February 19, 2012 - Georgetown, the Exumas

Well, We finally made it to Georgetown. The official distance travelled to here from our log is 2,658 nautical miles. We are approximately 150 miles NE of Cuba and after travelling this far it sure is tempting.

Georgetown is the final cruising destination in the south of the Bahamas. Although very small, everything is catered towards the cruiser.

At present there are some 250 boats at anchor in here .... although they say that there are usually upwards of 500-600.

This place is very sheltered and very pretty and relaxing. We plan on staying here for another 3 or 4 days before heading out to Long Island, some 30 miles to the south and east, for a week before heading back this way. We also plan on continuing south until we cross the Tropic of Cancer. Why you say ??? Because it's there and we're so close.

I'll get another update out to you tomorrow ... after fixing the outboard, cleaning the boat, (oh yeah, I did the hull today) and all the other things that should get done. The boat is working great and we're having a great time.
Oh yeah .... the temps are in the high 80's

February 14th, 2012 - Black Point Settlement

After withstanding a very windy night and strong currents all night Jan and I had put in a very long night standing watches while on the mooring ball.
You see, earlier in the day I dove on the two inch line that was pinned on the bottom and all looked well .... Until I checked the area where it passed through the ball and had chafed down to two strands of nylon....NOT GOOD!!
So, off I go again with dock line in hand and swim down the mooring line to a place that had a knot in it and tied our line tightly below it so it wouldn't slip up. At least that gave us some hope that the 5-6 knot current wouldn't set us adrift during the night.
The next morning, Sunday, we departed for Black Point Settlement in 7 foot on the beam seas until we rounded Harvey Cay and headed south. Now we were on a broad reach with half a jib and racing down the cays at 7 knots. As we passed Black Point Settlement a call to Costello told us that they had 1-2 ft waves in there so we made the decision to bypass and scoot down to the next cove at Little Harbour where we had more protection from northerly seas.
WE FOUND PARADISE!!!! What a fantastic cresent beach and teh anchorage area was flat calm.

The sand was pure white and the water colour was amazing. I couldn't believe that there were only four other boats in there with us. The entrance to the cove was guarded by a castle belonging to Doug and Mary Spencer of California. It just didn't suit the landscape ..... But that's another story.

Only one house stood on our perfect beach and it was owned by Frank and Meg O'Brian. Both were very wonderful people.
That night, as we were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets yet, Meg and Frank joined us at our bonfire.

As you can see, the tide had fallen quite a bit as my anchor was in the water when we got there.
Monday, the winds died down and we made the 30 minute run back up to Black Point Settlement. It's become one of our favourite spots and we certainly plan to return.
The main street is very small and is lined by quaint houses. At each house the folks are weaving palm fronds into long strands for shipment to the Nassau straw market to be made into hats, purses, etc. What an art.

Corrine, at left, also backed the best home made bread yet.
As I said, the street is small with a couple bars, a very small police station, school, clinic and restaurant.

The pink building is the clinic and the small green one further up is the police station.

I had the pleasure of attending classes at the small school for an hour and had a great time. The school is quite small but has 5 separate classrooms.
Most classes only had 5-6 people but this one was full and they loved getting their picture taken.

These more senior girls were studying Religious studies.

Oh yeah ... The school ???? Here you go.

All the kids were very polite.
Back at the dingy dock, the water was so clear it looked like the boats were floating in the air.

Last night for Valentines Day Supper a large number of cruisers got together at Loraine's Restaurant for a delicious meal and a great time. The women were all given small stuffed valentines day gifts after supper.

Today, we spent the day swimming at the beach ..... oh, did I say swimming? ...well sort of. We took the dingy to the beautiful beach and when the tide went out we had to walk a quarter mile with dingy in tow until we had enough water to put the motor down. A new way of navigating .... hang your leg over the side and when your foot touches the bottom, STOP.... Get out .... and walk with dingy in tow.

Here Jan has found her own private spot under a palm tree ..... with no coconuts to drop on her head.
You can see where the beach ends and the blue, deeper water begins.

Sometimes, you just have to remember what all this is about and just how truly lucky we both are to be experiencing it together.

Tomorrow morning, we leave this wonderful village for out next anchorage at Lee Stocking Island, enroute for Emerald Bay Marina then on to Georgetown after the weekend.
It's a great retirement trip.
See you in a few days!

February 10th - Thunderball Cave

Hello Everyone ....

Here's where we are .... we're staying for a few days .... or more.

