Author: kerri

May 13th – 20th, 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F, We had a fabulous time in the Turks and Caicos and if it works out, we\’d come back next season. It was one of our favorite stops in the entire Eastern Caribbean.

All good things must move on and we were looking forward to arriving in the world famous Bahamas! We departed the convoluted pass at Turtle Cove Marina and had much better weather than the day we first arrived. The sail would be about 60 miles and we didn\’t want to arrive too late as there was a long shallow passage into Mayaguana\’s – Abraham\’s Bay.

The 37 foot, Prout Snowgoose Catamaran, \”Snowball\” left about an hour and half ahead of us and would be the boat we\’d be chasing all day. The trip was about 65 miles and the wind was up! We had to make the decision on which side to pass the Plana Cays by and the winds made the choice for us….it would be north of them.

About 8 miles before we arrived at Attwood Harbour on Acklin\’s Island, we passed \”Snowball\” who was flying no main and a spinnaker. Our spinnaker pole out to the windward side of the boat, really allows us to sail very downwind in blowy conditions. This saves wear and tear on the boat and crew as well as making the passage much more comfortable, faster and fun.

When we arrived in Attwood Harbour, we were very cautious as the guide book made it sound like a difficult entry. Frankly, it was about as easy as they get in this part of the \”reefy\” world. No problem with me! The bay was almost a complete circle and not only extremely off the beaten path, but a VERY comfortable anchorage. Again, in about 6 feet of water.

About a half an hour after we were settled, \”Snowball\” anchored next to us and invited us over for a G&T! Paul and Tony were British chaps and Nikki loved the conversation. So did I, but as she says….\”It\’s cultural\”…..:-)

We made fast friends, shared life stories and we\’d both be sailing to Pitt\’s Town Anchorage the next morning on the northeast corner of Crooked Island. We again had a really nice sail and some lovely views of the Little Bird Island Lighthouse. It has been abandoned for many years and we read of plans to make it a private \”honeymoon\” resort experience. Alas, like many of these projects, it has not yet come to pass!

After we anchored at a relatively comfortable but open roadstead off Pitt\’s Town, we had Paul and Tony over to \”Beach House\”. Nikki whipped up some pupu\’s and drinks, we had conversation about the day\’s sail and future plans. We said our farewells as they\’d be off toward Cat Island the next day while we\’d be headed to Long Island Cay. We hope to meet up again with them \”somewhere out there\”.

The next morning we started the engines as usual after I done my checks and upon accelerating the port engine, it made an awful squeak. I went below to have a look and guessed that the bearings on one of the two alternators must be bad? As such, we motored in light winds to our next destination with just the starboard engine. Yet another advantage of a twin screw catamaran!

When we arrived in Clarence Town Bay, Long Island, we went ashore to inquire about a mechanic to come have a look. Long Island is 80 miles long, but never more than a half mile wide!

Long Island, The Bahamas:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island,_Bahamas

The next morning, Andrew Cartwright arrived at Flying Fish Marina and I dinghy-ied him out to the boat. Andrew\’s family has been here forever and there are Cartwright\’s scattered over the whole island.

Andrew had a look at the engine and at first thought it was just a loose belt. Upon further inspection, it turned out that our 24 volt alternator bracket had developed a crack in the weld where it attached to the side of the engine. He removed it, but told us there were only two welders on the island capable of fixing it. One of them was off island working on a British Telecom site; the other was off until Monday. We settled in for the weekend and took advantage of the time to rent a car and check in with customs up at the north end of the island.

The chap at customs was quite a character and tried to convince us he couldn\’t check us in despite our having called ahead to one of his co-workers who said we could. He spent the better half of an hour trying to figure out who told us this and finally gave up and just checked us in. We drove back in intermittent driving rain storms, but had a great time exploring the island. We also stopped for a drink at the Santa Maria Resort where we\’d next stop with the boat – about 50 miles up the coast. The resort was nice and we thought we might try dinner there when we moved up coast.

