Exuma Park, March 25 - 29, 2011

Bell Rock at Cambridge Cay

With several days of good weather ahead, we decided to go back to the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  The park is officially designated as a sanctuary and no fishing or shelling is allowed.  There are several mooring fields available, which also prevents boats from anchoring and disturbing the many coral heads in the area.  As a result of all this, the area is absolutely pristine, with the sea crystal clear, fantastic snorkeling sites, and many beautiful beaches and trails. 

We spent two days in Warderick Wells.  We hiked all along the perimeter of the island, and climbed up to Boo Boo Hill with our obligatory piece of driftwood with our boat name on it.  At the summit of the hill, we deposited our trophy amongst the pile, and recognized many boat names that we had come across, including our friends on Tybee Time!

Our boat name at Boo Boo Hill

AAAaaargghhh!!

We went snorkeling and saw many beautiful fish, but the prize was a four-foot long grouper that was trying to lie still among the corals.  He was magnificent!  

Barracuda!!

We moved onto Cambridge Cay, which is also in the Park, for a couple of days.  This spot was also magic.  At this location, we took our dinghy to the Rocky Dundas caves.  We swam into the cave, and were able to walk around the inside and see the stalagmites and stalactites.  It was pretty amazing.  We also snorkeled one of the best reefs we have seen since we got here, called the “sea aquarium” very appropriately named. 

For Roger & Jan, Moonlight from Portsmouth UK!!! not a swan though....

Today we are back in Black Point, to post the blog, check email, and stock up before heading south.  Our next stop is Lee Stocking Island, where there is a marine research lab.  From there we will move on to Georgetown.  

At this halfway point of our adventure, we can have a look back on how far we have come (2200 miles!) and all the amazing things we have seen (crystal clear seas, beautiful fish, beaches and landscapes).  We have also made some new friends (Dan and Ruth on Evensong, and Dirk and Nancy on Tybee Time), and lived on a boat for almost three months!!  Wow!  It’s making me thirsty just thinking about it!!  We hope to post from Georgetown, so long until then. 

Dirk blowing his conch horn at sunset

Our friends Dirk, Nancy, Ruth and Dan

Blackpoint Settlement: March 19, 2011

We came to Blackpoint with the most of our Selene friends for a birthday dinner.  We had a fabulous dinner at Lorraine’s Café.  We had grouper, lobster, chicken, and pork ribs…yum!  Blackpoint is a decent sized (ie very small) town, and we also had a chance to stock up on some fresh fruits and miscellaneous groceries. 

On Sunday, we cruised back to Staniel Cay and dropped our friends Travis and John at the marina for their flight back to the US.  We had a great time with them, and had lots of laughs and good times. 

Chris, Irina, Travis & John having a good time!

Moon over Sampson Cay

We hung out for a couple of days at the Big Majors anchorage, waiting for the 25kt winds to moderate.  We partied with our friends on Tybee Time and Evensong, and I even learned how to play a new card game!  I won the game, but I am sure it was because I had no idea what I was doing!!  I doubt I will win next time!!

Auriga at sunset at anchor at Big Majors Spot

We decided to come back to Blackpoint with our friends for another dinner at Lorraine’s. 

We hope they will enjoy it as much as we did. 

Chris is hoping to get some fishing and lobster spearing in before we head back up to the Exuma Park for a few days of snorkeling and kayaking.  We will then start heading down to Georgetown. 

See you all later!

Selene Rendezvous: March 12, 2011

We have had a busy few days!!  First, we officially started the Selene rendezvous, which is organized by the Selene owners group.  This is a group of Selene boat-owners, who got 20 Selene boats (which is the make of our boat Auriga) together in the Bahamas!  We have had 3 days of solid parties and activities with the entire group of roughly 40 people on the 20 boats.  What fun we have had.  Add to that our friends John and Travis Woolcott arrived on Sunday, March 14^th from Cambridge Mass.  They have been cruising with us for the last few days.  They are heading back on the 20^th of March. 

A shark waiting for a handout!

Aerial photo shoot!

The ladies at the rendezvous organized yoga-on-the-beach, and Travis and I participated.  We had a great time, and have met many wonderful, interesting, friendly people, all who own boats similar to ours. 

Selene convoy

Chris has been trying to get his hair cut since we left Florida.  Finally, after much soul-searching, he decided to get the same haircut as our friend Dirk.  We met Dirk and Nancy at Spanish Wells, and caught up with them again for dinner at Compass Cay.  I was thinking of putting a sign on Auriga “Haircuts by Irina”…..!!

Haircuts by Irina

Identical twins....????

We traveled from Warderick Wells to Staniel Cay, then to Compass Cay, and now we are tucked into a fabulous marina at Sampson Cay.  Today we took the dinghy for a long ride around the island, and went snorkeling.  We also went for a long walk this afternoon, and worked up a serious thirst for cocktail hour. 

The best event of the rendezvous was on the last day.  All 20 boats in the party went out into open water, and formed two “V” formations, one behind the other, and we had an airplane take many photos of our formation.  It was an unbelievable experience! 

Tomorrow we are heading for Blackpoint Settlement, a bit further south.  On Sunday, we head back to Staniel Cay to drop our friends off for their flight.  From there, we will make our way to Georgetown, which is probably going to be our “farthest south” destination.  

The hunter gatherers...

Our internet reception has been very spotty, so we are only able to update the blog when we can get online, which isn’t often.  We hope to send another update through next week.

The Exuma Chain – Sunday, March 6, 2011

We finally left Governor’s Harbor on Sunday.  We had a very smooth cruise across the Exuma Sound, and crossed over to the Exuma Bank at Ship Channel.  We anchored in Ship Channel Cay in a lovely, secluded anchorage.  The next day we started to move down the Exuma Chain.  Now we understand why everyone comes here!  What a place.

