January 30 – February 2

We woke up this morning and had to pinch ourselves. The view from the cockpit was fabulous – exactly what we had imagined being anchored in The Bahamas would be like. We have thoroughly enjoyed every part of the trip, but this really is something else.

Warderick Wells has a number of hiking trails providing many options to explore the cay. On Wednesday we went for a hike up Boo Boo Hill. The cays are comprised essentially of limestone, formed during the last Ice Age, which has been dramatically eroded and mottled over time. The shores are very rocky with rather tall cliffs interspersed with beautiful beaches.

Boo Boo Hill is the highest point of land on Warderick Wells with a cairn and markers on top of it. The lore is that the boatload of missionaries that wrecked off Warderick Wells are buried there and the cairn was erected years ago in their honour. Boaters have been leaving mementos with the names of their boats on this site for years.

I also have been snorkeling a number of times. There is an amazing variety of fish. Some are bright and vivid while others are so well camouflaged that you don’t notice them unless you look very carefully. It has been fun using my camera with its underwater housing, a great Christmas present from last year.

While snorkeling one afternoon, Corinne and I thought we saw a small reef just off one of the beaches. As we got closer to shore, Corinne said, ‘It’s moving.’ Could that be possible? Sure enough, the black form was moving back and forth along the beach. As we got closer, it began to move towards us. When we stopped the dinghy a black ray, over three feet across, swam up to us and stopped under the dinghy. Corinne said this was much too close for comfort (not in exactly those words) and we slowly motored away. We asked the park attendant about this afterwards, and she said it was likely just happy to find a place in the shade.

On Friday we went on a guided walk with Bill, a volunteer for the park. Many cruisers volunteer for a day or two to support the programs within the park. In this picture he is explaining that the fifty plus foot Sperm whale skeleton behind him was from a whale that had washed up on shore a number of years ago. It had apparently died from ingesting plastic bags that it had swallowed thinking they were squid, a staple of their diet.

On both the micro and macro level, refuse is a major concern. As thoughtful as we have been, we have a full garbage bag accumulated after a week in the Exumas, and there are few options to dispose of it. More disconcerting, though, is the distressing amount of litter, mostly plastic and glass, which washes up on the beaches. Corinne and I are trying to be thoughtful about our impact on the environment.

January 28-29

Monday was a gorgeous day as we eased out of the marina just after 9:00 am.

Kenny and Amy, aboard Mary T, another Morgan 384, joined us and we were finally off to the Exumas, bound for Allens Cay. Kenny and Amy are great fun and very competent sailors, so it is reassuring to be sailing in their company. Also, since they have the same boat as us, it is great fun sailing side by side, or better yet, slightly ahead of them!

It was 33 nautical miles over the Exuma Bank to Allens Cay. The bank is only 10 to 20 feet deep so is great sailing in that while it may be quite breezy the waves are not large. Midway we passed over the Yellow Bank, approximately a five-mile stretch of coral heads. We were a little apprehensive about this, but the coral heads are clearly visible ominous black heads and we were able to easily negotiate around them.

The anchorage at Allens Cay was somewhat crowded and we did not get settled until later in the afternoon.

On Tuesday we were off to Warderick Wells, headquarters of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. It was another fabulous sailing day, perhaps one of the best of our entire trip. After thirty nautical miles we turned eastward to find the entrance to the mooring field at Warderick Wells. As we closed on the cay, the spectacular blues of the water come into view. I have tried repeatedly to capture this, but pictures do not do it justice.

The view of the mooring field and cays beyond from the deck of park headquarters is spectacular. We feel like we have finally made it and are very excited to explore the trails and snorkeling within the park.

January 22-27

Just as he promised, Albert arrived early Tuesday morning and had the new transmission installed before lunch. Although we had been hoping that a new transmission would not be required, as they are not inexpensive, we are feeling much more at ease now that it has been replaced.

