Bitter Guana or bitter Iguana? January 28, 2013

After we left Cambridge Cay, we went the short distance to Sampson Cay. The book described the restaurant at Sampson as having a great Saturday night "beach buffet dinner." After two weeks of being at anchor, that sounded good to us. After we got the anchor down, we radioed the marina to find out when the buffet started, only to be told "the restaurant is out of business." Boat-made pizza on board for us.

In the morning we went to the dock for fuel, water and a few groceries then headed south to Bitter Guana Cay. On the way we passed Staniel Cay. It is a very popular spot and we heard on the radio that there were 61 boats anchored there. We are looking looking forward to some time at Staniel soon, but for now we decided on Bitter Guana. We are now here for the second night and we are still the only boat at the anchorage.




This is our view to the east.




Bitter Guana is an "iguana protected area." The book says, "you will find friendlier iguanas here than the ill-mannered beasts on Allen Cay."




We don't know about the iguanas on Allen Cay, but this big guy chased Dan about 30 feet.

We kayaked to shore and then hiked to the other side of the island. The ocean on the eastern shore looked rough and wild.




But, on the western shore was very docile.


When we got back to the kayaks, we found this guy enjoying the shade under the kayak, and acting like he owned it. It took a little coaxing to get him to scamper off into the bush.




Next it is on to Black Point Settlement for provisions and an Internet connection.

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Location:Bitter Guana Cay

Bahama Breezes, January 25, 2013

After four nights at our own private anchorage at Hall's Pond, we decided to brave the strong east winds and move on to another anchorage within the Land & Sea Park.





We hooked up to a mooring ball at Cambridge Cay. We prefer this anchorage over the one at Warderick Wells. It is more remote and even prettier here.





We took a long walk on the secluded beach.





There was a path lined with conch shells that we followed across the island for a view of the Exuma Sound.





We have gone through a period of strong winds. We have been struck by the contrast between the Bahamas and the Great Lakes regarding wind patterns. At home, we can usually count on the wind dying down at night. Here the wind continues to blow steadily all through the night, often in excess of twenty knots. So far, we haven't had trouble with our anchor holding, but we are always careful in setting the anchor and Dan usually dives down to check it. Hopefully these will not be famous last words.





We plan to move on to Sampson Cay tomorrow, leaving the protected waters of the park and giving Dan a chance to put some fresh fish on our table.


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Location:Cambridge Cay

Where's Johnny?

We spent two nights at Warderick Wells, near the park office. There was a lot to see in the water and on land.







We hiked to the high point of the island to a spot called Boo Boo Hill. Here we found a large pile of driftwood bearing the names of many of the boats that have visited the park over the years.




We found a piece of wood and left our mark.




We continued our hike to the other side of the island and had a panoramic view of the Exuma Sound.




Laurie at Boo Boo Beach.

There was a good snorkeling spot within swimming distance of our boat. We swam over and saw a beautiful assortment of fish and coral, including a huge spotted eagle ray. After dinner on our second night, Dan went on deck to throw some table scraps in the water. No sooner had the food hit the water, than it began to boil with activity. Apparently the sharks come into the anchorage looking for handouts and to "feed right after dark." We watched them with a flashlight and they appeared to be the "harmless" nurse sharks. Needless to say, there was no late night swimming off Glory Days, and there won't be any time soon.

The next day, January 21, we left Warderick Wells and went the short distance to an island called Little Halls Pond. The entire island is owned by the actor, Johnny Depp. We anchored just off the beach where we could see a sign that read, "Jack's Beach," an apparent reference to his character in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.




Just down from us, this boat was also anchored. We don't know if it is Johnny's boat or if it belongs to his guests. Johnny was not around to ask, and the staff working on the boat didn't have much to say.

We snorkeled at a place nearby called the Coral Garden. It was much like diving into a huge aquarium. Lots of fish and beautiful coral.

After one night at Jack's Beach, we moved two miles north to Halls Pond to find better protection from the forecasted strong NNE winds. We are still in the Land and Sea Park, but it is more secluded.



