The Abacos

Before we left Spanish Wells Dakota and I went for a walk around town to look a little more. We went all the way to the tip of the island and sat in a gazebo overlooking the bank and the ocean, also the main island of Eleuthera. This pic is of the ocean.

This is the cemetery in Spanish Wells and it is interesting because here they cannot dig into the earth because the coral rock is too hard so they build up with cement. They also decorate highly with plastic flower wreaths. Notice the men resting in the shade of the tree in the background. It was just past mid-day and quite hot.

We then sailed to Royal island and left early the next morning for the Abacos. It was an exhausting crossing with not enough wind and enough seas and way too much weed in the fishing hook! Charles caught a 48 in mahi mahi and I even saw it jump right before it broke the line and got away! Dakota was devastated! Pasta for dinner again!

We made it in by 5 PM and anchored near Lynyard Cay for the night. This morning we left again early for Marsh Harbor, our big motivation was propane for we were almost out and Alistair had asked for biscuits for breakfast and pizza for dinner for his birthday. It the least we could do, right?

He opened his gifts underway and is happy to be six!

Okay so this looks strange, except if you know that Alistair told me that he didn't want cake and we had gone to get ice cream earlier in the day. So he held the candle and we sang and he made a wish! The pizza was great!

We spent a little time walking around Marsh Harbor today. We had curried chicken patties at a local deli, cheap and yummy! We then went and found home made ice cream for Alistair's birthday cake. I found this beautiful Palm tree and the hibiscus flower around 5 in across.

Marsh Harbor is one of the largest towns in the Abacos and bustles with activity. The harbor is quite large with many cruising boats and restaurants, marinas and resort line the harbor. Cars racing around and people walking and talking and all that. We were in a little bit of a re-entry shock coming from the Exumas where a large island has a few houses and a bar and an average on has one or two houses or maybe just pigs or iguanas. Unaccustomed to the hubbub we weaved and stumbled into the deli and were saved by the curried chicken patties.

Tomorrow we will head to Man0war cay or to Great Guana cay for swimming, snorkeling and beach combing before we tackle ................the Whale. Just call me Ishmael.......

p.s. We want to thank our friend Lauren for her phone assistance when dakot sliced his foot open pretty badly on a conch shell. It was about 1 inch long and quite deep right on the pad of his foot. She directed us as to the proper care for best healing, thanks Lauren! Its all healed! See you this spring!

The grouper, the shark and yours truly

We had a great time in the Staniel Cay area, where we anchored in the lee of Big Major Cay, great anchorage with good snorkeling and beautiful beaches.
We had all gone snorkeling at the northern tip of Big Major which has small coral heads combined with a coral garden and a sandy deeper trough. I had my pole spear with me. I'd been seeing a lot of small groupers when I spotted one of takable size. He spotted me too and he quickly scampered under a coral head. Seems this is the grouper way, when in doubt go straight into your hole. It took me a while but I did finally manage to spear him in his hole but then couldn't get him out. My spear was laying at the bottom attached to the grouper while I got a breath of air before giving it another go, as I started down I spotted in the distance a shark coming our way, I couldn't tell what type of shark it was and I wasn't going to hang around to find out. I swam back to the dinghy where the kids where already in and Laurel and I got in. We then dinghied over the coral head to see the action.
The shark turned out to be two sharks, both nurse sharks. While they are fairly bening as long as you don't mess with them. I didn't want to get back in the water to compete with food with them. They both had their snouts straight in the grouper hole but couldn't get him, eventually one left, after a beach break, we got the boat hook and went back, to see if we could hook the band on the polespear and pull it out. At this point I was concerned with just getting my spear back. We floated over the reef and actually managed to hook the band, I started pulling and tugging at it with the boat hook, when all of a sudden it all came out, but with no grouper and then I realized no spear tip! I looked down and the shark had the grouper and my spear tip. The tips are expensive and I didn't want to lose it, so I gave the shark a quick jab with the boat hook and it scared him away and he took off. Laurel held the boat at the edge of the shore and after a wary look, I swam in recovered the tip and grouper. He was a bit worse for wear after the shark, but whole, see him in the picture below.

