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

Spanish Wells, Eleuthera Island – Sunday, February 27, 2011

"Reading the water" leaving Bimini

We finally dragged ourselves away from Bimini on Tuesday, February 22.  While we could have easily stayed longer, we had to move on.  So many other places to see in the Bahamas!  We had another long crossing over the Bahama Bank to the Berry Islands.  This time, however, after crossing over the Bank, we passed into some of the deepest ocean waters we had ever seen, over 4000 feet!  Even our depth sounder lost track since the distance off the bottom was too far for it to receive a signal.  Pretty amazing!  We arrived at Frazier’s Hog Cay, which is just to the east of Chubb Cay in the Berry Islands.  There were moorings available and we took one for a couple of days.  There were several sailboats already moored and we all got together that evening for a sundowner at the Clubhouse.  We met several couples, including Patsy and John from Texas, Paul, Mary and their cute dog Jasmine from Florida, Faune, Alex, and their dog Bob  from Nova Scotia, and Doug and Marlene also from Nova Scotia.  Everyone was very friendly, and we will most likely run into some of these folks on our travels south.  Bob was an amazing dog!  Alex and Faune had basically rescued him in St. Augustine where they were staying for a few weeks on their way down from Halifax.  He had only been on the boat for a few days, but acted like he owned the place!  I g

uess he was pretty happy with his new life.  The next day we went snorkeling at a fabulous spot not far from the boat.  There was a lovely coral “red head” which was surrounded by lots of colorful fish, including a lionfish.  We also saw an enormous cushion starfish, which had a solid hard shell.  It was almost 18 inches across and several inches thick!

Conch catch at Frazier's Hog Cay

White Cay anchorage

We left Frazier’s Hog on Thursday, February 24^th.  We had heard that there was a lovely anchorage in White Cay, one of the Berry Islands slightly to the North of where we were.  We decided to check it out.  While the anchorage was very beautiful, and you can see the photos, it was quite exposed, so we decided to push on the next day. 

Sunrise at White Cay

On Friday, February 25, we left White Cay and cruised to Spanish Wells, the largest settlement on Eleuthera Island.  We arrived mid-afternoon, and were able to get one of the only 10 mooring balls in the mooring field.  We were lucky!  As soon as we had settled in, we were invited over to our neighbor’s boat for drinks.  We met Dirk and Nancy and their cat Butters, and Dan and Ruth from another boat also in the mooring field.  We had a great time!  Dirk had made delicious conch fritters and Ruth brought some conch salad – all of which was made with conch that Dirk had caught and cleaned himself!  Quite a talent!

Spanish Wells, Eleuthera

The boys decided to go fishing on Saturday.  I tagged along, since I wanted to see if I could get some snorkeling in.  Chris went diving with the guys, and within minutes had caught a fish with his Bahamian sling!  Quite amazing, since it was really the first time he had ever used it!  He caught a Barjack fish which was about 3-4 pounds.  Wow!  Impressive!!  He was the only one who caught anything on our expedition.  We are going to cook it tonight.  We’ll let you all know how it tasted! 

Bahamian Spear Man Chris!!!

We are likely staying here another day or two.  Then onto the southern part of Eleuthera Island.  Catch you all later!

BIMINI –Sunday, February 20, 2011

I am sitting on the back of the boat watching the sand bank sink into the ocean as the tide rises…a mystical sight, and one that is to be relished at slow speed, with a glass of wine…it’s hard to explain in words what it is like here.  It is not a shiny, polished and tourist place, in fact, it is a bit of a backwater, with really not much here.   But no matter, when you look out into the water, the variety of colors, the birds, the boats lazily coming and going, you learn what the true meaning of “time passing” means.

Yesterday we had a rare treat.  We were taken out fishing on Captain Mike’s 45 foot Hatteras.  We left around 11 am, and within the first half hour had two giant Wahoo fish.  The first one, almost 30 pounds, the second, a monster at almost 60 lbs!!  We cruised up and down the entire Bimini Island chain, with a gentle breeze and calm seas.  On our way back, we managed to catch another 3 Barracudas!  Captain Mike is quite a character, having been born and raised on Bimini Island.  He had a long career running freight ships back and forth to Miami, and apparently his ancestors were a busy part of the rum smuggling routes during prohibition…

Chris reels in the first one!!

