DejaVu leaving George Town soon

 

The wind picked up after our closing regatta ceremonies so we moved into the protected anchorage called “The Litter Box” since it’s very shallow and mostly catamarans are anchored there.  Worked out well for us because we could take the dinghy on Monday morning to Baranki Laundry.  Spent the next 2 days getting ready for Jeanne and Marcia’s arrival.  We moved the boat to a spot very close to the town so they wouldn’t get too wet getting from the shore to the boat.  So nice to see them-it’s been a couple of years so lots to catch up on.

Moved over to Sand Dollar Beach and the girls jumped into the crystal clear water.  Enjoyed a last walk on the beach.

It was still blowing hard but predicted to lessen in the next few days so on Thurs. afternoon we left the Harbour and prepared to go out through the cut.  Expected it to be rough and big seas but it wasn’t too bad and we had a good sail for 3 hours to Rat Cay Cut where we went in to our first anchorage.

As we were leaving George Town, we heard on the radio that a trimaran had lost it’s mast sailing in the harbour.  The owner of the boat had borrowed some tools and fibreglass from Joe to do some repairs and he had invited us to sail with him that day-glad we weren’t onboard.  No one was hurt but he has a lot of work to do before he can head out again.

The next day we took Jeanne and Marcia to Leaf Cay to visit with the iguanas.  These are the best fed iguanas in the world.  Cruisers and tour boats bring them lots of veggies to eat every day.

We continued to sail up the Exuma chain and made a stop so the girls could snorkel on the man made reef of a piano and mermaid.  It’s made out of stainless and was placed there by David Copperfield  who owns one of the nearby islands.

Several of the islands in the Exumas are owned by celebrities - Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Johnny Depp, Oprah.

Guess it’s one way of them getting some privacy when they are on vacation.

We anchored at Black Point which is an excellent example of a real out-island non-touristy settlement, the largest in the Exuma Cays.  They have a school, three churches, two grocery stores and native straw work.  Marcia bought a handmade straw bag and a conch shell.

Of course, it was inevitable that something would break now that we have sold the boat.  The belt on the autopilot started squealing and the motor stopped working.  Joe took it apart and he couldn’t fix it so we’re ordering a new one to be del’d to our friends in Miami.  Now those of you who have not cruised can’t appreciate what a big deal this is-we depend on it when we make a passage. For the past 10 yrs. we have had a backup autopilot onboard.  Last week we decided to start clearing things out of the boat in anticipation of turning it over to the new owner so we “sold” the backup to a fellow cruiser.  Now we’re looking at hand steering the boat for the 26 hour passage to Miami.  Not looking forward to it. 

Our next stop was an anchorage right off of the famous “Thunderball Grotto”.  Joe took Jeanne and Marcia over to the cave and they swam into the cave.  It is filled with lots of fish and colourful coral.

We moved over to the anchorage off of Staniel Cay which is unique among the Bahamian out island communities.  Its inhabitants are a cooperative mix of native Bahamians and outsiders with homes on the island.  The sailors there are recognized as some of the best in the Bahamas.   

The Staniel Cay Yacht Club is filled with mega yachts from all over the world.

Helen, Jeanne and Marcia explored the island and did a bit of shopping.  We enjoyed seeing the traditional island homes - one with an old wringer washer on the porch.

Decided to move to Big Majors anchorage to the north.  This island is home to the “swimming pigs”.  The locals have put some pigs on the island and the cruisers and tourists love to feed them so if no one brings them food, the pigs swim out to the boats. We’re sure a couple of them will disappear on Easter weekend to be served at the famous pig roast at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

We had to keep moving every day so we could be in New Providence by Tues. afternoon so the girls could fly out on Wed.  Enjoyed exploring the different islands and they did lots of snorkelling and swimming around the boat.

Took the boat into Coral Harbour and tied up to a private dock there run by a retired British cruising couple who rent out spots on their seawall.  Nice, protected bay and only 10 mins. from the airport.  On Wed. Nick took Jeanne and Marcia to the airport and we got underway for Chubb Cay.

