Conception , Rum, Long Isand, Current Island, The Berrys, Palm Beach

After a couple of days at Conception, we decided to leave a day early and make our way to Rum Cay. Rum Cay is supposed to have great reefs for snorkeling and spear fishing.

The main anchorage is on the south side of the cay and offers no protection from the south or the west, so our plan was to arrive there while the wind was clocking from west to north. There is an anchorage on the north side of the cay that we want to check out, but the guide books warn that you have to weave your way around numerous reefs to get in and out. The problem is the wind almost always shifts at night. We plan to check out the north side sometime in the future.

We finally had a mild forecast providing a couple days of settled weather. The next front was supposed to be mild--light and variable, so we headed south into the swell and light winds. We rounded Sandy Point and made our way to the anchorage with no other sailboats around. The bay is beautiful. Not long after we anchored the sailboat Mojo showed up. They also came from Conception, but sailed around the east side of Rum before entering from the south.

That evening Lisa and I walked the town trying to get some leg exercise, with the plan of spear fishing on the reefs the following day. The wind had moved north right on cue and the anchorage was comfortable. When we checked weather again the following morning, the forecast had changed calling for increased winds from the south and west.

Reluctantly, we weighed anchor and headed for Callabash Bay on the northwestern side of Long Island. We would stay there for the night, and then make our way to Thompson Bay (further south on the west side of Long Island) which offers decent protection.

Callabash Bay is stunning. It has the best underwater sand we have seen yet, with no grass at all. Our preference would have been to stay there for a while, but the forecast was calling for 9 foot ocean swells from the northeast. These would wrap around into Callabash making it very uncomfortable at best. So we swam and enjoyed the water that afternoon, wishing we could stay and explore the area further.

The following day we made our way to Thompson Bay. It was a bash the whole way into wind and seas. The route was on the banks so the water was shallow--scary shallow in a couple of spots.

The anchorages at Thompson Bay are a bit shallower than we like, but it all worked out well. While there we were able to go on a long walk and do laundry.


Most of the churches have a cemetery surrounding the church.

It was time to make our way back to the US of A. We weighed anchor at 12:35 pm on Wednesday with the plan to sail overnight and anchor the following evening on the western side of Current Island. The reason for leaving at noonish was to sail the Exuma Sound at night and arrive on the banks near Eleuthera at dawn. This all worked out well, although we could have left an hour or 2 earlier since we didn't reach the banks until 8:30 am. Lighter winds than expected.


While entering the banks, we caught this Black Grouper.  Don't you wish you could do that with your jaw?

Lisa Gaddafi preparing to address the United Nations.


Yo Lisa! It's your turn to take the hook out--I got next.  In addition to this 4 foot Great Barracuda and the Black Grouper, we also caught a Cero.

After motorsailing the banks most of the day Thursday, we made it through Current Cut to the west side of Current Island and had the anchor down shortly before 5:30 pm.

By 5:30 am Friday, we had the anchor up and were headed for Fish Market Cay in the Berrys. This route took us between the Abacos and Nassau on the Northeast Province Channel. At one point, when Lisa was below, I steered toward some birds that were feeding on some fish and promptly hooked a Skip Jack Tuna.


After rejecting our initial spot to anchor, we settled on our second choice right next to another pretty beach. You can see the ocean on the other side of the beach.

The anchor was down at 3:10 pm. Our plan was to stay a day to rest up, clean some of the bottom of the boat, maybe spear fish.

It was kind of cold, but after anchoring, I dove on the anchor, then took the pole spear to look for fish. I was a bit nervous because there were a lot of grass patches around which makes bad boys harder to see. I came upon a small group of decent size Bar Jacks when I heard Lisa yelling at me to get back to the boat. I was pretty certain that meant shark so I left the jacks alone and tried to act casual on my way back to the mother ship. Lisa insisted the shark was following me at a distance, so I got out of the water. Pablo is scardo of sharkos. I normally try to be out of the water by 4 pm, and it was about quarter till. I guess he was on daylight savings time as well. We watched him prowl around the rest of the afternoon and evening and he kept coming back to the boat. He looked very territorial--so no spear fishing the following day.

