| THE BAHAMAS (PART 1) |
New Year's Day 2007. We were finally going to the Bahamas. It had been a year since we had bought the boat. Last year it had been too
late once the boat was commissioned to go anywhere except to a hurricane season refuge. So we went back to Texas. Since then we had
made our way back to Tampa for a few days and recently had been staging in Marathon for a couple of weeks. Our plan was to spend the
winter in the south Bahamas then make our way to the Chesapeake Bay for the 2007 hurricane season. We debated for quite some time
whether we should go north or continue south at the end of the season, but the north trek won the argument. The 2008 hurricane season would
be spent south.
Marathon to Nassau (January 2007) - The weather forecast called for south winds about 10 to 15 with waves 4 to 6. Not bad for the Gulf
Stream. Any wind with a south component not over 15 knots is ideal. Any wind with a north component, unless almost calm, is out of the
question for a Gulf Stream crossing (the wind opposing the current and all). It may not be out of the question for some, but it is for us. Why
beat yourself up? First of all, it can be dangerous. If you get caught off guard somehow and end up in bad weather, okay, you deal with it
then. We make sure we and the boat are prepared for it, if it happens. But it's shear idiocy if you put yourself in that situation on purpose.
We left at 2:00 p.m. We wanted to be well clear of the outer reefs by dark - why? - because of the damned crab pots. That would put us easily
at our planned crossing point onto the Bahama banks by dawn. We were crossing at Gun Key. It should be a fairly easy entrance, but it was
narrow. There was no way we would trust the chartplotter to get through the reef in the dark. Modern electronics are great, but there have
been times when we have been in deep water but the chartplotter said we were driving on land. That should be a lesson for everyone. When
you are in the vicinity of reefs, you better be travelling in daylight. The crossing was uneventful other than dodging ships. That night we must
have seen 10 or so ships, big ships. I think most were cruise ships (it was New Year's Day after all), but there could have been a few tankers
as well. It was a busy night. I don't know how you safely travel at night in busy shipping lanes without a sturdy radar. We both got a little
sleep and the dogs got a lot of sleep.
The forecast called for light winds most of the day. That meant motoring again, but what a great place to have flat seas. Once we got through
the reefs we were immediately on the banks. It wasn't long until all we could see in all directions was water the color of which you can't
describe. The depth was 10 to 12 feet of crystal clear water. It's like swimming pool water only clearer. Again, you really can't describe it.
About noon we decided we were making good time and we did not want to get to Nassau before dawn the next day. So, we just turned off the
engine, dropped anchor in about 10 feet, fired up the grill, grilled some chicken breasts, ate chicken sandwiches and took a nap. In three
hours we were moving again.
About dark the wind picked up from (you guessed it) the direction we wanted to go. About 10 p.m. we crossed off the banks into Northwest
Channel where the water goes from 10 feet to 10,000 feet in a matter of minutes. The wind was now about 20 knots or so right on our nose
and we knew we would be pounding into the seas all night long. There was a group of about 20 boats that had left Miami at dawn and the first
of the group ended up at Northwest Channel about the same time as us. They chatted all night, apparently because the weather was rough
and they talked a lot to calm themselves. Two of the boats had engine problems along the way. We heard all the gory details. Luckily the
two boats traced their problems to dirty fuel (isn't that always the case) and were back underway shortly.
These group sails don't make any sense to us (unless for security reasons). First of all there becomes a group mentality where someone
makes a suggestion and they all reach the same conclusion (whether they should reach the same conclusion or not). That, to us, is a recipe for
disaster. Secondly, if someone does have serious trouble there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. In rough weather, it would be
crazy to get anywhere close to another boat - you would both sink. About the only thing you might be able to do is to trail a long line back to
someone's life raft, but the chances of them being able to tie a rope to themselves are probably zero and you would probably capsize the life
raft anyway. You might be successful picking an individual out of the water. When you go to sea, you are truly on your own and about the
only way to be rescued is if you are within an area where the coast guard may possibly get you. And then it takes helicopters and divers going
into the water. No thanks. We'll take our chances alone and make our own decisions.
Even with all the pounding, we both slept pretty well on our off watch (the dogs slept well as usual). Unless we get caught in really nasty stuff
our watches are 4 hours on and 4 hours off. Leta usually takes 8 to 12 and I take 12 to 4 during the night. It works fairly well for us.
We got rained on a bit during the early morning without incident (all the boats behind us were howling about the impending squalls, but our
radar showed only a few scattered light showers) and arrived at Nassau Harbor about dawn. Harbor is a bit of a stretch. The harbor is really
just a cut between New Providence Island (the big island) and Paradise Island (the small island). As a result, the current is howling through
the harbor at ebb and flood tide. It looks like a river overflowing its banks. That fact is why anchoring in the harbor is an iffy proposition.
With all the current, the bottom is scoured with not much for your anchor to grab, unless it might be debris. Some people put out two anchors
to combat the problem, but others do not. As a result, you can turn on the VHF pretty much anytime, especially if the breeze is up, and you
can hear boats hailing other boats about dragging and crashing. We chose to stay in one of the several marinas, Nassau Yacht Haven.
Nassau Yacht Haven was secure and appeared to be well managed and the staff knew what they were doing. We would recommend Nassau
Yacht Haven if you end up in Nassau. Next time we will try to avoid Nassau, except that Nassau is a strategically placed crossroads to
everywhere in the Bahamas. Clearing customs was easy (they came to your boat) and the dogs were no problem at all. The customs agent
just looked to see that we had docs for the dogs (not necessarily the right docs - just docs) and that was it. They didn't even board the boat.
We ended up staying a week, not because of weather, but because we needed a new E series chartplotter. Getting an expensive piece of
electronics through customs without paying duties was fun and the reason we needed another chartplotter is another story.
