March 21st,2007- Galliot Cut

March 21st. Galliot Cut

1700hrs. Well, I cannot write about yesterday!!!! Even our little angel, screwed into the wall did not have a good trip.

Today we spent the afternoon on a lovely beach on Big Galliot Cay. Actually it is the only beach on this cay. We are at what we feel is our best protected spot probably until Sunday. On shore there is no protection from the sun so we put lean- too’s up each day with our blankets. We have also started to collect wood in case we need to spend any night on shore. If we only had a tent.

Of course due to my hearing problem it seems I have pretty good sleeps; unlike Randy who is up all night. We have a minus 2 foot tide right now, but seem to have enough water under us. This afternoon we went in the dinghy to check out a potential northern anchorage. We didn’t like it so we will stay put. We also considered moving in closer to the shore but right now we have 5 feet under us and have 100 feet of chain out so it doesn’t look like it would make any difference to our comfort level.

For interest sake—Randy is still on the beer we purchased in Ft. Lauderdale. A case of 24 beers was between $15 and $20. So far in the Bahamas beer sells for $60.

I am afraid due to a number of our “experiences” I can only think “Thank God” we have not had our loved ones aboard and then of coarse we are reminded that Derek and Evelyn have their youngest Caylin aboard. Safety has to be our priority and we must add 50% onto all the weather reports we review. Derek has repaired their dinghy which we know they are thrilled about.

Everything is still wet from yesterday and covered in salt. No wonder we are exhausted. The anchorage is very rolly with large swells and the wind continues to howl. I have wiped down all the walls and ceilings in the boat. We are trying to dry out our computer hoping we haven’t totally lost it. The screen is full of water spots.

Every day we go to the beach to get off the boat. It is blistering hot as there are no trees. We take our small tarps to try and protect us from the sun.

March 29th. A week has gone by. We continue to have poor sleep due to the high winds and rolly anchorage. Our water supply is getting low, plus we have nothing left in the way of fresh fruit and veggies. .Randy and Derek have tried fishing for lobster and had no luck. The days literally rock by if we stay on the boat so it is important to get to shore for some exercise. We swim, beach comb and hike over the hill to check out the Exuma Sound seas. One day we made a bon fire to burn our garbage. Another Caylin and I played bocce by using pieces of coral and an old coconut.

Another storm is upon us.

Randy and I have gone by dinghy to see a couple of islands to our south; Cave Cay which has a beautiful private marina (no boats there), Musha Cay which is also private and Rudder Cut Cay which had many lovely looking homes along the shoreline. Cave Cay and Rudder Cut Cay both had airstrips. We did see a couple of sailboats at the southern end of Rudder Cut Cay, however, the charts showed many areas had less than 5 feet of water at LMW which is too shallow for us.

We all want to head south so badly. We all had gotten up early today to check out the weather. After reading and listening to the weather reports it’s a NEGATIVE. It looks like we will be here until next Monday or Tuesday. This afternoon boats are arriving in droves. It truly was like watching a flotilla---small boats, big boats, sailboats and power boats---all arriving we assume from George Town. (Maybe we should of gone?). We heard that these boats had been waiting in George Town for the last six weeks waiting for better weather so they could head north. They would have had the winds and swells behind them which would of made for a fast ride. (Where as we would be beating into the wind and waves).

March 31st.

Happy Birthday Evelyn!! We surprised Evelyn with a chocolate cake; (which unfortunately did not turn out as we didn’t have any eggs). Covering the cake in chocolate icing, for decoration we used dried cut up “Craisins” spelling” Happy Birthday Evelyn”.

1800hrs. We’ve decided to have a fun contest tonight cooking meals out of cans. We’ve made pickled beets and curried turkey casserole. We’ve a bottle of champagne (that we didn’t use when we christened the boat) so we’ll take that and some beer over to UNWIND. Evelyn and Caylin made a delicious carrot soup and pizza.

Randy and I went looking for lobster today as it’s the last day of the season plus we tried fishing again. No luck on either count.

April 2nd.

Went fishing—No luck.
Checked weather—Maybe tomorrow????
Went and introduced ourselves to a group on a power boat named Miss K II. They are heading to the Dominican Republic. Randy said he would update them on the weather tomorrow.

NOW LOOKING BACK :( JANUARY 2008); at us leaving Farmers Cay I don’t think we could of done it any differently with the information we had. To avoid running aground we hired “Little Jeff” to navigate us out through the cut.($60.00) Derek went in “Little Jeffs” dinghy for a preliminary look at the seas and he said the seas looked good. The weather reports were not bad. Little Jeff took us first---we got half way to the cut and he turned around; which is not what we had payed him for. I yelled at him what was he doing and he said going back for UNWIND. I was on the bow like usual because of all the reefs. Of coarse this day I did not put on my life jacket as the weather looked gorgeous. I kid you not, within ten minutes the swells hit over 12 feet as we were going through Farmers Cut. I could not move; I could only hang on. Randy was yelling at me to get back to the cockpit. Each time we went down into a crevice he could not see me as I was submerged in water. Again he’s yelling at me to get back. I still couldn’t move. This went on at least three times. Finally he said when I yell NOW get moving. When I heard that magical word I dropped to my butt and worked my way along the deck to the cockpit. As quickly as possible I went down below because of coarse we had left all the hatches except our forward berth open. There was salt water everywhere. I quickly closed all the hatches and port lights. Next I went into our foraward head to close its port light and hatch and the floor was covered in five inches of water. I threw on the shower sump to drain the head. At this point Derek called and asked how it was. I said it was better outside the cut compared to riding through the cut. There was no way we could safely turn around as we definitely would have been broad-sided with the waves.