Irina with Captain Mike

Rodney the First Mate, Irina, and Captain Mike

His kindness in taking us out on a fishing trip was unexpected and very welcome…Chris reeled in the very first fish!!  We also got to keep some of the valuable catch, as Captain Mike made sure we got some Wahoo to take home for dinner.

I cooked the Wahoo, and what a delicious meal!  It is truly an amazing fish, a cross between a halibut and a swordfish if you can imagine it.  We had it lightly fried with a relish of tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro, and some sautéed potatoes….heaven!!

We have been on Bimini for 4 days…it is very easy to think of staying here for another 4…but we have to move on.  Tuesday, we will move on to Chub Cay, which is about 75 miles away.  We’ll check in with you then.

Chris with the catch of the day!!

Andy Lindstrom, who went fishing with us, Irina & Chris after a hard day's work

BIMINI – THE BAHAMAS!!!! Thursday, February 17, 2011

We left Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday, and went on the outside to Miami, and on to Key Biscayne.  We anchored overnight in a very quiet spot, planning to leave early in the morning and cross over to the Bahamas. 

Leaving Ft. Lauderdale

On the way down, we cruised right through Miami inlet and the harbor.  Wow, Miami is a pretty big place, and has quite a skyline.  Chris took some shots which look like the opening credits to the CSI Miami TV show. 

CSI Miami!!

In the night, we were awakened by what sounded like someone swimming and breathing in the water…!!!!  As I jumped to look out the porthole, I saw in the almost full moonlight dolphins swimming around the boat.  They sounded just like someone snorkeling!!  Gave us a bit of a fright, but once we realized what it was it was kind of neat to get so up close and personal.

Aanchored in Key Biscayne

We made an early start on Thursday.  We got out through the Biscayne Channel, and basically had a straightforward run of about 6 hours across the Gulf Stream.  The sun was out, but we had a lot of chop, so our boat took a lot of spray and is covered with salt.

Leaving Key Biscayne



Leaving the USA!!



We navigated our way through the narrow channel into North Bimini Island.  It was our first attempt at “reading the water” and we figured we did pretty well.  Chris did an amazing docking at the Sea Crest Marina in a pretty high wind.  We landed at about 3:30 pm.  Our first order of business was to clear customs and immigration.  This also went very well, with Chris doing the honors with the local officials.  We got a 90 day pass, which is a bit less than we were hoping for, but will do for now.



We are official!!  Flying the Flag of the Bahamas!!



The full moon was up, so we had to take the picture with the little islands in the background. 

Full Moon over Bimini

We quickly cracked open the bottle of champagne we had been saving for this very moment!  It went down extremely well, and we moseyed into town to check out the dinner offerings.  We found a busy restaurant in one of the adjacent marinas, and had conch burgers and rum!! Welcome to the Islands!!

Ft. Lauderdale – Thursday, February 10 2011

Well, here we are!  We cruised to Ft. Lauderdale on the outside today and realized quickly that we were already fighting the Gulf Stream for most of our way down.  We had almost 2 knots of current against us the entire way!  This made for a choppy ride, but we were fine.  We started to see some big tankers and freighters coming into Port Everglades, which is the official name for the Ft. Lauderdale Inlet. 

The Rachel B. Jackson at Palm Beach...we have her picture in our blog on her way down last year!

We anchored in a lovely lagoon called Lake Sylvia, away from the hustle and bustle of the marinas and the activity on the river.  Ft. Lauderdale is a very busy place, with more boats per capita than houses for sure!!  Boats are parked everywhere!  We went down some canals with our dinghy, where the giant 70 and 80 foot “mega yachts” were parked within inches of each other!  Wow, what a place!

Rafting party at Lake Sylvia

MI-T-MO steel tug at the center of the rafting party!!

