Back on Sheet Music; Marsh Harbour, Hope Town

Monday, March 29: After two turbulent flights back, I made it safely to Marsh Harbour on Monday around 5:45 p.m.  The second leg was delayed getting off the ground because the plane was late getting in to Nassau because of a tornado. The plane was supposed to stop in Treasure Cay on the way to Marsh Harbour, but they changed the route and dropped us off at Marsh Harbour before heading to Treasure Cay, so we were only about a half hour late.

On the way to Orlando airport, Penny and I went to West Marine and I bought another VHF hand-held radio to be sure I could hail Sheet Music when I landed. Now we can each have one when I'm at shore and Chuck is somewhere in the dinghy or around town.

I bought Chuck two jelly donuts in the airport from Dunkin Donuts (his favorite). I also brought him back a new microphone for the radio in the cockpit because the other one stopped working about six weeks ago. I picked him up a watch since his broke a while back.

It started raining as I was getting off the plane. I took a taxi to the main dinghy dock in Marsh Harbour and hailed Sheet Music. Chuck was listening to a report on the tornado and didn't hear my call, so Wayne tracked him down. Chuck picked me up in the dinghy. It was a wet dinghy ride in the rain. I was so happy to be back on Sheet Music.

Patti cooked dinner, which was terrific, especially after a long day of traveling. Chuck gave her some food from our freezer and she cooked on my nights while I was away. Thanks, Patti!

Tuesday, March 30:  Patti and I went to Price Rite Grocery and provisioned the boat. I stocked on meats, since our freezer was almost empty! I also bought some fruits and vegetables. I went back and put everything away. Then we hauled three loads of dirty laundry to the laundromat. Washers were $2 per load and dryers were a quarter for two minutes. Luckily, clothes dried in about 20 minutes.

Chuck turned the generator on and I gave Jazzy a much-needed haircut and a bath. She's a pretty girl now and white again. She fell off the dinghy when Chuck was taking her to shore last week. She got excited when she saw two dogs on the beach and fell off the pontoon. She loves the new squeaky toy that grandmom sent her.

I cooked dinner: sirloin steak, baked potatoes and peas with fresh strawberries and cool whip for dessert. I was exhausted at the end of the day!

Chuck showed me the video he took of Hope Town. Since it was only about 8 miles away and the cruising guide says you haven't been to Abaco if you haven't climbed the lighthouse, we opted to leave Bum's Rest and head back to Hope Town. Chuck didn't get a chance to tour the lighthouse when he was there and I missed it.

Wednesday, March 31:  Bum's Rest was heading for Man-O-War this morning and we were heading to Hope Town. Temp was mid-70s. The sun was very bright. We pulled anchor about  9 a.m. Seas were less than a foot. Winds were 8 knots and SOG was 5.7 at 2800 rpms.

We arrived at Hope Town (Elbow Cay) around 10:30 a.m. and took a mooring ball. We should have taken a dock for another $12. Oh, well. Didn't realize it at the time.

Chuck and I left Jazzy on the boat and went exploring. I don't like to take her when we're exploring. We've run into too many stray or loose dogs on these islands. What a quaint little island! There's a wide pathway, like a double sidewalk, all through town for golf carts, bicycles and walkers. We spent a few hours walking around, then toured the Wyannie Malone Historical Museum (1785). It had exhibits of early life on Elbow Cay.

We've seen so many clever boat names.There's a boat here called C:\[esc].  That's one of my favorites!

Then we went to lunch at Harbours Edge and sat on the water. I had a cracked conch platter. Chuck had a chicken sandwich and a salad. We walked up to the fresh fish store and I bought two large lobsters tails.

Bill and Margee from Tortuga stopped by in their dinghy with their two dogs to chat.

I steamed the lobster tails for dinner and made a Caesar salad. Yum. We're sitting on the boat in the harbor listening to a reggae band as I'm typing this.

Tomorrow we'll meet up with Bum's Rest in Great Guana Cay.

The Abaco Internet connection leaves a lot to be desired, so no photos for now. We expect to be back in the States within two weeks, weather permitting, so I'll upload a bunch of photos then!

Three Flights to Reach Sheet Music Tomorrow; We'll Meet in Marsh Harbour

I'm flying to Marsh Harbour, The Abacos, Bahamas, tomorrow. Sheet Music and Bum's Rest are traveling there tomorrow to meet me. I'll hail Chuck on the radio to pick me up at the dinghy dock.

Can't wait to see them and be back on the boat!

I had a fabulous time in Florida with my son, Ryan, and daughter-in-law, Catherine. My niece, Cassie's, wedding so beautiful and we all spent a day in Walt Disney World today.

I will update on Sheet Music's travels when I have Internet again.

Enjoyed Hatchet Bay; Sheet Music on Way to Abacos; I'm in FL for Wedding

Postings from my log book:

Saturday, March 21: Pulled anchor at 9 a.m. for Hatchet Bay. It was a following sea with two foot waves, so we pulled the main sail for stabilization and balance. We motored at 2600 rpms and SOG was 5.4-6 knots with 7.5 knots of wind. We were rolling side to side. The sail helped a lot.


Another front is coming. I’m trying to get to FL for my niece, Cassie’s, wedding. And this front is messing up my hopes of being to The Abacos islands to catch a flight.

Transportation is different on each island. Some have ferries, some have charter flights. I haven’t even had Internet access for a week so I can’t even research what is available. I’m relying on cruising guides for information at this point.

