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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3/10-3/15 French Wells to Clarence Town, Long Island

We have finally accepted that the Weather is the true director of this trip! As much as I the Admiral, and Ed the Captain would like to determine
our destinations and stays we frequently have no choice. Currently we are underway from Conception Island(only a 1 day visit) to Cat Island a motor sail, but a good protected anchorage for the 20-30k winds, high seas, and squalls expected through next Wed.

Tues. 3/10 we had a short 2 hour but wonderful sail from French Wells, with winds from the E 15-20 kph. Our visit to Landrail Point on Crooked Island in the Acklins was very interesting; it is our favorite town in the Acklins. Although the Explorer Guide and the Bahamas Cruising guide say a limited amount about the area we found it to be delightful. We wandered into the Seventh Day Adventist(no alcohol)town about 3:00 to find an extremely well kept town;i.e. houses and yards were well cared for and the 2 grocery stores were very well stocked at least to island standards. We even were able to watch the local news the day the market went up 379 points. We quickly met the son of the matriarch of the island, and were escorted to his mother's home for a visit. It was a delight hearing about the island from Mrs. Marina Gibson who used to run the Gibson Lunch Room but now leaves the running of 2 of the island restaurants to her children. We enjoyed her homemade guava duff as well. I played the keyboard for her although only the keys above middle C worked; she seemed to be pleased just the same. We enjoyed a meal at her daughter, Willie's and husband Andy's restaurant. We enjoyed a family style meal of grouper with Dee and Pete, s/v WindLass and met some fly fisherpeople, Dottie and Fitz; she holds 15 world fly fishing titles(she says in her age group(early 60's); there isn't much competition, they were an interesting couple. Again however it was a visit dictated by the incoming weather according to our guru, Chris Parker who we faithfully tune into at 6:30 am or 8:00 on our SSB; we have found his forecasts to be very accurate. I think our weather forecasters at home should seek guidance from him. After only a day we had to move on due to the forecasted high seas of 8-10 feet resulting in very uncomfortable swells particularly in unprotected anchorages. We were sad to leave Rum Tum Tiger and Shamal(wind in Arabic) friends met in Long Cay, Acklins. One great aspect of cruising is the boating community and often we run into people we have visited with(Dominoes & Dessert on WindSwept Dreams) or Happy Hour. I(We frequently) LOVE meeting new people and entertaining!! I work hard as Friendship Development Director and Communications Officer. I am definitely not Captain status yet but can chart a course competently and use the nav equipment; a big improvement from last year.

We headed to the security of Clarence Town on Long Island; we arrived at 3pm after an 8 hr motorsail(yuk)just as my homemade bread needed to be baked. The Fishing
Captain fulfilled his role and landed a 23" yellowfin tuna and WindLass benefited by joining us for dinner. He also caught a 36" barracuda but we don't eat due to cigutera;which doesn't seem to bother the locals. In under 200 ft. of water we usually catch a barracuda. At 9 am Thur., 3/12 we went to the Luxury of the Flying Fish Marina; internet, laundry, hot showers, fuel, water for our tanks and a restaurant. We spent some of our time doing some neverending varnish work and I scrubbed rust off the stainless steel again. We utilized all the facilities for 3 days and collected more boat cards and made new friends. We also hitchiked to Salt Pond (a mere 20 miles north and 5 car rides)to the marine store and Hardings grocery. On the way back we were very lucky and got picked up by Vincent on his way home from Salt Pond to Clarence Town. He asked if we had visited Deans Blue Hole, a 634 ft. world recognized free diving Mecca and we said we didn't have time a month ago when we rented a car on Long Island. He proceeded to take us there on winding dirt roads and it was phenomenal; it sure gets deep quickly. We weren't prepared for a swim so we have to save that jump for a future trip. I also attended the Anglican church with him on Sunday.

All friends come with varying benefits like free wine, fish fillets, interesting stories and information about other islands and countries. We had never eaten wahoo but 3 new male friends were leaving the next morning and gave me 12 fish fillets along with their extra fruit, vegetables, cheese, etc. left from their 1 week visit. We also met Steve s/v Yamma from London, England and a paid captain, Mark and his wife, Jenny who was cook and cleaner of a 70 ft. motor yacht(Impetuous) along with John their friend from Key West and a professionally trained chef, fly fishing guide(Ennis, Montana/, Florida Keys) who is assisting them in taking the boat on an overnight sail to the Turks and Caicos. Weather dictated that we leave that destination for a later time.. We had a dominoes/dessert party, Sat. even. and enjoyed having John make ceviche out of some of the wahoo they had received and I made a chocolate rum cake. We did so much visiting we never got around to dominoes but it is fascinating learning about other peoples adventures. Steve had sailed across the Atlantic with friends and has been out for 2 years and cruised the Great Lakes in MI last summer. He is a single hander and a former hot air balloon enthusiast. Mark is from South Africa and Jenny from Canada and met in St. Martin(they are in late 30's-youngsters). Cruising has a way of bridging age gaps due to common interest; it is so fun being with people from such varying ages and backgrounds; one of our favorite things about cruising.

