is to help prevent the head from clogging and thus having to be unclogged by the Captain.
Rule #2: Flush, flush, flush, flush, flush. And then flush some more. Especially if Rule #2 is flushing a number two.

The Head Overview and Rules were the first set of rules discussed with our guests. Not only does everyone need to know how to use the head but nobody wants to be the possible cause of a clogged head. Also, it was very important to have a frank discussion about… well, um… poop. This is a relatively small boat and it’s hard to get away with anything without other crew members knowing about it. So we agreed that it would just be best if we fully disclosed our intent when entering the head – possibly making a suggestion that everyone move to the cockpit, if we weren’t already there. We also discovered that Bryan’s IPOD came with a great selection of marching music that became the most requested music for these “moments”. I’ll never be able to listen to a marching band again without thinking of… well, um… you know.

Update: The head clogged 7 days after the Manns left. It was nothing they did or didn’t do. It was inevitable given the condition of the hoses when we removed them and we were soooooooo glad that it didn’t happen while they were here. As you can imagine this was a nasty job. We had read that it is a common problem on boats and that you can expect to have to remove the septic hoses every few years a clean them of the salt and ureatic (pee) crystals that build up in the lines over time and eventually plug the hose. The state our hoses were an indication that they had never been cleaned, but we’re not sure of their maintenance history. The unsavory highlights of solving this problem include removing about a 7 foot section of septic hose (while working in a space approximately the size of a dorm refrigerator), draining the waste from the plugged hose into ziplock baggies (extra sturdy freezer kind, of course), then beating the hose against the piling (of the marina that we had coincidentally check into that morning to begin work on another project) to break lose the clogs of salt and ureatic crystals. We were trying to nonchalantly do this (however nonchalantly you can beat a septic hose against a piling) since we were in a nice marina. This job took us two full days to complete, interspersed with about 10 showers each. It’s all put back together, functional, and the stench has abated. Doesn’t cruising sound fun!

Water Usage/Conservation
Overview: Lucky Peek has an 80 gallon water tank with no modern way, such as a gauge, to monitor its level. We know we’re low when we run out. Lashed to the side deck are two 6 gallon jerry jugs of emergency back-up water. Water is precious – conserve.
Rule: Never leave the water freely running as you are using it. And when in use turn it on to the minimum flow required for the task at hand. Brushing teeth? Turn on trickle of water, wet toothbrush, turn off water. Use water sparingly to rinse. Similar routine for washing hands, dishes, etc. Showering? Hmmmm…. Do you really need to shower? If so, then same routine. Sometimes a sponge bath is just as refreshing! We introduced the Manns to pre-sudsed disposable wash cloths which allow for a nice soapy sponge bath. Again, they were courteous in their response to them.

When we were in Treasure Cay we topped of the water tank expecting it to last about another week with four of us on board. Three days later we ran out of water. No, it wasn’t due to willful abandonment of The Rules, it was due to a serious leak in the water heater. At the time the exact location of the leak couldn’t be determined but we could see in the back of the engine compartment water pumping out from somewhere at a furious rate. A new rule was added… The Water Pressure Pump breaker must be kept off at all times until the use of water was needed. Now when someone went into the head someone else would keep an ear ready for the “Water!” request for hand washing. Breaker on – wash hands – breaker off. Marching music volume had to be turned down a few notches.

Update: After the Manns left Rod removed the water heater but attempts to repair the leak in the stainless steel tank were futile. It was cost prohibitive to have a replacement unit sent to the Bahamas so we elected to reroute the plumbing around the water heater and live without it for now. The sunshowers get plenty hot so we use those for showering (the hose reaches from the sunshower’s outside location through the head port so we can shower in the normal shower location) and we heat water on the stove for doing dishes. We can leave the Water Pressure Pump breaker on again!