The next day we did some exploring in the bay at Clarence Town with the dinghy and walked along empty, protected white sand beaches which stretched for miles. We kept thinking that there are dozens of places that we could kite board if we really get good at it throughout the Bahama Islands. We eventually went ashore at Strachan Cay, one of the barrier islands that forms Clarence Town Bay. There was a single private home here. It seemed abandoned, but an ideal place to just \”get away from it all\”. We learned that the long time owner had passed away, but that his extended family comes down in the winter months. The beaches were sweet white sand, a true Robinson Crusoe get-away spot.

On Monday, we drove to Les Harding\’s shop. He\’s another famous and long time Long Island family scion and had him weld the bracket. Thirty dollars seemed a bargain. Back again the other way where we would have Andrew re-install the whole enchilada.

En-route, we stopped at the deepest \”Blue Hole\” in the world at \”Dean\’s Blue Hole\”. This is a natural limestone sink hole which is about 150 wide but attains a depth of 202 meters (663 feet deep). Every November, there is a gathering of the world\’s best free divers to try and set either personal bests or world\’s records. Most of the world\’s free diving records have been set here. This is a gorgeous natural setting, but has a mixed history. Several people who have tried to attain records have died including a few tourists who for unknown reasons have been lost here as well. Despite a somewhat checkered history, thousands of people swim in the warm calm waters without event every year. The setting is in a gorgeous protected cove at the edge of the sea.

Another very interesting site at this island is what are known as \”Father Jerome Churches\”. Father Jerome was an Anglican priest, trained as an architect who came to the Bahamas in 1908. He dedicated much of the rest of his life rebuilding churches in the Bahamas in a Greek Mediterranean style. Eventually converting to Catholicism, he rebuilt the Anglican and Catholic churches on Long Island as well as the famous \”Hermitage\” on Cat Island.

To learn more about Father Jerome Churches on Long Island: http://www.yachtingmagazine.com/article/Picnicking-with-Father-Jerome

This is the St. Peter and St. Paul Church. See Link: http:/shanepinder.com/blog/2008/11/14/sts-peter-and-paul-catholic-church-clarence-town-long-island/

The Hermitage on Cat Island – see link: http://www.greenwoodbeachresort.com/english/churches.htm

The people on Long Island were, like the Turks and Caicos, some of the friendliest folks we\’d met anywhere in the Eastern Caribbean. Andrew got us put together in a few hours after our return and we were off the next morning for Calabash Bay, the site of Santa Maria Resort. The sail was quite brisk and we took in a reef with the staysail in some wild squalls and wind shifts as we sailed the 50 miles north to the top of the island.

Along the way, we crossed the Tropic of Cancer. This is the latitude line (running East and West) that is the limit of the Sun\’s northward annual trek. If you dropped a \”plumb bob\” from the Sun to the Earth, this is as far north as it gets on June 21st or 22nd every year. This is the Summer Solstice; the longest day of the year and marks the official beginning of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Tropic of Cancer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic_of_Cancer

We pulled into the tricky reef entrance at Calabash Bay, anchoring yet again in very skinny water. We did a \”wet landing\” with the dinghy on a lovely sandy beach. I wanted to give Nikki the night off from her Galley duties and we had a nice meal at the Santa Maria Resort. The resort mostly caters to Bone fisherman.

If you\’re not familiar with Bone Fishing, check this link out: http://www.patientangler.com/blog/view/9248

Bone Fishing is quite the craze amongst the catch and release crowd. The fish are great fighters, caught on light tackle like trout, but totally un-eatible!…:-)

Needless to say, as Summer is rapidly approaching (as well as Hurricane Season!) ….it\’s getting HOT, HOT, HOT here in the Northern Caribbean Sea. Our next stop would be one of the great cruising grounds of the Bahamas – Grand Exuma Island.

Stand by, much more really soon!

Scott and Nikki

April 29th – May 13th, 2014 (-4 on UTC)

Dear F&F,
We departed San Juan for what would be our only multi-day sail of the season; most unusual! The weather was perfect and we had a full mainsail and reacher on a starboard tack for the expected 48 hour trip. As the day progressed, the winds picked up and just before sunset we saw a large power boat 10 miles ahead of us on a reciprocal course. It was a 210 footer going 20 knots. No worries and we spotted her a half mile to our west as she passed. Then I heard a radio call to us  (by name!) from \”Lady M\”. It turns out that this was to be a stunning small world story!

