Wed. Jan 2, 2013—Day 92:
Destination: Staniel Cay to Black Point
Departure:
0820 hrs. Arrival: 1020 hrs. Distance: 9.59 NM
Winds: light & inmeasureable direction Seas:
flat calm
Weather: mostly sun & few clouds to brilliant wall
to wall sun all pm
 |
| Black Point |
It became flat calm during the night & the
surroundings appeared like there was a light fog when the sun rose. Good reception & good weather forecast by
Chris on SSB X 1 week here in the central & SE Bahamas, whereas another
cold front was to move to the Abacos on the weekend; we got weather from ‘Blue
Yonder’ as well. It was so calm that we
could see the sandy bottom, full chain length & anchor; it came up with
ease. With less than 3K of wind it was a
motor ride X 2 hrs. & so calm we could clearly see the rippled sandy seas
floor, few tufts of grass now & again & starfish the entire way. I called Mom when we were near the south end
of Staniel Cay, in full view of the Batelco tower but the reception was good
sometimes & times when I could not hear anything at all. We anchored in the bay NE of the docks in
10-11 ft. of water & 100 ft. of chain.
At noon with laundry all sorted & organized, we dinghied to Rockside
Laundromat ( 0900-2000 hrs.), the best, cleanest & most efficient laundromat
in most of the coastal USA & all of the Bahamas; they have their own &
appeared to be new dock with concrete steps right to the building. It was high tide which made landing &
unloading much easier. I used 3 washers
& 2 dryers ($3.50 per load X 5 loads= $17.50). While the laundry was running it’s courses, I
downloaded pictures from my camera, caught up on writing yesterday’s blog &
afterwards discovered with much surprise that I had internet & a good
connection at that. It was kind of a
waste of a most gorgeous day to be doing laundry but you don’t waste
opportunities like this. After laundry
was stored away it was back to shore to walk, see if there were any changes as
we walked along the main street (Stella).
We did a walk through Adderley’s Friendly Store (opened till 2000hrs.)
& found out that the mailboat normally comes on Wed. but because of the
holidays this week there was a run on Fri.
We had an early supper at De Shamon’s (Dennis & Diane); a most
delicious pizza—ate half & rest home of another meal. No-see-ums & mosquitoes were annoying because
it was dead calm. Tonight there were
several boats anchored in the large anchorage.
The water was like glass, the night was so tranquil, the sky clear&
filled with the magnificent stars of the milky way & a late moon rose.
Thurs. Jan. 3, 2013—Day
93:
 |
| Lorraine's Cafe |
Destination: Black Point
Winds: E, about 10K Seas: < 1 ft.
Weather: cloudy with a few scattered very light rain
showers in the am & by noonish sunshine & blue skies
 |
| Happy Hour at Scorpios |
A dull start to the
day. A good reception of weather on SSB;
Abacos predicted to get a cold front on the weekend, but not much in Central
& SE Bahamas; a lot of easterly or variations of in the forecast & I
felt this would be a great opportunity to sail to Little San Salvador, Cat
Island & Conception Island, part of the Out Islands. On the VHF we learnt that ‘Glory Days’ was in
tow with ‘Amazing Grace’ in favourable weather across the Gulf Stream 7 the
Straits of Florida with the ultimate destination as Fort Pierce. It was a morning of serious housecleaning of
the head & shower, the main salon floor + the mats & carpeting, then
blog writing. Graeme cleaned some of the
grim on the dinghy pontoons. There was a
constant trickle of boats moving south, some anchoring in Black Point. High tide was at 1132 hrs. so at 1100 hrs. we
started dinghying to shore to refill our empty water jerry cans. The job entailed bringing the 3 empty cans to
shore, pulling the dinghy onshore, walking up the new stairs & across the
street to the water spigot, hauling the cans back across the street, down the
stairs, into the dinghy, refloating the dinghy & hauling the jerry cans
onto the boat & empty in one of the two boat tanks X 3 trips (total of
2-1/2 hrs.). The prize was lunch at
Lorriane’s Café, buying a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread from Lorraine’s Mom
& good internet. Following all of
this a large number of cruisers attended Happy Hour at Scorpios (Tues. Thurs.
& Fri. 1600-1800 hrs.) with $3.00 beer, $2.00 wine, $5.00 liquor & 2
for 1 rum punches, free popcorn & complimentary conch fritters, oh I almost
forgot, free mosquitoes. We dinghied
home in the dark at rising low tide with our appropriate lights. I did not see sunset tonight or the setted
sky afterwards. But the view from our
dinghy across the harbour was spectacular with a massive number of mast lights
& more magnificent was the sky above & the indescribable beauty of the
stars.
