Back at Hog Cay, Jumentos

Man of War Bay afforded good protection from west and northwest winds. We had to pick out sand between the rocks as best as we could. Our strategy was to stay there as long as we could tolerate it until the wind clocked around to more east than north. It was about 4 pm on Wednesday when we picked up anchor, or started to anyway. When the wind clocked overnight, our chain apparently wrapped around a rock. After a couple of different approaches to it we pulled free and headed to the west side of Raccoon Cay. It was fairly uncomfortable there for about six hours with large swells on the beam, but safe. Not for one of our Tervis cups though, on one of the big swell rolls, it tossed itself on the floor and broke into two pieces - pretty sure that is covered under warranty. We knew it would get better in time, so we got off the big boat and went dinghy fishing until almost dark. Myron caught two Nassau groupers, one 17.5 inches and the other 18.5 inches, probably about 5 pounds each. As we were removing the hook from one of the groupers, we could see that he had an octopus leg still in his mouth. He should have stopped while he was ahead!

The anchorage was much more comfortable by 10 pm. We stayed at Raccoon Cay until Friday, when we moved back to Hog Cay in some snarky and squally weather. Our goal was to get better cell coverage to finalize some things back home. With that all complete now, we feel free to move about the Bahamas, cell coverage or not.

That being said, our future plans are weather (and whim) dependent and not worth an attempt to document here. Better to keep you posted after the fact.

Love to all,
Dena

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Hog Cay to Man of War Bay

There is a storm that just left the coast of Florida and is trailing a cold front that will reach all the way down here. As a result, we relocated to hide from the forecast 20 knot northwest winds, more if we get squalls. When we were anchored at Raccoon Cay a few days ago, we dinghied over here to snorkel and walk the beach, so we were somewhat familiar with the layout. After we pulled up anchor at Hog Cay, a French fleet of four boats followed us over here. We were the second to get the pick of an anchoring spot and now we have a total of seven boats here. I doubt more will come as most are settled in where they plan to ride out the blow. The plan is to move again tomorrow as the wind clocks around, probably back to Raccoon Cay.

Amazingly, we are still getting cell phone coverage, and pray that continues, as we are trying to take care of some things back home, plus it makes getting the weather forecast more simple.

Love to all,
Dena

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Raccoon Cay to Hog Cay (Middle Pen)

The trip to Hog Cay from Raccoon would take only about 1.5 hours, that left us with the morning to do some snorkeling, fishing and beach combing. The snorkeling was great, more fish and coral than I could identify. The fishing was with a pole off the dinghy. We have yet to see success with that configuration. The beach combing was interesting. I found sea beans, some which I could not identify, but the beach was southeast facing and therefore had a tremendous amount of garbage, mostly plastic. I even found two unbroken light bulbs. Who knew.

After arriving at Hog Cay, we were immediately invited to attend a bonfire and to bring some dinner to put on the grate. We met new friends and were reunited with others. There are 13 boats in the two anchorages, with plenty of room for more.

We are about 60 miles north of Cuba. This far south, we should get a glimpse of the Southern Cross again! It is a pleasant and cool night and I look forward to a good night's sleep.

Love to all,
Dena

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Water Cay to Raccoon Cay

Everyone is still thankful this morning that the dinghy was found in the pitch dark last night. I need to find out what kind of spotlight Bob used - I believe he procured it at Walmart. But the adrenaline of the late night search, and the frustration of the incredibly uncomfortable anchorage, left little room for rest. Plus, it kept going through my mind as to what kind of seas we would have on our outside passage today, given how rough it was behind a cay.

There was no need to borrow trouble. The seas were not bad at all. I am thrilled that we took the outside route. I think it was worse in the anchorage last night! We scratched using the south cut on Water Cay and backtracked to the north cut. It is wider and deeper and it was no problem other than needing more RPM against the tidal current. We dropped in a jet head and a tuna plug when the depths were adequate and looked forward to 40 miles of fishing in new territory. We were unimpressed. We caught a small cow mahi, under two feet, that put up a good fight and all we were trying to do was get her to the boat so we could get her off our lure. She hit a pink and black jet head sweetened with squid parts. After a long fight, we finally got her aboard. I held her in a towel while Myron removed the hook, then he told me to sling her overboard by her tail in one motion. I made it so and she dove deep, undoubtedly wiser to our ways. Other than that, we caught grass, trash and a cockroach of the sea (barracuda). We were surprised that we caught him in over 800 feet of water when we were approaching the Johnson Cut, south of Raccoon Cay, so Myron pulled all our gear in and called it quits.