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ACKLINS EXPLORATION

We have lived the gypsy life the past week exploring Long Cay, AlbertTown, Camel Point, Datum Bay, Acklins and today we are headed to French Wells.
The winds have continued to be strong in the 20-30k range from the E/SE which has made for beautiful sailing with very little motoring which is the way we love to do things.
The Byte of Acklins live up to their reputation in our Explorer chart books of being remote and not a particularly favorable cruising ground because
of the low water depth. Yesterday we had to stop enroute to Datum Bay and drop anchor for several hours. The water depth 6.2 ft and at many times we were
bumping along instead of sailing along. We need 5 ft. of water in order to stay afloat; so we had a nice lunch and a nap and waited till the tide started
to rise. The boat has been getting a good fresh water bath this week with the frequent rain storms which are mostly in the evening which is fine with us.
The days however have also been a bit overcast which causes concern for us because we like to use our solar instead of our generator or diesel engine to recharge with.
Sometimes our evening are not as peaceful as we would like with the generator providing our background "music" if you can call it that. Fortunately we have headphone for our ipod and I have my keyboard with headphones so we do have options.

The towns here are very small. The grocery store; if there is one on the island consists of about 150 items at most and to our standards looks like a house in disrepair.
However we make a point of visiting the store as the store owners are VERY FRIENDLY and know alot about the islands. We are also finding that it is a VERY SMALL World in the Acklins as many of the islanders seems to be related. The Acklins certainly maintains their reputation for being extremely friendly people. Hitchhiking here is no problem in fact you don't even have to put out your thumb; they stop and ask if you want a ride. Ed and Pete enjoyed a ride in the back of a pickup on Wednesday in Spring Point which is the town near Camel Point in Delectable Bay where we anchored. Dee and I rode in the cab and had a very interesting chat with Ferguson(45 yrs) about the resort he has been trying to build for the past 5 years alone, harvesting cascarilla tree and exporting to Europe for the making of root beer, perfume, cigarettes and to sweeten foods. We were thrilled to visit the local store and talk with some of the children who all wear uniforms to school and say "Yes Sir, Yes Ma'am", they are very polite. I like to question the children as to their georgraphy knowledge of the location of Oregon; it is surpising but very few know where it is but they usually know about California.

We spent a nice night in Datum Bay before heading north to French Wells at the southern end of Crooked Island. The wind angle was perfect such that with 15-20 knots of wind we averaged 7K with highs of 8.2K. Whooeee! As we passed Albert Town on Long Cay the fishing reel made that sound as a fish began stripping line. After about 15 minutes we had a 44" MahiMahi along side. It was a terrific iridescent blue color which changed when we brought it on deck. We've enjoyed several meals already, including one with Pete and Dee, the rest is in the freezer.

We made such good time that we anchored outside of the French Wells cut waiting for the tide. Pete and Dee made it in with no problem however we went a little off and wound up on the sandbar which required us to take down the dinghy to help push us to deeper water. Finally, we were free, went through to the anchorage which had high current and poor holding so we went back out and anchored in sand offshore. In sand we trust our anchors no matter the type they all hold.

Today we dinghied up Turtle Bay Sound following the stakes to a little dock where we decided to not walk the 2 miles to the settlement and not continue all the way into Turtle Bay because the tide was starting to turn and parts of the "trail" are only a couple feet deep which not being from around these here parts concerned us. We saw mangroves, tropical birds and had a beautiful ride. We then stopped at the beach and walked for about an hour before heading home for an early dinner of MahiMahi. Later we went back to the beach for a little rock etching to put our names with others at the rock pile. We also followed a cairn trail and found a well. We didn't see pollywogs because it was getting dark but they are a sign of good water. We watched the sunset on the beach and that was it for 3-9-2009.

The agenda for tomorrow is some snorkeling followed by moving the boat about 8 miles north to Landrail Point on Crooked Islands northwest shore.

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Feb 28, 2009

One more day and grouper season opens. We are on the way to the Acklins, a group of three including Long Cay, Crooked and Acklin Islands. They are considered "out islands" given their remoteness from the major chains. We hope that their reputation for snorkeling results in many fish dinners. Rest assured we will be trying for more fish and lobster, something we haven't done since returning to Long Island from the Ragged Islands and Jumento Cays about 10 days ago.

