A wind decision

Day #20: The winds have been blowing a sustained 25kts. Thinking that it might be a local phenomenon we drop the mooring ball in Little Farmers and head north. Sure enough, the winds decrease to 15kts once we clear the slot between the cays. The easterlies are blocked by the islands so the seas around us are realatively calm. And so it stays all the way to the anchorage at Big Majors Cay. In a pouring rain we drop the hook next to Egret, a Nordhaven '46. Not long later we see Egret's crew braving the weather and heading our way in their dink. After inviting Scott and Mary aboard we all sit down with some hot tea. Hot tea, in the Exumas, in late April? These cool, 69F, temperatures can't be normal. Egret left the States seven years ago and has completed a circumnavigation. Not many trawlers can make that claim. Scott and Mary regailed us with some great stories and the afternoon passed in a blink.

It was raining and blowing so hard that a little green bird with a yellow breast took refuge on Nellie and stayed aboard well into the night. Dancing on the hook in Big Majors Cay. 17nm today and 445nm thus far. DBH

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink

Day #19: We get underway early from Black Point. Our anchor comes up with a conch attached. Hmm, conch fishing is illegal for non-Bahamanians... Today's destination, Little Farmers Cay, is the southern terminums for our trip. From there to Georgetown, which is the largest city in the Exumas, the anchorages get scarce and exposure to the open ocean is plentiful.

The rapid currents in the Exumas are well documented but must be experienced to be believed. The almost 3' tidal swing has water constanly rushing in or out of the cuts between the cays. The Yacht Club in Little Farmers is located on a narrow stretch of water bounded on the east by Great Guana Cay. The waters between the two cays seem always in a hurry to go somewhere else. We approach the Yacht Club bucking the stream.

It's been 10 days since we last filled Nellie's water tanks. The water pump's frequent cycling warns that we're running low. Most all potable water here in the islands is obtained via reverse osmosis. This is energy intensive, read expensive, but does produce good water. Since Nellie doesn't have a watermaker onboard we must purchase it; the going rate is $0.40 to $0.50 per gallon.

It's the need to fill our water tanks that finds us bucking the current into Little Farmers. The dock is slightly askew to the stream and so the landing is more difficult but ultimately successful. The current pins us to the dock making it impossible to place fenders. After talking to Roosevelt, the Club's owner, we taste his water, take a picture of his water meter reading, and put 90 gallons into Nellie's tanks. Coming from the land of free water I thought I'd be irritated by having to pay $36 for it here. Nope. In fact, considering how essential water is, I'm surprised it's not more expensive.

I'd thought that 37' LNVT's carried 140 gallons of water. But being able to put only 90 gallons into almost empty tanks has me questioning the tanks' true capacity.

On a mooring ball in the fast flowing 'river' off Little Farmers Cay. 10nm today and 428nm so far. DBH

Bread delivery

Day #18: The days are now becoming a blur of sand, sea, and wind. To break things up a bit this morning we went ashore on Staniel and visited the blue market (3 bananas and 12 eggs--$6.50), the yellow bakery (a loaf of coconut bread--$6) and breakfasted at the Yacht Club.

In our anchorage is a classic 50' wooden yawl whose best days are behind it. Aboard are four young people working hard to keep it afloat. Two of the crew visited us offering to sell freshly baked rosemary bread. Today's picture is of the bread's dinghy-to-dinghy pass off ($5 for a big loaf--very good too).

In a light rain we left Staniel Cay and worked our way 10nm southeast to Black Point. Black Point is the second largest settlement in the Exumas. Walking around the village you get a sense for how hard life is out here. 10nm run today and 419nm total. DBH

Dinghying with swimming pigs ...

Day #17: Certain iconic events characterize a country. Take for example Pamplona's running with the bulls. The Bahamas, not to be left behind, has dinghying with swimming pigs. So, armed with a week's worth of table scraps we approached the west beach on Big Majors Cay to see two pigs swimming out to us. Some very good advice from fellow cruisers was to not feed the pigs in shallow water as they're likely to jump into the dinghy with you. With the dink's depth sounder reading a safe 6' the porkers approached. Then bedlam broke out. Bicki's metered food tossing didn't slow them a bit. On they rushed. In a scene reminisent of Hitchcock's 'The Birds', seagulls blanketed us. Their frenzie energized by the pigs' wild gyrations. Our 'isn't this cute' moment degraded into a maelstrom of hungry, open months. Bicki quickly dumped all the food overboard and dove for cover. Always cool under pressure I kept taking pictures--with my index finger firmly planted in the middle of the lens. Meanwhile our getaway driver, John, took the cue and got us clear. As quickly as the storm had formed, it dissolved. The gulls disappeared and the pigs headed toward shore. With wide eyes we silently looked at each other and shared the same thought: 'What the hell!'. Now in the anchorage just off Staniel Cay's Yacht Club. 1nm today and 409 total. DBH

Look honey no hands ...