Friends Chris and Geoff (who Nikki and I had met in Colundra north of Brisbane two years ago) were crewing on this mega yacht and helping take the boat to Mallorca – for them a 7 day trip! They saw our boat name on the AIS and knew immediately it was us. They were heading to San Juan to fuel up and then would head across the Atlantic. We have been in email communication for several years, met once and now were literally passing ships in the (almost) night. We chatted briefly and said we\’d continue to keep in touch via email. Their sailboat is on the US East Coast and they may head to Europe upon their return from the delivery. It doesn\’t get any smaller world than this…

The sail was non eventful and the weather cooperative. We would have done the 385 miles a bit faster, but as Grand Turk was a low lying island and had lots of reefs, we felt this would be a better approached at first light. As such, we kept a single reef and no headsail up our last night as to slow down and arrive around 8-9 am.

Grand Turk geographically is much like Barbuda in the Leeward Islands including a large interior lagoon. A member of the Rockefeller Family tried to dredge and keep open it\’s shallow and narrow entrance to make a marina, but the project has been abandoned. Like many places in the Caribbean, the global financial crisis took it\’s toll. We would see lots of evidence of this throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands.

We anchored off South Dock which turned out to be a cruise ship dock. The place went from absolutely empty to South Beach (Florida) in one hour as a cruise ship arrived just after we did. They even have a Jimmy Buffet\’s \”Margaritaville\” restaurant here – open only on cruise ship days. We went ashore and after a bit of a hunt found customs and immigration. The two gals were in charge and a bit officious, but the guys who did the paper work were a delight.

We found the people of the Turks and Caicos to be perhaps the friendliest in the Eastern Caribbean. Just uniformly so throughout the entire group. We moved to Cockburn Town, the main town which was only a backtrack of a few miles. The anchorage was quite shallow and we could only get within 250 yards of the beach. The town dock was under repair as well so it would be a \”wet landing\” (one where we have to get at least a little wet to get ashore). The waters around these islands go from VERY deep to VERY shallow in the space of a less than a quarter mile. We were anchored in 8 feet of water and less than 300 yards seaward of us, it was over 2,500 feet deep.

Grand Turk seems an odd name for this island but it made sense once we heard the story. There is a cactus that is native to the island called the Grand Turk. It is green and shaped like a small watermelon standing up on it\’s end. The interesting feature is that it has a red crown shaped hat like a Turkish \”Fez\”, with what appears to be a green tassel coming out of the top. Hence the name of this island given by the Spanish in the days of Columbus.

The Caicos Islands, 25 miles to the north are politically part of the group but somewhat distinct. We did a walk about town (which didn\’t take very long) and found the most helpful, friendly folk anywhere. I would recommend a cruiser stop in this group just for the warm friendly smiles if for no other reason. After a recovery day and a bit of wait for the weather, we had new friends Bev and Bob aboard \”Icaros\” anchor nearby. We\’d met them recently on Culebrita in the Spanish Virgins. Bev and Bob met in Pharmacy school in Canada, but emigrated to Australia and fly the Aussie flag aboard their Catana 43 Catamaran. We had a few drinks and puu puu\’s and became acquainted sharing stories of our mutual voyages and reminiscence of Townsville which Nikki and I had been to in 2012. As it turns out, we\’d meet them again in Highbourne Cays in the Exumas – Bahamas.

Bev and Bob went off to Salt Cay, a nearby island for a night and we headed for South Caicos which was a nice 3 hour sail to yet another \”Cockburn\”; this time Cockburn Harbour. We wanted to try a trip across the Caicos Bank, which would be a unique experience to us. First, you want to do it when the weather is calm, so the water is clearest and get the view of one of the world\’s largest natural swimming pools. The Caicos Bank is approximately 50 miles long, by 30 miles wide! The water is rarely deeper than 20 feet and if you take the right path, it\’s mostly 7-12 feet and a flat white sandy bottom. This would be a delightful trip if it worked out.