Fri. Jan. 4, 2013—Day 94:
Destination: Black Point to Hetty’s Land, Great Guana Cay
Departure: 0950 hrs. Arrival: 1130 hrs. Distance: 7.73 NM
Winds: ESE to SE 10-12K Seas:
<1 ft.
Weather: sunny, blue skies & few clouds
We received weather on
SSB; most with good reception & a little scratchy at the time of our
specific location; some heavy winds forecasted Mon. afternoon through to
Thurs. Out Islands were a not for
now. Our plan was then to move for 1-2
days only short distances to see new locales, then likely come back to Black
Point for the southerly wind blow. At
least for those 3-1/2 days we can get to land with all amenities at hand. We heard Exuma Park at 0900 hrs. giving
mooring ball assignments to ‘Moma Cal’ & ‘Kathrian’ & also ‘Ambition’
called with their departure. We were
unable to hail anyone of these boats until later in the day when ‘Ambition’ had
moved onto Staniel Cay. We motorsailed
closehauled with the jenny at 5.5-5.7K
in a 10-12K ESE to SE wind & stood enough offshore to avoid an area
of shallow coral heads & rocky bars as we slid down the western shore of
Great Guana Cay passed Little Bay, Jack’s Cove & Bay, White Point into
Hetty’s Land. We dropped anchor in 11-12
ft. water & 100 ft. chain. Some
reading in the sun on the deck after lunch, then snorkeling over a coral head
with ‘Fair Winds’, ‘Truansea’ & ‘Southern Bound’. The guys were lucky in catching a couple of
lobsters, crab, bar jack & lionfish. The coral head was not particularly
colourful, but a lot of similar small fish & I forgot my underwater camera! The anchorage was a little bouncy than what
we expected from an east wind. A cloud
obscured the sun just at sunset but a lovely red sky followed & a dark
night with some stars, some cloud & a late rising moon & only the mast
lights of our 4 boats.
Sat. Jan. 5, 2013—Day 95:
Destination: Hetty’s Land to Jack’s Bay Cove, Great Guana
Cay then Black Point
Departure: 1040 hrs. Arrival: 1130 & 1520 hrs. Distance: approx. 8 NM
Winds: ESE to SE 10-16K, increased after sunset Seas: 1 ft.
Weather: mostly cloudy with sunny periods & plenty
of blue sky in am; more sun in pm; H=82F & L=66F
 |
| Exuma Sound side of Hetty's Land |
 |
| Shawn & his lobster |
A slightly bouncy night,
but nothing serious or uncomfortable around.
The usual morning routine, beginning with listening to SSB weather, then
breakfast. The SE winds were to pick up
this aft, lay down tomorrow, then pipe up Mon. pm through Thurs., especially
Tues. & Wed. (SE 20-30K). I went to
the beach with ‘Truansea’ for a couple of hours. There were tons of live & dead sand
dollars waiting to be gathered (low tide).
The group of us took a path marked with old nets, styrofoam float balls
etc. from the beach to the east shore of Great Guana Cay being the Atlantic or
Exuma Sound; there was a huge limestone rock formation, a small cave &
debris+++ including a possible plane wreck.
Once back at the boat, some people went snorkeling & fishing. We up anchored & motorsailed a few miles
north on a broad reach with our jenny (5.7K) to Jack’s Bay Cove; shy to venture
closer to the north side of White Point.
We hailed ‘Moma Cal’ making contact, but barely; in Warderick Wells
today. A few hours we spent on the deck
reading until around 1400 hrs. when we saw a fleet of 4 boats northbound &
looking as if they were heading to Black Point, our intended destination
tomorrow or definitely Mon. afternoon; apparently Hetty’s Land got quite
rolly. We decided to take the
opportunity to sail & get a good spot in Black Point now. So it was another good sail, beam reach at
5.8-6.2K. Soon we were anchored to the
NE of the government docks in 12 ft. & 120 ft. of chain. Another successful day of fishing for
‘Truansea’, ‘Fair Winds’ & ‘Southern Bound’, so a potluck dinner party was
organized on ‘Eleohn’ (50 ft. trawler), where the wealth was shared, featuring
lobster, crab, another whitefish, meatballs, white rice, rice salad, cabbage
salad & homemade dinner rolls. Scrumptious & a good time was had by
all! And a big thank you to all for
including us old foggies! It was a slow
dinghy ride home against a moderate ESE wind under a dark night sky filled with
amazing stars+++.