We debated which route to take to Lake Worth--over the banks or the Northwest Channel north of the Berrys. We decided the conditions were right for the northern route which also would save us about 35 miles. We knew we would see more shipping on this route but we had no idea...

Not wanting to arrive at Lake Worth before dawn, we weighed anchor at 10:35 am. We sailed out of our anchorage and around the northern part of the Berry Island Chain. There were 2 cruise ships anchored at Big Stirrup Cay (aka Coco Cay) as we passed. Had we come that close to an anchored cruise ship in the US we would be in the callaboose with our boat up for government auction.

We were hoping to sail the whole way, but after bobbing along at 3+ knots for a while we cranked the engine. Not long after the sun went down we constantly had around 18 ships within a 9 mile radius. They were like sand on a beach, pebbles in a brook, acne on a teenager...We are thankful for radar. And no, I don't think we will go this route again. We ended up logging an extra 7 nautical miles dodging the big boys.

The shipping traffic finally started to thin out at around 2:30 in the morning. Lisa and I had just finished going over potential problems, I had turned to head below for a nap, and Lisa lets out this bloodcurdling scream. I turned back around, and she was still on the boat--but she had company. Then she proceeds to explain how hard the flying fish hit her before it landed in the cockpit (after arriving in Kindle range, Lisa informs me that flying fish can fly at 43 mph).

The crossing was lumpy, rolly and uncomfortable with the wind on the stern. But it was uneventful once we left the many ships behind. We arrived at Palm Beach and had the anchor down at 12:45 pm.

Georgetown to Conception

Try keeping up with these Jones'


The Internet Cafe in Georgetown. Julius (not Erving) offers WiFi, phone calls by the minute, fax, and computer repair. Not fancy, but serviceable and very reasonably priced. As you can see, whoever built this place used a tape measure with the first foot broken off. It was amusing watching one person after another whop their head on the way out--despite a sign and a verbal warning by Dr. J.

After catching up on Internet business we made an early morning departure for the Island of Conception. It was a beautiful sail up until we cleared Cape Santa Maria, which lies off the Northern tip of Long Island, then the wind died forcing us to motorsail the remainder of the way.

Upon arriving at our destination, we were surprised by the number of boats already anchored. I think there were 13 boats our first night there. The first evening, we did meet the crews of Savage Son and Far Niente--both boats were on Lake Texoma where we spent many a Saturday.


Nice beach at Conception. But the sand was like 40 grit.

We snorkeled just north of our anchorage where there was a lot of structure but surprisingly few fish. There is a large reef which extends 3 or 4 miles north of Conception, but we did not check it out. A week or so before we got there, a delivery captain ran a 60 foot luxury motor yacht onto the reef at 20 knots. The salvage crew was already done and gone by the time we got there.


The sand on this beach was 320 grit--perfect.


Lisa go kill fish.

Royal Island To Georgetown

Upon leaving Royal Island, our intent was to go to Highborne Cay in the Exumas. This would normally involve going through Current Cut, which as the name implies, is a cut with lots of current, and it bisects Current Island.

This leg to Highborne is all on the banks, and as you near the Exumas you have to zig zag around a lot of coral heads. The day was overcast, with a moderate north wind (Highborne has no north protection), so we decided to anchor on the south side of Current Island and then head to Highborne the following day.

The current at Current Cut often flows faster than sailboat speed, so the ideal plan would be to go at slack current--or at least not at max current. Also, going our direction you have to make a hard right as soon as you go through. If you mess up the current can sweep you onto a shoal. The state of the tide was not working out in our favor, so we took the long way around. This involved going past the wreck we snorkeled on, out into Northeast Providence Channel, then back onto the bank through Fleeming Channel, then backtracking north to the south side of Current Island. We could have gone through Current Cut, but I really wanted to fish (only Barracuda on the banks).


This is what I caught. I forgot to set the reel alarm, so by the time we realized the line was running out, I had about 700 yards of line to real back in.


Beautiful sunset at Current Island.