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Location:Hall's Pond, Exuma Islands

Mahi Mahi, Fish so nice, they had to name it twice, January 19, 2013

On January 18th we woke up at Governor's Harbor. The wind had shifted in the night to the northwest and was building. Our anchorage left us exposed to the waves so we decided to take off and head to Rock Sound. We had read that Rock Sound was a good place to provision before heading to the Exumas.

We had a great downwind sail to Rock Sound and anchored on the north end of town to get protection from the chop. After completing some boat chores, we dinghied to the dock and walked to the grocery story. After getting groceries, we walked the other direction to the laundry mat.

The laundry mat is owned by a local couple. The woman runs it during the day and the husband, "Showboat" comes in after completing his day at his other job and handles things until he closes at 8:00 pm.

Showboat noticed Dan's LA Dodgers hat and asked if we were from the states. We told him we were from Michigan. We were shocked when he asked us if we knew Midland, Michigan, (our home for the past 33 years.). He had been a member of the Bahamian fast pitch softball team, and had participated in the world tournament in Midland in the mid 1990's. It was very interesting to hear his recollections of his time in Midland. Unfortunately, one of his memories was a KKK demonstration on Main Street.

In the morning, we said good bye to Eleuthera and headed across the Exuma Sound for Warderick Wells and the Exuma Islands.




Not long after getting into deep water we passed a chunk of styrofoam floating in the water. No sooner had Dan said the words, "this is the kind of stuff you will find fish around," the reel started singing, indicating a strike. Dan grabbed the rod and immediately the hand line went off, indicating we had had a double. We managed to land one very nice Mahi Mahi. The second fish must have been bigger as he broke the line.

The fish we landed was a dandy. Laurie started looking through her cookbooks and came up with a great recipe for Mahi Mahi Ceviche. After we hooked up to a mooring ball at Warderick Wells, we enjoyed a cocktail and a delicious snack on our first afternoon in the Exumas.









Warderick Wells is the home to the park office for the Exuma Cay Land and Sea Park. This 176 square mile area is a marine protected area. That means that nothing living or dead may be removed from the area. The sea life is allowed to exist without the threat of human predation. That means no spear fishing for Dan while we are here, but there are some great snorkeling opportunities.




Reaching the Exumas has been a goal for us and we we feel very happy to be here. We expect to be in this general area for several months.

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Location:Warderick Wells, Exumas

Same temp here as in Michigan?? January 17, 2013

Same temperature here as in Midland, Michigan? How can that be? We saw on the news that it was 25 degrees in Michigan and that it was 25 degrees in Eleuthera. The only difference was that it was Fahrenheit in Midland, Michigan and Celsius in the Bahamas. That is roughly 77 degrees here and 25 there. Sorry, we just had to mention that.

We finally pulled away from Hatchet Bay on January 16. It was tough, because we had come to like the town so well. We said good bye to our new friends, Matt and Brittany on the Great Mysterious and Scott and Michelle on Makaila. We hope to see them "down the road," but you never know. We felt like if we didn't leave soon, we could turn into one of those boats that grows all that green stuff at the waterline and looks like it needs a good scrubbing.

We moved only a short way to Alabaster Bay and anchored for the night.




This was another secluded spot that we had to ourselves. There is a resort on shore, but it has gone out of business and there were no signs of life there. We walked the long beach before returning to the boat for another Bahamian style meal of Cracked Conch, fried potatoes and cole slaw.


In the morning we went the short distance to Governor's Harbor




This is the largest town on Eleuthera. It had a two grocery stores, three liquor stores and a number of variety stores. It also has several "take away stands" that serve great food.





Glory Days resting at anchor in Governor's Harbor.






The Government Building.




Governor's Harbor connects to Cupid Cay. We walked around Cupid Cay and had lunch at a take away. Fish, pork chop, rice, cole slaw, potato salad, and a beer, for $13. We also visited the duty free liquor store and stocked up in anticipation of an extended stay in the Exumas.