As we tried to progress to Georgetown, the seas stayed between 10 and 16 feet, we had minimum 30 knot winds and squalls all around us. The long and short of it; we left waypoint N23*57.95” W76*18.40 (outside of Farmers Cut) and 6 hours later we had traveled only 2.86 nautical miles to the outside of Galliot Cut N23*55.60”;W76*16.60” We made a joint decision we would enter the cut for safety. We tried waiting for the current and tide to slacken, but were getting so beaten up. Finally heading in, there was one point where we could not see UNWINDS decks. It was taking all Randy’s strength to try and keep the boat steady and straight as we made our way through the entrance; huge rock formations on each side.. We were riding the waves as if we were a big surf board. When we got through to the other side of the cut…flat calm. AMAZING!!!!

We were all absolutely exhausted but had to get together; not so much for Happy Hour but hugs were necessary to reassure one another that we were all okay.

Staniel Cay to Little Farmers Cay

March 18th. Staniel Cay to Little Farmers Cay

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASH

1115hrs. We’re back at the boat. We went into the marina this morning to send emails and waited for a plane to arrive at the airport that hopefully would have UNWIND’s parcel. (They had been waiting for their new dinghy repair kit to arrive) Unfortunately, it was not on the plane. To make a long story short we checked with the manager and he said that he had bins which were holding small packages that had not been collected. Low and behold their package was inside. We figure it probably had been there for three days. We dropped it off at their boat and confirmed we’d head for Little Farmers Cay.

1215hrs. The sails are up, motor is off and we’re doing 4.4 knots. We’re running due west in 10 feet of water.

1335hrs. We’re having a fabulous sail. The water depth is 9.1 feet. We are traveling over 6 knots.

1845hrs. WHAT AN ORDEAL!!!! Right now UNWIND is stuck on a shallow rocky bar at Little Farmers Cay. Randy went to try and pull them off in the dinghy and it looks like he is not having any luck. A local skiff has come out to get him off. They tied a line to the halyard and pulled UNWIND off the bar. This area in general we have found very difficult to get into and I would not recommend it to any one.

As we had gotten closer to Little Farmers Cay we realized we needed to make contact with someone who knew the area so we contacted “LITTLE JEFF” by VHF and asked could we get into Little Farmers Cay at this tide level with our 6 foot draft? Little Jeff said no problem as long as we took it real slow to make sure we did not get sand in our engine. (This should have been our first sign of probable problems) We took it real slow as was recommended. He said when we got close to the southern point of the island he would come and guide us in. To make another long story short, he did not come and guide us in. Finally making contact with him on the VHF he told us to just head for the mooring balls. We asked which ones and he said the one’s furthest in past the government pier. As we rounded the point I said to Randy (as I was up on the bow), we’re not moving and if we are we are going backwards. Sure enough the current was so strong we were in fact going backwards. Back on the VHF to let Derek and Evelyn know the situation, we picked up speed and continued to head for the southern tip of Great Guana Cay. This was where the mooring balls were. Passing the government dock on our port we rounded another shallow rocky bar on our starboard with a shifting shallow sand bar on our port side. We started to hit sand, Randy backed up and we made it to a mooring ball.
Last nights winds hit over 30 knots. This morning Randy and Derek walked over a hill to take a look at Exuma Sound. (The Atlantic side of the Exumas). Traveling today is a negative.

Instead we went into Little Farmers Cay for lunch and explore the island. It continued to be stormy so we felt it was best get back to the boats . We lent Derek and Evelyn coffee and they will lend us some cash as we have been here longer than expected and we have no money.

Local grocery store.

1950hrs. Randy has spent the last number of hours first putting out one of our anchors and then he helped Derek put out their anchor. Derek dove the mooring balls and said ours is good and theirs is suspect. In the meantime a fellow off another boat came over by kayak for a visit and proceeded to help Derek and Randy “get some good hook”!!!! Many hours later Randy arrives back “home”. It turns out he and Derek have heard that a boat carrying 100 to 150 Haitians has capsized off Farmers Cay. (That’s why we have a police presence.) To be on the safe side we have pulled the dinghy up onto the stern for the night. We listen to channel 16 for further updates on the Haitians presence and the weather.

The land that surrounds our mooring is actually very pretty. It is just unfortunate that the access was difficult.

March 8th,2007-Staniel Cay, Here we come!!

March 8th. Staniel Cay, Here we come!

We’ve paid up our Warderick Wells bill and we’re ready to go. Unwind said they’d be ready in an hour.

1050hrs. We’ve left Exuma Park.

March 9th. 0750hrs.

Well, that was a day I’m sure none of us want to repeat!! Yes, we are in Staniel Cay, tied to a dock. Randy went out onto the dock and spoke to a man in regards to yesterday and what did he say---“You were out in that??!!!!” He said no one expected the front to come this far south and of coarse we didn’t either. The winds were over 34 knots, we were in an incredible rain storm plus 12 foot seas that were hitting us from every direction.

We’ve decided that when a weather forecast has improved after stormy days, we want to wait an extra day before we start moving on.