Depths in the Johnson Cut were 20 to 30 feet other than one hard bar that ran about 11 feet. We arrived at the cut with about an hour left of ebb flow, so not quite low tide. After the cut, the shortcut channel to our anchorage did not look straightforward, so Myron opted to take the long route around the sand bar. We dropped the hook, set it, put a few things away, and then got showers and took a nap. The nap was not at all sufficient and will have to be improved upon after dinner and either a movie or a something, if we make it that far. Bob and Anita stopped by in the dinghy asking where to hunt, but Myron was still in nap mode and I had no idea where to send them. Like the rest of us, Bob got little sleep as well, but he is so excited to be in these remote islands that he cannot miss a moment of daylight!

I am not sure of our plans for tomorrow. I am completely content to stay here. However we need to get cell phone reception to get internet, therefore we may have to move to Hog Cay or Ragged Island.

Love to all,
Dena

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Salt Pond to Water Cay, Jumentos

Today was almost perfectly still as we motored and made water for almost four of the initial hours of our trip, putting 163 gallons into the tanks. We were stunned at how calm the Jumentos were today and took the dinghy all around and through a cut. Not to last though. We are now rocking and rolling with a north swell wrapping around into our anchorage. I am glad Hold Fast is a big girl - I see the smaller boats rolling gunwale to gunwale. It looks like a whiplash motion.

We had dinner aboard Nancy Lu, the Hallberg Rassy 43, along with Bob and Alita on Discovery, a Hunter 456. As we prepared to leave, it was discovered that Bob's dinghy had somehow left the boat. We discovered this at 9:30 pm, VERY dark outside, and a lot of wind and swell. Mark and Bob set out to find it. Myron and I changed clothes to join the search. Mark and Bob found it slowly heading out to the banks. I was a miracle and we thank God!

It has been a truly full day! Hopefully we will get some kind of rest tonight and be off on another adventure tomorrow.

Love to all,
Dena

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Georgetown to Salt Pond, Long Island

As in our last post, we had more things not go as planned, or even as contracted.  We waited around Georgetown for the closing on the sale of our house, but received word yesterday that the closing needed to be extended.  As a result, we took advantage of a weather window to head toward Ragged Island.  It takes us a few stops to get there, Long Island is the first of those.

We thought we would be motoring all day as the winds were promised to be too tight for us to sail.  This time I am so glad the forecast did not hold!  Shortly after clearing Elizabeth Harbour, we were able to turn the motor off, put out a reefed jib along with the reefed main and then sailed on a very close reach.  Our route required us to make a few turns to avoid shoals, which put us in an even better point on the wind.  We put out a reefed mizzen and were sailing at over 7 knots.  It was a glorious day and there must have been 15 other sailboats with the same idea.  The winds lightened up, as forecast, and we shook out the reef on the main and on the jib.  As we finally approached Indian Hole Point to turn into the anchorage, we lost all effective wind (Hold Fast needs more than ten knots!) and turned on the motor to get to an anchoring spot. 

What is funny is that Hold Fast made a good impression on our sailing neighbors.  We out performed a catamaran because it could not point as close to the wind on our last leg and had to fall off and then motor up.  The only vessel we did not out perform was ‘Nancy Lu,’ an HR 42 with a seven foot keel.   We do not set out to race other boats, but sailing in a group does give us an idea of just how well Hold Fast can do relative to other makes.  We really stretched some distance between us and the other boats when the seas got rough and the winds were up.  That is when 30,000 pounds can help! 

Nancy Lu wants us to lead them through the Comer Channel tomorrow, so we have an early morning.  We finished the last of our fish for dinner and I need to get a shower and some rest.

Love to all,

Dena

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Black Point to Georgetown

Things do not always work out like we plan. On a sailboat, we have learned that we have to be quite flexible with plans. Bend with the forecast, or break. Bending sounds better.