We have managed to keep quite busy in Nassau. We are up early in the morning, but some days it can be 11:00 am before we have finished breakfast and made the long walk along the dock to the showers and back again. We have met a number of wonderful people in the marina and so visiting along the way is part of the fun.

On Wednesday we walked over to Atlantis, a magnificent resort and casino complex on Paradise Island. It is extremely lavish and a little ‘over-the-top’, but fun to walk through. In one of the main foyers there is a huge aquarium around the perimeter that is perhaps one hundred yards long and houses an amazing array of fish.

We were back to the hospital on Friday and Corinne had a new cast put on, actually a fiberglass cast put over the shell of the original cast. I wish I could do glass work on the boat as quickly and easily as Dr. Iferenta put that cast on. He is a bit of a ‘character’ and Corinne is very happy to be in his care. While he was putting the cast on, we asked what the pain of such a break would be like if we had not been able to get to the hospital for a day or so. His response was ‘Astronomical’. With that sobering reply we asked if there was any medication that would be helpful easing the pain in such a situation. Without missing a beat he said, ‘Rum’.

Corinne has an appointment to have a smaller cast put on in two weeks time, so as the weather improves, we are going to head down to The Exumas.

On the weekend we walked down to Montagu Park to watch the Bahamian sailboat races. These are part of a regular schedule of races throughout the islands, and are a popular event, with lots of music, cold beer and great food. And yes, there’s some racing as well.



Corinne and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but had the most fun with Gabriel, who we were thrilled to adopt for the afternoon. Gabriel and his mom were staying in the same marina as us while his father was in Miami on business for the week. We would stop and chat with them most mornings on the way to the shower.

January 14-21

All dressed up and nowhere to go. That seems to be the story since our arrival in The Bahamas. If you look carefully, you can probably see the black cloud hanging over Corinne’s head as well.

We were all set to leave Nassau last Tuesday morning. In the process of leaving the slip, the transmission would not go from reverse back into forward. Corinne bravely reached out to fend off the boat behind us and in doing so broke her wrist. With assistance from fellow boaters we got back into our slip and walked up the dock to catch a taxi to the hospital. Someone slipped in behind us and said ‘I will give you a ride’ which we were happy to accept.

We spent the morning in the hospital and returned to the marina in the early afternoon to find our boat carefully and neatly secured. Shortly afterwards Claire, from across the way, came by and said ‘Luv, you won’t be cooking tonight so I will bring you over supper.’ Once again we are amazed by the thoughtfulness of the cruising community.

We have spent the past week either back and forth to the hospital, as the cast had to be adjusted twice to ease the pain caused by swelling, or touring around Nassau. So far, the highlights have been making arrangements to have the transmission replaced and finding Internet connections at the Starbucks or On the Run Esso station across the street.

Actually the real highlight was a seafood dinner Claire and David invited us to on Thursday. We went with Claire down to the docks to buy fresh hogfish and lobster from local fishermen and then Dave cooked it in white wine sauce – fabulous!

This week Albert will replace the transmission and Corinne will have a new cast put on. Then, if another cold front does not slow us down, we will be off to The Exumas for a couple of weeks.

January 12-13

We were up at 4:00 am (who could sleep anyways) in order to be away before first light. Everything went smoothly as we inched our way around the south end of Key Biscayne and out into the ocean, headed for North Rock at the north end of the Bimini Islands, some 56 nautical miles distant. We have heard many stories about how difficult crossing the Gulf Stream can be, but had a wonderful trip.

We were ‘off-soundings for most of this part of the passage, meaning that the depth sounder cannot register the bottom of the ocean. As we approached Bimini, however, the water quickly shoaled to 20 to 30 feet, in the transition becoming the most incredible aquamarine colour imaginable.

The second leg of the trip traversed the Great Bahama Bank, a distance of 59 nautical miles. The average depth of the water across the Banks was 15 to 20 feet, and so this water was also a spectacular blue colour. At regular intervals along the way schools of flying fish would go skittering across the water.