So where are we anyway?? Let me get the chart book, which is in a mess, pages torn and/or have fallen out. (Due to getting soaking wet—strange; says they are waterproof charts) We are at Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Yes, another marina but after yesterday we need and deserve a good nights sleep. We probably will be here two nights before heading south. On the inside passage it looked pretty nice today, but we wanted to explore a bit of this island. Staniel Cay is N24degrees 10.20” W76 degrees 27.20”. We had a real exciting excursion in the dinghy. Picking up the Rutherford’s we went to Thunderball Grotto and snorkeled. This was where the James Bond movie “Thunderball” was made. The sea life was absolutely beautiful inside and outside the cave.. Inside the cave the sun shone down onto the water through a number of holes in the top of the cave. It was truly FANTASTIC!! As we were feeding the fish I actually got nipped a little on the fingers from the swarm of fishes. We all had a great time.

We ended the evening with a great dinner at the quaint Yacht Club.--The most delicious ribs. Internet is free if you sit in the pub area, so we’ll probably send a few emails tonight.

March 15th.
We have extended our stay at Staniel Cay. We have been really enjoying ourselves at the dock with a great restaurant and the internet close at hand. We have walked most of the island and found the people very friendly.

Evelyn, Caylin and I went for provisions using their bikes. Here Evelyn is in front of one of the grocery stores.

One of our hikes

A gorgeous view out into the harbour and looking at the dock.

Around 01200hrs. the dock master came to all the boats on the docks and advised us all there’s a huge storm coming through and that we all had to leave the docks as soon as possible.

We now are anchored in front of Club Thunderball. The dock master recommended this anchorage as one of the better ones for safety. We sure hope so. The water unfortunately is really shallow. We are anchored at N024degrees 10.769” W076degrees 26.569” with 3.6feet of water under our keel. At one point it was 2.3 feet. Randy has gone back to help Derek with UNWIND in the dinghy as Derek’s main engine is not dependable right now and their dinghy still has a hole in it. (I have a feeling this is going to be one of those long stressful stormy nights.)

1700hrs. Randy and Derek had decided to move so we have just set anchor in “Big Majors Spot”. The chart shows good holding, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

This is Big Majors Spot...Absolutely beautiful clear water for swimming....Oh, but what is that swimming???

March 17th,2007

1930hrs. What a horrible night, plus today is not much better. ( It’s too rough to go to the marina to check emails.) Last night the front hit just before mid- night. We had thunder, lightening, pouring rain, 40 to 45 knot winds.(which is 46 to 53 miles an hour or around 80 km). Randy never did go to bed and I got up at 0200hrs. We decided we may as well heat some water for showers and recharge the hand held VHF’s. Randy says the wind which is howling right now is supposed to change direction so we may get a bit of protection from the Island (Big Major Spot) itself.

Randy said at one point the depth sounder read minus 2 ½ ft due to the fetch. At that point he decided to turn off the GPS. Sometime after midnight Randy watched as one power boat over 80 feet long dragged in between a number of anchored boats. Many people were yelling, trying to wake up the owner. Finally when they awoke they headed into deeper water and were still having difficulty setting the anchor. It’s amazing no one was hit. We finally managed to have a nap mid morning.

Big Major Spot is known for its “pigs”. Yes, many years ago someone took pigs to the island. Now they are so tame that when you start to dinghy towards the island they actually swim out to “greet” you. Many people were feeding them apples and left over food scraps. We did not want to take the dinghy in too close as we were concerned it may get punctured.

Feb.26th,2007-Heading for Warderick Well with a stop in Shroud Cay

Feb.26th.Heading for Warderick Wells

We’re ready to move on from Highborne Cay. We’ve topped up our water and diesel. By 1230hrs. we are on our way. We will probably stop in Shroud Cay as it looks to have better anchorages than Normans Cay.

By 1640hrs. we are anchored at Shroud Cay.N24*32.048” W076*47.981”

We are inside the Exuma Land & Sea Park Boundary. There is no fishing allowed. Shroud Cay is an archipelago of small cays divided by creeks and mangroves..

(Personally I felt good on this ride south as it seemed the depth was a constant 12 to 16 feet. One time the depth sounder did go off. Randy stopped the boat quickly and we turned around. Of coarse at this point UNWIND started calling as they were behind us and wondered what was happening. ( It turned out Randy had set the depth alarm for 10 feet so he has adjusted.)

As soon as we were anchored, what did we see but a 3 to 4 foot Barracuda! Needless to say no swimming off the stern.

Tues. Feb.27th

We went over to Rum Runner a 473 Beneteau and met Jay and Jennifer with their dog named Kona. ( We were impressed with their dodger and wondered how it was made.) They are from the eastern seaboard and basically are heading the same way as us. They said it took them a couple of months to get used to the shallow depths, but feel it’s primarily sand so when they hit bottom they just pull themselves off. When it’s shallow they travel at about 2 knots.
We spent the afternoon exploring. First we went to Normans Cay to see the DC3 plane that had crashed into the bay. We actually were a little disappointed as there is not much left to see. Someone had mentioned it was good for snorkeling however we decided against it. We felt we should head back closer to HIGH STATES as we were about five miles away from our anchorage. We meandered our way back, exploring a couple of canals with deep anchorage. (It looks like someone is starting new marinas??) Then we came across a sign that said the Exuma Park and we started our way through a canal surrounded by mangroves. It was absolutely beautiful. We saw one shark and a few rays. We decided we’d best turn around as we didn’t know if we could get out the other end of the canal. We didn’t want to run out of gas. By the time we got back the UNWIND crew was back from their excursion too so we all went swimming in a very shallow protected bay. The snorkeling was not good but we all enjoyed the water.
Wed. Feb.28th
We have had a new experience the last two mornings. We have had dew on the decks. Yesterday’s swimwear and towels are still soaking wet. Last night Randy closed up the port lights which kept the interior of the boat much drier. With the swells we continue to take a pounding on our stern throughout the night. Last night Randy changed us over to use the forward water tank in order to get rid of some of the forward weight. The water is probably 1100 pounds plus the 300 feet of anchor chain plus rode (one pound per foot) adds another 300 pounds. We’ll see how this experiment works.