Today we're diving on "THUNDERBALL CAVE" that was used in the James Bond Movie. Tomorrow, we go to the beach on Big Majors and see the swimming pork chops .... mmmm .... I mean pigs .... heheheh. The water is crystal clear.

We are motoring along at 7 knots in 17 feet of water when I took these. Oh, yeah .... the antenna?? .... without that you guys get no more emails. It's good to about a mile from the base station.

Enjoy ....

February 10th - Staniel Cay

Lat: 24 10.5N Long: 76 26.5W
We departed Warderick Wells Cay and the weather was perfect (again) but don't worry, today it's blowing a storm.
Like I said, the weather was perfect and the water changed colours from a pure blue to emerald green. It was so clear that you could see what looked like lightning flashes on the bottom as the sun passed through the water.

We were actually motoring along here at 7 knots, even though it looks like we're stopped. Jan says that in her next life she's having a pool and the liner will look like this.
Sooooo..... Yesterday we landed in Staniel Cay.

We were able to grab a mooring just to the north of the village and well protected from all directions except from the southwest.
On the map, just about 100 feet to the south of us is a small island. Although it looks like a rock it's the most beautiful place in the world.
This is "THUNDERBALL GROTTO"! The place they used to film the James Bond movie "Thunderball" in 1964. There is a cave that you snorkel into at low water and inside is a huge grotto full of vibrant fish, brightly coloured corals and crystal clear water. FANTASTIC. When you dive down and look out the far end you can see the opening into the cave from the sea.

I copied these off the internet just so you can see what it looks like.

Earlier in the day Jan & I went for a walk to check out the airport. What a quaint little village of 100 people this is. Everything is brightly painted ....

Even the street signs are pretty

There is a small school here that is for all ages. You can see that not too many kids attend this school.

We continued our ten minute walk over to the airport. Pretty small but the 3000 foot runway is in great shape.
The passenger arrivals and departures lounge are very airy and spacious.
"Come on Kelly & Ryan, we're waiting for you"!!

.....and the airport limo aka. Dingy picks you up here.....

However, we have a marina rented for your arrival here ....

And what time do you get here ?????

Besides ........

If you don't show up, well, I guess we'll just have to saunter on home.

...... and get back to the Staniel Yacht Club

just in timne for LUNCH!!!!

We'll be staying here for another day of sightseeing, then heading down to Black Point Settlement when the wind lightens up.
Have a great night ......

February 8th - Warderick Wells

Lat: 24 23N Long: 76 37.5W
We left Norman's Cay this morning and headed south to Warderick Wells, about 25 miles away. We have some bad weather coming on the weekend with Easterly winds of 25 knots forecast, so a decision was made to work our way south to Black Point Settlement (south of here) where we can anchor in good holding and good protection.
Boy, what an eye opener we got as we approached. When you Google Earth this area you'll see all these beautiful bright white sand bores that are brought in through the ocean cuts. Nobody told us that they're 5-10 miles long and only 3-4 feet deep. You're traveling down the recommended track in 18 feet of water when you see this absolutely stunning colour ahead and it seems to go on forever. It's really so hard to describe. We tried to cross one of these but the last 60 feet or so and the depth dropped down to 4 feet so we had to turn back .... Talk about heading east so you can go west.....

Basically you just follow along the edge until you get enough water to cross. So, now we're anchored just south of the park HQ's in 7 feet of water and ready for a swim ..... oh yeah, the 7 foot shark that just swam under the boat kind of squashed that idea. It was only a nurse shark, so NO TEETH!!

I took a run into the mooring field this morning and it's fantastic. A very narrow cut that runs around the sand bores that has about 10 feet of water and 15 moorings run by the Exuma Park HQ's. At $20 per day it's a pretty good deal. The beach inside the field is perfect ..... warm, very clear shallow water.

A walk up Boo Boo Hill gave me the opportunity to take some great shots.

Boo Boo Hill is the highest hill you can see in the background.

The top is piled with old boards displaying boat names and dates of boats who visited from teh past.

The water colours at the HQ's dock show you just how blue it is here. We're anchored about a mile outside this entrance to the left.

You know .... after all the planning and preparations we made, this really is an easy cruise now ..... and it sure is worth it.
Next stop ....Staniel Cay ...... sometime.