We cleaned him on the beach, and then had this sting ray come by, looking for grouper scraps. The Bahamas are loaded with rays and we've seen many but having this one swim back and forth just a couple of feet from us was really cool. The kids loved it.

We also visited a place called Rachel's bubble bath or Rachel's pool. It is at the top of Compass Cay and is a natural pool that is protected from the ocean by dunes and reef, however at mid to high tide the waves crash over a coral slot and froth into the pool, you can see it in the picture below. If you stand just in front of the break you get immersed in the froth and bubbles, great experience, we did it with our masks and snorkles to really get the full effect.

Below is the northern bank side of Compass Cay where we did some beach combing before pulling our anchor and spending the night at Bell Cay.

We left at first light the next morning and sailed 35 plus miles to Allen's Cay. We managed to get in early so had a great time at a beach, where we did some conching and where I managed to spear another grouper. We walked across to the bank side where someone had erected cairns. I wanted to include the picture below so you could see how jagged and rocky the Cays can be. These are ancient coral and are really jagged, sharp and pointy. The Cays tend to be a combination of this and of course sand beaches.

We are currently in Spanish Wells on Eleuthera where we arrived yesterday, had a nice and and uneventful crossing, although went through a section where we had to slalom our way around the coral heads. We will spend most of today here, then stage for our crossing to the Abacos late this afternoon at Egg Cay. Spanish Wells is a fishing and working community and as I write this fishing boats have been leaving the harbor one after another all morning. Here is Laurel walking along the waterfront yesterday afternoon.

We most likely won't write again until we're somewhere in the Abacos and have internet access.

Best, C.

Well, since we blogged last we have been on the move! We left the Exuma park and sailed to Black Point on Great Guana Cay where we met some folks on a boat called Osprey. They have two kids a little older but all four of them were thrilled to play! We went for a long walk to the northern end of the island and saw the 'white elephants', large white limestone cliff like rocks that stick out into the Exuma sound. After a couple of days we then made our way to Staniel Cay, where Charles went to explore the town and I entertained the four kids (Osprey was there too). We had planned to stay a couple of days and snorkel the famous Thunderball (007) but alas the weather once again intervened and we left to get protection from 40 knot squalls at the Exuma park. Although it was frustrating to be back we had a great couple of hikes and lots of great swimming, too. Every Saturday night the park puts on a bonfire and cocktail hour on the beach which we joined in with enthusiasm. A group of kids were there and our two took full advantage, as did we.

The hike we took takes you through really rough rocky coral that the islands are built on. You end up on beaches and short cliffs with great views of the sound and the banks. On the walks if your lucky you might see a hutia, a native mammal that looks kind of like a guinea pig. The hutia are endangered, so it is a great thing to see them here.

We also spent an afternoon just hanging out on a beach right in the anchorage and pretty soon all the kids came in to play and they had a ball! We haven't met too many kids so when we do it is very exciting! The kids frolicked in the water and the sand all afternoon and fell into bed that night. Happy exhaustion!

We now are back in Staniel Cay. We spent some time at the beaches on Big Major Spot and now have come back to Staniel to try to snorkel Thunderball tomorrow! The weather is wild and windy and keeps us on our toes! We will start to head north by the end of the week making our way towards the Abacos where we will meet both our families. It could be a couple of weeks before we have internet access again, at which point we will blog again! xoxo to all. L

Exuma Land and Sea Park

We are at the Exuma Land and Sea Park, a really special place where everything within the park is protected. For example there are 31 times more conch in the park than outside the park. The conch in the park help the outside population continue to be strong. The same goes for many of other species. On a snorkeling expedition we saw lobster more than half the size of Alistair. Huge guys. Laurel saw her first shark, while in the water ( nurse shark ) fairly benign guys, if you leave them be. There are also excellent trails over sand and old coral, the coral being very sharp. Dakota took a spill yesterday and really did a job to his knee.