We arrived at Hatchet Bay and only one mooring ball was available. Bum’s Rest took that, which left us on the concrete sea wall. Chuck was not too pleased with that, since the winds were coming from the West and would blow us into the sea wall.

We stayed the night and walked around the island. We decided that we would move in the morning to anchor, if no balls became available. We didn’t put the motor on the dinghy, so Chuck rowed us around the harbor. While rowing around the harbor, we met Tutti and Pat Phelan sailing on Keltic Kat, a 30 ft. Nonsuch, a very nice couple from Canada.

After sitting in the dinghies talking for a half hour or so, we went back to Sheet Music so I could take my laptop up to the little restaurant at the top of the hill. Francis and Gina are the proprietors and have a cute, little place there. We were due for dinner at Bum’s Rest in less than an hour.

Meanwhile, Tutti and Pat went over to speak to Wayne and Patti on Bum’s Rest. Patti invited them to join us for dinner. She made a big salad, turkey casserole, mashed potatoes and corn. Tutti brought homemade cookies for dessert. Yum.

We also met Sue and Earl from My Bonnie and the people sailing on Witchcraft.

Sunday, March 22: I woke up to the sound of a thunderstorm. After the worst of the storm passed, Chuck put out the rain catcher, getting about 2.5 gallons of water. Good, I could wash my hair!

We had breakfast and moved the boat to the West side of the anchorage for the blow that was coming. We anchored in 4.5 feet of water at low tide. We put the motor on the dinghy and he took me to the Front Porch to get online to see if I could book a flight to Florida.

I lucked out. I caught a Southern Airways charter from Governor’s Harbour, where we were two days before. It’s a 20 minute taxi ride. I’ll end up on four flights to get there, but at least I can get there. I have mixed emotions. I don’t want to miss this wedding for anything in the world, but I feel bad leaving Chuck and Jazzy on Sheet Music and want to get back as quickly as possible.

I had to book a one-way flight because I don’t know where they will be on Saturday or Sunday when I’ll return. The wedding is Friday night. I used Skype to call the bride, and my sister, and got their voice mail! I called my mom and she was screaming and crying and laughing at the same time.

A few minutes later, I was able to reach Penny and Cassie. They were screaming and crying too.

I will make my flight to Sheet Music in Marsh Harbour in The Abacos.

Cruising Up Eleuthera Island; Heading to Abacos

Wednesday, March 17:
Left Highbourne Cay at 7:55 a.m. We motored at 2600 rpms and SOG was 5.5 knots with 11.6 knots of wind. We were in Exuma Sound and that deep navy water again. The water was so pretty. It was 5,000 ft. deep at one point.

The sound was eerily calm. No wave height at all. I went down below and made Chuck and bacon and egg sandwich on toast. Wayne called to say he got reservations at Cape Eleuthera Marina.

At about 12:30 p.m., we could see the island in a distance. Wayne caught a Mahi-Mahi and said he would be a while getting it into the boat. We turned the motor off and sat and watched. I took some photos of him getting it on board. While he cleaned it and filleted it, I went down below to make some lunch.

We got underway about an hour later and soon arrived at the Powell Pointe Resort and Yacht Club at Cape Eleuthera. We topped off our fuel tanks, since we may not be able to get it again until The Abacos. We docked in slip #128, right near the fuel dock. There was a nice provisioning store and Bahama Coffee House, which was a Starbucks in disguise.

Patti made baked chicken, homemade potato salad and corn for dinner.

At 8 p.m., Chuck rebuilt the head. First he changed the duck bill, which was shot. It worked for a minute, then starting flowing water in again. He reopened the bottom where the duck bill is and a piece of conch shell was sucked up with the sea water, holding the duck bill open. That was a first!

Thursday, March 18:
We ate breakfast in the Bahama Coffee House for a change of pace. It was expensive and only so-so.

We launched at 10:30 a.m. and headed for Rock Sound anchorage. It was really rough getting through the mouth of the harbor, but fairly calm once we got through. It was sunny and 72 degrees. We motor sailed at 2000 rpms with half the main out. SOG was 4.6 knots and wind speed was 10.5 knots. Visibility was 3.8 nm. We saw a big shark swim right past our starboard side. It was fast!

Chuck caught a little bluefish and threw it back. Just before noon, we turned the motor off. Winds were 9 knots and SOG was only 2 knots, but we weren’t going far and were enjoying the day.

At 1:45 p.m., we arrived at Rock Harbor and dropped anchor near the town dinghy dock. We spent a few hours uptown and I did a lot of provisioning at the first supermarket we’ve seen since Nassau! I was thrilled to find a case of Crystal Geyser water for $19.99 for 35 bottles!

The Exumas only had little mom and pop “convenience” stores, no supermarkets. A worker from the store drove me back to the dinghy dock and I called Chuck on the portable radio to pick me up.

We loaded up the dinghy in the choppy waves. That was challenging, since the tide was low and I had to hand the bags down, then the case of water with the dinghy bouncing up and down. Then I climbed down four steps of a ladder to get in for the wet ride back to the boat.

I put the groceries away and we pulled anchor and moved the boat to the Northeast side of the island near the beach. There was going to be a bonfire on the beach with several other boaters later that night and we wanted to go.

We took the dinghy over to Bum’s Rest for dinner. Patti cooked again while the Mahi-Mahi was fresh. She breaded it and pan-fried it. It was delicious! She made rice with pigeon peas and string beans. We haven’t been having coffee at night to save water.