Remember that the harbor is really a cut. During our stay, we saw several boats get crosswise with the current trying to get into their
assigned slip and crash into the docks hard enough to do significant damage. The staff knew what they were doing, but the boats didn't. It
was also a struggle to keep our own boat from crashing into the pilings while being tied up. There are all sorts of commercial and pleasure
craft plying the harbor waters and there is no speed limit. The wakes were constant and in some cases huge. Luckily, I have a few two by
fours rigged for fender boards made just for that sort of thing. I still retied the dock lines several times a day. Again, we'll try to avoid
Nassau next time.
The Exumas (January 2007) - Time to move. We left early one morning with the goal of getting to the Yellow Bank no earlier than noon
(sun overhead so we could see through the water). Our destination was Highbourne Cay and our planned time of arrival was mid-afternoon.
All the cruising guides say that most people go directly over the Yellow Bank keeping a sharp eye towards the numerous coral heads, some of
which may be close enough to the surface to make for a bad day. We were not yet experienced in reading the water, but the coral heads were
easy to see. The optical illusion is that they are big black, mossy balls with varying diameters (most are 10 to 50 feet wide) just under the
surface. The reality is that they are beautiful growths of coral rising off the sandy bottom usually plenty deep to not warrant concern. Just to
be safe, you maneuver around them. We made it through the Yellow Bank in about an hour. We dropped anchor at Highbourne Cay right on
cue and realized this was the real deal. Our destination for months had been the Exumas and here we were. We have to say that it surpassed
all our expectations. It's so beautiful you can't describe it and the sense of accomplishment is indescribable as well. From an accomplishment
perspective it took years to get here.
Well, the ever present weather reared its head and we needed to find a secure place for at least a week. That brought us to a real jewel,
Warderick Wells Land and Sea Park. One of the mooring fields is even called Emerald Rock. No anchoring is allowed for obvious reasons
(it's a Bahamas National Park), but there are plenty of moorings (well maintained, I might add). Good thing we had found a secure place for a
while. The wind howled at 25 to 35 day and night for almost two weeks. Warderick Wells is a series of islands with trails all over. We had
never really hiked before, but it was actually fun and the scenery was unbelievable. One side of the islands was the deep, windward Exuma
Sound and the other side was the shallow banks. It took several days to find our way through most of the trails, so we never got bored waiting
on weather.
We were finally off again. Destination - Staniel Cay. Actually, the main anchorage is off the island of Big Majors Cay. Staniel Cay is about a
three mile dinghy ride away. Very pretty, but lots of boats. And yes, there are wild pigs on Big Majors that swim out to you if you dinghy
towards them. Leta went crazy. It was so nice (the island, not the pigs), we stayed a few days. The one thing we noticed right away was that
nurse sharks were big players around here. Not small ones; big ones. Staniel Cay Yacht Club treats them as pets and feeds them everyday.
So, they hang out under the docks. Interesting sight. At anchor you can spot them a few hundred yards away as black spots swimming slowly
along and, occasionally, one will swim right under your boat. Once again, Leta went crazy, but this time she went crazy about not snorkeling.
She did decide to snorkel sometime later, but only with the West Marine bucket that I cut the bottom out of and replaced with a clear plastic
bottom, hanging over the side of the dinghy with her rear in the air. She calls it white trash snorkeling, but it works pretty well. The bucket is
really for checking our anchor, but whatever works.
Next up was the anchorage at Black Point. Black Point is a fairly large settlement, by Exuma standards, with a nice protected harbor. We
stayed a couple of days and even ate at Loriane's Restaurant. We eat out only on rare occasions. You make your reservation by VHF and
choose from three or four items (like chicken, fish, lobster, etc.). There were three or four couples at the restaurant and we all helped
ourselves to the small bar and had dinner together. We would recommend Loraine's if you stop by Black Point.
The weather forecast for the next couple of days looked good. Our plan was to travel to Cave Cay, then make our way to Georgetown the
next day if weather cooperated. We travelled to Cave Cay with a couple of boats whose crews we met the night before. One of the boats had
made the trek to Georgetown for many years and knew the very tricky entrance to the Cave Cay anchorage very well. We arrived about
noon (to read the water) and zipped right through the zig zag course to the anchorage. We definitely saved that track for future reference.
Cave Cay is very well placed to one of the handful of cuts from the shallow bank side of the Exumas to the deep water of Exuma Sound, which
essentially is the wide open Atlantic. Further south, the water is too shallow on the bank side for any significant draft, so the day trip to
Georgetown must be in the exposed deep water. Anyway, one must be careful and alert traversing the navigable cuts because of the
significant currents going in and out. Even on a fairly calm day, if any significant swells are running against the current, bad things can
happen. It could be easy to lose control of your boat with no room to maneuver. We drove through the cut at dawn in perfect conditions since
the swell was only 2 or 3 feet and we were close to slack tide. It was a motor sail kind of day and we made it to Georgetown in early
afternoon. One of the boats that went through the cut about the same time as we slowed down to fish. We heard the chatter on VHF later
about their successful trolling. It sounded like they caught a couple of Wahoo's. We have plenty of fishing gear and need to dig it out.
Georgetown (January 2007 - March 2007) - The entrance to Elizabeth Harbor in Georgetown is long and winding but well marked. It
could be dangerous if any significant swell is running because at one point you have to go "beam to" what could be breaking seas. Our first
entrance to Georgetown was easy. It was mid-January.
