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.
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.
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.
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.
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