Walking around town, we passed a group of kids leaving the school and heading to the park for PE.





All of the schools we have seen here are painted in the same colors. They are celebrating the anniversary of "majority rules" and the right to vote.




After hauling fresh water in jerry jugs and grocery shopping, it was back to the boat for the obligatory sunset picture and dinner.

We are excited to hear that our friends on Heritage, Chances and Banyan have crossed from Florida to Bimini and we may be seeing them again soon.

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Location:Governor's Harbor, Eleuthera, Bahamas

Another day in Hatchet Bay, January 13, 2013

Awhile back we wrote about how people call Vero Beach, Florida, "Velcro Beach" because it is so hard to pull away from. Hatchet Bay is becoming a lot like that for us. This is just a good place to be.

Friday night we went into the town and had delicious BBQ pork and chicken at a little bar called, Da Spot. We sat next to a table of local men playing dominoes. Their style of playing is nothing like the game we play on Glory Days. There is a lot of slamming the table and yelling. Most of what was being said was we could not understand, except for the frequent "F-bombs." It sounded very angry and aggressive, but was actually all in good fun.

Yesterday morning we got up and Dan tore apart and cleaned the carburetor of the dinghy motor for about the eighth time. This has been a recurring problem, and there does not seem to be an obvious solution.

After that was accomplished Dan went off spear fishing with some of the other cruisers in the bay. This was a very friendly group that we got introduced to by Brittany and Matt on the boat, Great Mysterious. They are on a mooring ball next to us and Dan met them while waiting for the bread to come out of the oven at the small "take away" stand in town.

Laurie stayed back, did some boat chores and looked up recipes for all the fish Dan would bring back. Dan speared no fish, but some of the other guys took pity on us and dropped off two lobsters and a hog fish for the table.




We also had a bunch of conch that we had bought from the local "conch man."

In the late afternoon we went to shore with our two five gallon jugs to get water. The town has a water spigot near the dinghy dock that is used by the cruisers and some of the locals. When we got to the spigot, a lady yelled to us that the water was off and would not be on until, "after 6:00, maybe." As we were carrying our empty jugs back to the dock, another woman beckoned us to her porch and said, "I can help you with the water." When we got there, she took the lid off her cistern and dropped in a metal bucket, while her two grandsons watched. As Dan poured the cistern water from the bucket into one of our jugs, quite a bit spilled onto the floor. The woman disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a large leaf that she formed into a funnel. She held the funnel and Dan dipped water and poured and soon both jugs were filled.





Our plan was to leave in the morning, but we had been hearing about "Surfer's Beach," and we decided we really should see it. It is about four miles north of town on the windward side of the island.

We packed a beach bag and went up to the road and the stuck out our thumbs. The first vehicle that went by slowed and the driver, apologetically said, "I am not going far." The second vehicle was a pickup truck and the driver stopped and we hopped in the back and for the first time in her life, Laurie had hitchhiked.

He dropped us at the turn off to the beach and we walked the dirt trail to the beach. It is spectacular.











Although we had never heard of it, this beach is apparently well known in the surfing world as one of the "places to go." It was pretty low key when we were there, but apparently it can be BIG.




This is Dan relaxing in a surfer hut that was constructed from stuff that had washed up on the beach.

After a few hours of hanging out in the sun, we hiked backed to the main road and stuck out our thumbs. The third car that came by picked us up. It was a van, driven by a younger man, with an older man in the passenger's seat. As it turns out, the older man had also hitched a ride and was going to Rock Sound, another 25 miles up the road to see a doctor.

As we got out of the van and thanked the driver, Laurie said, "we were afraid we were going to have to walk." He replied, "you won't have to walk." Hitching and helping others is the way of life on this island.

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Location:Alice Town at Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera

That Bahama Feeling, January 11, 2012

We spent two nights anchored near the Looking Glass, and had the place completely to ourselves. On the third day several boats pulled in and anchored in the same bay and enjoyed the great views and protection from the strong ESE winds.




