Exumas Part 1

The evening before we left Great Harbour Cay the staff at the marina gave us a surprise going-away party.

Party Decorations

Consuela

Kimberly making her famous Bahama Mama Conch Fritters

Meko and Gary

Kimberly and Raymond



Great Harbour Cay Pat, Celine, Meko, Consuela, Kim, Gary Raymond, Hans and me

Gorgeous thoughtful decorations

Kimberly made conch fritters and baked a wonderful coffee cake. Consuela made Mac and Cheese and baked us bread, the guys picked fresh coconuts for us to drink and Hans and Meko decorated the trees and tables with Bougainvillea flowers. The next morning we left in the dark and headed towards Great Stirrup Cay.  The forecast was for smooth seas but as we rounded the tip of the Cay and headed south the seas were confused and rocky. It didn’t make for a very pleasant trip but we decided to keep going and head for Nassau.

On a side note; the engine issues we have been having seems to be over (knock on wood) after the long trip to Nassau they were both working very well.

We could smell Nassau before we could see it. The chemical smell of oil or diesel was so strong I thought it was coming from the boat, then we realised it was blowing towards us in the wind from Nassau. I guess being away from industrialised civilization for a while made us sensitive for the pollution that abounds around big cities like Nassau.

Finally we arrived in Nassau, it was never going to be a place to stay, we just fueled up and went grocery shopping. It is a painful experience to grocery shop in the Bahamas, even in Nassau things are so expensive compared to the prices in the States. But there is only so much you can bring with you when you are on a boat. Fresh fruit and vegetables are even more expensive and it is the one thing we always need to pick up.

Anyhow, so Nassau… The crime rate is rampant; the place is overrun with big cruise boats and just not our idea of a destination. We left the following morning after a nice night in the anchorage in Nassau harbour.



The sun rise on our trip south to Nassau

The famous Atlantis - Nassau

Cruise ships everywhere



NassauWaterfront

Our first stop in the Exumas was Highborn Cay. We anchored in a suggested anchorage and took a dingy ride around to explore. Many boats had taken the good weather window opportunity and were showing up in the anchorage. We found it very rolly and a little uncomfortable so the next morning, early, we headed further south to Norman Cay.

Norman cay is famous for once belonging to the drug dealer portrayed by Johnny Depp in the movie Blow. All over there are houses going to ruin that had once belonged to drug traffickers and dealers. I think they are making a real effort to establish it as a destination for tourists as there is a lot of new construction going on.

A Island of your own?

A wreck of a drug plane ( There are many of these in the Bahamas)

My own swimming hole

Gorgeous Beach

Starfish

I don't know what kind of fish this is...

Abandoned home - what a view!

One of the caves at Norman's Pool

They say these are old drug houses but I can't say if it is true or not.

We loved it at Normans, such a well-protected anchorage and lots to do. We snorkeled and harvested conch to last us a while, we relaxed, did some beach combing and explored the surrounding cays to the fullest extent.

We took a trip to Shroud cay in search of Camp Driftwood and after a lovely dingy ride found the noticeboard but no other sign of the one-time lookout point for the drug industry. We also did some amazing snorkeling around Shroud and saw a Moray Eel, a huge Grouper and many fish and gorgeous coral. Shroud cay is part of the Exuma National Park, so you are not allowed to do any shelling, harvesting of conch or lobsters or fishing…which probably explains the huge Grouper still swimming around..

The western shore of Shroud Cay

The slough from the West to the East of Shroud Cay, This is part of the Exuma Park

The view from Camp Driftwood....see the native peeking through the trees ? LOL

Gorgeous views

Our next destination was Waddrick Wells but a front was forecasted and I didn’t think we would get enough protection from the west winds, so we moved to Staniel Cay where we met up with SV Last Waltz.

Josie enjoying the cool evening air

Sightseeing with Levon ( Bob and Monique)

The swimming pigs off Staniel cay - so cute!!

