Staniel Cay April 29-May 1

     In quest of new adventures (Richard) and email/internet connectivity (Kay), we departed Exuma Land and Sea Park at Warderick Wells and traveled south to Staniel Cay, famed home of a BTC cellular tower.  It was a beautiful day, and Bahamian waters were showing their prettiest color palette.  After dropping anchor just west of Big Majors Spot, we soon spotted PIGS.  The old saying was, “when pigs fly”, but here, PIGS SWIM!  They have been known to even try to climb in the boat.

 

Who Says Pigs Can't Swim?

"Here, Piggy, Piggy"

 
 

"C'mon, I'll Teach You How To Beg"

    





We visited Staniel Cay Settlement by dinghy, made a dinner reservation (including menu selections) at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, bought a loaf of hot, just out of the oven cinnamon raisin bread at Ms. Ronda’s bakery, toured the town, and visited BTC.  The BTC office in Freeport which had installed and initiated the SIM card on our Ipad had failed to enter a critical piece of data, hence it did not work (remember Sgt. Schultz?).  Thanks to the help of cruising friends who had a similar experience, we had obtained the needed information and corrected the issue, but I wanted to confirm that no further setup was necessary for when it comes time to “reload” the data package.  We visited with Krogen friends on Fat Bottom Girl who were awaiting some charter guests, and motored around the Thunderball grotto in the harbor made famous in the James Bond movie.  This stop has been a reminder that there are signs of civilization, even though we haven’t seen many of them lately!

Staniel Cay Yacht Club

Be Sure The Sharks
Are Well-fed Before
You Pet Them...Can
You See The Ray?
 

Staniel Cay Yacht Club

 

Warderick Wells April 27-28

     The Exuma Land and Sea Park, a Bahamas national preserve, is headquartered on Warderick Wells Cay in a channel well-protected from many directions.  We had called by radio a day earlier to reserve a mooring ball in the park, and arrived near slack tide around 1300.  We picked up our mooring without difficulty, secured the boat, and put the dinghy in to go ashore.  The office was typical laid-back Bahamas…no need to pay now, no need to specify how long you plan to stay (14-day maximum), here are some maps of the park, etc.  It was a beautiful environment and we snorkeled, visited an (almost quick-sand) island nearby, rode the dinghy around, and hiked around the park.  One highlight was the hike up to Boo Boo Hill, where many boaters leave painted or engraved pieces of driftwood displaying their boat name.  We saw several which we recognized, though we suspect the pile is periodically thinned to limit its eventual growth.  Along the path up to the hill were signs which enlightened us about plants in the park, and after leaving the peak we went down the rocky cliffs toward the Exuma Sound side to see blowholes.  At water level, these look like the entrance to caves.  Waves rush in, and the force of the upward splash deep in the cave wears holes upward through the rock until sound, air, and often water explode up and out like a geyser.

     We also met a number of new friends also traveling by boat, including one couple who had docked about 10 slips down from us on D-pier in the Corpus Christi Marina in the 1980s.  They were adjacent to the Celika S, and large classic motor yacht owned by James Storm, but which had been built for the Olds family and previously owned by Al Capone.  We reminisced about its captain, whom we both knew, and several staff members.  Several nurse sharks have visited our swim platform, but left unfed.  Lizards, sharks, now it must be time to see some pigs! 

Exuma Park Mooring Field & Office

Exuma Park Mooring Field

A Variety of Visitors



Blowhole Entry Cave

Visitor Mementos, Top of Boo Boo Hill



Boo Boo Hill

Beautiful Yacht Moored at Exuma Park

Shroud Cay April 25-26

     We traveled a relatively short day down to Shroud Cay, and anchored on the Exuma Bank side.  There were several other boats there…sailboats about our length up to 235-foot motor yachts.  A helicopter came and landed on one of them!  Of course, their dinghys were larger than most of the center cockpit fishing boats that my friends in Texas own.  Most were also replete with a large selection of water toys…massive jet skis, kayaks, inflatables, water slides, sailboards, windsurfers, etc.  Virtually all were foreign-flagged vessels.  In the dinghy, we toured up some small channels through the mangrove swamps, and marveled at the constellation of flora in such a harsh environ.  Palm trees grew from rocks, long-tailed tropic birds swooned overhead, and the ecosystem is obviously adapted to the area. 
     As we travel along and reflect upon this wonderfully beautiful land, we can't help but recall old sayings, songs, videos, etc.  Remember Sergeant Schultz from Hogan's Heroes?  Well, he's alive and well in the Bahamas!  And, as Ray Stevens would say, "He's Everywhere, He's Everywhere"!


