3/16-3/20 Clarence Town, Long Island to Cat Island

Upon leaving Clarence Town Mon. March 16 we headed to Rum Cay with WindLass and Yamma also joined us. We arrived after a 6 hour sail with the ocean swells reminding us of small carnival roller coasters; very scary at first but then realizing WindSwept Dreams had no problem in these waves I was able to enjoy the sail in 15K East winds. We were able to hear music on the back deck from the ipod with only the wind providing competition. We only used our jib and it was a great sail. Upon arrival we lowered our dinghy and headed into the town of Port Nelson to check out the local scene. With only a population of 60 we came upon Kays Bar first and decided to save that stop till we had seen the marina. The office was closed but we came upon stone carvings of Neptune and a shower that had carved sealife around it.

We stopped at Kays and met the proprietor, town matriach, author,(Rum Cay, My Home) award winning(2008)director of tourism and hospitality and owner of the town grocery story; 77 yr old Delores Wilson, she was an absolute delight and filled with stories and wisdom. She told of her visits with a Contessa that she took skinny dipping on the island and her visit with Jackie Onasis and stated that she had no idea who these people were except when their crew came into town looking for them and she later looked at the guest book that she requests all visitor sign. We met some other local people and purchased her book.

St. Patricks Day we awoke at 7am to rain and I hurriedly got out a cooking pot to collect free, fresh rain water. I also got out my soap and scrub brush to give WindSwept Dreams a good scrubbing with the added bonus of a hair softening shower for myself. However after a mere 20 min the rain ceased and I went for a morning swim and then took a "proper" shower off the back of the boat that has a fresh water hose with lukewarm water. We headed into town about 11:30 after calling to line up a golf cart to rent for the day with WindLass and Yamma; true to Bahamas style we arrive only to find that the town was out of gasoline fuel till the mailboat arrives on Thurs. and the batteries were dead anyways. We wish we had called the taxi driver that shuttles people around from the bonefishing lodge-next time we will contact George on VHF 16.
Ed and Steve(yamma) find Rueben who promises to get us fuel for our dinghy a $6.00 a gallon(yes they seem to know about supply and demand economics here) so Ed gives him our small plastic gas tank(it is 12:30) but unfortunately they didn't discuss a timeframe for return; perhaps the Admiral will have to be involved next time and we don't see Rueben again till 4:30 pm. I think he must work with Kays restaurant/bar because we ended up having drinks and an absolutely delicious lobster lunch. I asked the chef for her secrets and Delores took me to the kitchen to visit with her daughter, Donna the cook. I learned about making a special spicy salt mixture. If you don't ask it doesn't give people the opportunity to say yes to you. I enjoyed my afternoon with Delores, the matriarch and she took me to her home to see pictures of friends and family and talk about her friendship with Sidney Portier who has the same editor in New York as Delores. She has never met him but they have phone contact and he wrote a
forward to the book. Fortunately we didn't have to worry about supper as Dee from WindLass made a traditional corned beef meal complete with irish soda bread. It is great to have a buddy boat.

Wed 3/18 our final day we took a 9 mi dinghy ride to the north side of this 9m x 5m island to Flamingo Bay to snorkel; it was absolutely beautiful with all the elkhorn coral but unfortunately it was not fruitful for Ed; there seemed to be no lobster, conch or big fish; maybe it has been overfished. Our return trip was directly into waves that had built since our departure at 10am; it was a long uncomfortable ride back. We stopped for a snorkel and WindLass thought we were having problems and it looked to us as we got closer to our boat that we were aground. We thought WindLass was coming in the large boat to give us bad news. Fortunately it was just the angle and color of our boat that blended into the sand and we were fooled.

Thur 3/19,2009 we left Rum Cay at 6:30 am for Conception; although only a 4 1/2 hr sail we were unsure of what we would find weather wise so left early to have time to
continue to Cat Island if necessary. We arrived at 11:15 and all was fine; we took an hour hike around the ocean side Turtle Sound Trail. Unfortunately I had left my sandals at the beginning of the sand so 15 min. into the hike after numerous offers from Ed to retrieve my sandals and a short piggy back ride I succumbed and waited thankfully. It was a very nice trail marked by beach debris of which there is plenty. We came to the end to find a cluster of plastic hats and glass bottles; kinda a piece of sand art. We spent some time in the afternoon snorkeling but were very disappointed. It is a no take area but even if it weren't we saw very few fish. The remoteness that the guide book talks about we believe no longer exists as it is only a day trip from Georgetown-a heavily populated(200 boats) cruising destination. We enjoyed the Ragged Island and the Jumentos much more. We had another evening with Second Chance and WindLass of Dominoes and snacks.

Fri. 3/20 we are underway to Cat Island, the boyhood home of Sidney Portier. There is supposed to be 20-30k winds starting tomorrow and storms till Thurs so we may be in Cat Island for awhile. We are having to motor sail but it isn't unpleasant seas so no complaints.

Hope all our friends and family are doing well; we miss you and wish you were here to enjoy the sunshine, snorkeling,. beautiful turquoise waters, incredible islands and warm 80 deg. temperatures. It think we have found paradise.

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