Georgetown. It's hard to decide where to start. Some people make Georgetown their destination goal every year and flock to the anchorages
from Canada and the States, stay there the entire season, then flock back to where they came from. At the height of the season, there will be
500 plus boats in the area. There are people who think of themselves as the governing body of this floating, transient city and organize
everything from volleyball tournaments to the annual Regatta to happy hours to charitable events. Each morning is a VHF cruisers net that
lasts an hour held by the same people. You are either part of this click or you are not. The rest of the people are there to participate and
follow the rules. It's amazing how many sheep there are in this world. I'll tell a short story. We were anchored for a few days off Monument
Rock (or Hamburger Beach). There is room for at least 30 or 40 boats, but the main channel runs right behind the anchorage. The channel is
wide here with plenty of room for the large supply boats that go into and out of Georgetown. The channel is also clearly marked on your
electronics (chartplotter). As the anchorage fills up, people anchor closer and closer to the channel. Anyway, one day someone came in and
anchors in the back of the pack relatively close to the channel (plenty of room, mind you). No sooner than their anchor hit the bottom, some
guy who fancied himself as the anchorage police, gets in his police car (I mean dinghy), and proceeds to tell them that they couldn't anchor
there. Guess what they did. The boat just pulls up anchor and goes somewhere else without a word of protest. Amazing. I almost got on the
air to tell the anchorage police it was none of his business and assure the boat trying to anchor that they were fine. Instead, I decided it wasn't
worth the effort. Both of the parties involved in the incident were perfectly happy, so why bother.
It's lucky that holding is good in all the anchorages. On another occasion, we were anchored in a fairly exposed part of the harbor and the
wind was blowing at least 25 knots, which made the waves in our location a couple of feet high. A couple came into the anchorage going at
least four or five knots, throw out an undersized anchor, dump about half of what they needed in scope of rode in the water, go immediately to
the stern of the boat and let the dinghy fly, jump in the dinghy, stand up and haul ass. They never once checked to see if the anchor was set.
The last we saw of them was in the distance bobbing up and down in the waves trying desperately to continue to stand up, I guess so they
wouldn't get their asses wet. They could very well have ended up in the water with their own dinghy running them over, which happens several
times a year in Georgetown. But guess what. The sheep see others standing up in their dinghies and they all do it no matter how dangerous it
is.
We used Georgetown as a staging area. There are not many protected anchorages outside of the Georgetown area. Georgetown is wide
open, but the holding is good and you do have protection in all directions from big ocean waves. However, depending on the direction of the
wind and which anchorage you choose, the fetch can be a couple of miles. It gets uncomfortable at times but not dangerous. Georgetown also
has a fairly large grocery store (by Exuma standards) for provisioning.
We see Georgetown in somewhat the same way as we see Nassau. If we can avoid it we will, but it is located strategically. If you are going
further into the Caribbean, Georgetown is the jumping off point, so it will be hard to avoid. Besides, it's quite an experience to witness first
hand. We did hear one of the funniest things we have heard in a while. During the morning cruisers net, there is time for people to go on the
air and make announcements for various things, usually about meetings and volleyball games and the like. This guy comes on and says that a
new organization had been formed called the Alcohol Research Group (or ARG for short). If they had a web site, you could go to ARG.org
and learn more about their important research. Each Wednesday at 4:30 you could join ARG on Hamburger Beach to donate your time in
support of a fine cause. This guy went on for about five minutes and you could just see "the click" cringing. Hilarious.
In early February Ellis had a telephonic Board meeting to attend and needed reliable internet access. There were a couple of places in
Georgetown where you could take your laptop, but it did not work about half the time. We found a relatively new marina at a Four Seasons
Resort a couple of hours (by sail) north of Georgetown that had reliable internet. Some of the slips did not have electric connected yet, so
they were running a special (read cheap) if you didn't need to plug in. We did not since we have a generator. So it was perfect for us. We
would recommend Emerald Bay Marina if you are in the area and need a marina. A word of caution, however. The marina is on the Exuma
Sound side with a narrow entrance. If the swells are running from the right direction you will get breakers in the entrance. I would not try it in
those conditions. Also, even with a small swell, you get a significant surge inside the marina. As a result, the marina might be dangerous in
really bad weather.
Long Island (January 2007 - March 2007) - Long Island is a day sail away from Georgetown. We found the anchorage at Thompson
Bay in Salt Pond (a town) to be much more to our liking than any anchorage in Georgetown and much more protected than Georgetown in any
wind direction other than southwest. We weathered a significant front there with sustained winds for a couple of days in the 30's. Salt Pond
even had a grocery store that we thought was much better than the one in Georgetown. We frequented Thompson Bay several times.
We also found a delightful anchorage north of Salt Pond about half way to the northern tip of Long Island. As long as the wind was from the
prevalent direction (east, northeast), it was perfect. Again, there is really no way to give it justice by trying to describe it, so I won't. We
spent quite a few days there on several different occasions.
Okay. It's time for a fish story. I had grown up fishing in lakes in the East Texas area, but only rarely did I do any salt water fishing and I
hadn't fished in years until we decided to do this cruising thing. I obviously knew the basics, but I had to read a lot about salt water tackle and
how to deal with much bigger fish with nasty teeth. We had all that sorted out and had been fishing for a month or so when the weather was
nice where we could troll our lures at five or six knots. So far, we had only caught a few "BACK-A-RUDAS" and other undesirables. One
day we were on our way back to Georgetown (for what reason I can't remember) from the northern part of Long Island. It's a long day sail in
deep water and the weather was nice. So the lures were out. We have two different rigs: one is a big rig with 80 pound test and the other is a
smaller spinning rig with 20 pound test. In about 6,000 feet of water and a couple of hours away from our destination we get strikes on both
rigs. By the time I got to the big rig the line was slack - missed. Then I grabbed the light rig and spent the next half hour trying to get the
darned thing in without losing it. It turned out to be a sizable Dolphin (not Flipper, but Mahi-Mahi). We got a picture of him after he had died
and the colors are amazing. Having said that, the truly amazing colors are while the thing is still alive. Wish we had gotten a picture of that. I
sliced him up and cleaned up a bit before focusing on getting back underway.
By the time we finished with the fish, the wind had virtually died, so I turned on the engine to motor in. Almost immediately, the low oil
pressure alarm started screaming and I shut down the engine. I went below and took a peek. Oil explosion. I have never seen so much oil. It
was clear all of it was in the pan below the engine, but somehow the oil blew out and over everything in the process of ending up down there.
