South Eleuthra-
4-8 Ten Bay
Brisk East winds are again calling us to move on. Great sailing under reefed main and jib but no waves as we are in the lee of the island. Caught a tunny (bonito-released) and a nice Spanish Mackerel. Dinner of homemade pizza on the grill aboard Blue Wing with Duwan and Greg. Greg entertained us into the evening playing his ukealalee and singing.
4-9 thru 4-12 Rock Sound
Another great sail south once again under reefed sails making 6-7 kts. Caught 2 big barracudas (released) and a nice hog snapper that made 2 great meals.
The next few days brought big winds so we find ourselves exploring the island, shopping for fresh veggies and propane and hiking to the ocean beach. Cocktails with Dave and Joanne from Tropical Breeze on each others boats a couple of nights.
From here we have to decide whether to continue south along the eastern Islands or cross west to the Exumas. We will let the winds and seas make this decision as we have no set schedule.
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| tonites dinner |
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| look at the size of those teeth! |
West to the Exumas
4-13 & 14 Wardrick Wells
The Southeast trade winds have calmed to about 15 kts and are predicted to drop further during the day. With the dinghy tied down on deck we head out at 7AM for Powell Point. Caught a nice yellowtail snapper as we exited the sound. Entering the open ocean 2 hours later the winds and seas are making for a wet sporty sail. We make good time even though we are pointing higher than is comfortable. By about 2 PM the seas have finally settled down so that at least it’s a drier ride. Had 2 big fish on and fought each for a good time before losing them. One broke 60 lb test line when my drag messed up and the other gave a good fight before getting loose. It’s difficult to slow the boat when sailing in big winds and seas so bringing in a big fish is a real challenge. Chris doesn’t like being at the helm in these conditions but relents when we have a fish on.
Arrived at Exuma Park Headquarters by 4 PM where we had called ahead to reserve a mooring. Every surface was crusted with dried salt spray but cleaning up will wait till morning as a swim and cocktails were called for.
Saturday evening the park ranger hosts a boaters pot luck at the pavilion on the beach. These get togethers are great as we get to actually connect faces to the voices we hear on the radio and also swap stories and info on the places visited.
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| Beach Party -Exuma park |
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| Placing our boats name on cairn atop Bobo hill- 4th year |
Sun 4-13
Another beautiful day in one of our favorite spots. A climb up Bo-Bo hill to retrieve our boat sign so I could carve this years date adding to the previous 3 years. Tradition calls for each visiting boat to place their boat name on a piece of driftwood atop the hill and some of these signs have been updated for over 10 years.
At sunset while enjoying a steak dinner in the cockpit I tossed a piece of fat over the side and the water erupted with fish. 2 small lemon sharks along with numerous other fish both small and large fought over our scraps. Guess no swim tonite!
Aerial view of moorings at park headquarters
Monday 4-14
O’Briens Cay
With a rising tide, lite winds and bright sun we decided to explore some of the channels that wind among the nearby islands. I am always amazed at how we can read the water depths in this clear water with sandy bottom. This is a beautiful area but as they say the water is skinny, so not a place to explore with a falling tide. By early afternoon we picked up another park mooring and went snorkeling at the Sea Aquarium. Fantastic coral and fish but a fast current made for a short stay.
4-16 thru 21st
Pipe Cay
Once again we found ourselves exploring new areas as we motor among the many islands. At Pipe Cay we tied up for the night on the seawall at the abandoned US Govt’s Radar installation. Having passed by on previous trips and seeing boats tied up we assumed it was a private island. We found this to be such a wonderful place that we have called it our own private Island for the past 5 nights. Great beaches, shallow bays filled with turtles and a few small sharks and a protected harbor all made for a peaceful stay. Sat we were joined by 2 big cats from Toronto. Both were around 40 ft and we managed to squeeze all 3 of us along the seawall. I think they felt bad for invading our privacy so they invited us for dinner. We had a nice evening celebrating my birthday with our new Canadien friends. Chris had baked a blueberry pie(wild berries from home) to top off the party.
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| relaxing on our private island |
Black Point
Since we havn't had wifi in a week we move south to the aanchorage on Great Guana Cay. Caught a barracuda (To big to keep) along the way but the bad part of the journey was I broke my starboard genoa winch. apparently a screw came loose and a brass gear cracked under the strain. Since these winchs are nearly 30 years old I can't imagine parts being avail. I would like to be able to repair it since replacements are at least $1000 each and are used in pairs. Will try to figure out how to rig one of the other winches so we can still use the jib. To top off the day our charger for the laptop bit the dust. Thankfully we bought a car adapter before leaving so we can still charge with 12volts. At least we finally have fast wifi on the boat and were able to catch up on bills and skype the girls.