One of our walks took us to blowholes, we went with a large group of folks from other boats and everyone had a great time standing over the holes and watching hats fly off and their hair stand straight up, really fun! Above the boys fed these local birds sugar. The park people call them sugar birds, and with a little of the sweet stuff they will come and eat out of your proverbial hand.

Here is Alistair in the ribs of a sperm whale skeleton which is mounted on the main beach. Unfortunately this whale succumbed to plastic, bags and the such.

A local tradition is to climb Boo Boo Hill, so named because of ghosts and make a sign with your boat name and crew. There are literally hundreds, all different styles and some beautifull and creative. Ours was on the spot, so it got ye ol sharpie treatment.

Here are the kiddos over one of the blowholes, notice Dakota's hair standing on end. One of the cruisers we were with even sat on one. I think he was looking to get the full experience.

The above and the following photos are at Norman Cay, were we spent a couple of days. They have beautiful flats with a lot of conch ( we made conch pizza! ) and a lot of life. We saw a baby black tipped shark, a turtle, fish and sting rays, the kids also found shells and sand dollars, the beaches are really spectacular with the many shades of really clear blue that typify the Exumas.

I had lost my hat while at the top of the mast and although Laurel rowed after it we couldn't find it, strangely enough on a walk through Norman Cay later, there was a hat hanging on a tree from a coffee shop in Oriental, NC . So I figured it was serendipity and now have a new hat.

This blue crab was swimming along on the flats, we interrupted his swim momentarily but put him back. He concealed himself by completely burying himself in the sand. I only got him by scooping him out of the sand with a flip flop!

We snorkled this sunken plane in Norman Cay, very cool, it was in very shallow water and so we could get a really good look at everything. At one point I dove to look at the fish under the plane and noticed not two feet from my face a huge stingray buried in the sand. Luckily he didn't move at all, although I steered clear of him after that.

While at Norman Cay we met Kasey and his two friends who were staying with friends on their Catamaran. They were from Germany and hardcore kite surfers and gave us a spectacular show right off our stern. Below is Kasey as he zooms by, they were really good with the kids. Great guys.

The Exumas are truly beautiful, with not only the white sand beaches that you would expect but also beautiful rocky landscape, some of it reminiscent of Maine, it's a bit more desolate out here and less spoiled by man than other places. The nights in the Bahamas have also been superb. With little to no light coming off the Cays the sky is lit with stars, a humbling sight. We've found Bahamians to be friendly and happy to share their land with us, we are gratefull.

The weather has been a bit tough as of late, at a bonfire last night I spoke with a cruiser who's been coming here for 7 years. He said that usually you get 4 to 5 good days a week in the winter and then it blows for 2. Seems that the ratio has been inverted, as we've had many, many days of winds in the 20 knots plus range. We're hoping for milder conditions as the season continues. ( Of course this doesn't compare with 8-10 inches of snow at a time, but is what we're living through here... perspective you know..)

Hope you're all well, C.

Exumas

We had a great passage across the Great Bahama Bank from Bimini, where we anchored overnight on the banks, then spent a day in Frazier's Hog Cay with an early departure to Nassau over glassy seas. We reprovisioned in Nassau and headed to Allens Cay arriving there on Valentine's Day. ( If this email reads hurried, it is!) We spent some great days at Allen's cay, with snorkling, swimming, spearfishing for me and checking out conch and all the great beaches.

We are now anchored in Norman's Cay waiting out weather so we can move on to the Exuma Park. We are having a great time although dealing with the weather can be frustrating this time of year. I'm keeping this brief because our time is short but will post some pictures. The picture avove is in Norman's Cay, while I was working on our VHF antenna.

Laurel snorkling in Allens Cay

Our passage over glassy seas on the Tongue of the Ocean (9000 ft deep in places)

Sunrise over the TongueLaurel in Allens Cay with the kids in the background.