Once we assessed the situation, panic set in. No engine, no wind and the swells were pushing us into the rocky coast where the depth went
from thousands to zero very quickly. Ellis scrambled around trying to figure out how the oil blew out. He finally found the culprit with the help
of a phone call or two (we told you the satellite phone was for emergencies). It was the oil filter. The rubber gasket on the oil filter had blown.
Imagine that. First time we had heard of that. The good news is that it took less than 10 minutes to fix. Slap on a new filter, pour in some oil
and we were back in business. We calmly motored in as if nothing had ever happened and had a couple of drinks with grilled Dolphin (not
Flipper). We saved soaking up the exploded oil for tomorrow. There's always something.
The Road Back (March 2007) - It was time to start the trek north. However, we spent several weeks taking the slow route back up the
Exumas.
One day we anchored on the lee side of one of the islands. Not another boat in sight, no villages in sight and our own private beach. Bogey
loves beaches. Buster doesn't care. We were sitting in the cockpit enjoying the view when we spotted the tops of a couple of sails a few miles
away. Usually you see a couple of sails in the distance and within the hour they sort of disappear over the horizon. Not this time. Herd
mentality is coming. I swear. There were perfectly good beaches for several miles on each side of us. But what did those sheep do. They
spotted our boat from miles away and decided that we must know something good. Within the hour we had company that anchored within a
few boat lengths - no one else for miles on either side. It's enough to make you crazy sometimes.
For the last couple of weeks we had been having intermittent electrical problems. Not good. If something breaks you can fix it. If something
fakes you out, you can't. At odd times we would lose DC power. Ellis would flip a few switches and everything would start working fine. It
was driving him crazy. We weren't too concerned yet, because we didn't have any big water to deal with and we were island hopping in
daylight. But we had to find the reason sooner than later. We were a couple of days from heading back to Nassau (we couldn't figure out how
to avoid Nassau) and were approaching a dock at Samson Cay Marina to fuel up. It was a bit windy and Ellis was using the bow thruster
some. We were almost there. Just a little further so Leta could pitch a couple of dock lines to the dock guys, when everything went (no
electronics, no bow thruster, no DC anything). Luckily, we were close enough to get tied up with no problem. This time the power stayed off
for a while. Really not good. It took about 15 minutes go get things going again, but we still couldn't figure out why it happened or exactly
what we did to make the power come back on.
We left there (still scratching our heads) and anchored off Normans Cay after stopping by Warderick Wells for a couple of days.. The next
day we planned on Nassau. Since you must negotiate a few reefs getting into Nassau we were worried that the electronics would go at a really
bad time. We got out the trusty back-ups. We have a hand held GPS (actually two of them) just for this circumstance. We punched in a few
waypoints and kept the hand held in the cockpit on the trip back to Nassau. All the power stayed on. Double not good, it keeps faking us out.
We knew we would be in Nassau for at least a week. The forecast called for lots of wind and lots of squalls. That would give us a few days to
solve our electrical problem. Of course, we would stay for as long as it took. We would not and could not venture out into big water (certainly
not the Gulf Stream) with the potential for losing all power. After a couple of days, Ellis found the culprit by accident. Island Packet thought
that the culprit may have been a faulty main circuit breaker and sent us a couple of replacements. However, due to the way power would
disappear and reappear, that solution just didn't make sense. Ellis was turning things on and off trying to get the power to act up. At one time
he had everything off including the battery on/off switch. He turned the main breaker on. He turned a couple of other things on. Then turned
the battery switch on. Power stayed off. Wait a minute. Turned the battery switch back off. Turned it back on. Power was on. Ah. Ha. Had
it. The damned $45 Perko battery switch had a short in it. It's always something. We now have an extra one as a spare, but that specific
short will probably never happen again.
The weather finally broke about two weeks after we arrived in Nassau. The window was only a couple of days with bad weather forecast for at
least two weeks after that. We could spend our entire cruising kitty sending the Nassau Yacht Haven's kids to college. So we go.
We left at dawn one morning with our destination goal being Lake Worth, Florida at midday the next day. We did have a weather window, but
not much of one. We get out of the so called harbor and the wind was around 20 knots with wind aft of the beam and waves about 3 or 4 feet.
Unbelievable, a downwind sail. It was great for four or five hours then the wind died a bit and we turned on the engine to motor sail for a few
(we were getting good at that). We cross onto the banks at Northwest Channel by mid-afternoon and the wind picked up again. Before long, it
was 20 to 25 just in time for the shallow water of the banks. As you've heard, shallow water and wind does not pleasantly mix. It became very
rolly and uncomfortable. We put up with that all afternoon and into the night, the wind never letting up. Our plan was to cross out of the
Bahamas at Issac Light close to Hen and Chickens (not a joke). This is one of the most used entry-exit points in the Bahamas since there is
plenty of room between reefs, so we weren't concerned about making our exit at night. We get there about midnight. Once we get into the
Gulf Stream the waves are a bit bigger; maybe around six to eight feet. The problem was, even though the waves were not big, they were Gulf
Stream waves. It's sort of hard to explain, but when you get a north setting current of 4 to 5 knots and the wind is any direction except
perfectly behind the stream, you get this sort of jostling effect. In short, it was very uncomfortable. So much so that we couldn't sleep at all.
Leta even tried the tactic of putting cushions on the sole and wedging herself in down there with no success. No one got sick, but you didn't
want to eat or sleep. It would just be a long night. At dawn, we were about six hours from our destination and our speed over ground was a
whopping 12 knots. Cool. As soon as there was enough light you could really see the reason for our jostling. It was almost like a science
fiction movie. The waves were not big, but they were close together and every once in a while something resembling a spire would erupt
straight up in the air. Really weird. We get to the inlet right on cue with perfect slack tide timing and since the very good anchorage is right
inside the inlet we were anchored in 15 minutes. We took the dinghy to clear customs then took a long nap. It was the first week in April.
late once the boat was commissioned to go anywhere except to a hurricane season refuge. So we went back to Texas. Since then we had
made our way back to Tampa for a few days and recently had been staging in Marathon for a couple of weeks. Our plan was to spend the
winter in the south Bahamas then make our way to the Chesapeake Bay for the 2007 hurricane season. We debated for quite some time
whether we should go north or continue south at the end of the season, but the north trek won the argument. The 2008 hurricane season would
be spent south.