We were contacted upon our arrival at South Caicos by James who is the dive safety officer from the SFS Marine Research Center. He was most helpful in getting us anchored in a good spot. The harbor was open to the prevailing winds with depths of only 12 feet at most. It was also very small and had lots of current. We ended up anchoring in the lee of Long Cay, a few hundred yards opposite the main port. Main port is relative term as there are only a few hundred people that live in the area.

At Long Cay, the depths were only 4+ feet under the hulls, but the conditions were nice. The sand reflecting off the bottom was an amazing visual and the water so clear that it looked like we were floating above the bottom. We took the dinghy across the way and the marine institute which was a mostly college aged group, explained to us what their duties were. The students come from about 20 different countries and participate in various marine biology groups which involve doing underwater measurements, fish counts and reef assessments. As such, they do a lot of diving. They all looked pretty relaxed and seemed to be having a great academic experience….:-)

In our brief time here, Nikki and I went for a walk about the outlying areas of town. We saw the Boiling Hole at the salt ponds and the Pink Flamingos which migrate between Florida and South America. For whatever reason, the birds were attracted to the old commercial salt ponds where lots of precipitated sea salt is still in some abundance.

The next morning, we upped anchor early and headed to the first way point to cross the Caicos Bank. It was a perfect day for the trip; the seas calm and very little wind. As it was a long way, we\’d have to motor it to get across on the same day. However, the marine guidebook said, that if it was calm, you could anchor anywhere on the bank in great holding sand – even for an overnight. A unique experience would be had, completely out of sight of land; anchored in shallow water – effectively in the middle of the ocean. As it was, we\’d planned on a lunch stop somewhere out in the middle where we anchored for an hour and had a lovely snorkel. Nikki enjoyed the many starfish and shells we could easily find in the less than 10 foot depths.

Amongst the many things that Astronauts remark on from space are man made and natural features of the Earth as seen from outer space. The Caicos Banks ranks third on their list of most impressive natural sites. If memory serves, the Grand Canyon was first. The white sand is highly reflective and surrounded by only a few low lying islands and deep cobalt blue water with depths to over 5000 feet! We really enjoyed this trip and remarked about it in our daily position report that we issued from the center of the bank.

Some of our followers are with us almost daily and receive our position reports live as we move from place to place. Most of you are content to wait for the ship\’s blog, which is not often published \”in real time\” as the position reports always are.

We arrived at the small port of Sapodilla on the south side of \”Provo\” (nickname for the main island of Providenciales) in the north of the Caicos Islands. We took a quick trip ashore there the next morning to see an area of rocks inscribed with the names of shipwrecked sailors. Some of these went back into the 1600\’s!

Our planned destination for the day was Turtle Cove Marina in the main town of \”Provo\” and it was less than 4 miles away as the crow flies, but alas – we aren\’t crows. It would be 30 mile trip around the island and it\’s reefs. The entrance to Turtle Cove is quite daunting. Just as we arrived, we had a 30 knot squall rain hard on us and completely, but briefly, obscured our sight of the reef. Next, there is the shallow reefs which are narrow and winding with so so marked navigational buoys. Finally, there is the turn into the marina\’s entrance which has sand banks on either side. The banks were both visually blocking my seeing the water to either side of the boat as we entered. That gives you an idea of how narrow it is. The channel perhaps 80 feet wide with shoals all along it. It had a sharp bend to the right and then a 270 degree turn to the left like a life sized question mark shape as you entered. Add the current and wind to this and it was a bit exciting. For those of you South Pacific sailors, think of Vuda Point Marina, Fiji but twice as long with the above mentioned twists! All of this after a mile and a half of narrow reef channel.

We docked along a nice side tie and the marina was not particularly busy. The staff was friendly and the marina had some nice restaurants and would be a good base to explore the island from. While we were here, we got a hire car so we could have mobility. Also, we both wanted to try KITE BOARDING!