We have had very few cloudless, sunny days since arriving in the Bahamas. Clouds are not your friend when weaving through reefs. So the following morning we crossed our fingers and headed to the Middle Bank reefs on our way to Highborne. With the wind on our stern, we had a wonderful sail. We turned on the motor and rolled in the sails when we approached the shallower, reef infested leg of our route. The clouds came and went, and it was very tedious steering around the reefs. It is by far the most reef congested area we've gone through yet. When the sun is out, they are easy to see, but there were a few times when it looked like there was no way through. In reality, I'm sure there were many we could have passed over, but we are not good enough or brave enough, so we dodge them all.

We made Highborne with no problems. We stayed at Highborne for a couple of days. The first day I wanted to continue working at cleaning the bottom of the boat. The water was a balmy 70 degrees. Better than the 67 degree water the last time I dove our anchor at Royal. I had all my cleaning stuff together, got in the water, went under the boat only to find a small 3 1/2 foot shark hanging out next to our keel. I had Lisa get my pole spear (at that point I had never used it), I approached the shark in hopes that he would swim away. Didn't work. I banged on the hull and that didn't work. I considered shooting it, but didn't want a shark to be my first target. Especially since a pole spear doesn't have near the power of a Hawaiian sling. They say that sharks and barracuda will retaliate--that's just not fair. Anyway, after about 30 minutes, he still wasn't interested in leaving, so I got out of the water.

There were some reefs on the north side of our anchorage, and I was determined to try out my pole spear. So we anchored the dinghy next to the reefs as I tried to become one with the sea. I keep telling Lisa that I swim like a fish, but she thinks I swim like a fish out of water.


My first victim. OK so it wasn't a tasty Trigger fish, but a Grey Angelfish.....OOPS.  Not exactly a headshot but sheesh, he was moving.

We planned on stopping at Normans Cay, but needed to find all around protection from the next front, so we headed towards the Pipe Creek, Bell Island area. It was a cloudy day so we anchored on the SW side of Bell Island with the plan of going into either Pipe Creek or the east side of Bell Island the following day.

Just before going to bed, I popped my head out to make sure everything was OK. There was a large boat (turned out to be a barge) approaching very close to us. He looked like he was going to go right through us, so I turned on all our cockpit lights and the deck light. At that point Lisa saw him flash his lights, and then he altered course. He ended up docking at Bell Island which is privately owned. Another barge came through the following morning, but he took a proper route. We can't figure out what the first one was doing--seems like he should have been aground at the angle he was approaching us.

The following day we moved to the east side of Bell Island which would offer all around protection for the front. The front didn't clock as quickly as forecast, so we ended up staying a bit longer than we had anticipated. We did dinghy to the Pipe Creek area, and I did some snorkeling. We were also able to clean most of the bottom of the boat.


This picture is not very clear, but this float plane would land very close to our boat, drop off people on the beach and then take off near this ketch. 

Once the front finished it's business, we went out the cut to Exuma Sound and headed for Farmers Cut and Little Farmers Cay. We wanted to go a bit further south to Cave Cay, but the wind for the night was to be from the Northwest, so we decided to anchor on the SE side of Little Farmers.

It was a beautiful trip, but the anchorage was a tad crowded. We had anticipated this since the Georgetown crowd is in the process of migrating north. The anchorage was rocky sand, and when the anchor grabbed, we knew it hooked on a rock. The winds were light that night, but I kept waking up thinking I was going to have to dive on the anchor to extract it from the rock--at high tide.

While weighing anchor we saw a huge ray go air born 2 different times. That was way cool. But the anchor would not come up easily, so I got to go for a 7:15 am swim. It was a bit chilly on deck, but the water actually felt good. After 2 tries, I had the trip line attached to the front part of the anchor (with the assistance of the deck babe on the bow feeding the line). The trip line basically lets you pull the anchor out backwards. It actually worked. I was relieved. With everyone in the anchorage watching, I could not afford to fail. It's a guy thing.

We had another great motorsail, and then motor to Georgetown. Were able to make lots of water and charge all our gadgets. Had a huge fish on the spinning reel, but he threw the hook.

When we entered the harbor at Georgetown, we were surprised at how beautiful the water is. Stocking Island beaches look good too, but we have stayed close to town to take care of business.


The exit/entrance to Lake Victoria (where the dinghies dock to go into town).