Electricity Usage/Conservation
Overview: At the time of the Manns visit, our battery bank consisted of the following: Four 100 amp batteries configured into two battery banks of two batteries each, which with a switch could be combined to “Both” banks. This battery bank was used for the house power as well as for the power needed to start the engine. It had a crude monitoring device that didn’t tell the whole story of how much power was being used and how much remained (important to know so you can be confident there is enough juice to start the engine when you need it). These batteries are kept charged by both the running of the engine and by the two 125 watt solar panels that have similar limitations in their monitoring abilities. The biggest consumer of amps on Lucky Peek is the refrigerator, which runs four times a day for 45 minutes consuming about 15 amps during each run. That alone depletes the batteries enough that every few days whether we like it or not, we need to run the engine to recharge the batteries.
Rule: Other electrical items are used sparingly or not at all. No blowdryers, no coffee makers, no toasters, etc. We use very few electrical lights in the evening with oil candles supplementing as necessary. Some nights the Energy Nazi would nervously try to decipher what the crude battery monitors were telling as he muttered something about amps and volts. With a Lights Out order we would then strain our eyes through the remaining candlelight to see each other as we visited.

Update: We (Royal We) have since reconfigured and vastly improved our battery/power situation. Rod installed a separate starter battery, combined the existing four batteries into one house bank, and installed a Link 2000-R monitoring system which actually tells the whole story of how much power we’re using and what is remaining. He still looks at the amps/volts/whatever meter an obsessive number of times a day, still muttering numbers, but he is overall much more relaxed and happy with the new system. Ahhhh….

Days 3-8 of the Mann visit were spent sailing about, snorkeling, beachcombing, and just generally enjoying each others company. We went from Treasure Cay to Bakers Bay on Guana Cay, then to Hope Town on Elbow Cay and back to Guana Cay (Fishers Bay this time) for the Barefoot Man concert at Nippers. Bryan and Rod were joined by six barracuda and a five foot black tip reef shark as they spear fished the outer reef of Guana Cay with James while Allison, Virginia, and I perused nearby Shell Island. Allison snorkeled and found an interesting (and later very smelly) shell. Hope Town provided it’s candy-striped kerosene lighthouse, quaint streets, and beautiful beach for strolling and relaxing. Then to Nippers for the free Barefoot Man concert. This highly anticipated concert is a once a year event here and is attended by approximately 2500 island fans. By far this was the most people we’ve seen in one place since arriving in the Bahamas. The weather was cooperating for this beachside concert and we enjoyed the warm sun and perhaps a couple Nippers, the trademark beverage of Nippers. Check out The Barefoot Man at www.barefootman.com and listen to a sample of a couple of our favorites: “She’s Got Freckles on Her Butt She’s Nice” and “If You See Kay”.

The eight days that Bryan and Allison were aboard went too quickly. I think we all wondered before they arrived if we would still speak to each other after spending a week together in a small space. Quite the opposite happened and we became closer friends. They occupied the forward cabin/V berth (at our insistence) and Rod and I slept on the two settees in the main cabin. This worked out great because Rod and I are typically up making water for tea/coffee in preparation for the 6:30am and 8:15am weather reports and we didn’t want our vacationing guests to have to get up before they were ready. Besides our daily activities together, the days and evenings were filled with enjoyable conversation and much laughter. We talked about things, like poop, that we’d never had an opportunity to discuss before. You can see how we laughed a lot. Poop can be a pretty funny topic.

One unplanned activity that was entertaining to watch and in the end turned out great was Bryan giving Rod and much needed haircut. I had agreed to cut his hair (and end the nagging) but since Bryan had just received a haircut we determined that he was better qualified for this task. Never mind that he had never actually given a haircut before. Bryan didn’t hesitate when I offered the hair clippers and so we set up shop in the cockpit. Bryan had to stop the clippers a few times as he couldn’t see straight from laughter but Rod wasn’t unnerved at all. He was just tickled to be rid of all his extra hair – that was now everywhere in the cockpit. I admit there were times during the session that I was skeptical on what the end result would look like, but when the clippers turned off the final time Rod looked like a new, younger man. If not a little bit like a new Marine recruit. He looked great!