We had hoped to be in Black Point for two weeks to help with math at school and the children's program with the churches. We arrived Saturday afternoon, attended church Sunday, dropped off donations Monday, and I did laundry while Myron taught math at the school. There were 39 boats at Black Point, and I think we were all trying to get our laundry done at the same time. Monday after school, we met with the principal, Ms. Young, and she planned to put us to work with some selected students on Tuesday morning at 9:30. Myron was checking weather at 2 am, however, and when I got up at 4 am, we worked through the new weather forecast and timing to get to a protected anchorage. All the forecast gave us for moving south was Tuesday, otherwise the winds would be right on our nose and quite strong. As it was, today's forecast called for light SE winds, but we would manage. We waited until about 8:00 am to drop off garbage and inform Ms. Young that we had to leave due to incoming weather. By the time we put the dinghy away and pulled up anchor, it was 8:40 am. We figured it was OK because we were going less than 30 miles to Leaf Cay, next to Lee Stocking Island. That was the new plan.

As we headed out, I began to ponder about the number of boats that may be seeking shelter at the same anchorage. I suggested we move right along to Georgetown if the water on the Exuma Sound was agreeable. Myron thought I was crazy. It was another four hours from Lee Stocking Island and we had gotten a late start. We went out on the Exuma Sound through Galliot Cut during an ebb flow. It was a pretty good rip, but Myron exited to the right of it as soon as we had good depth. We saw a boat going by outside. The water looked reasonable.

After a bit, the winds picked up, but not from the SE as forecast, rather from the NE. Fantastic! We were making great time, and we know Georgetown well enough to anchor in the evening. We got to Adderly Cut, the entrance to Leaf Cay and Lee Stocking Island - our original plan this morning - at just after 1 pm, but there was already three boats anchored where we thought would provide the best protection. Furthermore, there was a mass exodus going north from Georgetown and many were headed into that same anchorage. Myron was glad we were pressing on. I lost count, but I am certain there were more than 20 boats heading north. The Cruiser Regatta in Georgetown finished yesterday. That in no way means that Georgetown was emptied out of boats, because most boats are seeking shelter for the coming weather - just like us. We could see the multitude of boats as we came in Conch Cay Cut to Elizabeth Harbor (Georgetown). There must be 300 boats here!

For the first time, we are anchored off the town near Kidd Cove. We are in good company of 50 or so other boats and hope to be protected here from the SW and W winds.

Suffice to say, I need some rest. It is exciting to be back in GT, but Joint Venture, Straight From the Heart and Dream Catcher are not here. Maybe we will run into Eileen and Ed on Tropical Impulse or Wes on Moonshadow. If nothing else, we will just have to make new friends. With 300 boats, there is plenty opportunity for that!

Love to all,
Dena

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Norman's Cay to Black Point

We were not the only ones to seek refuge in Norman’s from the south and west winds.  Hold Fast was uncharacteristically on the move at anchor in the tidal current opposing wind.  When the winds got up to 20 knots, opposing the tidal current, she would sail at a speed of over one knot to the end of her tether, then turn around and race to the other end.  All the other boats at anchor gave us plenty of distance.  It might make regular folk seasick, thankfully not us.  I was thinking we ought to turn off the anchor light and turn on the navigation lights!

Of the four nights we were there, one of them was peaceful.  We were glad to see the winds go northwest with the promise of easterlies on the horizon.  We headed out Norman’s Cut this morning, offshore outside the park, and fished our way down to Dotham Cut.  All we caught was grass. 

Once anchored at Black Point, we launched the dinghy, went into town and met up with Ida.  The supply boat came in while we were anchoring, so there was no hope of getting anything done in town.  Restaurants and stores are locked up and everyone is down at the dock or dealing with the delivery.  We hope to catch up with Ida tomorrow at church, then on Monday talk with the school principal about teaching math.  The weather forecast does not look favorable for a long-term stay at Black Point, which is very disappointing, but we will squeeze in as much as we can while we are here.

Love to all,

Dena

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Rock Sound to Norman’s Cay (inside)

Last night was very peaceful in Rock Sound.  The wind died to nothing, except an occasional whisper out of the east.  We started up with the anchor at 6:30 am, but did not make it to the Exuma Sound until after 8 am. It was one of the most perfect days on the Sound that we have ever experienced.  We were on a broad reach in winds under 10 knots.  We ran the engine at just under 1,300 RPM to make water and our speed was about 6.5 knots.  We made good time.  We saw one squall, but it never came near enough to molest us.