Not just pigs but also chickens and goats

Our young friends off SV Abyshag

Piggies

The Exuma islands run kind of North- South, with the Atlantic Ocean (deep) on the East and the Bahama Banks (shallow) to the West. The prevailing winds are from the East and there are many little places on the Western side of the islands that provide shelter against the East winds. If a front blows through the winds clock from the East to the South West, West, North West and North before it comes from the East again. These fronts are always forecasted way in advance and you will see boats scurrying around to find appropriate shelter as there are few places to hide from the West Winds and those places fill up very fast….

We were anchored between the Majors but the surge was rocking us back and forth too much, so we moved to the upper Majors in the hope of getting away from the surge and the expected high West winds. Bob and Monique were anchored at the top of Large Majors off Pigs Beach and they weren’t doing any rocking so we decided to move there….but that meant we would be exposed to the West winds forecasted for the next day. The forecast said that the winds were only going to be out of the West ( 15kts) for about 3 hours and after discussing it with Bob we thought it would be ok to ride out the storm with no protection from the West.

Well that wind blew like stink ( 20 knts with gusts up to 40 knts - so they say) out of the West for almost 24hours!!  Our poor boat got tossed about so badly we couldn’t stand to stay on board. We woke up and immediately got in the dingy and went to Pirate Beach where we could see the waves and winds putting Time& Tide though her paces. My heart broke for the cats knowing that they would be very uncomfortable as the boat was doing her rodeo ride.

Thank goodness for Pirate beach where we sat waiting for the storm to blow through and the waves to calm down, it never happened 

As the day grew longer the expected wind change never came and after waiting for as long as we could, we had to go back to the boat before it got too dark. Getting in the dingy and leaving the beach was scary enough but trying to get on the boat from the dingy was downright frightening. The boat was bouncing up and down and the dingy was bouncing up and down and Gary and I, both soaked to the bone held on for life as we climbed from the dingy on to the swim platform and into the boat.

The first thing I did was take some anti-nausea medication; I fed Jacob his food and lay down on our bed. After about 2 minutes I knew I had to lie down somewhere else because every time the boat bounced I would almost levitate off the bed. I got on the floor next to the bed and crawled into the space between the bed and the hull. There I lay and prayed. I was so scared. I was afraid the anchor would pull off the boat as the large waves were snapping it taunt, I was scared the pulpit would fail or the sideways motion of the boat would cause it to fill with water and sink. I was scared and I was afraid for Gary and the cats. Jacob meowed his displeasure and I tried to console him as I tried to keep calm. Josie must have slept through it all as she was gone from sight till the next day. Poor Gary lay on the couch and in the middle of the night crawled into bed.

The next morning we were facing NW but the seas were abeam, so we decided to move. Why we didn’t move the previous day is beyond me, just because the waves were high wouldn’t mean we couldn’t lift our anchor and move to a more protected spot…Anyhow LESSON LEARNT!!

As we got back to our previous anchorage we were in smooth calm water. We stared working on getting the boat fixed up-as the back carpet was soaked from water splashing up into the boat. As we were working away a dingy pulled up next to us. The SV Runaway told us they noticed us moving and were wondering why we would give up the best protected real estate for open waters. We said we didn’t know better and had made a mistake. They said they had been watching us getting tossed around and felt so bad for us but didn’t think we would want their advice. I assured them that advice is always wanted and needed. But when it was all said and done no one got hurt, no boats were damaged and one great lesson was learnt. I had cried a lot and I had prayed a lot and in the end it all worked out ok.

Thunderbolt Grotto

Sharks EVERYWHERE!!!!!

Low flying plane over the anchorage

The water is so clear , this is a picture of a sand dollar, 7 feet down in the water, take fromt he back of the boat.

The day after the storm was gloriously beautiful. We joined Bob and Monique for a snorkel of the Thunderball Grotto, famous for the James Bond movie by the same name and then we enjoyed a Valentines Dinner with our loved ones.

Staniel Cay has a Valentines Day celebration every year. We attended the flea market and bake sale. I met a fellow South African from Durban who lived in Pietermaritzburg for a while and knew an old boyfriend of mine…small world!

Our friends bob and Monique

Happy Valentines

After another great visit with the crew on SV Last Waltz we said goodbye as they were heading North and eventually back to Florida, whereas we were still heading further South to Black Point where I hope to catch up on some laundry and internet duties, including posting this blog.

……………..to be continued