We returned to Marsh Harbour for the last day of Bryan and Allison’s stay. We went ashore for a nice dinner and the evening was definitely more subdued than usual as their departure the following morning was on our minds. It had been such a wonderful 8 days and we all hated to see it come to an end. They had adjusted fantastically to life on a boat – even with all the rules – and they were willing crew, ready to help with any task while under way or at anchor. The weather had warmed up nicely during their stay which allowed us to enjoy the beaches and the amazing water. We had made it the entire 8 days without inclement weather which meant we always had relatively dry dinghy excursions. However, the morning of their departure another cold front was on approach and the wind and seas had kicked up as a result. Rod and I exchanged knowing glances as we looked out at the choppy water between us and the dock that we were to take them to meet their cab. We tried to gently warn them that there was a 100% chance that they and their luggage were going to get wet on their last dinghy ride ashore. It was worse than even Rod and I expected. We gave them our foul weather jackets to wear (which initially they shrugged off, but then quickly realized what a good idea that was), but that wasn’t enough. We needed full foul weather gear for this ride. Our destination required us to go directly into the wind and waves, and those waves were crashing and splashing into the dinghy after first hitting Bryan and Allison square on as they occupied the front part of the dinghy. We had traveled less that 100 feet and we were all drenched. Allison, unprepared, took a wave right in the face which soaked her head – salt water in the eyes and dripping from the end of her nose. She had what we refer to as “pirate eye”, when the stinging of salt water in the eye causes you to scrunch your eye closed. Allison, being the good sport, let out a mighty “Arghhhh!”. This sent me into a fit of hysterical laughter. I was apologizing for the situation, for laughing, but I could not stop laughing. In fact I laughed so hard (and with all that water splashing about) that yes, I peed my pants. We made it to the dock, apologized again for this very memorable ending to hopefully a memorable trip, stopped laughing long enough to hug goodbye with tears in our eyes. Or was it salt water?

Thanks, Bryan and Allison, for making the long trip to see us and using your valued vacation time to do so. Thanks for being our pack mules on your journey here and bringing all the goodies, and then leaving your Crocs behind that we coveted when you arrived. They continue to leave your footprints on many beaches.

Touring the Abacos, friends, and fish!


February 2006 in the Abacos

The last couple of weeks of February brought warmer temperatures as we continued to tour the Abacos. We island hopped between some of our favorite spots including Hope Town on Elbow Cay and Bakers Bay on Guana Cay while touring some new places – Treasure Cay (which really isn’t a cay, it is part of the island of Great Abaco) and Man O War Cay. Treasure Cay is famous for its stunning beach, having made the Top 10 list of beautiful beaches in the world. The shallow waters that stretch out from its silky shores reflect magnificent shades of turquoise that beg to be photographed. But as we’ve learned, the resulting pictures never seem to fully capture the beauty.

Our visit on Saturday, February 18 to Man O War was synchronized with the “Boater’s Swap Meet” – a huge yard sale that stretches throughout the settlement in which anyone can lay out their spare wares to earn some extra cruising funds. We didn’t have anything worth hawking but we enjoyed browsing the eclectic selection and visiting with the friends that we’ve met while here in the Abacos. That afternoon, after returning to Lucky Peek with our purchase of the day – an ice bucket – we caught up to James and Virginia on Windspirit and Mike and Jan on Imagine a few miles away at an anchorage known as Crawl Bight. They had called us on the VHF to invite us for dinner aboard Imagine. Fresh caught conch, mutton snapper, and slipper lobster. It was a feast! The following day we dinghied around Crawl Bight to snorkel the reef between Guana Cay and Scotland Cay. One of the highlights of the area was the school of large rays that swam ahead of us through the shallow bay as we entered. We noted this as a spot to revisit with Bryan and Allison Mann, who were to arrive in just 10 days!

If this journal entry contained nothing else but the following update, Rod would be completely satisfied. Okay, more than completely satisfied. After we left Crawl Bight we went to the beautiful Bakers Bay anchorage (one of my favorite spots). After setting the hook we dinghied out to the old ship’s channel with Mike and Jan from Imagine in hopes of collecting a few conch for dinner. After an hour or so and only one conch Mike and Jan decided to head back in. Rod was intrigued by the shipwreck that was at the bottom of the ship’s channel, about 25 feet down. He was especially interested in the large fish that had made this their home. I stayed with the dinghy while the mighty spearfisherman (whose dismay over not yet spearing a fish was growing at a rate proportional to every fish James speared) dove down with his spear. His persistence and lung capacity paid off – he surfaced with a 32 inch yellow jack on the end of his spear. His eyes a bit wild with excitement and a large grin escaping the sides of his snorkel. I’m sure he will at some point amend this posting to fill in all the adrenaline laden details since I’m only hitting the most summarized points of the event. I will add that I did not do very well on this fishing adventure. I cried for the speared fish. A hunter I am not. But neither am I a vegetarian. We had two fillets (grilled on our Magma BBQ grill that is connected to our stern rail) that night for dinner. The following night we prepared the remaining 10 fillets and had a dinner party aboard Anejo, with Candy and Les, Terry and Peggy of Attitude, and Robert and Carolyn of Gypsy Common. Two left-over fillets fed Rod and I the next night. It was delicious! Of course Rod could not wait to show James the picture(s) of his bounty and he brings it up in casual conversation every chance he gets.