Sunday February 5th - Normans Cay

Lat: 24 36N Long: 76 49.5W
Well, who would have ever thought of this place. The anchorage at Highbourne was a bit rolly at all times and there wasn't much of a beach without a bit of a dingy ride.
So, yesterday afternoon, after taking Peter and France for a sail ... they've never been on a sailboat before ... we headed down to Normans Cay. What a great place. Here we are anchored in 7 feet of water off a pure white sandy beach. The water is crystal clear and ashore we can see two small homes and a trailer.
Normans Cay was once under the unfriendly control of drug lord Carlos Lehder. There is a paved (well, coral) landing strip which is still in great shape. Last evening we all go for a dingy ride into shore and walk through the brush to find a bar .... and they have a 42 inch LCD TV .... and we're all watching the Super-bowl. What a unique place.
NOW .... you have to keep in mind that FIVE peo;ole inhabit this island which is 3 miles in length by 1/2 mile wide. We still can't figure out why there were 6 jeeps parked out there.

The bar looks full because there are crews of twelve other Canadian boats in there for the game too.
It really was a nice place, but remember, we're still a zillion miles from civilzation.
The bartender was a bit of a dog, but served up great drinks and ice cold "KALIK" beer.
While Ron was chatting it up at the bar with this younger couple, James and Kelly, from Scotland, he finds out that James had rented one of the two planes out back from the States and they were touring the Bahamas. After a couple beers and a lot of talking, James works in ATC for overseas flights and regularly talks with Gander and RCC Halifax. Well, that's all I needed as I used to work in RCC Halifax (Rescue Coordination Center).
Still after more talking, James makes my day ... YUP, WE'RE GOING FLYING TOMORROW !!!!!!! YIPPEEEEEEEE !!!!!!!!!!!!

Behind the bar is the old air strip with two Cessna 172's parked beside the welcome sign.

This is Normans Cay International Airport !!
Kelly, you can tell Ryan that this is what to expect when you guys get here.

Like I said, the landing strip is in good shape. We're anchored off to the left. So, today is tomorrow, and Peter and I are all primed and ready to go.
See you when we get back.

WOW !!!

That's all I can say. Peter & I had a great flight with James.
We took off at 11am and circled Normans Cay and Shroud Cay. What colours!! On the south side of Normans Cut we saw the DC3 that the US shot down. It belonged to the drug lord here and the US had had enough of him. We also went through the house ruins and drug lab that he had.
Again .... the colours are spectacular.

James is a great pilot who explained to me that in the Bahamas you use a 50/40 takeoff .... That means that you take off and remain at 50 feet above the runway. When you reach the end and just before you aer clear of the trees, you climb steeply at a 40 degree angle until you reach 1000 feet then level off and head to your destination.

Here we are looking north over the pond in the middle of Normans Cay.
We're anchored to the left side off the beach.

On takeoff you could see the "Welcome to Norman's Cay" sign.

You can see the colours where the pure white sand and the deeper channels meet. Man, I still can't get over the colour of the water down here. When you navigate through the shallow channels it's all by sight and the colours of the water. You go around the coral heads.

James and Kelly got engaged last night on the beach and everyone had a great time. YUP ... He looks pretty young for a pilot ... He's 33.

Here we are flying over the DC3 that belonged to the drug lord here in the 1960's. You can see it in the bottom right of the picture. Can't wait to dive on it.

Oh yeah Kelly & Ryan .... The runway is great but the airport kind of sucks here.

So, with that, I'll bid you good night and we'll see what tomorrow brings.
I wrote this on a wall in the run down drug lords' living room !!

Today, Tuesday, we went for a dingy ride to check out the downed aircraft and discovered this great little beach on the side of Gilligan's Island.
It was going to be a great afternoon of swimming and fishing for conch. We met up with past travelers George & Marianne, from Ont.
Well, George and Ron were the first ones to head for conch country when Peter spied this 7 foot shark swimming along about 50 feet away. So much for snorkeling!! So lets just party on the island. That's twice!!

Ever wonder what a hard bottom Bahamian cruiser's dingy is made of ...?
A couple of 2x4's , a sheet of plywood, some fiberglass and a couple straps to hold it all together. Talk about engineering!!

While Jan was showing off her fantastic tan .....

Ron was out at the top of the world .... well, at least at the top of the island. We found a bench that has "Grampa Ron" written on it. Thanks Guys!!

This afternoon Ron decided to change one of the anodes. During his fifth dive he noticed an nosy shark approaching and after 10 minutes of playing dodge ball around the keel, the shark decided it was going to chase Ron's ass up the swim ladder. How fast can you climb a ladder with fins on?? It was only a small shark ..... But it still had teeth !!
Last night, Tuesday February 08, we all got together on Wind Warrior for sundowners .... and what a great sunset it was.

Tomorrow, we work our way down to Warderick Wells Cay.

Good Night!!