 Crystal clear water, sunny warm days, lots of beautiful beaches…everything we have seen since we got to the Bahamas really pales by comparison.

The Exumas

On Monday, we cruised a few short miles to Allen’s Cay, where we anchored 30 feet off the beach in a very small cove at SW Allen’s Cay.  We swam ashore, and saw the famous Allen’s Cay iguanas.  They are like very large lizards, and are, in fact, the world’s largest lizard!  While they are quite ugly, unlike most lizards I know, they didn’t run and hide when we came ashore…I guess they are used to handouts by all the cruisers who come here!  There were so many of them!  We got a few long-distance photos…trust me, they are not that pretty close-up!  We also did some snorkeling here, and were able to see many Blue Tang, Clownfish, and other colorful fish on a coral reef just a few feet from our boat.  

Our anchorage at SW Allen's Cay

Iguanas all over the beach!

On Tuesday we moved onto Shroud Cay.  This was most spectacular!  We finally released our kayak from its perch on the top deck, and paddled our way into through the mangrove creeks on the island.  We were floating on only a few inches of water at times, and saw many fish through the crystal clear waters.  We took our kayak all the way through the creek, and arrived at a beach on the other side of the Cay, facing the Atlantic Ocean.  Pretty amazing!  It was great fun.  Our Kayak is a two person, so I let Chris do most of the paddling…

Kayaking through the mangroves

The Atlantic Ocean on the Exuma Sound side

Pretending to paddle...

On Thursday, we moved onto Warderick Wells and the headquarters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  We are planning to do some more snorkeling here, and maybe walk a few of the trails on the island.  Tomorrow, we will head off to Staniel Cay.  Our friends, John and Travis are arriving there on Monday, and they will cruise with us through the Selene rendez-vous. 

We’ll check in with another update next week.  

Just another day in the neighborhood...

Rainbow over Warderick Wells

Governor’s Harbor, Eleuthera Island – Tuesday, March 1, 2011

We left Spanish Wells early Tuesday morning.  We had to go through a very narrow channel called Current Cut in order to get to our destination, Governor’s Harbor.  We were advised to go through the channel at “slack tide,” which is the time between the turn of the tide from high to low or vice versa.  In our case, high tide was at 7:45 am, which meant we wanted to arrive at the Cut right about 7:45 am.  In order to do this, we had to leave our mooring at Spanish Wells at about 6:30 am!  So we were up early and cast off our mooring right about 6:15 am.  We slid through the canal that runs through the town of Spanish Wells, and got to the Cut at about 7:45 or so.  Too late!! The tide had already turned so we went through the cut with 3.5 knots of current against us!!  No problem; Auriga plowed her way through the channel, and we were quickly on the other side.  After that, we had a relatively smooth cruise onto Governor’s Harbor.

We arrived at about 2:30 pm, and picked up the only decent looking mooring in the Harbor.  As soon as we picked it up, Chris dove onto the mooring ball to check and make sure it was sturdy enough for us.  Turns out it is a huge concrete block, so no worries.  But he still needed to spend a quite a while in the (cold 76 degree water) attaching lines to the underwater mooring chain – poor guy!! W e are expecting a bit of wind here on Friday, so we want to make sure we are going to stay put on the mooring through the day. 

The village here is quite interesting.  It seems to be less of a cruising stopover, and more of a tourist type of resort.  However, with the economy the way it is, they are suffering here as well.  Many houses are for sale, and the town is very quiet.  For us though, it has been a real experience.  Everyone has been so friendly.  We met an Austrian gentleman named Karl, who took us for a ride in his car to see the beaches on the east side of the island.  He said he had been living here for 10 years, and had a homemade catamaran parked on the sand in the bay!  

Karl from Austria

Karl's homemade catamaran "Walking on Water"

Our next adventure was to save Kai the Dog!  At a bout 4 pm, we saw the Governor’s Harbor Sailing Club come to life on the bay.  About 7 little sunfish, each with a local youngster, started into the harbor.  As we were watching them sail off the beach, a dog waded into the water and started chasing the boats into the harbor!!  Our boat is about a quarter of a mile off the beach.  As the sailboats got further, the dog got a bit confused, and he swam right up to our boat!!  Chris pulled him onto our swim platform, and he immediately went for a walkabout on the boat!!  I decided that I needed to dinghy him back to the beach, so I jumped in the dinghy and he followed me straight in!!  I zoomed the dingy over to the beach, but had to stop short since it was too shallow to get close to the beach.  A lady who knew the dog, was on the beach, so I called her to call the dog!  KAI, KAI!! She called him and he jumped in the water and swam ashore!  He was so glad to be away from the British – after all he is a LEUTHERAN DOG!!  Apparently, his owner was sailing on one of the sailing boats, and he decided to go after her when they sailed away!!

Governor's Harbour Sailing Club

Kai the dog swimming right up to our boat!!

He likes our boat!!

Sorry, you can't stay here!!

Going home...!!

By then, I had beached the dinghy, ACCIDENTALLY!  I tried to free it with the boat hook, but was unable.  So, of course, I had to jump in the water and push the dinghy off the sand bank! I got the engine going, and scooted back to the boat, where I found Chris in his bathing suit about to jump in the water to swim out to save me!!  Wow!  What a day!! I am totally exhausted!!  Time to have a rum drink!! I am hoping to see Kai the dog tomorrow when we go ashore!!  See you all later! CHRIS IS ALSO EXHAUSTED, HAVING SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN THE WATER TODAY.

The "Liberty Clipper" from Boston!

A busy day in Governor's Harbour