Spanish Wells to Royal Island

While wandering the streets in Spanish Wells, we came upon this interesting basketball hoop.

When I grow up I am definitely getting a bike like this.

We finished our 2 loads of laundry (only cost us 24 bucks), so we needed to get out of the marina with their high transient fees. Of course another front was a day away, so it was off to Royal Island which is one of the few places around that offers pretty good all around protection.


This leg was only an hour or so from the marina, but it felt good to move again.

Once anchored, we had 1 day that would be calm before the front moved in. We took advantage of the smooth water to dinghy out to a wreck just south of Egg Island. It is located just before the bank drops off to very deep water. You can clearly see the bottom the whole way to the wreck, so we were able to clearly see the large shark sauntering away from the wreck as we approached. There was a large catamaran that was anchored near the wreck with a couple of snorkelers in the water. That gave us enough nerve to jump in--even Lisa jumped in. It was quite cold but we were able to look around for a while.


Construction site on Royal. The Stauback Co. and someone else who didn't play football started a humongous project here, but I think like often happens in the Bahamas after a lot of money is spent, the investors backed out so the major work has halted.


Willow, the Valiant 42 anchored near us at sunset.

The front ended up being fairly mild with no excitement for a change. How wonderful is that?

Back to Spanish Wells

After a tearful, but wonderful visit with family as we remembered Dad, we had to get back to Spanish Wells to get our boat out of the marina.

Considering how long it takes to get a sailboat to where we are at, it's rather embarrassing how quickly a twin prop plane can get us there. Of course they didn't stow any food or fishing gear for us.


At this point Lisa and I are being yelled at. I guess they don't like us taking pictures of de plane mon.


North Eleuthera International Airport.

The short time we were here, the airport seemed very efficient. The ground taxi and the water taxi ride back to Spanish Wells went off without a hitch.


Spanish Wells is bit different than most places we've been. They
keep their houses freshly painted and everything seems well kept.

The fishing fleet in Spanish Wells is responsible for a large majority of the Bahamian fish and lobster exports, and there are no rusty, run down looking boats that we normally see around fishing communities. They are all brightly painted and kept looking good.


Supermarket parking lot with Yugos and BMWs Spanish Wells style.

This is a very large and well stocked supermarket by Bahamian standards. You will need to sell your house and your boat to buy enough groceries for lunch though.

Don't be fooled by this casual looking parking lot. The streets here are like rush hour in Dallas (well maybe just before or just after rush hour when the cars are still moving very fast). There are no sidewalks, they drive on the wrong side of the road, they drive like maniacs, and the concept of yielding to pedestrians does not exist. Also, most of these things have stereos. We did do a lot of walking while at Spanish Wells. Many of the locals are descendants from the Loyalists who settled here after we whupped them, so they are more European looking. They are a very friendly, proud and industrious people. We really enjoyed our time there.

We met a local lobster diver and his family one night at the local conch fritter hangout. The large lobster boats tow smaller launches that split up during the day with 2 divers each and they collect lobsters, then return to the mother ship. Apparently, a front that moved through while we were in Florida, sunk a couple of their launches, so the boat our new friend crews on was in port until repairs were made. Later on, we happened to walk by his house, and he gave us a bunch of bananas he had just picked from his front yard.


More peaceful walking on this beach than the roads. The house is not bad either.

Dad

By Monday the 15th of February, the seas had laid down on the Northeast Providence Channel and it was time to head to Royal Island. Before we entered the bank, Lisa went below to check weather and grib files on the SSB. She came up shortly afterward to inform me that Dad had passed away. He went to meet our Lord on the previous day, Valentines Day Sunday the 14th. He had finished teaching Sunday School class, and was attending the church service when God called him home. He was surrounded by many who loved him, doing what he loved the most. As we have said many times over the last month, we miss him terribly, but are so grateful that he did not suffer.

We were able to alter course to a marina in Spanish Wells. From there we took a water taxi, then a land taxi (same driver) to the airport on the north end of Eleuthera. My sisters and Richard were already in Florida when we got there. Larry got there a day or 2 later.