Just enjoying the Abacos

Long time no updates! We’ve been enjoying the Abacos – island hopping among our favorite places and discovering new favorites. The past 6 weeks have gone by quickly and are worthy of a more lengthy update than this. But for now we at least wanted to let you know we’re still out here! In our next detailed posting we will cover Rod’s epic spearfishing adventure and the highlights of our week with Bryan and Allison Mann aboard. We may even give an update on the not-so-pleasant but necessary task of unclogging the head! (Fortunately, that was after the Mann’s left.) So stay tuned!

We are preparing to hop down to the Exumas with the next appropriate weather window. So our spotty internet connectivity may continue for a while. Please be patient!

Little Harbour and Back

Little Harbour and Back

By the skin of our keel we left Hope Town Harbour on Saturday, January 28th. The entrance channel to this small protected harbor is quite narrow and especially shallow at low tide, therefore it is prudent to time your arrival/departure on a rising tide or right around high tide. (Remember this is where we tried to help the French family off the shoal at the beginning of our first visit). On this day high tide was at 6:58 a.m. and low tide at 1:17 p.m. We were pulling away from the fuel dock at 11:00 a.m, which was quite an exit in and of itself when our stern anchor was nearly scraped off the side of the boat by a fuel dock piling. Falling tide and just less than 2 hours to low. Very important for us to stay IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHANNEL. If ever there was a time to levitate it was now. We inched out ever so carefully, with one eye on the depth sounder and the other eye on the water, and were back out into the Sea of Abaco without incident. Whew. Our direction of sail this day would be south with our destination Little Harbour. Another harbor which must be entered at high tide given our 5 foot draft. It’s not a straight shot from Hope Town to Little Harbour because you have to navigate around shallow areas in the Sea of Abaco but it is a relatively short distance. We had stiff wind conditions for a great sail and made it there in just 5 hours. Tide lesson: generally speaking, tides swing every six hours from high to low. So we were approaching Little Harbour on a rising tide, which was great, but it wasn’t quite high enough for our comfort when we reached the entrance at 4:00 p.m. Hmmm… what to do. Our charts showed a couple of nearby day anchorages outside the harbor entrance that could be used to wait for the appropriate water depth for entering. The wind and wave conditions at the time we were there did not make those suggested anchorages look very appealing. We decided to turn and sail back just 1 mile to Lynyard Cay where we could anchor and further discuss our options. By 4:30 we had the hook set in a nice spot with Lynyard Cay blocking the wind and waves. We had an hour of daylight left – we could sit for 45 minutes then head back to Little Harbour and enter on a rising tide, but with a falling sun. Can’t read the water without the sun. We decided to not push our luck for the day and to just enjoy the sunset in our current location. Little Harbour could wait ‘til morning.