Randy continues to try and fix the inverter. We figure it’s probably seven years old so maybe the problem is right in the unit and needs replacing. He has downloaded the manual and checked everything to no avail. Evelyn lent me a book “Guide to the Bahamas” which I am enjoying.

Thurs. 29th

1430hrs. Leaving Shroud Cay, it is a dead calm.

By 1530hrs. The winds have really picked up. The jib is out and we’re traveling at 5 knots; engine off.

Well, that was quite a ride. We were in 34 knots of wind. We couldn’t beat the storm coming at us. We went to anchor at Emerald Rock which is at the south end of Warderick Wells. We could see mooring buoys and upon hailing the park office we were advised to take up a mooring.

Fri. March 1st.

Last night was down right stormy. (Another sleepless night for Rand) We went to the Park Office to see if we can move to the inside mooring buoys where hopefully there is more protection. After approx. one and a half hours the manager Judy said she had room for both boats. We left our moorage around 1130hrs. arriving at the new moorage by 1400hrs. Amazing what can take ten minutes by dinghy took us three hours on HIGH STATES. Of coarse that is because of the shallow water depths. We had to head west to a way point and then north, and then east again. I was on bow duty for the extent of the trip.

For us getting into these mooring balls was a little tricky. The charts not only showed a strong current but the complete center of the bay dries at low tide. We were placed at a mooring ball on the other side (NW side) of the entrance and told to stay in “dark water”. At one point our GPS said we were on the rocks in front of the Park Head Quarters. Our new“neighbours” kindly were waiting to help us grab the mooring ball line as there really is no room for a mistake of missing it.

In 1959 the Bahamian Gov’t set aside a 176 square mile area which is the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Totally the park is 22 miles long and 8 miles wide. Warderick Wells is one of 15 large islands. It is home to the Park Headquarters with a Park Warden and staff. The Royal Bahamas Defense Force officers are also stationed at the park head quarters on a permanent rotational basis to help enforce by-laws. The main by-law being no taking or destruction of anything! The presence of the defense force was requested due to continued poaching and the need to protect the warden and park volunteers.

This picture shows the sand bank in the center of Warderick Wells.

There are over four miles of trails on Warderick Wells. The park is full of lizards and Hutia, which are a nocturnal animal that looks like a combination of rabbit and rat. We have helped the park by picking up plastic garbage on the beaches.

We all hiked up to Boo Boo Hill, to the famous cairn site where cruisers leave mementos. Randy had carved an old piece of beach wood with both boat names HIGH STATES and UNWIND and with the date of our visit to this beautiful park.

We have changed our minds about leaving today. The north winds are a lot stormier than we thought they were going to be. We originally thought today was going to bring a moderate breeze of 11-16 knots, however, it’s more like Force 6-7, strong breeze to near gales (22 to 33 knots). Plus the seas are anywhere from 3 to 10 feet for the next four days.

In general, looking over our travels to date we have had to go to a number of marinas primarily because we have not found enough good anchorages. The Bahamas are full of chains of cays and islets either too shallow for us with little or no protection from the winds. Also strong currents are a normalcy. The winter weather patterns can be severe and we have had the unfortunate experience of being directly in them. The winds definitely do a 360 degree “clocking”. The cold front comes from the north bringing strong winds, and then slowly moves to the NE. We have read where people have moved their boats a number of times in the same bay. This is because of these wind changes.

Our Bimini needed repairing.

Randy has gone into the park office to charge up the computer, check weather reports and then is going over to UNWIND. The Rutherford’s can’t get their patch to weld to their dinghy. Our patch kit is not the same type of product so it won’t work.

Our batteries still are not holding charge. Sounds like along with a new inverter we’re going to need some new batteries when we get to George Town, plus a new VHF. Money, money, money!!!

Feb. 24th,2007--Highborne Cay

Feb.24th,2007-Heading for Highborne Cay

0700hrs. Swells and winds came up after midnight. Randy went and slept in the cock pit again.

1030hrs. We went and saw Derek, Evelyn and Caylin and we’ve decided to go to Highborne Cay as it’s only going to get nastier here at Allens Cay. By 01115hrs. we are starting to lift anchors. The plan was done like this: Randy and Derek pull up our chain anchor (our 1st anchor); then they went to UNWIND to pull up their chain anchor. While I was left on board HIGH STATES , Randy went back to help Derek with his rode anchor line (2nd anchor), then Randy would come back to do our rode anchor line. Very nerve racking for me with the strong current. While Randy was helping Derek our depth alarm went off as I was being pushed by the strong current onto the sandbank. I blew the emergency air horn for Randy to come back to our boat. (Lynn don’t PANIC!!) By the time he came back I had managed to get the boat back into deeper water without pulling out our anchor. Back to UNWIND Randy went ensuring they got out of the harbor and then he came back to pull up our last anchor. (Of coarse while he was on board UNWIND I was saying to myself “don’t leave me here by myself-When are you coming back??”