While in the Ragged Island our dinghy tried to escape on its own; it was 9:00 pm when we realized that it was no longer tied to the back of the boat. Ann had decided to take it to the beach for a 8:00pm walk but the engine wouldn't start so I pulled her in and failed to notice that the line was just tossed around the cleat instead of being secured down. Fortunately the evening had little wind and we had the help of our 3 other boating friends and located it in about 10 min. It is frightening thinking of not having your vehicle that enables trips to other boats and to shore for walks and breaks from the boat. There are many advantages to traveling in a group; you really depend on others and they also depend on you.

Our stay at Long Island has been eye opening in that this island has a great mixture of supplies and remoteness. We've toured the island by car with Pete and Dee from WindLass seeing great churches in Clarence Town and the Columbus Monument at the north end. At the south end we took a tour of Hamilton Caves which was very interesting. Ann especially enjoyed the bats, cochroaches and termites that we saw; there were many shrill sounds coming from her. Today and yesterday we moved from the salt pond area around the great shallow areas west of the island to the southwest corner. Tomorrow we will push on to the Acklins. We plan to continue traveling toward the Turks and Caicos providing that the weather cooperates and our boat is ready and willing. It is hard to believe we have been gone for 3 months. We will probably be back to Oregon the middle of May.

While in Thompson Bay, Long Island we are sorry we have been remiss in doing blog enteries. We have been busy catching up with friends, doing laundry, going to restaurants,updating our accounts and taking care of business via internet, doing boat projects like varnishing the teak and reprovisioning our food supply with fresh fruits and vegetables and getting gas for the dinghy, diesel fuel and water. We actually spent more last month for water than fuel. Water was .30/gal and we needed 120 gallons. We managed to use only 4 gallons of water a day while in the remote Ragged Is and Jumentos. It is also amazing what you can make with canned foods. Ann can be a very creative cook using salsa and a can of corn along with some leftovers to make soup and it was very good. Very little food goes to waste on the boat.

Yesterday we arrived at Dollar Harbor, a little sheltered area in the middle of tidal flats, at dead low tide and were unable to enter. We then continued a little farther and anchored out against the shore. Today we continued on towards South Point where we anchored about noon after starting at 6AM. The reason we started so early is that we were concerned that the weather might change forcing us to continue all day to the Acklins which we were prepared to do given the early start. We received the forecast via SSB enroute and decided to stay overnight. The wind is expected to begin clocking (a clockwise rotation) mid-day Sunday which will be just fine for our trip to the Acklins (they lie southeast of Long Island) but would not be good for this anchorage. We have these type of little decisions quite frequently.

Beachcombing today yielded many pretty shells and a sighting of 7 flamingos and a man catching and releasing 3 bone-fish and he was a fishing guide on the Deschutes River in Bend; what is the chance of that! The beach was otherwise deserted until some folks showed up with 3 ATVs from the town of South Point. Otherwise it was paradise.

Our weather has been pretty mixed with some rain which the islanders need for recharging their cisterns and watering their plants. We've had a lot of wind lately in the 20 knot range which kicks up the seas such that people tend to stay put which is fine. Ann organized a great beach party in Thompson Bay, Long Island which was attended by about 50 people. We have made so many friends that we will see on and off as long as we are cruising.

Yesterday we said goodbye to two boats we cruised with from Georgetown to the Ragged Islands and Jumentos for the past 31/2 weeks and Long Island, plus another boat we had met in Normans Cay and shared an day of snorkeling and cleaning conch; we met up with again in Long Island. Plus there were other friends we had met up with in other places. So currently we are cruising with WindLass, Pete and Dee who we met last year and met up with in Georgetown. They had met two other boats near Key West and made the crossing to Nassau together and traveled together from mid Dec. until now. It is hard leaving people behind but we keep up with some people through our single side band on a station called Cruiseheimers at 8:30 every morning and we can keep track of other boating friends along with making contact with them through the net. Ann is the primary user of this connection; she has also been the one getting up at 6:30 am to listen to the weather reports from the guru Chris Parker.

So what else do we do, you might ask. Ann is quite the baker and has taught other cruising ladies the fine skills in bread baking, caramel roll creation plus learned to make tortillas from another friend. Ann also enjoys attending the local church service and getting to know the owners of the restaurants and people in the town. Any new person seems to be a friend quickly with her. We also have dominoes and dessert here frequently; she has earned quite a reputation as a baker. Dominoes is the main game but the other night we had a singing contest with the judging based on team effort and lyric knowledge, surprisingly the quality was not horrible. Nearly every night we get together with other boaters. It is amazing that the people at home that we have lived next to for 20 years have never shared a drink or meal with us. H..ere we know people for 2 hours and we get together with them; just a different way of life. We have also found that our cabin makes a sweet dance floor for two, very romantic! It is quite amazing this life without the big screen and cable, we tend to read and interact with others instead of gluing our eyes to the newscasts and sitcoms. I think we are more content not knowing what is going on in the states; ignorance is bliss. We enjoy hearing personal news from home so don't hesitate to email us. We can't always respond quickly but will do the best we can.