Chuck and I went to the bonfire on the beach and met other cruisers from Makana, Cookie Monster, Sun Cat, Tortuga and Wayward Wind. Cookie Monster is from Barnegat Bay, near us at home! What a small world!

We got back to the boat and realized Chuck’s remote that turns on the lights in our bimini was missing. He used it to turn our lights off when we left for the beach, but wasn’t in the dinghy. Guess it went overboard. Damn.

Friday, March 19: Chuck jumped in the dinghy and went back to the beach where the bonfire was to see if he could be lucky enough to find his missing remote. He looked all around the beach and where the bonfire was. Just as he was ready to give up, he spotted a tip of the Boat U.S. lanyard the remote was on. It was his lucky day!

It must have fallen out of his pocket when he helped put sand on the fire to put it out and it was buried in the sand on top of the fire! Miraculously, it still works. The embers must have kept it dry.

He came back to the boat and I made sausage and French toast, using the Bahamian bread left from Highbourne. It was yummy. He took Jazzy and I to shore and we walked about a mile to the bank near the grocery store to get cash from the ATM. No luck. My bank refused any transactions. We were able to see my balance, but that was it. I notified them before we left that we would be out of the country and wanted to use our ATM cards. They said no problem. And I was able to use it in the grocery store yesterday. I was so frustrated. The teller was so sweet and tried all different options, but nothing worked.

I walked back to the Batelco office (Bahamas Telephone Company) to use my pre-paid Batelco card to call TD Bank. The phone company had two pay phones outside. One was totally gone and the other didn’t have a hand receiver! I went inside and was told the only pay phone on the island is at the airport, which is at the other end of the island, way past the Market Place, where I had just come from. I didn’t want to pay $10 for Internet, since we’re leaving in the morning and we wanted to do more exploring this afternoon.

So, guess I’m out of luck until we go to The Abacos, where I’m hoping to be able to get a flight to my niece’s wedding next week! If I’m fortunate enough to be able to get a flight, I’ll get cash then.

I was not prepared for The Bahamas and their cash only policies almost everywhere you go. And we’re getting low on cash. Note for next trip: LOTS of cash before leaving home and small bills. Many places cannot break big bills. We’re fine, but since credit cards are rarely used on these little islands, we won’t be spending much money.

It was my turn to cook. I made boneless chicken breast dipped in panko, rosemary potatoes, fresh steamed broccoli and fresh strawberries with cool whip for dessert. I splurged and made coffee.

Tomorrow we’re moving to an anchorage in Governor’s Harbour.

Sat., March 20: We anchored in Governor's Harbour overnight and left for Hatchet Bay on Sunday morning, where we are anchored. I'll update in the next few days.

Leaving the Exumas; Tomorrow: Eleuthera

We're in Highbourne Cay and heading to Powell Point, Eleuthera, tomorrow. Catching up from the last posting:

Saturday, March 13:

We spent the day exploring Tucker's beautiful island, Compass Cay. There is a large beach here, Crescent Beach, which is the largest and prettiest beach we've seen in the Bahamas. We took lots of photos and hiked through trails on the island and combed the beaches. It was truly paradise. The colors in the water are just beautiful and such vibrant blues and greens. The rock formations in the Bahamas are unlike anything we've seen before. It's like being on another planet.

If you look real close at this photo, you'll see Chuck on the edge of the "cliff."

I got to swim in the Exuma Sound. Glorious!

Patti cooked dinner: roasted turkey breast with stuffing and the trimming. Delicious!

View from one of the "cliffs."

I found some sea glass on the beach and Chuck found a big old knot from a big ship.

He made a sculpture for the pathway at Compass Cay and I made a little sign to attach to it.

Below, Chuck checking the anchor.

Sunday, March 14:

At 9:50 a.m. the dockmaster hopped onto the yacht at our bow and took our bow line to help guide us out from between the two megayachts. We were headed for Fowl Cay (aka Chicken Cay) to anchor off Norman's private island. We met him at Compass Cay Marina and he and Wayne really hit it off. Bum's Rest took a short cut through the North Channel and we took the long way around out into Exuma Bank. Winds were 13 knots and seas were 2-3 ft. and very choppy with 4 ft. swells.

We saw two dolphins. They came alongside our boat and followed us for a few minutes. We weren't comfortable with the location of the anchorage and the exposure, so decided to anchor outside Compass Cay where we saw several boats.

Norman had invited us to dinner on Chicken Cay, so I made shrimp pasta salad to take. At 4 p.m., we decided to stay on our boat to see what the tide change would bring. I made burgers, deviled eggs and we had some pasta salad. Pudding for dessert.

Wayne called at 9 p.m. and said we were heading to Highbourne Cay if we could get dockage. Sounded good to us.

Mon., March 15:

I had anchor watch last night until 2 a.m. Chuck and I took turns sleeping in the aft cabin. He and Wayne spoke on the radio and decided to leave. After we pulled our secondary anchor, Wayne called and decided to stay another day. What to do? We thought about it a while and decided to drop the anchor again.

I read a Danielle Steel novel that I started while on night watch, while Chuck dinghied over to where Bum's Rest was, about a 10 or 15 minute ride.

When he got back, we took Jazzy to the little beach near us, then put her back on the boat and took the dinghy to Crescent Beach for another look. But it was too rough, so we went back.

Dinner was scalloped potatoes, Nathan's hot dogs and corn. Meat and fresh provisions are getting low, so need to find a real grocery store soon. Maybe in Eleuthera.