01245hrs. We are out of the harbor and on course. We’ve decided to go right into the Marina at Highborne Cay to give ourselves a break from the weather. This way Randy can have a good nights sleep.
1500hrs. We’re at the dock in Highborne Cay. And a break it is going to be. One gentleman just came by and said the marina is hosting a huge barbeque tonight at 1930hrs—“The meal will include mahi mahi ,chicken, other different types of fish—a huge spread”. Sounds absolutely delicious. He asked for reservations and we said yes. After he left I said to Rand I’m sure it’s not free, so when he walked by again Randy and Derek asked how much the dinner would be. “ $35.00 a person which includes one glass of wine..” We decide we deserve it. After officially registering at the office Randy and I stowed the back up anchor away. After our last couple of weeks of bad weather we're really going to enjoy our stay. We are surrounded by beautiful yachts.

Here Caylin enjoys a rest in one of the hammocks.

After dinner we went back to UNWIND for a night cap. We can hear the wind, but it’s not directly on us. The moorage is well protected. Randy should enjoy a restful night and a good deserved sleep.

Highborne Cay is a privately owned island. It is very clean and tidy. The island is three miles in length and approx. 500 acres. At one time there was an abundance of aloe plants on the island. Unfortunately due to the high cost of production and shipping the operation was not economically viable. In the past watermelons grew in such numbers that the Nassau market could not absorb them hence no more watermelons.

There is a bird sanctuary at the north end of the island. Maybe that’s why we’re having feathered guests inside the boat on a regular basis. We have also enjoyed the basking sharks at the fish cleaning station. Guests have been requested to throw bio-degradable food out only at this station. We’ve also thoroughly enjoyed hiking the island. One evening Derek tried to give Randy and I a Science lesson on Star Gazing. I mean he really tried. I think he would agree we turned out not to be very good students. The pits getting old!

On one hike I decided to get a ride back on the "bus". On second thought it looks like I best continue to walk.

Feb.20th,2007-Leaving Spanish Wells for Allens Cay

Feb.20th,2007-Leaving Spanish Wells for Allens Cay-Home to the Iguanas

Tues.Feb.20th
0630hrs. We’re up and ready to leave Spanish Wells.
0800hrs. Randy went over to help Derek put their dinghy on their deck
0830hrs. Pulling up anchor. The channel is real busy this morning. A huge freighter has come in for fuel as we are leaving. The fishing fleet looks like it’s going out to-day too. This must be a good sign.

As luck would have it, one fish boat was really on

our tail and we went aground. Three small boats that accompany the large fishing vessels pulled us off. Rotten luck, plus we have learnt another lesson---not to be so polite. (We felt the fish boat wanted to overtake us so we moved over in the cut to let it pass---won’t do that next time)
0950hrs . Heading on a course of 210 degrees. Our initial plan is to head to Current Cut. We definitely have to watch the tides. We are hoping to anchor on the southern side if possible.

By

1050hrs., we’ve got the main and jib up. As the winds pick up we are able to turn off the motor and sail at 4.3 knots.

By 1215hrs we are anchored off Current Cut and the tide is ripping thru the cut. It’s almost low tide so we have decided to wait until tomorrow. Instead of continuing our journey we have decided to go to the beach for a swim. We walked to town and met a man who was born and raised in this small community called “Current Settlement”. It is at the SW tip of Eleuthera Island. He explained there is no crime here; that

we should feel very safe. This low lying village is making a comeback after being covered with a wall of water and battered by the 200mph winds from Hurricane Andrew. There is only one small store in the village where we purchased water and a few cookies. Back to the boat, we went to UNWIND for dinner and took along chicken, tomatoes and carrot cake.

Another beautiful sunset. Watching for a "green flash".

Wed. Feb.21st

0600hrs. Rand got up and checked out the cut. He said we should be going as the tide was slack so he went and woke up Derek. Current Cut is really tricky . It is noted in our Chart book that sailboats and slower trawlers may be unable to go against the flow at spring tides. Randy entered the way points. We’re in 9.8 ft of water. It looks as if we are surrounded by tiny icebergs.(Foam from the current.) We lightly brushed a sandy shoal and got stuck. Down goes the dinghy and together with Randy in the dinghy and me steering we pull ourselves off. Sure gets our adrenaline going.

0805hrs. We are in 9.8feet of water at N25degrees 22.58”; W 76degrees46.802” and have anchored as UNWIND having a problem with their oil sender light.

By 0920hrs We’re underway heading 200degrees SW to Beacon Cay. 30nmiles.

2000hrs. Well, I think this day could technically be called the most stressful day ever. I spent most of the day after my last entry up on the bow sprint. Our course was full of rocks and coral heads that we had to maneuver around. To get to the Exumas we went over the South Eastern portion of the Great Bahama Bank. –This is called the Yellow Bank and we need to follow the VPR ; Visual Piloting Rules which means me on the bow all afternoon. In our chart book it states:” If your draft is over 1.5meters’ 5 feet, (ours of coarse is almost 6 feet) schedule the crossing during mid day( which we did.) The large black coral heads with white sand rings around them are easily seen and avoided under normal midday light conditions. If your crossing of this area should occur near low tide, some of the coral heads may be a hazard for all but shallow draft vessels.” GREAT!!! Far too shallow for our comfort level and absolutely exhausting zig zaging our way through the coral.