Marathon to Nassau (January 2007) - The weather forecast called for south winds about 10 to 15 with waves 4 to 6. Not bad for the Gulf
Stream. Any wind with a south component not over 15 knots is ideal. Any wind with a north component, unless almost calm, is out of the
question for a Gulf Stream crossing (the wind opposing the current and all). It may not be out of the question for some, but it is for us. Why
beat yourself up? First of all, it can be dangerous. If you get caught off guard somehow and end up in bad weather, okay, you deal with it
then. We make sure we and the boat are prepared for it, if it happens. But it's shear idiocy if you put yourself in that situation on purpose.
We left at 2:00 p.m. We wanted to be well clear of the outer reefs by dark - why? - because of the damned crab pots. That would put us easily
at our planned crossing point onto the Bahama banks by dawn. We were crossing at Gun Key. It should be a fairly easy entrance, but it was
narrow. There was no way we would trust the chartplotter to get through the reef in the dark. Modern electronics are great, but there have
been times when we have been in deep water but the chartplotter said we were driving on land. That should be a lesson for everyone. When
you are in the vicinity of reefs, you better be travelling in daylight. The crossing was uneventful other than dodging ships. That night we must
have seen 10 or so ships, big ships. I think most were cruise ships (it was New Year's Day after all), but there could have been a few tankers
as well. It was a busy night. I don't know how you safely travel at night in busy shipping lanes without a sturdy radar. We both got a little
sleep and the dogs got a lot of sleep.
The forecast called for light winds most of the day. That meant motoring again, but what a great place to have flat seas. Once we got through
the reefs we were immediately on the banks. It wasn't long until all we could see in all directions was water the color of which you can't
describe. The depth was 10 to 12 feet of crystal clear water. It's like swimming pool water only clearer. Again, you really can't describe it.
About noon we decided we were making good time and we did not want to get to Nassau before dawn the next day. So, we just turned off the
engine, dropped anchor in about 10 feet, fired up the grill, grilled some chicken breasts, ate chicken sandwiches and took a nap. In three
hours we were moving again.
About dark the wind picked up from (you guessed it) the direction we wanted to go. About 10 p.m. we crossed off the banks into Northwest
Channel where the water goes from 10 feet to 10,000 feet in a matter of minutes. The wind was now about 20 knots or so right on our nose
and we knew we would be pounding into the seas all night long. There was a group of about 20 boats that had left Miami at dawn and the first
of the group ended up at Northwest Channel about the same time as us. They chatted all night, apparently because the weather was rough
and they talked a lot to calm themselves. Two of the boats had engine problems along the way. We heard all the gory details. Luckily the
two boats traced their problems to dirty fuel (isn't that always the case) and were back underway shortly.
These group sails don't make any sense to us (unless for security reasons). First of all there becomes a group mentality where someone
makes a suggestion and they all reach the same conclusion (whether they should reach the same conclusion or not). That, to us, is a recipe for
disaster. Secondly, if someone does have serious trouble there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. In rough weather, it would be
crazy to get anywhere close to another boat - you would both sink. About the only thing you might be able to do is to trail a long line back to
someone's life raft, but the chances of them being able to tie a rope to themselves are probably zero and you would probably capsize the life
raft anyway. You might be successful picking an individual out of the water. When you go to sea, you are truly on your own and about the
only way to be rescued is if you are within an area where the coast guard may possibly get you. And then it takes helicopters and divers going
into the water. No thanks. We'll take our chances alone and make our own decisions.
Even with all the pounding, we both slept pretty well on our off watch (the dogs slept well as usual). Unless we get caught in really nasty stuff
our watches are 4 hours on and 4 hours off. Leta usually takes 8 to 12 and I take 12 to 4 during the night. It works fairly well for us.
We got rained on a bit during the early morning without incident (all the boats behind us were howling about the impending squalls, but our
radar showed only a few scattered light showers) and arrived at Nassau Harbor about dawn. Harbor is a bit of a stretch. The harbor is really
just a cut between New Providence Island (the big island) and Paradise Island (the small island). As a result, the current is howling through
the harbor at ebb and flood tide. It looks like a river overflowing its banks. That fact is why anchoring in the harbor is an iffy proposition.
With all the current, the bottom is scoured with not much for your anchor to grab, unless it might be debris. Some people put out two anchors
to combat the problem, but others do not. As a result, you can turn on the VHF pretty much anytime, especially if the breeze is up, and you
can hear boats hailing other boats about dragging and crashing. We chose to stay in one of the several marinas, Nassau Yacht Haven.
Nassau Yacht Haven was secure and appeared to be well managed and the staff knew what they were doing. We would recommend Nassau
Yacht Haven if you end up in Nassau. Next time we will try to avoid Nassau, except that Nassau is a strategically placed crossroads to
everywhere in the Bahamas. Clearing customs was easy (they came to your boat) and the dogs were no problem at all. The customs agent
just looked to see that we had docs for the dogs (not necessarily the right docs - just docs) and that was it. They didn't even board the boat.
We ended up staying a week, not because of weather, but because we needed a new E series chartplotter. Getting an expensive piece of
electronics through customs without paying duties was fun and the reason we needed another chartplotter is another story.
Remember that the harbor is really a cut. During our stay, we saw several boats get crosswise with the current trying to get into their
assigned slip and crash into the docks hard enough to do significant damage. The staff knew what they were doing, but the boats didn't. It
was also a struggle to keep our own boat from crashing into the pilings while being tied up. There are all sorts of commercial and pleasure
craft plying the harbor waters and there is no speed limit. The wakes were constant and in some cases huge. Luckily, I have a few two by
fours rigged for fender boards made just for that sort of thing. I still retied the dock lines several times a day. Again, we'll try to avoid
Nassau next time.
