We had a lovely time at Hawksbill and decided to move to Norman\’s Cay. Too dicey to get into the anchorages. Touched bottom twice and threw in the towel.
Moved on to Highbourne Cay and met s/v \”Icaros\” (Canadian) friends from Culebrita. Going ashore briefly.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki
I dove on the port engine after the 3 knots of current subsided late yesterday. Removing the saildrive zinc to get the line off the port propeller.
All is well!..We decided to come inside the Exuma Bank side of the island to get up to our jump off point to Nassau. We\’re likely to be in this area 2-3 more days before heading across to Nassau. The water is crystal clear and warm. It is a gorgeous place…
May only lunch here ….. or not?..:-)
Scott and Nikki
We just arrived and as I had not made up the genoa sheets (line), it slipped through the trampoline and got stuck on the port propeller just as we were about to moor!
It\’s absolutely gorgeous here. GIN CLEAR water with bright white sand. I\’ll be diving shortly to get the line off the prop. No worries!
We really enjoyed the swimming pigs of Big Majors Cay. It was so much fun we went back a second time. The pigs swim out to your dinghy for handouts.
What a hoot! We also snorkeled \”Thunderball Grotto\” named after the James Bond film. Much of it was filmed here in 1964 and the underwater entrance to
the Grotto is easily identifiable if you watch the film. It was calm and pretty with light openings at the top about 30 feet above the water. You can even
swim into it without getting your head wet if it\’s not high tide.
We think we\’ll head north from here up the \”Cays\” (Keys) and stay on the \”bank side\” vs. the \”Exuma Sound side\”. This is calm, clear and shallow water for miles.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki
We left very early this morning to catch the tide and make certain we could get over a sand bank that we were hemmed in by at the
anchorage last night. The entry passes have quite the current and some small standing waves while it\’s ripping. Maximum we saw
was 3 knots. A fair amount of activity here as the Staniel Cay Yacht Club is here. Off to explore ashore shortly.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki
IF YOU WISH TO BE DELETED FROM THIS REPORT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!..NO WORRIES.
YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/05/24 20:02
LATITUDE: 23-57.91N
LONGITUDE: 076-19.12W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 10
WIND_DIR: ESE
CLOUDS: 25%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1016.3
AIR_TEMP: 32.8C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – SW tip of Great Guana Cay, Exumas – Bahamas
We stayed at the anchorage at Stocking Island just opposite Georgetown the Capitol of the Exhumas for 3 days.
Today, we moved north along the chain of the Exumas and we\’ll head to Staniel Cay/Big Majors tomorrow. It\’s VERY SHALLOW
on the western side of the banks and as such it was just too far to continue and have good light to see the underwater obstacles.
We\’re opposite Little Farmer Cay and it\’s more than very quite around here despite the \”Little Farmer Cay Yacht Club\”. Doesn\’t look open?
KIT,
Scott and Nikki
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 anchorage was a bit exposed and as such, though we could have checked in at this very sparsely populated island – we decided to move on the next morning. We\’d check in somewhere else along the trip.
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.
\”Snowball\” under Spinnaker en-route to Acklin\’s Island, The Bahamas
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\”…..:-)
Paul & Tony – Crooked Island Anchorage, The Bahamas
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!
Remote Bird Island Lighthouse – Disused and planned for a Honeymoon Retreat Now that\’s unique.
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!
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.
Andrew and Les fixed our port engine alternator bracket which cracked.
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.
Miles of remote white sand beaches throughout the Bahamas. Long Island, Clarence Town Bay
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.
WARNING! Dean\’s Blue Hole. The deepest limestone blue hole in the world.Dean\’s Blue Hole with diving platform. Long Island, The Bahamas See link: http://school.verticalblue.net/deans-blue-hole/
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.
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.
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.
Calabash Bay, Santa Maria Resort. Long Island, The Bahamas
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.
YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/05/20 19:36
LATITUDE: 23-39.48N
LONGITUDE: 075-20.34W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 22
WIND_DIR: ENE
CLOUDS: 80%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1016.5
AIR_TEMP: 28.3C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Calabash Bay – NW corner Long Island, Bahamas
We\’re adjacent to the Cape Santa Maria Resort and one of the several Columbus Monuments.
The 24 volt alternator bracket which holds the front right engine mount stable broke on the port engine. The weld cracked. Story in the blog. It\’s fixed and we\’re back off after 3 days at Clarence Town. We visited the \”Father Jerome Churches\” (google it) and saw Dean\’s Blue Hole (the deepest known in the world). Several free diving records have been set here including a few tragic losses! We then took a drive of the entire island. It\’s 80 miles long but only averages a mile wide! Today\’s sail was very wind. 17-30 knots. Mostly with a reef and staysail. Tomorrow, we\’ll head for Georgetown in the Southern Exumas. Civilization will show it\’s first signs of beckoning there.
KIT,
Scott and Nikki
YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/05/16 19:24
LATITUDE: 23-06.20N
LONGITUDE: 074-57.01W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 14
WIND_DIR: ESE
CLOUDS: 70%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1013.3
AIR_TEMP: 27.8C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Clarence Town, Long Island Cay – Bahamas
We were at the NE end of Crooked Island last night. This morning we heard a grinding sound (which we think is the alternator bearings) on the port engine.
As such, in light airs we motored here to Long Island Cay and Clarence Town which actually looks quite modern and might be a good stop over while we get sorted
on the engine? (hopefully alternator of which I have a spare!)…
There are some very unique churches apparently throughout the island known as Father Jerome Churches. A young Priest trained as an architect and did the restorations
in the early 1900\’s.
It\’s been squally every day and there is a big norther off the Florida coast. It shouldn\’t get as far east as we are and the winds here are predicted to be light and SEasterly with squalls. Standing by!…position report did not go out yesterday as I forgot to CC everyone!…:-)
KIT,
Scott and Nikki
YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/05/13 21:38
LATITUDE: 22-21.55N
LONGITUDE: 072-58.63W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 16
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 95%
VISIBILITY: 10
BARO: 1013.6
AIR_TEMP: 27.2C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Abraham\’s Bay, Mayaguana Island – Bahamas
We had a FABULOUS time in the Turks and Caicos. We both took kiteboard lessons! Photos to follow.
We departed for the southern most Bahamian island where we are now anchored. There are 4 boats (all cruisers) here and the anchorage
is only protected by a shallow reef which means it\’s bumpy in here. Supposedly, we can check in here which we may investigate tomorrow; or…
we\’ll move on to the next island. This island was used (no longer) by the US Military as a missile tracking station and currently has only 500 people.
YOTREPS: YES
TIME: 2014/05/13 21:38
LATITUDE: 22-21.55N
LONGITUDE: 072-58.63W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 16
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 95%
VISIBILITY: 10
BARO: 1013.6
AIR_TEMP: 27.2C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Abraham\’s Bay, Mayaguana Island – Bahamas
We had a FABULOUS time in the Turks and Caicos. We both took kiteboard lessons! Photos to follow.
We departed for the southern most Bahamian island where we are now anchored. There are 4 boats (all cruisers) here and the anchorage
is only protected by a shallow reef which means it\’s bumpy in here. Supposedly, we can check in here which we may investigate tomorrow; or…
we\’ll move on to the next island. This island was used (no longer) by the US Military as a missile tracking station and currently has only 500 people.