Tuesday, March 16:

We pulled both anchors and met Bum's Rest over at Chicken Cay. The seas were a little rough today. We went about 38 miles through Exuma Bank and motorsailed with both sails up. We are staying at Highbourne Cay Marina. We'll pull out around 8 a.m. to cross to Powell Point, Eleuthera.

We did some provisioning at the little store here. It's a great little store, but expensive, since everything is brought by boat. I only bought a small hand basket of things and I spent nearly $60!

It's our last night in the Exumas. We are officially heading to the Northern Bahamas tomorrow.

I made crab cakes, green beans and we finished off the shrimp pasta salad.

Tucked in at Compass Cay Marina for a Few Days

Thursday, March 11:
Yesterday, we ordered a loaf of raisin bread from Lorraine’s Café. Her mom makes it to order. It was delicious! We had it warm out of the oven last night and toasted two slices each for breakfast with coffee this morning.

Since water is free in Black Point and we could replenish our water, we took showers this morning. Then Chuck dumped 10 gallons of water from the jerry jugs into the water tank and took the jerry jugs to shore to get water. The faucet is up the street, so he had to take them up one at a time, fill them and lug them back to the dinghy. What a workout that early in the morning! Our cart was so rusty that we tossed it out about a month ago. He also took up our trash and made a donation.

We ran the generator to make coffee. After he got back from the town dock, we took the motor off, took down the riding sail and readied the boat to leave.

A few minutes after 9 a.m. I took the helm and Chuck pulled the anchor. I stayed at the wheel for about 15 minutes while he tied the kellett and secured a few other things. Winds were 10-13 knots. Seas were 2-3 ft. SOG was 4.1. We were sailing wing on wing with no motor. The winds were behind us.

We ran the macerator while underway. It’s hard to reach. We have to empty nearly half the lazerette to get to it. Guess they don't want you to use it on a whim!

At 11:30 a.m., we arrived at Big Majors Spot and dropped anchor. John and Mary are here from Marylee. We met them at Dowry Creek and were with them in Marathon. They have a Chihuahua named Goliath.

We put the motor on the dinghy and went over to feed the wild pigs. As soon as they hear the boat motors, they jump into the water and swim to you. But they don't like to be in too deep, so to keep them at bay, you don't get too close to shore.

I had asked Miss Adderley for old produce before we left Black Point and she gave me some spoiled produce to feed the pigs. I split it into two bags and gave some to Wayne and Patti.

One of the pigs was so anxious to get the food, he started to climb into our dinghy! He had both of his front hooves in the boat and was trying to reach the bag. I threw some cabbage leaves far from the boat and he swam to get them. Then we made sure to keep throwing it far so they wouldn't do that again!

After a few minutes, five little piglets came running onto the beach. They were so darn cute! I took a slew of photos. Patti took pictures of us, but her camera doesn't have a viewfinder, only a digital screen, and in the bright sun she couldn't see what she was getting. Needless to say, she didn't get much.

When we were done with the pigs, Chuck and I took the dinghy around to explore.

Later on, Madeleine and John on S/V Chanceau stopped by in their dinghy to invite us to a sunset party on the beach at 5 p.m. Chuck met them this morning while filling the jerry jugs. These get-togethers are very popular with cruisers and are a great way to meet those you see on the water or hear on the radio. Everyone takes snacks and boat cards to share and their own drinks. I took sopressata with mustard, crackers, bruschetta and rum punch.

Patti made dinner for 8 p.m. Steak rollups with stuffing and gravy, green beans and cheddar and sour cream mashed potatoes. Delicious.

Friday, March 12:
The weather report was not good, another front coming, so we pulled the anchor at 9:30 a.m. and headed for Compass Cay Marina. It’s known as a great hurricane hole, so we'll certainly be nice and comfy here.

The seas were 2-3 ft. and rough and coming over our port side beam. We had half the main sail out and were rocking and rolling. That helped level it out a bit.

We saw the dredging of a sandbar. I took this photo.

At 11:45 a.m., we pulled into the marina. We are docked sideways along the face of a dock, sandwiched between the bows of two megayachts. Bum's Rest is on the opposite side of the dock between two megayachts. They had to squeeze in between a sandbar and a megayacht at low tide. Very interesting dockage, but we are just happy to be in a marina tucked out of the winds!

Jazzy and I took a walk to the beach. It is beautiful and truly paradise. This is a private island and Tucker, its owner, built a marina and a lodge and shares his island with visitors.

Then we left Jazzy on the boat and Chuck and I walked down to the beach.

There is a low platform dock where about 20 nurse sharks of various sizes live. They all have names. You walk down onto the platform at high tide and pet the sharks. They come right onto the dock and wait for you to pet them. I was cooking dinner and Chuck was taking a nap a little after 6 p.m. and Wayne came and got me to pet the sharks and took my picture. It was pretty cool. You can swim with the sharks and buy a T-shirt with a graphic that reads: I swam with the sharks at Compass Cay. I may have to do that tomorrow so that I can buy a T-shirt! Wayne may too, but Patti won't have any parts of it.

I called Ryan and spoke to him for a while. It was great to hear his voice.

I made chicken with rice and mushrooms in wine and chicken broth with a side of peas. Yum. We had potato bread from the freezer for dessert and Patti and Wayne sampled the raisin bread we bought at Black Point.

Tomorrow, I hope to swim at that beautiful beach! We'll see what the weather holds.