As the sun was setting we were off Mushroom Rock and decided to continue further south. We had to be very careful and take it slower than we probably wanted due to loosing visibility; but with the depth alarm going off; even though we were on the recommended course it was getting too shallow. We headed west to deeper water and in a round about way got to Ship Channel Cay and anchored. Randy went over to check on UNWIND as they had to reset their anchor. Derek said it was dragging. Randy went back over and picked them up at 2030hrs. so we could have a drink and share the days events. (We love our bonding time—Happy Hour) By 2200hrs everyone was hunkered down for the night as we were all exhausted from our long 14hour day.

Thurs. Feb22nd

1745hrs. we’re anchored in Allens Cay in 8.3ft. of water. A beautiful spot and we can see the Iguanas on shore. We were welcomed by the “Alouette” crew. Picking up the UNWIND crew we spent the afternoon snorkeling on a reef north of us.

We decided to put out our second anchor as the boats around us had two down and with the strong current it is probably a good idea. Randy went to help Derek put out his second anchor.

Fri. Feb.23rd

We had a real bouncy night. Randy slept on deck; what sleep he got. We’ve also got higher winds today. Many boats including Alouette left this morning.

We went and watched the Iguanas on shore and hiked around Allens Cay. A couple off BIKINI CLUB stopped by in their dinghy and we visited for a bit. They are from Kingston Ontario. They said they are heading to Highborne Cay tomorrow. It doesn’t have the current or swell like here.

In the afternoon we took the Rutherford’s to shore to see the Iguanas. Derek repaired their dinghy but the epoxy will take at least 10 hours to cure.

Feb.9th,2007-Nassau to Royal Island

Feb.9th,2007. Nassau to Royal Island & Spanish Wells 37.5 Nautical Miles

0630hrs.We’re up!!

0710hrs. We’ve made contact with UNWIND. The harbour is very busy with freight traffic.

0730hrs. We’re leaving the Harbor and have set a coarse to Egg Island. Our ETA is 8 hours, so we need to keep tight to our course. The winds are really light. Wanting to arrive at our destination before dark we will motor. The light rolling seas are three feet.

By 1541 we’re anchored at Royal Island. Rand has lowered the dinghy and gone to get the UNWIND crew. We all had a drink, then swimming ( more like necessary baths), then we all used our outdoor shower on the transom for a good rinse. We finished off a great day with more drinks and nibblies. Rand took Derek, Evelyn and Caylin back to their boat while I made dinner. After dinner we laid down on the bow to do a bit of star gazing and fell asleep.

We're having our "baths" before Happy Hour.

Saturday, Feb. 10th
Waking up to choppy seas we see the wind has changed direction and is quite brisk. We’re talking about going to Spanish Wells in the dinghy but decide it is too rough.

Royal Harbour is beautiful. There are approximately ten boats anchored here. A power boat just left so Rand has decided we should move for a bit more protection.

During the afternoon more boats are arriving. We’re sure it’s to get out of the bad weather. We’ve read Royal Island’s original name was Real Island, for the Spanish Silver coin used by pirates who frequented the Harbor. (Shall we let our minds wander on that point?) Back in the 50’s and 60’s the island was an elegant estate. Today the buildings are in ruin. Today we did see what we think were developers taking pictures and walking the land…. To the southwest of this harbor there is machinery and what looks like a development starting.

We had Cailyn overnight. I made chicken and veggies for dinner, then we all watched the stars come out plus the setting of the sun. Lastly; a game of Yatzee….Bedtime at 9 pm but Cailyn woke up at 10pm. not feeling well.
Sunday, February 11th.

We were up around 0630. We woke Cailyn at 0830 for French Toast. By 1030 we were on our way in the dinghies to Spanish Wells. We had a great day exploring this fishing community. Spanish Wells is famous for it’s prosperous fishing fleet which supplies over half of the Bahamas commercial crop of lobster, conch (pronounced conk) and fish. Also renowned are the islands boat builders, which is in fact why we came here as both High States and Unwind need a good bottom cleaning and painting. The full page ad in the Explorer charts states R&B Boatyard takes

boats up to 90 feet LOA, 120 tons and a max of 22 foot beam. As we’re within these parameters we should be okay. Of coarse today being Sunday everything is closed except one restaurant. We could certainly learn something back home from these Bahamian communities and customs. Even the Nassau shops were closed (excluding the cruise ship tourist areas).

The trip back from Spanish Wells was real choppy. Randy and I went through a cut at the Eastern end of Royal Island and saw two turtles. We had Happy Hour on UNWIND>

Rand doing his "housekeeping"

Back “home” we ran the “puppy” (Honda Generator) to top up the batteries. With the inverter we are charging the computer and camera battery. Randy went out in the dinghy to see how noisy the puppy is----good news, he says it’s quiet. It’s putting out 60 amps.

Monday, Feb.12th

It’s too rough to go back to Spanish Well to-day by dinghy so we hard wired in the NAVTEX weather system. We had to pull the wire through the stainless stern arch and then through the starboard berth to the NAV STATION. Of coarse we had to pull the berth completely apart, walls and all, so it gave me a good excuse to do a thorough cleaning job before putting it back together.

We then took a deserved break and went for a dinghy ride around the Bay. We found our blue bucket, which had blown away. It was stuck in the mangroves but we couldn’t retrieve it.