As dusk approached we turned on the barbecue and enjoyed pork chops with a greek salad while watching the sun disappear beyond the horizon.

At that point, the ocean began to loom quite large. We were very happy to be in the company of 15 to 20 other boats that were also making the crossing to Nassau. Every hour one boat led a radio check in which all participating boats checked in with their position. There was also constant radio contact between boats to share conditions and stories, as well as just generally maintain spirits.

By approximately 3:00 am we were approaching the Northwest Shoal, marking the entrance to the Northwest Channel and the Tongue of the Ocean. This was the third and final leg of the trip and was again ‘off-soundings’.

The moon had set by midnight and the stars visible during the night were amazing. It was also intriguing to see the phosphorescence in the wake of boat as we moved along. This looks like hundreds of fireflies flashing for just a second to mark your progress.

After travelling for thirty-one and a half hours and covering 175 nautical miles, we finally arrived at Nassau, very tired and thankful to have had such a wonderful trip. As we approached Nassau we radioed to ask for permission to enter the harbour and raised the yellow quarantine flag which must remain flying until we have cleared Customs and Immigration. They come to the boat to complete the required forms, and you must remain on the boat until this process has been completed. Late in the afternoon we happily raised the Bahamian courtesy flag and are looking forward to confirming that it is indeed ‘Better in The Bahamas’, mon.

January 10-11

KLUNK!

‘What was that?’

‘I don’t know, but … we’re not moving.’

Oh #@@**

We had departed at noon from the Miami Yacht Club to head down Biscayne Bay to No-Name Harbour, a preferred departure point for The Bahamas. A mile into the trip, we felt a shudder and heard a horrible clunk. We were in the middle of the busy channel leaving Miami and going nowhere.

We quickly set the anchor and ran through all of the possibilities, none of them good, becoming more disheartened with each. Having no idea what to do next, we called TowBoat US to came and get us. When the operator arrived, he patiently reviewed our options, and as he prepared the paperwork, looked from his boat to ours and said, ‘But I think I know what your problem is. Look at your prop.’

A large palm frond had become entangled in the prop and was fluttering behind us. He towed us back to the harbour, to the exact place we had left a couple of hours earlier, and then offered to dive and cut the frond loose. In ten minutes we started the engine and everything was fine. Talk about going from on top of the world to disappointed to excited again!

Although it was getting late in the afternoon, we opted to sail down to No-Name to be ready to go.

Saturday was a busy day, route planning with three other boats and keeping a nervous eye on the weather. After much discussion, we had a plan – and only changed our collective minds three more times through the day as we compared notes with other cruisers.

January 2-9

We were up early this morning.

In fact, all of us had a restless night, I think, listening to the wind singing in the rigging and wondering how the dinghy ride to shore would be.

The winds of the forecast ‘norther’ began to fill in last evening, almost on cue as Brett and Kristi began to pack up for the next part of their vacation. By morning they were blowing steadily at 25 plus knots. Not only was it windy, but decidedly cool as well.

Since saying good-bye, our week has been preoccupied with trying to figure out how much wine and Kraft dinner we will need for the next three months, and then running around picking things up. Figuring out our needs for our time in the Bahamas has actually been a big undertaking, but the more significant task has turned out to be where to pack everything we have purchased.

We rented a car for the weekend and on Sunday drove down through the keys as far as Islamorada. Along the way we picked up a heavy-duty fishing rod at a flea market and a weight belt at one of the dive shops. Corinne was shaking her head with both of these purchases, but was much happier after lunch at a very nice ocean side restaurant.

Our packing has been going well, and we are waiting for the right ‘window’ to cross over to the Bahamas. Our intent is to cross to Bimini and go on to Nassau as quickly as possible. From there we will take our time sailing down the chain of keys known as The Exumas and end up in Georgetown.