Anchored in Black Point Settlement, Bahamas

Tuesday, March 9:
Happy Birthday to Pat “Paddy” McGowan (Chuck’s brother) and Lisa Reavis, my beautiful niece.


We left Staniel Cay Yacht Club at 10 a.m. after filling the water tank, jerry jugs and seven one-gallon cans (74 gallons total). The islands that DO have water available is R/O (reverse osmosis) water. Dockage was $2 per foot, electric was $30 a night (we only took one night of power) and $10 for Internet. Fuel was $4.29/gallon. Gas for the dinghy and generator was $4.63/gallon. What a beautiful place!

There is a 5 percent charge for using your credit card on all of the islands and there are no banks. Also, the stores are all very small and most don’t take credit cards and have trouble breaking large bills. Note for next trip: have plenty of cash and small bills on hand!

Shortly after we left, we pulled out the sails and turned the motor off. It’s the first we got to sail without the motor in a while and it felt good. There was 13 knots of wind and seas were less than a foot. It was a beautiful day! Too bad we only had to go about 10 miles.

We arrived at Black Point Settlement at 12:10 p.m. Bum’s Rest arrived about 10 minutes after us.

We put the motor on the dinghy and filled it with laundry, a big bag of trash and the camera. There’s free trash here, so we put a donation in the box. We planned to do laundry when we arrived, but the water line in the town is broken, so no laundry today. It will be on in the morning until 11 a.m. when they’ll shut it down again to work on it. So we’ll probably head over early. There’s an actual laundromat here, like in the states. It’s the first one we’ve seen. Ida also sells marine supplies and offers showers and haircuts. Chuck may get a haircut tomorrow. He’s only had one haircut since we left in October!

It’s a nice island. We took a little walk, but didn’t get too far. Chuck is still trying to find out where the water is coming in and it was heavy on his mind, so we came back to the boat. We were up until midnight trying to figure out where it’s coming from and pumping it out. He took a dive under the boat and checked for any signs of trouble there. Nothing.

We found a little store with meat in their freezer! Adderley’s Friendly Market had chicken parts, breakfast sausage, shrimp, bacon and lunchmeat in the freezer. We were happy for that. We also picked up paper towels and a few other things. There was no meat in any of the stores in Staniel Cay and the boat only brings groceries in on Wednesdays.

Everything is expensive because it is brought in from Nassau or Georgetown and marked up to pay for fuel and labor. I paid $10 for three whole chicken legs. The only lunchmeat we’ve seen on three islands is Oscar Mayer chopped ham. Water is $20+ a case for 12 oz. bottles. I drink a lot of water and have to have it on board. If there is a next time, we’ll have to load up on more water. Three cases didn’t last us very long at all. Paper towels are $3.50 a roll. A can of Dole peaches or pears is $2.95. Bagels are $6 for a package of 5 frozen bagels. Bread is $5 or more a loaf and is frozen because everything spoils so fast.

Most of the islands have a nurse at the government clinic, a very small one- or two-room building in most cases. A doctor comes to the island once a month. They take donations of medical supplies. We left some supplies with the nurse on Staniel Cay.

It’s funny how the islands are all so very different. Each has its own personality. The people are friendly and very welcoming everywhere we go. Their economy depends on the boaters.

Patti and Wayne came over for dinner tonight: salad, lasagna and garlic bread.

Wednesday, March 10:

Today was laundry day! The first time in three weeks and I had four loads. The laundromat is great. Twelve washers and 10 dryers. $3.50 per washer or dryer and one dryer didn't dry all the way, so I had to buy an extra dryer token. Total laundry bill: $31.50. Boy, I feel for those who have to go to the laundromat all the time.

Patti and Wayne had pizza for lunch at DeShaMon and said it was good, so we're here now and just ordered a pizza for lunch. There's free Internet at two cafes here if you buy a drink or something to eat. We're eating on the screened in porch and have Jazzy with us. Wayne and Patti just arrived and are sitting across from us.

Chuck may change the oil today. I think we're going to Big Majors to feed the wild pigs tomorrow. It's right near Thunderball Cave where we snorkeled the other day.

Back with Bum's Rest in Staniel Cay; No Georgetown

We met up with Bum's Rest again in Staniel Cay. No Georgetown this trip. But first, here's two days catchup:

Saturday, March 6:
We had planned to head to Georgetown this morning, but with the high winds, we decided to spend the day in Little Farmer’s Cay. What a neat little island.

We managed to find a hot spot and posted yesterday’s blog this morning, then put the motor back on the dinghy, left Jazzy on the boat and headed for shore.

At noon, we went to Ocean Cabin, paid Terry for another day’s mooring and ordered lobster salad sandwiches and fries for lunch. Ernestine, his wife, was out, so he said she would call on ch. 16 when lunch was ready.

We walked the road that circled around the island and took pictures. We saw a few cotton bushes (see photo at right).

It is a tiny community, with only 40 people living on this island, including the children. The All-Age School has a husband and wife team as teachers. She teaches the little ones, he teaches the older ones. All their supplies are delivered by boat and they take the mailboat to Georgetown to buy their clothing, shoes, etc.

When we realized we would probably need cash for lunch, Chuck took the dinghy back to the boat and I stayed and talked to the locals. Brenda was baking homemade potato bread and macaroni and cheese. So I ordered some for dinner.