Sun. Jan. 6,
2013—Day 96:
Destination: Black Point
Winds: E to ESE 12-18K Seas:
1 ft. or less
Weather: warm, both sun & cloud
The east & southerly
winds continued to increase from last evening through the night & were
gusting this morning, creating whitecapped chop. We spoke with Jack on the VHF but even on
channel 68 the reception was less than good.
‘Kathrian’ & ‘Moma Cal’ must have changed their plans, as later in
the day we talked to them again & they had made their way to Big Majors,
Staniel Cay & were going off in the dinghy to see the pigs. The housecleaning task this morning was
washing the cockpit cushions, cockpit & transom with soap & water. About 1100 hrs. we picked Candy & Shawn
(Southern Bound) up to go to shore as they were out of fuel for their dinghy;
walks for Graeme & I but mine more intense.
I found the beach; the 4-6 ft. seas were rolling in quite strongly; it
was low tide & I found a small heart bean & a hamburger bean, but no
good sea glass. Church services were in
progress at 1100 hr., shops etc. were closed & one could hear singing
through the open windows. Lorraine’s
Café opened at 1600 hrs. & were offering a buffet dinner by reservation
this evening. After lunch it was reading
on the deck for me for a short period of time, then polishing the stainless,
followed by more reading till sunset.
Later this evening I finished my current book titled “Artist on His
Island” by Randolph Johnston, father of Pete of “Pete’s Pub” in Little Harbour,
Great Abaco, lent to me by Josh from NSC, a friend of Peter Kitching. The harbour has filled with even more boats this
evening with only a few that left today.
I thought we would have the perfect sunset to observe a green flash, but
evening & Lynn was discharged from
hospital late Fri. According to Larry,
Dorothy & Glenn are in Great Harbour, Berry Island & Bill & Betty
are off to Marathon, Florida in a day or so.
We will need to check emails tomorrow to see where Terri & Bill
are. Another dark night because the moon
rose so late & with the clear sky the stars were abundant & brilliant
as are all the boats’ anchor lights.
Mon. Jan. 7, 2013—Day 97:
Destination: Black Point, but just changed location closer
to shore
Winds: E to ESE 10 during day & 10-12K in evening Seas: calm
Weather: mostly sunny with a some cloudy periods, very pleasant
temps (80’sF)
Typically, we began the
day with the weather forecast on SSB at 0630 hrs. (very good reception) &
again with ‘Blue Yonder’ at 0800 hrs. during breakfast. June is a wealth of knowledge; she still
bothering him after a week. It was to
shore mid morning, meeting up with Christine & Mark & their sons, Logan
& Cole & paying a visit to the school that had just reconvened
today. Miss Young met us, answered our
many questions, allowed me to take a photo of her with some of the more senior
students. School hours= 0845-1500 hrs.
All students wear a green tunic for girls & green shorts of pants for boys &
yellow shits & both wear a green tie & shoes & socks; so cool! Arrangements were made whereby tomorrow Christine
will assist the 1 teacher for grades 4, 5 & 6 with English & Math, Mark
will probably assist the 1 teacher for grades 1, 2 & 3 with science &
the boys will join in grades 5 & 4.
Then all of us took a long hike along Kings Highway to the castle on
Little Bay; residents in house. On our
dinghy ride back, we paid ‘Audacious’ a short visit & ‘Fair Winds’. Ken & Shawn dinghied all the way to Staniel
Cay for gas. Over the lunch hour we
watched a catamaran get ready to depart, then we relocated to that spot; 9 ft.
water & 120 ft. chain. Internet on
shore at De Shamoon till 1700 hrs. Mailboat with supplies do to arrive on Wed.
or Thurs. A gorgeous setting sun, then
clouds blanketed the sunset. A pinky
orange sky followed towards the west & dark rain like clouds to the WNW
& E. Stars were quite visible in the
very dark night sky.
Tues. Jan. 8, 2013—Day 98:
Destination: Black Point (24oN 76oW)
Winds: more SE than E 10-15K with gusts to 20K Seas: 1 ft. with whitecaps at times
Weather: partly sunny & cloudy in am, heavy cloud
over the noon hour with a small rain shower & slight clearing at sunset
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