We saw a few flying fish, and I saw some swimming birds.  When they popped up out of the water right next to us and took flight, I quickly shouted to Myron.  Birds are a good sign when fishing.  Sure enough, right then we took a hit on the blue and white tuna plug.  It fought for a while, Myron started to bring it in and we lost it.  We decided it must have been a small tuna or jack and was barely hooked.  We recovered the tuna plug, a little worse for wear.  No more hits for quite some time after that.  We were only about six miles out from the cut at Norman’s and it looked grim on the fishing aspect.  I saw more flying fish and we took a hard hit on the black and purple jet head.  I hit the ‘mark’ on the GPS, it helps us keep track of good fishing areas.  It was a bull Mahi Mahi and he fought hard, even with two gaffs in him when on board.  We hung him up and measured him, 44 inches.  We started to return to the original hit when we noticed Mahi’s hitting flying fish around us.  I again marked it on GPS.  We fished about a mile between the two marks and we got another hit, the same black and purple jet head.  Myron had sweetened that lure with some chunks of squid and maybe that was helping.  It was a cow Mahi Mahi and did not fight as hard, until we got her on the boat.  We tied a line on her tail and had a gaff in her when we brought her aboard.  She fought hard and beat us up a bit until Myron could reach the knife and end it.  She was 47 inches.  Both those catches were in water depths of 3,800 to 4,500 feet.  We were a bit surprised as we previously caught fish on the drop off by the shore.  We will take the blessings however they come and thank God for them!

There are ten other boats in the anchorage with us, including another Whitby42 anchored near us.  It took us an hour to clean up Hold Fast from all the fish parts and blood.  In the middle of our cleaning, D and Molly on ‘Allegria,’ the Whitby, came over to say hello.   We talked Whitbys and Bahamas, and then shared two large fillets of our freshly caught fish.

It is dark now.  I just cleaned up from a fish dinner that was too big for both of us to eat.  It is only 7:30 pm and I am exhausted.  Not sure of our plans for tomorrow, but I hope they include leaving the anchor right where it is and stretching out in the cockpit with a good book – or a quilt!!

Love to all,

Dena

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Hatchet Bay to Rock Sound

I need to get you all caught up on our adventures!  We arrived in Hatchet Bay on a Sunday evening.  On Monday morning, we set out on a walk to explore Alice Town.  We found the Triple TLC grocery store and grabbed a couple of things.  We found the St. Stephen’s Baptist Church and noted meeting times.  As we continued on our walk we came across a Methodist Habitat work group setting up for some local home repairs and improvements.  Myron promised to bring by some needed tools that folks did not want to carry on the airline.  Continuing our walk we came upon the P.A. Gibson Elementary school.  We found the principal’s office, introduced ourselves and asked if any teachers wanted help teaching math.  The principal, Ms. Ingraham, did not let 90 seconds expire before we were introduced to the 6^th grade class of about 14 students.  We taught fractions and measurements from 10:15 am to noon…rinse and repeat the next day. 

We took a day off to investigate the long cave (they say it is a mile long).  We hitch-hiked north to the cave and were graciously picked up by the mother of one of our 6^th grade students.  We were accompanied by Mitchell and Natalie on Sea Major, a Westerly Sea Lord.  Mitchell just finished his PhD in Physics.  They are getting this sailing trip in before any kids come along.  We were all impressed by the caves, we just had to look past the graffiti.  Myron and Mitchell went down into a lower cavern and waded through fresh water. Natalie and I stayed above and shouted reminders to our husbands of the dangers of their endeavor.  We continued through the cave after their safe return, and had to crawl out the end to what looked like a well with a rope ladder.  Out of the top we came to beautiful sunshine! 

Wednesday night (2/12) we had snarky weather with a westerly component.  Myron dove the mooring before the wind came and discovered that some of the chain between the mooring and the ball had eroded to 1/3 its original size.  We pulled out our ¾” line and he dove down and ran that through the good chain closer to the mooring.  We were not able to get a line through the mooring hoop, due to growth.  Myron put our mooring “grabamatic” on the hoop.  The resulting configuration was our primary, normal two lines to the mooring penant; a secondary, snap shackle on the mooring hoop; and tertiary, the ¾” line in the water down to good chain.  There are times when you think, oh that is not necessary, we will be fine.  The forecast called for 40 knots in the squalls and it was right.  In the worst of the squalls we were quite happy to have the redundancy.  Dawn revealed that we were still on the primary, but the wind stayed with us all through Thursday. 

We did not do much Thursday, since the snarky weather was still with us, except I did hunt down the tickets for the Baptist Church Friday night dinner.  At $15 per person, that is a good deal in the Bahamas for a three course meal plus dessert!  The food was fantastic as well as the company of the couple who dined with us, William and Audrey Gibson.  By then we had had only two days with the kids, but they still came up to us at dinner with hugs and smiles.  My heart was melting.