About 2 p.m. our lunch was ready and we walked back to the Ocean Cabin. It was delicious and plentiful. Then we went to the Lil Harbour grocery store, attached to Brenda’s Kitchen, and bought a few things and talked to the locals. We picked up our order from Brenda and headed back to the dinghy dock where we met a group of boaters who are heading to Georgetown tomorrow: Andiamo, Southern Vectis and Naut Again. We’re going to travel with them.

Sunday, March 7:
Mother Nature wouldn’t cooperate and it looks like we’re not going to make it to Georgetown. With a three-day front coming next Friday-Sunday, we’ll liable to get stuck in Georgetown for a week or more before being able to get back to Bum’s Rest and we didn’t think it was fair to ask them to wait for us that long, so we decided to go back up north.

Winds were a steady 22 knots with higher gusts. Seas were 3-6 feet, with 2-3 feet higher swells. Andiamo decided to make a run for Georgetown. The others decided to wait another day. Andiamo is much bigger than us and we weren’t comfortable going. We decided to wait until later in the morning and head to Black Point. Around 10 a.m. we undid the mooring lines and bid farewell to Terry, Larry and our new friends on Southern Vectis.

The seas were rough, three feet and choppy. We had a reefed jib and were motor sailing. Shortly thereafter, we heard Andiamo on the radio. It was too rough for them and they only made it five miles and decided to throw the anchor and spend the night. At 22 rpms we were going 6.5 knots. It was rough, so we reefed the jib again and pulled the main about halfway. We lost speed to 5.7 knots, but it was a little smoother. Very little. I took half a Dramamine and was sipping ginger ale.

We had to pull in the jib. It was just too rough. It has a belly in it and won’t wrap right because it is stretched. Can't wait to get our new head sail when we return to the states. We couldn’t take a direct route because it was too rough and waves were splashing over the bow.

Chuck went up to wrap the jib tighter and put a line around it and a wave soaked him. Where’s the camera when I need it? Darn!

Around 11:30 a.m., we heard a faint transmission from Bum’s Rest to another boat. They were on their way to Staniel Cay, so we decided meet them at Staniel Cay Yacht Club. We called for a reservation and dockage was available.

Our waypoints were Little Farmer’s Cay, White Point, Black Point, Harvey Cay and Staniel Cay. There was a more direct, but shallow VPR route (Visual Piloting Rules) from Black Point to South Staniel Cay to Staniel Cay, but it was too windy and choppy to get a good reading on the water, so we decided to go around Harvey Cay to play it safe.

We arrived at SCYC at 1:45 p.m. and circled in the harbor for nearly 50 minutes waiting for space at the fuel dock. We finally gave up and called for a slip assignment. We are on the opposite side of the pier from Bum’s Rest. We’ll fill the jerry cans tomorrow and top off the fuel tank. We only went 15 or so miles since emptying our jerry jugs into the tank.

We took Jazzy for a walk around the island and went to the Isles General Store, but it is closed on Sundays. We’ll go back tomorrow. They have marine supplies, groceries, gifts and a little bit of everything. There are two other grocery stores on the island: the pink store and the blue store. We walked our way around to the pink store and bought a few groceries to hold us over, including a small loaf of coconut bread.

I made pork chops with peaches in a sweet sauce over stuffing for dinner. Wayne and Patti made reservations and went up to the restaurant here. We watched Sailor while they went to dinner. Tomorrow, we may rent a golf cart to explore around the island and Wayne is snorkeling at Thunderball Cave with us. Internet is $10 for 24 hours, so I bought one pass. I’ll try to upload some photos for my Facebook friends to see.

Waiting Out Winds in Little Farmer's Cay; Georgetown Tomorrow

We left Exuma Park and Bum’s Rest at 9:45 a.m. for Georgetown. Wayne has no interest in Georgetown, we can’t be this close and not go there. So they will spend some time in Staniel Cay and Black Point and we will meet up with them in a week or so. Since we got a late start, we thought we’d stay in Staniel Cay, but soon realized that we could make Little Farmer’s Cay, which is only 38 miles from Georgetown.


We set our waypoints: Warderick Bore to Bell Island Bore to Rocky Dundas to Harvey Cay to Little Farmer Cay.

At 2 p.m. we passed Black Point and were glad we decided to keep moving. We called around 3 p.m. to Ocean Cabin for a mooring. We were going to stop for fuel and water, but Farmer’s Cay Yacht Club was out of fuel. It’s a good thing we have our jerry cans!

It was low tide, so Terry from Ocean Cabin told us to go to oven rock and head for the Batelco tower. While pulling up the dinghy, I lost my Exuma Land and Sea Park visor that I just bought two days ago. I was so mad! We had to grab the mooring, so couldn’t stop to get it. By the time Chuck got the mooring line hooked and jumped in the dinghy to get it, it was gone. Bummer.

He rowed back to the boat, we put the motor on the dinghy and went to pay for our mooring. We took two large flex bags of trash to shore. It was $4 per large bag of trash. We gladly dropped our $8 in the box. We were glad to get rid of the trash!

We took the short walk to Oasis convenience store. The screen door was locked. We went to Ocean Cabin and paid for the mooring and the lady who works there runs the convenience store. We needed bread, at the minimum. So she walked back to the store with us. Much to her surprise, and ours, she just received a shipment of goods and had fresh lettuce, tomatoes and green peppers. We bought some and a loaf of bread and some chocolate chip cookies. It was $11.70. Not bad, considering we paid for than $5 just for a loaf of frozen sandwich bread at Highbourne!