The funeral was set for Saturday, so our whole group spent the remainder of the week preparing for that. So many people stepped up in a big way to help our family, and we are very grateful. The service was incredible, and was a testament to the positive impact Dad had on the lives of so many people.


The best mom and dad in the world.


Mom and Carol styling, as Dad looks on.


Dad on our previous boat on Lake Texoma.


Dad's family.


My beautiful bride before the service.

Dad, thanks for being such a great father, family man, godly man and role model. We love you and miss you.

Great Harbor Marina to White Cay

The nasty cold front was gone, and it was time for us to move on. It was a beautiful day, but there was no wind. We had done almost no motoring since leaving the US, and I wanted a calm day with no sails up to try out my fishing rods for the first time. We also wanted to make water (we can make water without the motor running, but it makes water faster with the motor on, and it doesn't drain the batteries). So we left the marina and rounded Little Stirrup (renamed Coco Cay by the Royal Carribean Cruiseline--I'm thinking they wanted it to sound less Texan and more South Pacific) and Great Stirrup Cays on our way to the east side of the Berrys. Our destination was White Cay.


At this point, Lisa is making fun of me because she can sense that I have no idea what I am doing.


About half way to our destination, the big real brought this in. After scrutinizing the fish book we decided that we were going to call this fish a Greater Amberjack. While processing him, he did change colors, matching the colors in the book.


He matches nicely my flip flop. The cockpit floor got a lot uglier in the 20 minutes that followed this picture. We did get some very nice fillets and stuck them in the freezer.

When we told a fellow cruiser that because of the size of the fish (and because it was an Amberjack), we were concerned it might carry the ciguatera toxin. He confidently told us there was nothing to worry about. So at happy hour, we gave him some fish. Since he and his 2 buddies weren't flopping around on deck the following morning, we figured it was safe to eat and cooked some up the following evening. Yummy.

Anchored near White Cay.

Is she cute or what.

The Berrys don't offer a lot of all around protection from weather fronts which is why not a lot of boats go there. Other than their 2 well protected marinas, White Cay offers the best all around protection from strong, shifting winds. Wednesday night brought winds in the mid 30s as a front passed by. At the time there were 4 boats in the anchorage. We were up around 3:00 am monitoring the situation when a catamaran dragged about 150 feet. He ended up very close to Mike's (our cup bearer for the fish) boat, but no crunching. Things calmed down soon after and we were able to go back to bed.

There was a much stronger front due in on Friday night. Weather guru, Chris Parker, was very concerned about this one. We either needed to sail to Royal Island (which might have been overcrowded, and we had not been there before), sail to Nassau and go to a marina (the marinas may be--and actually were--full), or stay where we were at. We couldn't go back to Great Harbor Cay Marina, because we would have had to pound into large seas to get there. We decided to stay put and hope that no more boats would show up--by that time, we were the only boat in the anchorage.

The forecast was for sustained winds of 35 to 40 knots with gusts over 50. We knew there would be no sleeping Friday night. Because we were the only boat there, I was able to let out 185 feet of chain in 10 feet of water. The problem with these fronts is the wind shifts. You can set your anchor well, but if the wind is strong enough, and it shifts from SE to W and then N at some point your anchor will need to reset--hopefully by itself. Our Delta does a wonderful job at this, but you still get butterflies until--well, until you eat something. I don't like using multiple anchors unless there is no swing room. They often work against each other, and more often, the rodes twist around each other. The last thing I want is to be on a pitching deck with tangled rodes in an emergency. Plus, I like having 10 fingers. My 10 cents is get the biggest anchor you can hang off the bow. It's not big enough unless other cruisers laugh at it. We have a 55 pound Delta and would have their 80 something pound one if it fit one of our twin rollers.

As usual Chris was right on. The winds came with a vengeance. We had a lot of 50s and some 60s, with a high of 72. Some sections of the Abacos saw 70 knot gusts as well. Our sustained winds were 35 to 45. During the worst part we had the engine running as a precaution. For a while I actually had it in gear to lessen the load on our anchor gear. It was pitch black, so we had the chart plotter on very large scale so that we could monitor our exact position and make sure we weren't dragging. We were finally able to go to bed at 5:00 am.