Texas Ranger

Shroud Cay

Little Whale Cay to Nassau to Allan’s Cay, Exuma Islands April 24

     We were up early, and passed out by Sister Rocks before turning south toward Nassau on New Providence Island.  It is the largest city in, and the capital of, The Bahamas.  We will return here when relatives visit in a few weeks.  The most convenient route from the Berry Islands to the Exuma Island chain includes a passage through the middle of the Nassau harbor, and thus we traveled.  After checking in by radio with Harbor Control, we traveled past massive cruise ships, hotels, large resorts, large inter-island mail/supply boats, and numerous marinas before exiting the eastern end of the island and turning south onto the Great Bahama bank to dodge coral heads on our way to the Exuma Islands.  In this part of the world, weather is everything, and almost as important is the ability to navigate depths by the colors of the water.  We are getting much better, with no painful lessons thus far.


Cruise Ships, Nassau Harbor

Nassau Harbor Entrance




Allan's Cay

Atlantis, Nassau



Bahamas Mail Boat

     After arrival at Allan’s Cay, north of Highborne Cay made popular in a novel by Jimmy Buffett, we anchored for a nice evening (a bit more “rolly” than ideal), and anticipated our trip ashore the next day to attempt to view the highlights of Allan’s Cay—Iguana iguana (yes, genus and species are the same).  We landed on a small beach on small Southwest Allan’s Cay, and wandered up into the vegetation.  Sure enough, we saw several quite large iguanas, some as close to us as 20 feet!  They can weigh up to 30 pounds, and live up to 80 years.  We moved slowly, and they seemed curious enough to watch.  I got some good photos, and we returned to the boat.  Later in the day, several “cigarette boat” full of tourists arrived from Nassau and went to a different cay in search of the same view!

Mama, Don't Let Your Babies...

...Grow Up To Be Cowboys

Iguana, Iguana

 

Great Harbour Cay to Little Whale Cay April 23

     After a delightful few days at Great Harbour Cay Marina, we departed for points farther south.  The evening before our departure, we participated in a “chill and grill”.  Locals, for $10 a head, provided steak, chicken, or ribs with two vegetables which they grilled at the marina.  It was very good—almost as good as the conch fritters we had enjoyed at noon the preceding day at Coolie Mae’s restaurant in Bullock Harbor, to which we had walked to see the town (not much to see).  Of course, after feeding us the cooks and their friends and relatives then set up their music and danced and partied until well past our bedtimes!  The next morning, we first headed north and rounded the northern point of the Berry Islands at Great Stirrup Cay.  There was a cruise ship anchored, with many local boats ferrying the passengers to shore.  One could, through the binoculars, see rows and rows of “auditorium chairs” set up on the beach for some impending tropical island performance.  I rather suspect that survival, even in the remote Berry Islands, depends upon catering to the tourists. 
     We proceeded south, spotting numerous possible inlets and overnight stops, but decided on Little Whale Cay.  While not particularly protected, almost calm weather, with easterly winds, was forecasted.  We passed Sister Rocks and entered the anchorage, dropping the hook in a beautiful area with a ring-side seat for the gorgeous sunset.

Port Lucaya to Great Harbor Cay, Berry Islands April 19

After a number of days in Port Lucaya, and a brief grocery store trip with new sailboat friends from Denmark, Cuba, and Venezuela, it is time to move on.  The weather is not perfect, but is better than it may be for another few days.  We left the dock about 0530 to arrive with the sun high overhead, and after a bumpy, but not unpleasant, day crossing the Northwest Providence Channel (4000 ft depth), we arrived in the Berry Islands chain at Great Harbour Cay about 1430.  We navigated the very shallow entrance visually (there are minimal if any channel markers), passed through a rock ledge cut, and entered the tortuous channel to the marina.  This would indeed be a hurricane hole!  As is common, the docks are high, concrete, and fixed, so one has to choose the direction of docking so that escape from the boat is possible at various tide heights.  Sometimes that is from forward, where the decks are high, and sometimes from the cockpit, where the gate is lower.  The dock staff here was quite efficient and friendly, and the marina is bustling.  Jeff and Karen (and their two yellow labs), founders/owners of Active Captain, have been here several weeks, and it is good to visit with them again in person. 