We met Larry from Lapidus. He is from Oklahoma City. He was traveling with another boat, but had a broken motor mount. And the other night in the storm, he threw out an anchor as instructed by Terry. The lines crossed, his mooring line chafed and cut, he lost his mooring and his boat dragged until the anchor caught. Poor guy!

We headed back to the boat and I made a big salad, sautéed some shrimp and parmesan noodles. We had cookies and coffee for dessert.

Winds from the North tonight and we’re right in line for it, so was on mooring watch until 1 a.m. , then Chuck was up. We had hoped to go to Georgetown today, but winds are 21-23 in the harbor, with white caps, so we’re staying put today. Chris Parker’s forecast for tomorrow looks better, so we’ll venture out to Georgetown tomorrow.

Hoping to Head to Staniel Cay Soon

Three days of catch up:

Tuesday, March 2

After the Bumms left from dinner the other night, we saw water sloshing up from the floor boards as the boat was rocking. We ran the pump to drain it out. Today, Chuck worked on sectioning off the bilge to try and figure out where the water is coming from. It’s salt water and we suspect it’s coming from the keel bolts.

I was on the computer paying bills and recording transactions from our bank statement into the check registry and writing notes for some birthdays back home.

When we finished, we picked Patti and Sailor up in the dinghy and headed over to a long beach across the harbor. The dogs had a blast running around and chasing each other. Patti and I walked on the beach.

I had the portable VHF radio and I hailed Chuck when we were ready to come back to the boats. There is shallow water far from the beach, so we walk in water to reach the dinghy.

I cleaned Jazzy up and we left her on the boat and took the dinghy over to visit Seventh Heaven. Jude and Paul are from England and have been living aboard for four years and cruising around the world. They spent a year in the Mediterranean and cruised to Turkey, Grenada and St. Maarten, to name a few.

I made boneless chicken breasts with barbecue sauce, baked potatoes and corn. We topped off the meal with vanilla pudding for dessert.

We are expecting winds to 35 knots tonight and tomorrow. Radar showed showers going north of us, so we didn’t put the rain catcher out and, wouldn’t you know, it started to rain. So we scrambled and put it out to catch what we could. Water is a valuable resource and is not available on this island. Every little bit helps!

Wednesday, March 3:
We stayed on the boat today weathering out the high winds. We were so glad we weren’t still at Emerald Rock because the winds and seas were worse than the other night. Our alarm that notifies us that winds exceed 30 knots kept going off. I felt sorry for the poor souls out there. It was much calmer in the harbor. I took a Dramamine and slept in the aft cabin last night.

Today was a lazy day, which was wonderful. Later this afternoon, I made a sign for Sheet Music and Bum’s Rest with our names on it for Boo Boo Hill on a piece of driftwood that Chuck found on one of the beaches. That’s where everyone leaves a piece of driftwood with their boat name on it. We’ll lug it up there when the weather improves. It looks like we’ll be here all week.

Patti cooked dinner tonight: salad, homemade vegetable beef soup with fresh-baked cornbread and pudding for dessert. Delicious.

Thursday, March 4:
The winds kicked up again last night, but not nearly as bad as the night before. Temp was probably about 68 or 69 today. The winds were from the northwest and brought in cold air. That seems to be the story everywhere we go. Cruisers tell us this is not a typical weather year at all. Blame it on El Nino.


Today the four of us hiked up to Boo Boo Hill and put out sign on the pile. I wish this Internet service would let me post photos!

Patti and Wayne went to the book exchange and Chuck and I hiked several more trails. We saw another couple taking photos of each other and I offered to take a photo of them together. It turned out to be Peter and Lynn from First Edition. They are from North Jersey and have liveaboards for three years, but are getting ready to split their time between cruising and land again. It's those grandchildren that we just can't seem to stay away from! Maryann from MicMac told us to look for each other, so we were happy to spend some time chatting with them and exchanged boat cards.

Tonight I'm making spaghetti and meatballs with jello and pineapple for dessert. We're out of fresh produce, so no salad. And no bread. There's no place to shop on this remote island, so we're low on fresh stuff. But we have plenty of canned and packaged goods and a few more things in the freezer.

I think that the next stop is Staniel Cay, then Black Point, where there's groceries and laundry. Maybe as soon as tomorrow.

Will keep you posted when we have Internet again. It's hit or miss down here.

Happy Birthday, Joe McGowan; We Moved to Protected Mooring

It's March 1st. Happy Birthday to our son, Joe! Love and miss you. Hope it's a great one! Here's three days of catching up on the blog:

Saturday, Feb. 27:

Today was a beautiful day in paradise. We left Jazzy on the boat and took the dinghy to one of the beaches by the mooring field, Beryl’s Beach. We went barefoot and took shoes and socks to hike the trails. We took the trail to the ocean side to see the beach. It is like another planet over there. The rock formations in the Bahamas are like nothing I’ve ever seen. We took a lot of photos and video and soaked in the scenery.

When we came back from our hike, the tide was so low that our dinghy was grounded. The water was about 25 feet away! So we pulled it off (cruising is not for sissies!) and went back to Sheet Music and got Jazzy. There is a huge sandbar in the center of the harbor where dogs are allowed to run loose and play. And she had cabin fever from being confined for five days.

She had a blast. She ran in the water and ran her face along the sandbar while running like she does when on grass. She was covered in beach sand, head to toe. We played with her for a while and took video and photos. We put her in deeper water to swim off the sand. The Bumms came over to us in their dinghy and Patti and I waited with the dogs and talked while the guys hiked another trail. I let Jazzy swim around to tire her out so we could leave her when we were going out in the evening.