Once we got anchored and settled, we had a call from the son of our very good friend Roger (another British Sailor!), Rolf.  Rolf has been living and working in Ft. Lauderdale for a number of years now, and is the captain of a lovely (and very big) Sportfish.  He also recently bought a house.  We picked him up off one of the docks near to the boat, and he came over for a couple of drinks!  We got lots of great advice from him for the next leg of our journey to the Bahamas, and we found out all about his boat. He even taught us a few new tricks with our radar!!  It was great to catch up with him after not having seen him for a long time!  We also got a great photo of Rolf in front of his new house… just kidding!!

Rolf living the good life!!

We spent the next couple of days getting organized:  laundry, chores, getting our taxes done, and a variety of other stuff.  We also got to shore a couple of times for dinner and to do some shopping.  Everything you could want is within a half mile radius so it’s a very convenient spot for us to hang out for a few days.

On Saturday, Jamie and her best friend Rachel came to visit us for drinks.  Jamie worked for me at EMC for many years, and she and Rachel were in Ft. Lauderdale for a quick mid-winter vacation.  Rachel was actually here on business, and Jamie came along for a much needed break from the winter back home.  We had a great time!!  I ferried them back and forth in our dinghy, so they got a boat ride thrown in as well!  On their way back, I dropped them at the Fire Station dock, and they had to walk through the station to get out… so they got to meet some of the cute firemen!! 

Jamie, Irina & Rachel with Ft. Lauderdale sunset behind us!

. 

We have been watching the weather closely, as we are “in the zone” now to make our crossing to the Bahamas!!!  Sounds like we are stuck here for a few days, not because the weather is bad, just that the wind is from the North…to do a crossing to the Bahamas, we must cross the Gulf Stream.  This is a 45 mile wide “river” running south to north in the Atlantic Ocean, and it starts about 10 miles offshore from where we are.  The general wisdom is that you don’t want to cross this river in anything but a gentle southerly wind pattern.  Otherwise, the crossing can be tough with big waves!!  The current forecast sounds like we might get our window towards the end of this week.    

Stay tuned, we will have another update before heading out. 

North Palm Beach – Sunday, February 6, 2011

We arrived in North Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon, after an exciting trip on the ICW.  First of all, it was Sunday, so quite a lot of folks were out and about on the water.  Add to that the fact that we had to cross about 7 bridges, 5 of which had to open for us, and it was Superbowl Sunday and you have a recipe for a very lively crossing! 

There were boats everywhere, and most were out for a nice cruise before settling in to watch the game.  The weather was glorious, so who can blame them!??!!

On Monday, we went ashore to check out the area shops and restaurants.  By the time we got back to the boat in the early afternoon, the wind started to kick up, and we saw 30 knots on the windmeter!  Our anchor was well set, so we had no problems, but many of the sailboats around us were swinging around like mad on their small anchors and even skinnier lines.  We decided against going ashore for dinner, for two reasons, first, we would have a messy and wet ride in the dinghy, and second, we preferred to stay with the boat throughout the bad weather in case any of the sailboats around us let loose!!

On Tuesday, we met up again with Kevin and Frances, who took us to a most exquisite art and antique show.  We not only saw many beautiful paintings, carpets, antiques and jewelry, but we also got a chance to people watch the crème de la crème of Palm Beach society…!!  What a great outing!

Earlier in the day, we met a couple who had spent 30 years building their steel boat in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It is a beautiful 3 –masted, junk-rigged boat, and has fabulous colorful sails.  The name of their boat is Melodeon, and you can google it and have a look at the picture with all the sails fully open.  It is quite a sight!!  They invited us for a drink on their boat in the evening.  When we got back from the antique show to get our dinghy, we found that low tide and left us high and dry!!  Bummer!  Our dinghy weighs about 400 lbs, so we thought we were going to have to camp out for the evening until the tide came back in!  However, we were able to push and pull until we got it floating again, thanks to my own personal British Sailor, Chris.  As our friend Katie said, whom we met in St. Augustine, “never go to sea without a British Sailor”!!!!

Today, Wednesday, is catch up day, and we are planning to go on the outside to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow.  We plan to anchor in Lake Sylvia for a few days, and maybe catch up with Jamie during her weekend mini-vacation to Ft. Lauderdale.  Jamie worked for me at EMC, and it will be great fun to have her visit us on the boat.

Weather is fine now, the wind has dropped, and we expect good weather for the next few days.