Tues, Feb. 13th

0520hrs. What a stormy night, filled with thunder and lightening. The wind hit us from all directions, plus it poured with rain. Needless to say, Randy was up throughout the night. He tried to rest a bit on the settee floor.

Suddenly Randy was yelling at me “We’re dragging anchor---if not us , the Rutherfords. It’s absolutely pouring with rain. It has turned out it is the Rutherford’s dragging. Randy is rushing to put down our dinghy to go and help them. They’re moving closer and closer to us. Finally it looks like their anchor has reset itself before Randy could get to them. It has turned out they are only 10 feet from the shoreline. I’ve made us a pot of coffee and we’re waiting for daylight. A little excitement no one needs!!!! “Sure could use a dodger to keep us dry” (A little dig from Rand)

0800hrs. Rand has gone over to check on Derek, Evelyn and Caylin, and to invite them for Breakfast or a “coffee break”. I’m making what will become the infamous carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

01100hrs. The UNWIND crew have come for coffee with stories of their early morning ordeal. We sat and reviewed the weather forecasts and charts. Last night’s gale force winds have helped us make the decision to call “ Cinnabar” to see if two of his mooring buoys are available. He said yes, so our plan is to enter Spanish Wells at high tide. We decided to leave Royal Island Harbor at 1400 hrs. so that we can be at the entrance to Spanish Wells at approximately 1500hrs. It’s made a huge difference with us having gone to Spanish Wells first by dinghy the other day. We have a much better perspective of where the entrance is, so of course we are not as stressed. However, it was tricky trying to get the mooring buoy. Randy had to come and help. I had managed to hook the buoy; however, I did not have the strength to lift it out of the water.

This picture is of us racing to get into Spanish Wells before this storm is upon us.

1540hrs. The motor is off and we’ve put the dinghy in the water as we were invited over to UNWIND for Happy Hour. We took some “nibblies” and beer and had a great visit. Before we knew it the thunder and lightening began so we headed back to the boat in the rain… We decided we may as well have a “bath”, so we put the ladder down and in I went, then Rand rinsed me off with the cockpit fresh water shower. I sure feel much better and I do believe everyone will have a good night’s sleep after last night.

Spanish Wells is on St. George’s Cay. The island is two miles long. Its name is said to have originated three centuries ago when Spanish explorers declared the local well water the sweetest in the Bahamas. However, now the water for the island is piped in from Eleuthera Island. Many of the local people are descendents of Loyalists. We found the town very clean and the people very friendly.

Wed. Feb.14th

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY. The chaffing of the line to the mooring buoy kept us awake throughout the night. Randy adjusted the lines and added another rode during the night.

We went to town around 1000hrs.. We went to the internet spot and sent a few emails, then walked through town. We are very excited we found an electronics shop that finally knew what we needed for our handheld VHF’s. The husband and wife team have lived on the island for over twenty years. Along with the electronics shop, they own the FM Radio station here, Nassau, and on Marsh Harbor, plus the only open liquor store on the island.
Unfortunately they are going through a number of legal challenges in regards to their liquor store. A small group of locals have had them closed down, so of coarse we had to hide our purchases in our knapsacks. We had appetizers on board our boat and watched another beautiful sun set.

Sunset at Spanish Wells.

Thurs.Feb.15th

Today we took a passenger ferry to Harbor Island to check out Dunmore Town which is renowned for its famous Pink Sand Beaches. We had a lovely day. The ferry left around 0955hrs and came back at 1555hrs. We rented a golf cart with the Rutherford’s. This was a great way to see the whole island. I do not know what I was thinking about this morning though as I forgot our camera and swimsuits. Not even a blanket. We took an awesome long walk along the beach while the Rutherford’s played in the water. We watched a horse and rider gallop along the beach and then swim in the water. The beach is three miles long and the most beautiful deep pink color. We can actually see minute pieces of coral mixed in with the sand.

Sunday Feb.18th

It’s still stormy most nights. Rand is not getting a lot of good sleep. Usually during the daytime the weather is quite nice. These past few days we have continued to tour the island either by walking or by dinghy. If you can imagine yesterday we saw a Canada Goose. What a horrible thought!!! We’ve done laundry and bought a few groceries.
This morning we actually went to try and see if the wireless internet worked on the government dock. The wireless did in fact work so we checked and sent emails and made phone calls via SKYPE. We had a gentleman come up to us and ask if we were the couple from Victoria. It turns out he and his wife (John and Sheena Windblad) built and own the pretty pink and white house across from our mooring that we have been admiring. They are from Kelowna and have been living here for six months of the year.

By 1300hrs Rand said we’d best head back to the boat as it looked like it was going to rain. Sure enough, it’s not only raining, the weather has turned real nasty. Randy is running the boat, topping up the batteries, however, I think it’s also for safety sake. All the boats are being thrown about. It’s like we’ve been hit by a bad squall but its not ending. If the marine store was open today we were going to buy a smaller anchor that we could physically manage to throw from the dinghy as a backup for the mooring buoy. (Our large anchors would be so difficult to manhandle). Randy has told me to stay below deck. I took him tea and cookies. He is soaking wet and even with the boat in neutral I think he is trying to keep the boat into the wind. This morning Randy spoke with John and Derek. I think they all were thinking one more hit of bad weather and then we’d be done for a bit. I don’t think we thought it would be this bad. We can only hope this won’t last much longer.

Randy, Derek, and John (off S/V Alouette) are all communicating on the VHF’s right now. Randy has his toque and life jacket on.