Day #15: The winds have abated and clocked enough to lure us away from the safety of a mooring. It's nice to finally be on the move again. We wind our way south through some cays until shallow water forces us out onto the 'highway'. Navigating near the cays requires constant diligence, it's shallow, reef strewn, and at times impassable. A common practice is to transit the cays by standing off about a mile where the water is deeper. Since everyone does this the route feels like a highway at times. During prevailing easterlies this route is in the Exumas' lee and thus only suffers from some minor fetch. Today's NW winds have us beam-too a three foot swell but by tacking, to keep the waves on the quarters, the motion is reasonable.

Compass Cay has the same wide-eyed allure for cruisers that Disney World has for eight year olds. And Compass Cay is today's destination. We exit the highway and head for the cay's north end. Like the other cays so far it is low, windswept, and covered with dwarfed, dense vegetation. The water is colored glorious shades of blue. Protected by reefs the seas have settled and only wind driven ripples disturb it. To port we see deserted white sand beaches which breakup Compass Cays rocky shoreline. The magic begins when we round the cay's southern tip. Ahead is nothing but calm well protected water. A solitary sailboat lies at anchor in a setting worthty of a postcard. Just beyond is a hidden cove. Approaching it we can see about a dozen yachts clustered on Compass Cay Marina's trident-shaped dock. Being true cruisers we always prefer to anchor out--well, almost always ;-)

Today's picture shows the nurse sharks being fed here in the marina. The family of four, regrettably down to three now, appeared to be having a good time when this picture was taken. Safely at the dock in Compass Cay. 13nm today and 396nm thus far. DBH

Scary Clear Water

Day #16: Today's picture, with some sharks swimming under Nellie in 10' of water, ably shows why the water here is called 'gin clear'.

Leaving Compass Cay we stick to the VPR (visual piloting rules) route south. This route is a lot of fun because it keeps you in the thick of the cays. It's also challenging as there are no channel markers and many things that need to be dodged. Some of the cays are privately owned and have beautiful houses on them. One house had three huge wind generators providing electrical power. After a too short four hour cruise we arrived at Staniel Cay, the largest settlement in the northern Exumas.

Getting an anchor to work in the Bahamas is a challenge. The anchor's flukes penetrate the sand but not the hard pack just below it. While the sand alone gives the impression of a well set hook, it doesn't hold in a blow. Some LNVTs came with a Taiwanese knockoff of a Danforth anchor. Nellie's got one: it's 45lbs, stainless steel, well made, and has 'Taiwan' stamped on it. After having used it for a year now the conclusion is that it works fine--in other than flat smooth bottoms. Today, for example, we couldn't get it to set off Staniel. Even diving on it and manually directing the flukes downward didn't work. Interestingly, we were successful in setting a Fortress (a Danforth by another name but made of aluminum). The anchors appear similar but their individual nuances spell the difference between success and failure.

We dinghied ashore and walked on our first paved roads in what seems forever. Colorful, small, buildings are scattered about. The building colors are used in lieu of a business' name. For example, there's a pink grocery, blue grocery, and yellow bakery. It's about a mile walk to Isles, the island's largest store. Large is a relative term, think two car garage size. Three bananas and a loaf of Bahamas white sandwich bread was $7.

Walking back we stopped for beers at the Staniel Key Yacht Club. This is where the cruising set hangs out and we talked with the crews off three different boats. It never ceases to amaze me how interesting these folks are. 12nm today and 408nm total. DBH

Wind and Rain

Day #13: We're still holed-up in Warderick Wells Cay. The cold front is nearing and the winds are getting stonger and clocking. Boat projects, reading, and debating world issues easily fill the day.

Being afloat connects you intimately to the weather. As the wind clocks we know the low is moving. Fast moving thunderstorms are a very visible manifestation of the movement. We've had some very close lightning strikes and buckets of rain. 0nm today and 383nm so far. DBH