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Feb. 8-Racoon Cay-House Bay

We moved to the other side of Raccoon Cay to House Bay to gain protection from the 16 kph east winds. We are still traveling with 3 other boats, WindLass, Kokomo and Poco Loco. It is a nice calm bay that provides us with opportunities to work on boat projects; including varnishing, shining stainless steel, doing laundry by hand in very minimum water and our usual cooking. We carry 150 gallons of water using about 3 per day. Ed and I are also cutting each others hair. With the remoteness of these islands we are learning to do many things and depend on

We enjoyed a hike on Raccoon Cay yesterday venturing to the ocean side of the island to observe the 6-8 foot waves and thankful to be in our bay. I'm learning to hunt for hamburger and heart beans. I also look for palm fronds so I can continue my basket weaving. Wow do baskets take a long time to weave. I'm also enjoying doing some cake baking for our group evening gatherings to play dominoes, exchange books, watch a movie or just visit and watch the sunset.

Snorkeling has been an event almost daily for the past 4 days with Ed honing his hunting skills. No longer is he satisfied with his mole catching abilities but he is now a food provider. I also participated in the food capturing.
We both really enjoy lobster which lurk in the holes around reefs. Ed is very adept at diving and peering into the holes or spotting an antenna protruding from a rock and uses his Hawaiian Sling to spearfish. Normally I'm a bystander but yesterday as a very large lobster was escaping from the other side of the reef I alerted my hunter and he brought up the lobster. He caught 3 lobster yesterday. He now has the title of "Great Hunter" in the group of 3 other boats that we are traveling with.

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Man of War Bay, Nairn Cay

2-03-09
We moved over from Double Breasted Cay this morning due to the forecast for north winds as did 8 other boats. This is one of the few anchorages protected in north quadrant winds which we expected today and especially tomorrow. Indeed the wind has shifted to 330 degrees, tomorrow we expect 15-20K winds.

We snorkeled today. I said that I would not spear any fish today, that i was only after lobster but, my resolve melted when I spotted a nice hogfish, said to be "outstanding" and possibly one of the best fishes anywhere. Yesterday I speared, or should I say slung speared, a nice margate which is rated "good" for flavor having somewhat a fishy taste. We had it for two meals today so you know it was not too bad. Tomorrow we will eat the hogfish. Mmmmm.

The area we snorkeled today had a forest of elkhorn coral (resembles antlers) and there was a carpet of 6-9" yellow grunt plus myriad other species. It was fantastic and we are enthused to go out again tomorrow.

2-01-09 Ragged Island
We went to a superbowl party at a bonefishing lodge they are building in Duncan Town. We had no idea that there would be so many people and so much good food (lobster, conch, chicken) plus munchies bought by the cruisers. It was a great game too. We got back to the boat around 10:30, one of the locals lived near the dinghy beach and gave us a ride. No one would let us walk to or from, they simply go out of their way to make us feel welcome.

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Duncan Town, Southside Bay

We moved to Southside Bay, Ragged Island (22d10'N,75d43.5'W) on the 29th anticipating a cold front (temps in the high 60s) bringing north winds of 25K on Saturday the 31st of January. This is one of the few places in the Jumentos and Ragged Islands offering protection from the north and east though not from the south and west.

Duncan Town has about 70 folk and it is unclear how they support themselves except for the 10 or so people we've met who fish or run the restaurant and grocery store. The all-age school has a husband-wife team from Guyana who have been here for six years. We were able to use their wi-fi and computers. It seems as if Dell contributed older model computers maybe three years ago. The setup was very nice, more typical of a US library rather than a poor remote fishing village. The basketball backboard was missing the right half, the basketball court right side is all rubble, they are awaiting cement. Still, the people are welcoming, sweet and cheerful.

We walked the 1.5 miles to town for groceries, Sheila's restaurant and use of the internet. There is another cold front expected Tuesday so we will probably be here until Wednesday. We will probably go into town Sunday for the Super Bowl. Some guys are working on a bone-fishing lodge and have a large screen TV.

Meanwhile, we continue to hike the beaches, snorkel, read and watch movies. I guess writing this blog is another way to pass the time. I also have boat chores to do. I am refinishing some of the woodwork plus maintenance coating wood that I refinished last year.

The north winds are here and building as I write but should be done with in the afternoon before going east for a few days. Enjoy.

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