Provo has a perfect beach to learn to kiteboard along it\’s southeastern shore – Long Bay Cay Beach. We contacted Wayne and his lovely girlfriend, Caroline who was down from Canada taking a bit of time off her duties as an anesthesiologist. Caroline did the appointments via email and we arranged to do what they called a \”kite mudder\’ lesson the next morning. The features which make this beach perfect for learning are: Less than chest deep water for over one square mile! Flat sandy bottom with no reefs. Steady trade winds blowing at a slight angle toward the shore and of course, 82 degree (28 deg C) water temperatures. Also, there are no real obstructions on the beach to interfere with launching and recovering the big kites.

As we had steady 17-23 knot trade winds in stable weather, this was a bonus as well. No big wind shifts or squalls to bother with. The first thing to learn is how to fly a kite. These are between 8-17 square meters in surface area (30-60 square feet). Your weight matters in combination with how much wind you have to decide which kite to use. First was the trainer kite, but as we knew how to sail, we didn\’t have to stay in that very long. Next, we added the board. That\’s when it gets a bit wild. You have to \”think\” about the kite and the board not only to get started, but once up, both skills have to be used at once. Herein lies the challenge! It took me till day three to get up on the board with any success. That was about lesson hour 6. On my final day, I was getting up pretty well, but still wouldn\’t say I was at all accomplished. Nikki did one day of lessons and after another primer will be ready to give it a go getting up on the board. Our time with Wayne, Caroline and instructors Alex and Nick with perhaps one of the highlights of the season. We\’d recommend the Turks and Caicos Kiteboard school to anyone who wants to give it a go!

Nikki and I decided we\’d also try a dive at Turks and Caicos as it\’s considered one of the premier diving islands in the Caribbean. We did a two tank \”wall dive\” and it was really quite nice. We went with Dive Provo (a very well known dive outfitter) and it was a fun day. We also saw the Turks and Caicos Aggressor (live aboard dive boat) when we were off the very up-market and exclusive Aman Resort on the northwest side of the island. When we returned to Turtle Cove that evening, we had the Turks and Caicos Aggressor docked right next to us. We didn\’t know it, but this was their \”homebase\”. They do week long dive trips throughout the group. The divers live aboard and are off dock for most of the week. Cindy and I had done similar trips in the South Pacific on the Solomon Islands, the Galapagos Islands and also our honeymoon in Palau aboard the \”Palau Aggressor\”. We asked for and were given a lovely tour of the boat as I wanted Nikki to see what a live aboard dive boat was like.

As Nikki had read about the Aman Resort and wanted to try to drive up to the lighthouse on the northwest of the island (always one of her favorites!), we took our car and just went on an island junket. We found some lovely secluded beaches, but as we didn\’t have a four wheel drive vehicle, prudence dictated that we not drive up to the lighthouse. Instead, we took a flyer to see if we could get into the Aman Resort. After the guard called in, they said yes (we didn\’t have a reservation) where we were met by our lovely guide. She gave us a tour of the hotel grounds, told us where we could and couldn\’t go (very exclusive!) and left us at the bar. The place was gorgeous and the rates were 2,000 USD to 15,000 USD/night depending on your accommodations. Most all the rooms were private beach villas and we saw about 10 guests. They had a wonderful library, infinity pool and lovely restaurant. We opted for the bar!

Our personal bartender (no one else was at the bar!..:-) was Aris from the Philippines. He explained to us about the hotel and it\’s sister properties around the world and that there were lots of Filipino employees at the hotel. He made us the BEST Mojito\’s EVER and gave us the recipe! Just to give you an idea…. Nikki and I each had one and then asked to split another. 60.00 USD! Actually, he sort of gave us each a second one but didn\’t charge us for four, only three!…ssshhh! I left him a nice tip. We really enjoyed our few hours in the true lap of luxurious surroundings and our fun time with Arias at the bar.

We departed back to the hotel and reflected on what a wonderful time we\’d had in the Turks and Caicos, how nice the people were and the fabulous water world of diving and kite boarding! We did some last minute shopping (there were two very nice markets!) and then got ready to continue the adventure off to our next and second to last destination for this season – The Bahamas.

Stay tuned, we\’ve the Bahamas to go before our season ends in South Florida!

Scott and Nikki