Sunday we were joined at church by Andrew and Rebecca on Blueberry, a 30 foot sailboat with no refrigeration.  Before church, they tried to pick up anchor and move onto the mooring near us vacated by Sea Major.  However, whatever they had hooked on prior to the bad weather, was too heavy for Drew to pull up manually and pulling with their engine only dipped the bow.  We suggested they put a float on the anchor chain, get on the mooring and we would help them after church.   We slipped Hold Fast from her mooring while Drew put a shackle on his anchor chain and we ran our ¾” line through it.  With that line on our windlass, we pulled their chain taunt.  When Myron put Hold Fast in reverse, her bow dipped down as well.  We probably weigh at least 6 six times what Blueberry displaces.  So we waited with tension on the line.  Drew dove his anchor, still not in sight, but he noted that we had pulled up some kind of equipment with prongs, initially he thought it might be a ladder attached to something.  It was only a matter of a couple more pulls on the windlass until the anchor broke free and we were back on our mooring preparing lunch!  Still a mystery as to what was down there, but problem solved.

 

Monday we taught 6^th grade math again, then Tuesday and Wednesday we were with the 4^th graders.  These kids really need to get their multiplication tables down before we can go much further.  If anyone knows of any songs or other helpful learning aids to the tables, please let me know!  Ms. Ingraham recognizes that the kids are not ready for their exams and expects to have afternoon tutoring starting possibly in April.  I am not sure if the weather will allow us to route back this way, but we noted that we would be glad to help.  We regretted not purchasing in the U.S. some Expo markers for whiteboards, some composition books (they use one for each study), and chalk for the boards in Black Point. 

The kids took a mid-term break, leaving us free for a few days to hitch-hike some of the island.  Friday we went south to Governor’s Harbor.  It is pretty and has a library with free internet upstairs.  We asked around a got a recommendation to have lunch at Pammie’s.  It was more food than we could eat and most delicious!  After eating we hitch-hiked back toward Hatchet Bay.  Associate Pastor Johnson picked us up just outside of Governor’s Harbor and offered to take us all the way to Gregory Town.  In route, we stopped at a business and school supply store and purchased some Expo markers and chalk! Gregory Town is built on the hills surrounding the ‘precarious’ harbor.  On our walk out of town we found a shop that sells solar panels and gear.  The prices were much more than you would pay in the states, but at least some folks are going solar and some parts might be available if you need them.  We were picked up shortly after leaving that shop, by a young man who works in avionics at North Eleuthera Airport. 

It was good to see the other towns, yet it confirmed that Alice Town was the right spot to extend our stay.  The local folks have been delightful and the kids have been fun.  I told Myron I am not ready to leave.  But we are overdue at Black Point and overdue for some fish. 

Saturday we supported the local Girl’s Brigade by purchasing lunch at their annual fund raiser, and by purchasing dinner when we returned from Surfer’s Beach.  Another hitch-hiking trip.  I have to say, the Bahamas must be the only country in which the drivers will slow down and holler an apology out the window if they do not have room or are only going a short way down the road.  In the U.S., if a driver slows down, it is probably to throw something at you!

After church on Sunday, we did some snorkeling with the Blueberry’s and with Lawrence and Kelly on Mary Sue.  I was sad afterward as we stowed the dinghy and gear and prepared to head south.

Today the winds were not as light as forecast, or as favorable.  The only sailing we got in was the last five or six miles heading toward Poison Point.  We tried to get a hook at Starving Creek, but just plowed marl.  Kind of unhealthy names to those places anyway.  We settled for motoring another two miles up to the Rock Sound Settlement and anchored off town with the other cruisers.  Very good holding.  We launched the dinghy and walked to town.  People were nice enough, but we are clearly spoiled by our precious new friends at Hatchet Bay.  We checked out the grocery store.  It is pretty well stocked, just as Barb described.  I even found fresh kale!  We rewarded ourselves with an ice cream and headed back to Hold Fast to check weather.  There is a massive thunderstorm to the north west of us.  Someone will get some grumpy weather tonight.  The ‘forecast’ is good for a fishing trip across Exuma Sound tomorrow.  Hopefully it does what they say.  We stowed the dinghy and prepped Hold Fast for an early morning.  People say we work well as a team launching the dinghy…that is because we do it over and over again, sometimes within an hour like today!

Time for a snack and some rest. 

Love to all,

Dena

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