As is common here, both electricity and potable water are metered (0.75/KwH; 0.50/gal).  I can see why others prefer rum...it's not much more expensive, I'm told!  There are lots of offshore fishermen here...serious, BIG boats.  We have ordered a loaf of coconut bread from a local woman; it will be delivered tomorrow.  We will stay here for a few days before moving farther south.



Port Lucaya Beach



Port Lucaya Mermaid



Bahamian Waters



The Verge



The Fish--not the Foot!

Approaching Great Harbor Cay



It's Here Somewhere

Great Harbor Cay Marina

Off To The Bahamas April 13

FINALLY...the weather window of 2-3 favorable days to stage for and cross the Gulf Stream arrived.  Any wind from the north really riles up the Gulf Stream seas, and it takes a day or two after north winds to let the seas subside.  We departed Fort Pierce and ran down the ICW to Palm Beach, anchoring in Lake Worth behind the barrier island just south of the inlet.  There was enough dredge activity and dredge pipe in the area to almost walk across; it would have been roomier than the open water in which to navigate!  I very carefully accessed the path to the anchorage, so that if we departed during the dark it would be easy to safely follow the chartplotter's "bread crumb" path back out to the inlet.

About 0330 the next morning Kay awoke, and asked if we were ready to go.  Always the "morning person", I, of course, acceded to her request, and before she was awake enough to consult her clock, the engines were starting!  The anchor was up, and by 0400 we were underway.  By 0425 we had cleared the Lake Worth jetties and sea buoy, and were underway across the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.  I had hoped to leave early enough to travel directly to Port Lucaya, rather than having to spend a night in West End to clear customs and immigration, and then travel to Port Lucaya the next day.  The sun rose beautifully over the Atlantic before 0700, but Kay was already back asleep!

It was a glorious, beautiful, and perfect day for a crossing, and my accurate navigational plotting to account for the northward flow of the Gulf Stream current placed us on a perfect course for entry into the Northwest Providence Channel and arrival at Port Lucaya.  We passed West End, Freeport, and entered Bell Channel about 1530.  We docked at the Customs and Immigration dock, satisfied the bureaucracy as to the submission of adequate repetitive duplicative (or "triplicative"?) paperwork and cash.  With my immigration papers, cruising permit, and fishing license in hand, we then proceeded around the harbor to our dock at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club.  It's not what it may have been at one time or was imagined to be, but at least the docks are substantial. 

Sailors Centuries Ago Saw Clouds Before Land

Approaching Port Lucaya

Grand Bahama Yacht Club

Docked in Port Lucaya

Sprint has a Global Roaming Plan that allows us (for free) to roam onto Bahamas Telephone Co.'s system with free data (at 2G), free texting, and 0.20/minute for voice phone within the Bahamas or back to the U.S.  We walked a couple of miles to the BTC office for Port Lucaya to purchase a SIM card and (faster) pre-paid data plan for Kay's I-pad.  Alas, they were out of about 80% of the phones that they had on display in the store, and were out of SIM cards!  However, the store in downtown Freeport had SIM cards, and so we caught a bus (alias a minivan) and for $ 1.25 each, they transported us to the Freeport store, where we procured the SIM card.  Return was the same $ 1.25 each.  Needless to say, with this and a half-dozen other stories I will not relate, we are "adjusting" (with some resistance from the 'type A" personality of our duo) to "island time".

Ready to Move On! April 1

We have had a delightful (at least most of it) time in Fort Pierce this winter, but we've been more than ready to move on since at least mid-March.  We were delayed in Corpus Christi waiting on visits to a new physician, etc., but finally returned to Fort Pierce mid-February.  It seems we had missed about the worst winter weather experienced in that area in years, and we were warmly welcomed as the better weather arrived with us!  After some time enjoying the area, including its superb Farmers' Markets and visits with good friends in nearby Vero Beach and Stuart, we passed up the one marginally adequate weather window for travel south to attend the Kadey Krogen Open House where we saw many interesting boats and good friends.  Well, that decision led to almost another full month of delayed departure.

This has been a bizarre winter in Florida.  It hasn't been as severe ashore as some other winters, but the frequency of cold fronts has been much greater, averaging every 2-3 days instead of the more typical 5-6 day interval.  There are usually a few light-wind days between fronts, but this year those have been occupied by severe thunderstorms across central and south Florida.  We met many new friends at the marina, gave advice regarding the "removal" of an osprey that delighted in spending time (and relieving itself) on the mast of the boat upwind of some friends across the pier, and installed a wind vane/anemometer and DirecTV on the boat, honed weather forecasting skills, and WAITED...