We went back to the boats at 4 p.m. and buttoned down the hatches for the impending storm. Chuck put lines to hold down the solar panels and extra bungee cords on the bimini and dodger. That night, there was a social gathering on the beach for the cruisers. Everyone took snacks and their own drinks. We met a couple from Canada who are cruising on a Beneteau 381. We have seen so many Beneteaus on this trip, all different sizes!

After the social, we went back to the boat in three foot seas. It was really choppy and a challenge to get back on the boat! The boat was going up, while the dinghy was going down. There was about a 2+ foot difference, so as they were bobbing up and down, you had to time went to jump onto the boat!

We winched the motor off the dinghy. We were afraid that the winch would give way while we were trying to get the motor off with the rough seas. When we were done, we noticed that we lost our Igloo cooler off the back of the boat. The dinghy was pounding up and down so hard, it must have knocked it off, line and all. We weren’t even sure which way the current was going, so we’ll check for it in the morning. Guess it’s lost. I just hope that no one runs into it.

I took a Dramamine and readied below for the storm. Chuck slept in the cockpit with his harness on, strapped in. I slept in the salon. Needless to say, it was a rough night!

About 3 a.m. I heart glass clanging. It was the bottles of wine and rum on the shelf in the bathroom banging together. So I put towels between them. Also the cookware in the toaster/convection oven was clanging, so I took that out.

The temps here are in the mid to high 70s during the day.

Sunday, Feb. 28:
We were up early because of the rough seas. Winds were 18-23. We are wide open to the Gulf where we are on a mooring. If you look on a map or Google Earth (Maryann and Steve), you’ll see the mooring field at Emerald Rock that’s part of Exuma Land and Sea Park. We’re on E-21. Our name is on the list to move closer to park headquarters, where there’s more protection. But everyone there is staying put because of the weather. Tomorrow should be better, so we’re hopeful we’ll get to move in there before the high winds on Tuesday. We’re looking out at miles and miles of water, so it’s rough.

Around 11 a.m., it calmed down enough that I could make coffee on the stovetop percolator and I made pancakes. I put the clamps back on the stovetop to hold the pots and pans on and gimbaled the stove. We had canned red grapefruit with it for breakfast.

Chuck watched The Beaches with Leonardo DiCaprio on DVD that we rented for $2 in the park office.

We put the motor back on the dinghy and he went searching for our cooler. I thought it was gone for good. But he found it in a cave-like alcove on the bank about a half mile away! There was a little damage, but it is good enough for the rest of the trip!

He came back to pick up me and Jazzy and we went to Butterfly Beach. There was a trail there he wanted to take, and we let Jazzy run on the beach. She had a ball!

It was my turn to cook: pork loins, mashed potatoes, applesauce and peas. The rest of Wayne’s birthday cake out of the freezer was dessert.

There’s no trash disposal, no bathrooms, no laundry and no fresh water here. So we’re being frugal with our water. I’m using a spray bottle of rain water to wash and rinse dishes. The trash is piling up. Luckily, I bought Glad Forceflex trash bags, so I keep shoving the smaller bags into a big bag. We store it in the dinghy at night and in the cockpit in the daytime when we’re using the dinghy. The laundry is really building up too. Everything gets soaked and salty in the dinghy (we don’t always wear our rain gear) and sometimes we walk in the water. Pretty soon we’ll have to tie that outside too.


We’re down to about a quarter tank of water, about 10 gallons, in our tank. We have four 5-gallon jerry cans of water on the deck, which we’ll dump in the tank tomorrow when seas are calmer.
Monday, March 1 
Chuck dumped the jerry jugs of water into the tank, so we have about 3/4 of a tank. That's 30 gallons and it has to last us most, if not all, of the week. Looks like we'll be here for a while. We were listening to all the weather forecasts from different sources and hoping we would get the opportunity to move closer to headquarters for more protection.

We lucked out! At 9 a.m. every day they announce who on the list can move to the north anchorage, a loop by the park headquarters. Bum’s Rest and Sheet Music moved into the mooring field this afternoon. We are the last ball, right near the office and beach, #15. Bum's Rest is on #13. We were thrilled. If we were going to be stuck in the Emerald Rock mooring field, we were going to leave because it was really rough there the other night (too much exposure) and more storms are coming in the next few days. We’re totally safe in here, protected by some islands and a huge sandbar. We'll still have to deal with the winds, but not those rough seas.

It is a three- or four-minute dinghy ride from our previous mooring, but took us an hour to get here by sailboat because of a huge sandbar. We had to go out and around to get here.

It’s funny how deep the water is in a circle, with a huge sandbar in the center of all these sailboats! We take the dogs up on the sandbar at low tide to run freely and play. It’s the only place where they are allowed off a leash.

I wish the park’s Internet service would allow us to post photos. It is so very beautiful here.

After we got settled, we took Jazzy on the beach for a 15 minute walk, then we put her back on Sheet Music and hiked up to Boo Boo Hill. It’s a place where many boaters leave signs on driftwood with their boat name. Near there, we stood over blow holes and felt the air whoosh up as the waves crashed into the caves. (Maryann, it is warmer here. I've been wearing tank tops and shorts).

I’ve taken a ton of photos here, but have no idea when I’ll be able to post. As I said before, Internet is $10 a day and limited use. We purchased Internet for today so we could wish our son, Joe, a happy birthday!

Anyway, we are heading to Bum’s Rest for dinner in a few minutes.