Today: March 10, 2010: Staniel Cay Yacht Club, Staniel Cay, Exhumas, Bahamas: N 24 deg, 10.345' W 076 deg, 26.750'
This log covers March 04 - March 10, 2010 (Nothing particularly interesting happened on March 5 or 6, we were just hanging out waiting for the bad weather to pass.)
Fionna, we know you are following our blog, so this one is especially for you.
If you read our last blog, you know that getting out of our slip on Highbornd Cay was tricky. Your Uncle Matt was betting that there would be at least one minor disaster before we managed to pick up our friends Paul and Mary-Beth who were arriving at Island World Adventures on Saddle Cay from Nassau by speedboat after taking a big plane from NH to Fort Lauderdale Florida, and then a small plane from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau. There were plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong, so Matt thought he had a pretty sure bet. Here's how it all went.
First, leaving the slip on Friday, March 5:
Since we were in the biggest boat in our group of slips, and we were in the tightest spot, and we were the first to leave on Friday morning, the other skippers helped with lines and stood by to learn from our mistakes. We were extra careful, controlling our bow with a warp led around a piling and back to our port bow cleat, tended by Nana; and controlling our stern by a line around another piling and back to our port sheet winch, tended by me. Nana says the anchor just kissed the starboard outer piling. No harm at all.
A few miles later we were safely anchored off Long Cay, where Nana and I launched the dinghy and I motored the mile to Island World Adventures on Saddle Cay, met Paul and Mary-Beth who had arrived on a speed boat from Nassau exactly on schedule. I thought about my bet with Matt when I limited myself to one 151-proof rum punch before we motored the dinghy back to ACT III. With Mary-Beth, Paul, their gear, and the dinghy motor safely aboard, I announced that Matt had officially lost his bet. Just to be sure, we sailed to Norman's Cay, anchored, snorkeled, beachcombed, and found some very interesting critters, including an octopus in a hole in 6 inches of low tide water who seemed to be intent on attacking Paul. Back on ACT III, we grilled steaks and watched the sun set. Another perfect day in paradise.
The next day, Saturday, we sailed to Warderick Wells Cay, Exhumas Land and Sea Park. You can check our previous blog about this wonderful place. Since we were members, we got a choice mooring. Saturday night is the weekly cruisers party so we swapped food, drinks, and tales with fellow cruisers, many of whom we had met on other cays. There were a few children there, Fionna, just a little older than you, cruising with their families. One family had sailed from Holland three years ago and are just now getting ready to end their adventure. When you are a little older we want you to join us for a few weeks, or maybe a whole summer. I'm pretty sure you will love it. We gave Paul and Mary-Beth the use of the dinghy for all of Sunday, and they had a great time snorkling our favorite spots and hiking the trails.
The next day, Monday, we sailed twenty miles or so to Compass Cay and anchored in a beautiful lagoon protected from the weather. Paul wanted to fish for bonefish, and this looked like just the right spot: shallow Mangrove swamps with lots of rays and Nurse sharks around. No luck catching bonefish, but we discovered that the near by marina (we went there by dinghy) had a resident population of lazy, friendly Nurse sharks and about 100 of the biggest bonefish Paul had ever seen. Alas, fishing was not allowed, so all Paul could do was look and wish. Looking from the dock into the twenty feet of crystal clear water was like looking into a giant aquarium. Back aboard ACT III we grilled burgers and spent the night. We spent all of Tuesday exploring beautiful Compass Cay. It is privately owned and maintained by a local Bahamian who inherited it from his parents. He is doing a wonderful job of preserving it and protecting the wildlife. We gladly paid the eight dollar fee for the privilege of landing our dinghy and exploring the island. Paul tried his luck at bonefishing again (no luck) while Heidi, Mary Beth and I hiked the island, seeing lots of birds, lizards, and endless beautiful beaches and ocean. Paul picked us up with the dinghy and we rode back to the main dock seeing lots of big sting rays in about four feet of water. The Nurse sharks at the dock are so friendly and lazy that people can swim with them and feed them hot dogs. Just don't put your finger right in front of their mouths!
On Wednesday we decided to sail the Exhuma Sound to Staniel Cay. We were the only boat out because we had twenty knots of wind on the nose and 5 to 6 foot seas. It was fun to see the depth suddenly drop from 90 feet to over 3000 feet. We had a rip roaring close hauled sail: just the way you like it, Fionna. I remember how you went up on the bow with your Mom and Adam and sat in a bean bag chair yelling "woopee!" every time a cold wave came aboard and hit you in the face. None of our crew were that brave, even though the water was warm: they all stayed comfortably in the cockpit. Paul and Mary-Beth treated us to a delicious dinner at the Yacht Club reataurant and we all went to bed happy.
Today started out cloudy, but we took the dinghy to the famous Grotto for some snorkeling anyway. This is the cave where the underwater scene in the James Bond movie "Thunderball" was filmed. The sun came out just as we entered the water, and the cave, which very easy to enter, had a spectacular variety of fish. We had brought along a bag of peas because we had heard that the fish liked them. Did they ever! When we opened the bag under water, dozens of fish swarmed around us, bumping into us and each other in their eagerness to get to the peas. One fish accidentally nipped Mary-Beth's finger, but it didn't really hurt. It was the first time she had ever been snorkeling with lots of fish, and she was very excited.
On the way back from exploring the area by dinghy, we found the famous giant swimming pigs on Big Majors Spot Cay. There were some other dinghies there and the pigs swam out to greet all of us. The biggest one got kind of mad at Nana because we didn't have any food for him, and he tried to climb into the dingy right into Nana's lap! As you know, Nana doesn't scare easily, but that pig made her scream and jump out of the way. It was pretty funny.
Towards evening we took the dinghy around the corner to admire a very well thought out home-built boat named "Sea Fever". Garth, Lilly, Isabelle, and Rose are a wonderful family on an amazing adventure.
Be sure to click on the links to the photo albums because Mary-Beth is a good photographer, and she took some great pictures.
We love you and we miss you lots. Your mom tells us about how you love skiing and that your philosophy of life is to do everything and really live. We are very, very proud of you.
Lots of Love and big hugs,
Papa
