On Monday, March 8th, we headed for Water Cay, our traditional first stop in the Jumentos. We stop there because it is the closest cay, any others are at least 2 more hours. The sail was mainly a motor today although we sailed with the light air spinnaker for a couple of hours. Ed was pretty frustrated that he did not rig it quite right and that he was an "idiot" thinking he could adjust the spinnaker halyard by hand in light winds resulting in the sail going in the water and the halyard way up the mast. He blames his stupidity on lack of any breakfast. Considering that we have power bars, cereal bars and cereal, he blames that on himself. Anyway, once in Water Cay up the mast he went to retrieve the halyard. He then snorkeled around the little bay and found a large lobster but was unable to get him in the deep recesses of his hole. Dang!
On Tuesday we headed to Racoon Cay going across the deep waters of the sound. The cays and islands are spaced along a curve (like a bow) with Water Cay at one end and Ragged Island at the south end. We cut across to save time and hopefully catch fish but in the latter were disappointed. Anyway, it was a beautiful sail with winds 15K on a broad reach, seas 3-5 feet. We averaged over 6 knots thru Nurse Channel into the Ragged Islands. Once thru the channel we had a bit of a closer reach into Racoon Cay on flat seas, turning on the engine only at the very last minute to anchor as we no longer had enough momentum to move in close. It was a wonderful sail.
Ken and Ed went fishing Wednesday with Ed spearing a lobster and hogfish plus they found 10 conch. For four hours of work they were pretty disappointed but happy to come back with something. On Thursday, because of the coming west winds we moved down to Double Breasted Cay and stayed for three days. Once again, Ken and Ed hunted with Ed getting a decent hog fish and nothing else. We found out that our neighbor hunting in a different spot got 9 lobsters in two days which he shared with other cruisers. He probably should have taken only what he could use given that he had no freezer but some people think nothing of taking everything and leaving nothing.
After the west winds come north winds. We stayed one more night than was really comfortable at Double Breasted but did enjoy a nice walk along the ocean. We moved to the southern-most island of the chain which has great north and east wind protection. It was a very light air sail of about 12 miles so we let the wind move us south at a slow pace enjoying the day.
Duncantown on Ragged Island has about 70 residents plus workers doing several government improvement projects on the roads and airport. The walk from Southside Bay in 1.5 miles. In town they have free internet (one of the only places in the Bahamas), a grocery shop with very few items, a restaurant, bar and bakery. Most of the time they are closed until you find the owner and let them know you want something. Most people order their groceries from Nassau and they arrive on the weekly mail-boat.
We have been here for a few days and are planning to start heading north towards home as soon as the winds go east tomorrow. Besides walking to Duncantown, we walked along the ocean side of Little Ragged Island to high cliffs of limestone named Lovers Leap. We actually saw several small sharks come into the shallows for feeding on something late in the day.
Ed has been sanding the starboard rails in preparation for new varnish. Moisture that got into the varnish several years ago has made the old look bad with yellow spots as the moisture heated and cooled inside the polyurethane. He needs to be more patient with the weather in Georgia to make sure it is absolutely dry and will remain that way while the varnish dries. Live and learn. Today he will put on the first of seven coats.
Ed has been swimming each day and has located about 10 nice conch grazing in the area around our boat. We may take a few but he enjoys surveying the area and seeing how his little friends are doing. Cleaning conch is a lot of work but so is preparing it because you have to dice it small or beat it thin because they are tough.
A little milestone here: we have caught up on writing the blog! This is the first time we are not weeks behind.
We are aiming for returning to Portland in mid-April because Rachel will be doing a final presentation of her PHD thesis April 26th. We do not want to leave the Bahamas so soon but this is a once in a lifetime event.
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