The Exumas (January 2007) - Time to move. We left early one morning with the goal of getting to the Yellow Bank no earlier than noon
(sun overhead so we could see through the water). Our destination was Highbourne Cay and our planned time of arrival was mid-afternoon.
All the cruising guides say that most people go directly over the Yellow Bank keeping a sharp eye towards the numerous coral heads, some of
which may be close enough to the surface to make for a bad day. We were not yet experienced in reading the water, but the coral heads were
easy to see. The optical illusion is that they are big black, mossy balls with varying diameters (most are 10 to 50 feet wide) just under the
surface. The reality is that they are beautiful growths of coral rising off the sandy bottom usually plenty deep to not warrant concern. Just to
be safe, you maneuver around them. We made it through the Yellow Bank in about an hour. We dropped anchor at Highbourne Cay right on
cue and realized this was the real deal. Our destination for months had been the Exumas and here we were. We have to say that it surpassed
all our expectations. It's so beautiful you can't describe it and the sense of accomplishment is indescribable as well. From an accomplishment
perspective it took years to get here.
Well, the ever present weather reared its head and we needed to find a secure place for at least a week. That brought us to a real jewel,
Warderick Wells Land and Sea Park. One of the mooring fields is even called Emerald Rock. No anchoring is allowed for obvious reasons
(it's a Bahamas National Park), but there are plenty of moorings (well maintained, I might add). Good thing we had found a secure place for a
while. The wind howled at 25 to 35 day and night for almost two weeks. Warderick Wells is a series of islands with trails all over. We had
never really hiked before, but it was actually fun and the scenery was unbelievable. One side of the islands was the deep, windward Exuma
Sound and the other side was the shallow banks. It took several days to find our way through most of the trails, so we never got bored waiting
on weather.
We were finally off again. Destination - Staniel Cay. Actually, the main anchorage is off the island of Big Majors Cay. Staniel Cay is about a
three mile dinghy ride away. Very pretty, but lots of boats. And yes, there are wild pigs on Big Majors that swim out to you if you dinghy
towards them. Leta went crazy. It was so nice (the island, not the pigs), we stayed a few days. The one thing we noticed right away was that
nurse sharks were big players around here. Not small ones; big ones. Staniel Cay Yacht Club treats them as pets and feeds them everyday.
So, they hang out under the docks. Interesting sight. At anchor you can spot them a few hundred yards away as black spots swimming slowly
along and, occasionally, one will swim right under your boat. Once again, Leta went crazy, but this time she went crazy about not snorkeling.
She did decide to snorkel sometime later, but only with the West Marine bucket that I cut the bottom out of and replaced with a clear plastic
bottom, hanging over the side of the dinghy with her rear in the air. She calls it white trash snorkeling, but it works pretty well. The bucket is
really for checking our anchor, but whatever works.
Next up was the anchorage at Black Point. Black Point is a fairly large settlement, by Exuma standards, with a nice protected harbor. We
stayed a couple of days and even ate at Loriane's Restaurant. We eat out only on rare occasions. You make your reservation by VHF and
choose from three or four items (like chicken, fish, lobster, etc.). There were three or four couples at the restaurant and we all helped
ourselves to the small bar and had dinner together. We would recommend Loraine's if you stop by Black Point.
The weather forecast for the next couple of days looked good. Our plan was to travel to Cave Cay, then make our way to Georgetown the
next day if weather cooperated. We travelled to Cave Cay with a couple of boats whose crews we met the night before. One of the boats had
made the trek to Georgetown for many years and knew the very tricky entrance to the Cave Cay anchorage very well. We arrived about
noon (to read the water) and zipped right through the zig zag course to the anchorage. We definitely saved that track for future reference.
Cave Cay is very well placed to one of the handful of cuts from the shallow bank side of the Exumas to the deep water of Exuma Sound, which
essentially is the wide open Atlantic. Further south, the water is too shallow on the bank side for any significant draft, so the day trip to
Georgetown must be in the exposed deep water. Anyway, one must be careful and alert traversing the navigable cuts because of the
significant currents going in and out. Even on a fairly calm day, if any significant swells are running against the current, bad things can
happen. It could be easy to lose control of your boat with no room to maneuver. We drove through the cut at dawn in perfect conditions since
the swell was only 2 or 3 feet and we were close to slack tide. It was a motor sail kind of day and we made it to Georgetown in early
afternoon. One of the boats that went through the cut about the same time as we slowed down to fish. We heard the chatter on VHF later
about their successful trolling. It sounded like they caught a couple of Wahoo's. We have plenty of fishing gear and need to dig it out.
Georgetown (January 2007 - March 2007) - The entrance to Elizabeth Harbor in Georgetown is long and winding but well marked. It
could be dangerous if any significant swell is running because at one point you have to go "beam to" what could be breaking seas. Our first
entrance to Georgetown was easy. It was mid-January.
Georgetown. It's hard to decide where to start. Some people make Georgetown their destination goal every year and flock to the anchorages
from Canada and the States, stay there the entire season, then flock back to where they came from. At the height of the season, there will be
500 plus boats in the area. There are people who think of themselves as the governing body of this floating, transient city and organize
everything from volleyball tournaments to the annual Regatta to happy hours to charitable events. Each morning is a VHF cruisers net that
lasts an hour held by the same people. You are either part of this click or you are not. The rest of the people are there to participate and
follow the rules. It's amazing how many sheep there are in this world. I'll tell a short story. We were anchored for a few days off Monument
Rock (or Hamburger Beach). There is room for at least 30 or 40 boats, but the main channel runs right behind the anchorage. The channel is
wide here with plenty of room for the large supply boats that go into and out of Georgetown. The channel is also clearly marked on your
electronics (chartplotter). As the anchorage fills up, people anchor closer and closer to the channel. Anyway, one day someone came in and
anchors in the back of the pack relatively close to the channel (plenty of room, mind you). No sooner than their anchor hit the bottom, some
guy who fancied himself as the anchorage police, gets in his police car (I mean dinghy), and proceeds to tell them that they couldn't anchor
there. Guess what they did. The boat just pulls up anchor and goes somewhere else without a word of protest. Amazing. I almost got on the
air to tell the anchorage police it was none of his business and assure the boat trying to anchor that they were fine. Instead, I decided it wasn't
worth the effort. Both of the parties involved in the incident were perfectly happy, so why bother.