Dan decided he had had enough of the long hair, so we fired up the clippers. Dan stood on the boarding ladder at the back of the boat and Laurie sheared him back to his pre-retirement look.

This haircut is much cooler and easier to care for in the salt water.

On the morning of January 10, we pulled the anchor and left our cove for Hatchet Bay, only about seven miles away. Hatchet Bay is a very protected bay that offers free government owned mooring balls. When we pulled in, there was only one left, which we grabbed. The boats that came in after us had to find spots to anchor. We are glad to have mooring ball as the wind continues to howl.



In spite of being well protected, the harbor shows remnants from hurricanes past.

Surrounding the bay is the settlement of Alice Town.



The town has many scars from hurricanes and poverty, but it is working to rebound.




The first day we were in town we walked around and had a Bahamian lunch at a small open air bar. Three beers, chicken, rice and beans and slaw for $15. We love this place!

After lunch we bought a grouper from the guy who lives behind the bar and Dan fried it up for dinner.




In the late afternoon this "Mailboat" pulled in and we watched these men offload the week's shipment of supplies, shipped in from Nassau.

In the morning Dan went into town to try and find, "the guy who sells the fresh conch." No luck locating him, but we have an order in with the bartender in case he stops by.







While looking around town looking for the conch man, Dan stopped by the school and got permission from the principal to shoot some pictures of the kids at recess.







We plan to stay here for at least another night or two while we wait for the conditions to moderate. Then we will head south to Government Harbor and Rock Sound before heading over to the Exumas.

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Location:Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera

When Chris speaks, cruisers listen. January 7, 2013

Chris Parker operates a weather forecasting service and he is the respected name in wind forecasting for the Bahamas and the Caribbean. For a fee, you can subscribe to his service and he will send you daily emails with the forecast you are interested in. If you pay the fee, you also can call him on the single side-band radio, tell him your location and intended destination and he will tell you what winds and waves to expect. He also give a Bahamas forecast each morning (Monday through Saturday) on the short-wave at 6:30, that is free to anyone who gets up to listen. We don't subscribe to the service, but Dan gets up every morning (even on Sundays, because he forgets Chris doesn't broadcast on Sundays) and drinks his coffee and listens to Chris on the radio he got for Christmas from daughter Hayley and son-in-law Dan2.

For several days Chris has been predicting docile (for the Bahamas) winds for a couple of days, followed by "strong ESE winds, to last for three days." For us and others in the area, this meant finding a place to hole up with good protection from the ESE.




We left our dock at Spanish Wells on January 5th after some reprovisoning and went a short distance to a place called Settlement Bluff.




We did not go to shore, but Dan did some spearing fishing and practiced driving the dinghy, Bahama style. No fish were speared.

The next morning it was a great day for sailing and we headed down the sound to to Current Settlement. We found a nice spot to anchor and walked from the beach into the settlement. It was Sunday afternoon and the little town was closed up tight. It seemed like a ghost town.

After a rolly night at anchor we headed through Current Cut. We thought we had timed it to coincide with slack tide and light current, but we were a little early and the water was flowing against us at about four knots. To top it off, a boat ahead of us turned too early in the narrow channel, went aground and was now sideways in our path. He got unstuck from the sandbar before we got to him, so there was no trouble, but it meant for a few hairy moments.


We trolled on our way to our anchorage and caught this fish. We couldn't identify it, so we threw it back. Does anyone know what it is?






After clearing the cut we sailed across the shallow waters of the banks to a spot called the Glass Window. On one side of this narrow strip of land is the aqua blue water of the banks and on the other side is the deep, cobalt blue water of the Atlantic. The contrast is amazing.








We anchored about a mile from the Glass Window and then took the dinghy back and walked over the bridge. This bridge replaced a natural rock arch which was taken out in a hurricane.






Now we are anchored behind this rock wall, waiting for the strong winds that Chris Parker has been predicting.


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Location:Eleuthera Island, Bahamas