1500hrs. Randy and John have taken our 65 pound CQR anchor out by dinghy to the starboard side of UNWIND for additional holding. I helped let out the rode. At this point Derek has told them the winds are gusting to 50 knots. Now Randy and John have to go help Derek put out an additional anchor.

1630hrs. The weather is starting to settle down a bit. Randy just turned the engine off. We’ve recharged batteries and the computer. We have just downloaded pictures given to us by Derek and Evelyn.

1930hrs. The wind continues to howl. John on Alouette has just called to review weather reports. He thinks they (his wife Susan, and children Katie and William) will leave tomorrow around 0730hrs. Randy said we’ll be up but we will not leave until Tuesday. We’ve decided to make a bed under the settee table for tonight. Right now Rand has his “little puppy” running. (Honda Generator),giving us 110 light to read by. We’re checking out the charts. We definitely won’t be going to shore to do any phoning tonight. I am exhausted and really haven’t done anything today. Rand continues to look after us as usual. My guess is he’ll be awake all night waiting for this storm to pass.

Monday, Feb.19th

The winds reached over 60 knots during yesterday’s storm. The crew on Alouette left just after 0730hrs this morning. The winds are still high but John is hoping for a fast ride.

This morning we went over and had a nice visit with Sheena and John in their beautiful home. If we stay for another day here we will have them over to the boat. After our visit we checked emails, had lunch in a small café, finished our grocery shopping, filled the water tanks and before we knew it was 1600hrs. The Rutherford’s came over for snacks so we could review tomorrow’s game plan.

John Windblad said he’ come over and help us retrieve our anchor if we’d like. We may have to take him up on it.

Daily the dolphins played around our boats.

This is what we woke up to one morning. With the motor boats displacement being so different fromours. We pushed them away from us.

Trying to show the perspective of how close the boat is to shore when the tide is down.

John and Sheena Windblad's beautiful home.

Jan.30th,2007-On Our Way to Nassau

We’re on our way to Nassau---40.6 Nautical miles

Tues. January 30th

0645hrs. The weather has finally improved..

Rand has gone to pay our bill. Now he’s back---“They don’t open until 7am. (He’s been advised by the woman on the other side of the locked door). Gads!!! We in fact tried to pay our bill last night and were told we had to wait until morning….Talk about poor service.

Oh Well, by 0800 hrs. We’re finally on our way with our reefed main up. Jib up too. Rand is getting a little “bossy”. There is not enough wind to sail. When we turned off the motor we lost two knots. In the Northeast Providence Channel we can see a glimmer of pink on the horizon. Atlantis!!

Entering Nassau Harbour we are required to call Harbour Control to advise our intentions. This is one of the busiest harbours in the Bahamas. Nassau, New Providence is in fact one of the smaller inhabited islands, yet has two-thirds of the countries population.

By 1600hrs., we’ve made it to Nassau Harbor Club. We even managed to confirm our docking arrangements far enough out that I can have the lines and fenders on the appropriate side.

Going under the bridge.

The good news is we got the dingy motor fixed. The man did not even want to charge us. He came to the boat, picked it up and while we went shopping not only repaired it but returned it to our boat. Excellent service!! Randy insisted on giving him a gift. Then, off Rand went for a nice long spin!!

Unfortunately the marina itself has seen better days. The main streets of Nassau are very run down and dirty.

Wednesday, January 31st.

We’ve all decided to treat ourselves on a two day extravaganza to Atlantis. We’ve managed to get two of the cheap slips (slips run from 3.50ft-7.00ft per day and that does not include water or hydro. We are greeted by a gentleman dressed in whites with a welcome package which explains what we will enjoy during our stay. We are given personalized ID cards that we can actually use as a charge card if need be. Atlantis is stunning. Modeled after the lost city, the architecture is beautiful. There is lots of entertainment, plus a pool and hot tub right beside our moorage space. (We’ve heard a rumor Prince Harry is on one of the yachts). Randy and I really enjoyed one of the waterslides. We traveled on a double inner-tube through the blackness of a Mayan Temple, riding down a five story corkscrew before floating through a clear tunnel in a shark filled lagoon.

After lazing around the pool we enjoyed numerous walks through out the grounds checking out ten exhibit lagoons which were full of reef and nurse sharks, barracuda, giant groupers, and the largest sting ray we have ever seen. It’s wing span must have been 12 feet and it was incredibly graceful.

Enjoying the beach.

Gorgeous achitecture.

The "regal" couple.

Friday, February 2nd.
We are back to semi-reality. We have decided to stay a few more days at the Nassau Harbour Club. We have a long shopping list but continue to not have much success finding what we need. Each day though we walk over to Starbucks, enjoy a nice coffee and do the internet for an hour. We still are having no luck finding a re-charger for our handheld VHF’s. We also continue to call Spanish Wells Marina to confirm both boats can get in for a haul out. Still no answer!!! I have finally completed the cockpit cushion

Thursday, February 8th.

01130hrs. We’ve moved to an anchorage across from the cruise ship docks. The anchor would not go down by the power windlass. Rand used the manual hand bar to release the windlass clutch. While Rand took the windlass down switch apart, which was heavily corroded, I spent the afternoon completing the hand stitching on the cockpit cushions..

When our jobs were complete we put the dingy in the water and took beer and wine over to UNWIND for a visit.

We were surprised around 2100 hrs. with a fireworks display from Paradise Island. This was a great way to end a full day and our stay in Nassau.