Aptly named, Little Harbour is very small and the cruising population that anchors in it’s protected waters probably doubles the population of this settlement. We were one of 11 boats in the harbor during our three day stay. (Any more than twenty boats and the harbor would be quite full.) This perfectly sheltered bay is surrounded by beach and limestone cliffs offering caves to explore. Little Harbour’s claim to fame is Pete’s Pub and Gallery. Pete’s parents sailed into this remote harbor with young Pete and his two brothers in 1951 on their schooner “Langosta”. They didn’t leave. They lived on their boat in the harbor and in one of the larger caves until they constructed their initial thatch-roofed home. Pete’s father, Randolph, was an artist renowned for his wax casting in bronze. Here is where he would build a foundry to continue his work – which includes the piece “St Peter Fisher of Men” that is owned by the Vatican museum. Pete continued in his father’s footsteps and keeps the foundry running with his own castings which are featured and for sale in the rustic gallery next to the equally rustic and well-known “Pete’s Pub”, which offers it’s own art in the form of a rum drink called the “Blaster”. Just over the sand dune from Pete’s Pub is an expansive beach bordering the Atlantic. Back inside the harbor we were visited daily by dolphins. On the most memorable occasion we were in the dinghy and one came out of the water, blowing a spray of water out it’s blowhole just inches behind Rod, surprising him and making him squeal like a little girl. It was great! (Rod objects to this description, but that’s the way it happened.)

On Wednesday, February 1 we awoke to the most beautiful day we’d yet to experience in the Abacos. It was perfectly calm and not a cloud in the sky. We left Little Harbour that morning, on the high tide, and went directly to Sandy Cay, a snorkeling reef and fish preserve that is best enjoyed in settled conditions. While there were many interesting and colorful fish to watch it was the coral that was most amazing with such a variety growing together and forming intricate structures. Brain coral sprouting Fan coral protected by a fence of Elkhorn coral. See our MSN site for pictures.

We continued back north after our glorious day of snorkeling and sunning on the deck of Lucky Peek. We anchored for the night off of Tavern Cay and timed another short jump the next day with the high tide to Tahiti Beach, on the south end of Elbow Cay. On the beach that day we met some nice folks (Joe, Katie, baby Gracie, and their friend Cory) who were in the last two days of their month-long vacation on Elbow Cay. After we had lunch at Cracker P’s on Lubbers Quarters, a small island just west of Elbow Cay, we accepted their gracious invitation to come to their rental cottage that evening for a dinner of fresh grilled Wahoo. It was an enjoyable evening visiting with them and hearing their entertaining stories of their lives in Canada, eh. We laughed when we realized that this was the first time we had actually been in a house in two months!

We pulled up anchor the next morning under conditions that were so perfect we didn’t even need Forrest. Under sail alone we glided out of the anchorage and continued our return north. It wasn’t until we reached the entrance to Marsh Harbour that we had to start the engine to maneuver into the anchorage. We had mail waiting for us at the Marsh Harbour post office and we needed to do laundry at the Coin Op and restock fresh food. And, we were just a day away from Super Bowl Sunday! We joined some of our friends in the area; Earl from LunaSea, Robert and Carolyn from Gypsy Common, and Brant and Eleanor from Lazy Bones in going to Snappas Bar and Grill to watch the big game. It was there that we met our newest friends, Virginia and James of s/v Windspirit. James and Virginia are taking a short break from their careers before James relocates from England to New Zealand in May by spending the next couple months sailing about the Abacos on the beautiful Tayana 48 they borrowed from Virginia’s parents. Since meeting them we’ve been staying up way past our bedtime but we’re having loads of fun! We left Marsh Harbour together on Tuesday, February 7th and sailed in tandem over to Elbow Cay. James and Virginia had not been to Hope Town yet and we wanted to return to the area to do some fishing and snorkeling. We anchored outside the harbor below the Hope Town lighthouse again and dinghied together out to Johnny’s Cays to try and spear dinner. I opted to stay above water in the dinghy while the hunting party dove below. They didn’t surface with any fish but on the way back to the anchorage we passed over a large shallow area with a grassy bottom which is a prime location to find conch. Conch are basically sea snails, so I’ll let you deduce how challenging they are to “catch”. After catching one each, James taught Rod how to get the conch out of its elaborate shell and clean it. I then used the meat and made a tasty ceviche-like conch salad for the four of us. On a subsequent hunt a couple days later on the Atlantic side of Elbow Cay, James speared a trigger fish and a margate, which made for a fantastic dinner of poached fillets that evening.

The weather has turned cooler again and we’re sitting out the current cold front inside Hope Town Harbour on a mooring next to James and Virginia. We’re still staying up way too late but we are enjoying the fun company. We all plan to leave here tomorrow or the next day and go explore Great Guana Cay for a few days. We’re looking forward to warmer temperatures, calmer winds, and hopefully more fresh fish.