It's lucky that holding is good in all the anchorages. On another occasion, we were anchored in a fairly exposed part of the harbor and the
wind was blowing at least 25 knots, which made the waves in our location a couple of feet high. A couple came into the anchorage going at
least four or five knots, throw out an undersized anchor, dump about half of what they needed in scope of rode in the water, go immediately to
the stern of the boat and let the dinghy fly, jump in the dinghy, stand up and haul ass. They never once checked to see if the anchor was set.
The last we saw of them was in the distance bobbing up and down in the waves trying desperately to continue to stand up, I guess so they
wouldn't get their asses wet. They could very well have ended up in the water with their own dinghy running them over, which happens several
times a year in Georgetown. But guess what. The sheep see others standing up in their dinghies and they all do it no matter how dangerous it
is.
We used Georgetown as a staging area. There are not many protected anchorages outside of the Georgetown area. Georgetown is wide
open, but the holding is good and you do have protection in all directions from big ocean waves. However, depending on the direction of the
wind and which anchorage you choose, the fetch can be a couple of miles. It gets uncomfortable at times but not dangerous. Georgetown also
has a fairly large grocery store (by Exuma standards) for provisioning.
We see Georgetown in somewhat the same way as we see Nassau. If we can avoid it we will, but it is located strategically. If you are going
further into the Caribbean, Georgetown is the jumping off point, so it will be hard to avoid. Besides, it's quite an experience to witness first
hand. We did hear one of the funniest things we have heard in a while. During the morning cruisers net, there is time for people to go on the
air and make announcements for various things, usually about meetings and volleyball games and the like. This guy comes on and says that a
new organization had been formed called the Alcohol Research Group (or ARG for short). If they had a web site, you could go to ARG.org
and learn more about their important research. Each Wednesday at 4:30 you could join ARG on Hamburger Beach to donate your time in
support of a fine cause. This guy went on for about five minutes and you could just see "the click" cringing. Hilarious.
In early February Ellis had a telephonic Board meeting to attend and needed reliable internet access. There were a couple of places in
Georgetown where you could take your laptop, but it did not work about half the time. We found a relatively new marina at a Four Seasons
Resort a couple of hours (by sail) north of Georgetown that had reliable internet. Some of the slips did not have electric connected yet, so
they were running a special (read cheap) if you didn't need to plug in. We did not since we have a generator. So it was perfect for us. We
would recommend Emerald Bay Marina if you are in the area and need a marina. A word of caution, however. The marina is on the Exuma
Sound side with a narrow entrance. If the swells are running from the right direction you will get breakers in the entrance. I would not try it in
those conditions. Also, even with a small swell, you get a significant surge inside the marina. As a result, the marina might be dangerous in
really bad weather.
Long Island (January 2007 - March 2007) - Long Island is a day sail away from Georgetown. We found the anchorage at Thompson
Bay in Salt Pond (a town) to be much more to our liking than any anchorage in Georgetown and much more protected than Georgetown in any
wind direction other than southwest. We weathered a significant front there with sustained winds for a couple of days in the 30's. Salt Pond
even had a grocery store that we thought was much better than the one in Georgetown. We frequented Thompson Bay several times.
We also found a delightful anchorage north of Salt Pond about half way to the northern tip of Long Island. As long as the wind was from the
prevalent direction (east, northeast), it was perfect. Again, there is really no way to give it justice by trying to describe it, so I won't. We
spent quite a few days there on several different occasions.
Okay. It's time for a fish story. I had grown up fishing in lakes in the East Texas area, but only rarely did I do any salt water fishing and I
hadn't fished in years until we decided to do this cruising thing. I obviously knew the basics, but I had to read a lot about salt water tackle and
how to deal with much bigger fish with nasty teeth. We had all that sorted out and had been fishing for a month or so when the weather was
nice where we could troll our lures at five or six knots. So far, we had only caught a few "BACK-A-RUDAS" and other undesirables. One
day we were on our way back to Georgetown (for what reason I can't remember) from the northern part of Long Island. It's a long day sail in
deep water and the weather was nice. So the lures were out. We have two different rigs: one is a big rig with 80 pound test and the other is a
smaller spinning rig with 20 pound test. In about 6,000 feet of water and a couple of hours away from our destination we get strikes on both
rigs. By the time I got to the big rig the line was slack - missed. Then I grabbed the light rig and spent the next half hour trying to get the
darned thing in without losing it. It turned out to be a sizable Dolphin (not Flipper, but Mahi-Mahi). We got a picture of him after he had died
and the colors are amazing. Having said that, the truly amazing colors are while the thing is still alive. Wish we had gotten a picture of that. I
sliced him up and cleaned up a bit before focusing on getting back underway.
By the time we finished with the fish, the wind had virtually died, so I turned on the engine to motor in. Almost immediately, the low oil
pressure alarm started screaming and I shut down the engine. I went below and took a peek. Oil explosion. I have never seen so much oil. It
was clear all of it was in the pan below the engine, but somehow the oil blew out and over everything in the process of ending up down there.
Once we assessed the situation, panic set in. No engine, no wind and the swells were pushing us into the rocky coast where the depth went
from thousands to zero very quickly. Ellis scrambled around trying to figure out how the oil blew out. He finally found the culprit with the help
of a phone call or two (we told you the satellite phone was for emergencies). It was the oil filter. The rubber gasket on the oil filter had blown.