Coming back from Cat Key on our last attempt to cross the banks we caught this Amberjack, apparently also known as "A.J." He put up an incredible fight, taking line of the reel like no tommorow. It took a long time to bring him in but we got him aboard. We'd heard that AJ's can give you Ciguatera poisoning so we threw him back, later we found out that it was only the real big ones 90lbs etc. Regardless it was excting, we used a bucktail that had been destroyed by a fish the day prior, I had cut off the old bucktail end of it and with an old Bahama flag made a new red skirt for it and it worked! ( I have my brother in law Mathew to thank for that type of inspiration)

Back in Bimini all the cruisers waiting for a weather window decided to have a party and bonfire on the beach, was a lot of fun with quite a lot fo young cruisers, many sore heads in the morning but all had a great time.

A few of the other boats had gone walking on the flats looking for conch and came back with 10 plus, we were invited to partake in the cleaning of them. Not easy! Almost an art form but we all had some knowledge for the future after our session.

Yesterday afternoon we had a small window to cross the banks again and opted to give it a shot. Our friends Ken and Diane aboard Annie 2 opted to cross with us. We left North Bimini late afternoon and anchored in Nixon Harbor on the South end of S. Bimini. The plan was to leave at midnight and arrive at Chub key around 4:00 PM, giving us a daytime arrival. The arrival in a new port being important to do in daylight.

At around 10:30 Laurel heard voices outside and thought she was dreaming, she got up to have a look and Ken and Diane from Annie 2 were just alongside us. Laurel thinking that she'd overslept and we'd missed our departure asked "Oh is it time to go?" to which Diane replied that they had snapped their anchor chain and could they raft with us. We of course agreed. Scrapped our plans to leave, so we could search for the anchor in the morning. Unfortunately the weather was up and our rafting situation got very loud and uncomfortable, so at around 2 AM we lent them our 2nd anchor and rode and they anchored a few hundred yards behind us. Luckily Ken had marked his anchorage spot with a waypoint, something we've also gotten in the habit of doing and we were able to recover it first thing. With Laurel spotting it, Ken diving for it and Diane handling the boatside operation. Fortunately all worked out, we are all back in Bimini and now looking forward to a possible Thursday departure when the winds are forecasted to finally moderate. Has been a long wait. We hope all is well with you all, shoot us an email if you get a chance as we currently have access to Wi-Fi and should have it until our departure.

Best, C.

Waiting..

We are currently anchored behind a shoal on the east side of Cat key, our plan had been to cross the Bahama Bank last night at 3:00 but a last minute check of the weather showed subtantially enough increasing winds in the afternoon (about the time we crossed the NW channel, notorious for ugly seas & chop) so opted to hold out for a better window. Though that may mean a longish wait.
We'll sail back to Bimini later in the day and hope to catch some fish on the way. We had one on yesterday, he felt like a big lad but he managed to get off, after totally destroying the lure. ( A large chartreuse bucktail)
We stopped at the Bimini museum the other day, was very cool to see pictures of Hemingway beside huge Tuna, Marlin and other billfish. There were also pictures of famous fishing guides and of Martin Luther King who had been in Bimini writing his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. There were also movie scenes filmed in Bimini including the last scene of Silence of the lambs, the one where he does his beans and chianti thing.
Although we're learning a lot about the island and are not unhappy we are really ready to move on and make our way to the Exumas, where we really have our hearts on being but alas nature requires some patience... another lesson.

C.

Bimini!!

After arriving in the Bahamas on Thursday, the kids hit the pool and were thrilled!! We then headed out for a celebratory dinner for Dakota's birthday and our sucessful crossing.

The next day we helped our neighbor Ken with his dinghy

Pile of conch!

This shipwreck is amazing to look at and not an uncommon sight here!

The beach and cemetary are beautiful.

Our second day here we went for a long walk to the beach and then around town. The beaches are beautiful and strewn with conch shells. The wind had been blowing and the waves in the gulf stream were visibly huge!! The towns here have one main road about one car width, most people walk or ride golf carts.

There was a birthday party at the marina where a fellow cruiser helped the kids make conch horns which they blew on for hours and now we have restricted conch blowing times! Don't worry forlk we're making them for all your kids too!! =0)