Here’s our last chance to post our Blog because we have a good internet signal so we’ll sign off until we reach Miami.

Surviving the Regatta

We survived another fun filled 10 days of regatta events.  

Started out with registration day on the beach.  Joe and I worked the registration table for regulation volleyball.  Sign up went well and we will have 6 teams of 4 for the tournament.

On the Sat. afternoon we had a talent show at regatta park in town.  This was a combination of acts by the locals and the cruisers. 

Helen and her 6 friends danced and sang to “These Boots Were Made for Walking” and were appropriately called “Babes In Boots”.  We wore regatta T-shirts, black shorts and “rubber sea boots”. 

 It was a hoot and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  

 Joe joined some of the guys in a tug of war.

The Bahamian kids were the highlight-they are so naturally talented and were up on stage doing their rake and scrape type dancing.

The local women kept us fed and hydrated with lots of rum punch, beer, conch fritters, burgers and hot dogs.

Sunday was the big softball game with the cruiser’s team vs. the Bahamians.  The cruisers did their best but were unable to beat the Bahamians again this year- they are natural athletes and half the age of our players. Joe enjoyed being part of the team but isn’t looking to join a softball team when we get back to Ontario-think he’ll stick to pickleball.  When Joe got back to the dinghy dock at 9:00 P.M. his “brand new dinghy” was missing.  Now this is equivalent to you living out in the country and discovering that your one and only car is not in the driveway.  Another cruiser took him across the lake to see if it was on the other side-luckily they found it stuck in the mangroves.  No damage and Joe was on his way. 

Monday and Tuesday were big boat races-one in the harbour and one around Stocking Island.  Joe crewed on a 37’ monohull called Belatrix.  They had a good sail and came in 1st for the in harbour race and 3rd around the island.  Joe really enjoyed racing in a monohull for a change.

Robin and her winning crew

The rest of the week had lots of events - Bocci ball, scavenger hunt, poker run. 

 

funny coconut collecting

On Thurs Joe & I helped with the coconut challenge.  This is a real hoot to watch. Around 1500 coconuts are released in the anchorage-teams of 4 get into an inflatable dinghy (without an engine) and paddle around using dive fins to get around and collect the coconuts.  We tally up the scores and then they move over to the volleyball court where they toss some coconuts over the nets to reach the bulls eye on the other side, the 3rd part is tossing the coconuts into the bag.  

Joe raced his laser sailboat (the one he plucked out of a dumpster in Belle River) and came in 1st.  Brought back good memories of his younger sailing days.

Good shot Al

Fri. morning was “Beach Golf”.  They set up a 9 hole golf course on a rocky, shady shore-quite a challenge for even a seasoned golfer.

Fri. afternoon was Joe’s big event-the 4’s regulation volleyball.  We had the teams set up so each team played every other team on 3 courts.  The most difficult part of this event is setting up the teams since we have players ranked from very good to novices.  It went well and everyone had a good time-Joe’s team did not win this year but he was happy to act as chairman.

Sat. morning was “fun volleyball”.  There are teams of 9 players and although Joe doesn’t usually play he decided to sign up.  It’s a fun game to watch because the teams can hit the ball as many times as necessary to get the ball over and there’s always a lots of players banging into each and knocking each other over.

fun volleyball

Joe’s team came in 3rd place.

regatta point and peace n plenty

Sun afternoon was the closing ceremonies at Peace N Plenty Hotel. Pennants were awarded to all chairmen of the events, many thanks to the organizers of the regatta, door prizes (we didn’t win anything) and lots of food and drink.  Last chance for us to party with our fellow cruisers.

We’re now getting ready for Jeanne and Marcia’s arrival on Wed.  After that we’ll be looking for some good weather to head up the Exuma chain to Nassau where they will be flying out on March 16th.  The weather Gods have not been very kind to us this year so we’re just hoping and praying that we can leave by Fri. and have several days to show them some of our favourite anchorages along the way.