Imagine that. First time we had heard of that. The good news is that it took less than 10 minutes to fix. Slap on a new filter, pour in some oil
and we were back in business. We calmly motored in as if nothing had ever happened and had a couple of drinks with grilled Dolphin (not
Flipper). We saved soaking up the exploded oil for tomorrow. There's always something.
The Road Back (March 2007) - It was time to start the trek north. However, we spent several weeks taking the slow route back up the
Exumas.
One day we anchored on the lee side of one of the islands. Not another boat in sight, no villages in sight and our own private beach. Bogey
loves beaches. Buster doesn't care. We were sitting in the cockpit enjoying the view when we spotted the tops of a couple of sails a few miles
away. Usually you see a couple of sails in the distance and within the hour they sort of disappear over the horizon. Not this time. Herd
mentality is coming. I swear. There were perfectly good beaches for several miles on each side of us. But what did those sheep do. They
spotted our boat from miles away and decided that we must know something good. Within the hour we had company that anchored within a
few boat lengths - no one else for miles on either side. It's enough to make you crazy sometimes.
For the last couple of weeks we had been having intermittent electrical problems. Not good. If something breaks you can fix it. If something
fakes you out, you can't. At odd times we would lose DC power. Ellis would flip a few switches and everything would start working fine. It
was driving him crazy. We weren't too concerned yet, because we didn't have any big water to deal with and we were island hopping in
daylight. But we had to find the reason sooner than later. We were a couple of days from heading back to Nassau (we couldn't figure out how
to avoid Nassau) and were approaching a dock at Samson Cay Marina to fuel up. It was a bit windy and Ellis was using the bow thruster
some. We were almost there. Just a little further so Leta could pitch a couple of dock lines to the dock guys, when everything went (no
electronics, no bow thruster, no DC anything). Luckily, we were close enough to get tied up with no problem. This time the power stayed off
for a while. Really not good. It took about 15 minutes go get things going again, but we still couldn't figure out why it happened or exactly
what we did to make the power come back on.
We left there (still scratching our heads) and anchored off Normans Cay after stopping by Warderick Wells for a couple of days.. The next
day we planned on Nassau. Since you must negotiate a few reefs getting into Nassau we were worried that the electronics would go at a really
bad time. We got out the trusty back-ups. We have a hand held GPS (actually two of them) just for this circumstance. We punched in a few
waypoints and kept the hand held in the cockpit on the trip back to Nassau. All the power stayed on. Double not good, it keeps faking us out.
We knew we would be in Nassau for at least a week. The forecast called for lots of wind and lots of squalls. That would give us a few days to
solve our electrical problem. Of course, we would stay for as long as it took. We would not and could not venture out into big water (certainly
not the Gulf Stream) with the potential for losing all power. After a couple of days, Ellis found the culprit by accident. Island Packet thought
that the culprit may have been a faulty main circuit breaker and sent us a couple of replacements. However, due to the way power would
disappear and reappear, that solution just didn't make sense. Ellis was turning things on and off trying to get the power to act up. At one time
he had everything off including the battery on/off switch. He turned the main breaker on. He turned a couple of other things on. Then turned
the battery switch on. Power stayed off. Wait a minute. Turned the battery switch back off. Turned it back on. Power was on. Ah. Ha. Had
it. The damned $45 Perko battery switch had a short in it. It's always something. We now have an extra one as a spare, but that specific
short will probably never happen again.
The weather finally broke about two weeks after we arrived in Nassau. The window was only a couple of days with bad weather forecast for at
least two weeks after that. We could spend our entire cruising kitty sending the Nassau Yacht Haven's kids to college. So we go.
We left at dawn one morning with our destination goal being Lake Worth, Florida at midday the next day. We did have a weather window, but
not much of one. We get out of the so called harbor and the wind was around 20 knots with wind aft of the beam and waves about 3 or 4 feet.
Unbelievable, a downwind sail. It was great for four or five hours then the wind died a bit and we turned on the engine to motor sail for a few
(we were getting good at that). We cross onto the banks at Northwest Channel by mid-afternoon and the wind picked up again. Before long, it
was 20 to 25 just in time for the shallow water of the banks. As you've heard, shallow water and wind does not pleasantly mix. It became very
rolly and uncomfortable. We put up with that all afternoon and into the night, the wind never letting up. Our plan was to cross out of the
Bahamas at Issac Light close to Hen and Chickens (not a joke). This is one of the most used entry-exit points in the Bahamas since there is
plenty of room between reefs, so we weren't concerned about making our exit at night. We get there about midnight. Once we get into the
Gulf Stream the waves are a bit bigger; maybe around six to eight feet. The problem was, even though the waves were not big, they were Gulf
Stream waves. It's sort of hard to explain, but when you get a north setting current of 4 to 5 knots and the wind is any direction except
perfectly behind the stream, you get this sort of jostling effect. In short, it was very uncomfortable. So much so that we couldn't sleep at all.
Leta even tried the tactic of putting cushions on the sole and wedging herself in down there with no success. No one got sick, but you didn't
want to eat or sleep. It would just be a long night. At dawn, we were about six hours from our destination and our speed over ground was a
whopping 12 knots. Cool. As soon as there was enough light you could really see the reason for our jostling. It was almost like a science
fiction movie. The waves were not big, but they were close together and every once in a while something resembling a spire would erupt
straight up in the air. Really weird. We get to the inlet right on cue with perfect slack tide timing and since the very good anchorage is right
inside the inlet we were anchored in 15 minutes. We took the dinghy to clear customs then took a long nap. It was the first week in April.
| Warderick Wells beach and trail shots |
| Our first Q flag and our first foreign flag |
| Sailing the Bahama Banks |
| Georgetown - 350 more boats to come before March |
| Exuma Sound side of Georgetown |
| Our favorite anchorage on Long Island |
| Our first dolphin (aka Mahi-Mahi) - Yum! Yum! |
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