Jun 2006

Mike: 23 Jun
So today we stopped at Normans Cay, sailing close hauled on a north wind of about 10kts up from the Marine Park on Warderick Wells, 17nm to the south. Entering the cay area at low tide, we touched bottom in the sand - the chart suggested that we'd be in at leat 2 meters of water and we only need 1.7m. I guess we hit an underwater sand drift or something. We were idling on the way in and were showing in excess of 6kts on the GPS speed log - lots of current. No sweat though and we anchored just fine. There's a whole lot of current flowing and when I tried to snorkel our anchor set, I just couldn't get there. In the evening we were one of 5 boats at Normans. Amazing how earlier in our travels we'd be the only boat.

Norman Cay is the site of drug lord Carlos Leder's empire. Here he ran his multi-million (billion?) drug supplying empire in the 70s. Today, all of the trappings - the grand house, the dock, the runway and the semi sunken drug transport DC3 are still there. The buildings are standing but in disrepair 30 years after. Most of what was has been overgrown but the locations of the terraced gardens are still evident. While the guide book suggests that there are bullet holes in the walls, we only found the holes that nails that were fired into the conrete walls to hold panelling were. No bullet holes.

We snorkelled the DC3 at low tide. It's mostly intact but the years have taken their toll. Much is now encrusted with coral growth. The friendly fish that hung around had obviously been fed by visitors.

Lastly, after a long walk down the runway to where McDuffs was supposed to be, all we saw was a sign tht McDuffs was under new ownership and was gone. No more to be!

All together, a relaxing day on the water. Tomorrow, we head on to Allens Cay to see the Iguanas.

Ann:
The motley crew finally finished off the birthday celebrations in style... we've now had cake three days in a row and are glad to see the end of the chocolate colossus.

Alison made the acquaintance of a feline resident of the island, who really would have appreciated a tidbit or two. Not a stray, because he was sporting a collar.

There were a number of guesses as to how long the private airstrip was... but after having walked 3/4 of the distance in the heat of the day, my tired old feet didn't really care. Screams were heard from this country girl as she encountered the killer 3" geckos on the path.

A beautiful complete rainbow set the ambience for a lovely dinner of barbied chicken with peas and rice - Caribbean style - an original recipe cooked up by the deck fluff. It will be really hard to top this birthday!

P.S. For my dermatologist - tan's looking good... so business is looking up for you.

Mike 22 Jun
Today, we left the tranquility of Staniel Cay and headed around to west side of Big Majors Spot, just around the corner from where we were. This spot is known for its swimming pigs. We anchored and Alison, Ann and I dingyed toward the shore... no pigs in sight though. So I started calling out 'Soouuuihhh'. I don't know, sounded like something pigs would expect to be called by. Anyway, it worked, and two porkers appeared on the beach and ran toward us and came out into the water. Alison and Ann tempted them with carrot sticks and one swam out to the dinghy to get his tasty treats. Cool! Flying pigs as screen savers are OK but swimming pigs are a step above.

We continued on to Warderick Wells. We took the inside route on the west side of the Exuma island chain. There wasn't any wind, so today was motoring the 17nm that we needed to travel. The average depth was no more than 15 feet... it's something to be cruising along at 6 kts and seeing the bottom streaking along just below the keel. We also kept a bow watch where 'volunteers' stayed at the bow looking for any coral heads and shallow areas, although the route that we'd planned didn't show any and none were observed.

We got to Warderick Wells at about noon. This is a Marine Park. We checked in with the Park Warden, paid the $20us mooring fee (no anchoring is permitted) and headed off on a mission of discovery. There's a 53' whale skeleton on the beach, an area on the ocean side that has lots of blow holes (these are where incoming waves, after having crashed into the rocks, shoot into the air through holes that have been worn into the rocks), and a monument that previous cruising visitors have created and consists of articles that show they've been here (mostly pieces of driftwood which have the boat's name, crew and date carved or written on them). Later in the afternoon, some of the crew took the dinghy and went around to Emerald Rock for a snorkelfest and over to the nearby beach to view the ruins of a mid 17th century loyalist plantation settlement. Overall, Warderick Wells is a spot that is truly spectacular and should not be missed.

Tomorrow, we plan to visit Norman Cay to visit the mansion ruins of the drug lord Leder's fallen empire. There's supposed to be a DC3 semi submerged just off the drug lord's private runway. Check back and we'll let everyone know.

Mike / Alison / Ann: Today was an early start - 7am at the high tide. Not all were as eager to get going this morning as indicated they would the night before. At promptly 7am, the big diesel was roared into life and sleep was shaken from those not already on deck. With Brian at the helm and Alison at the bow watching for the shallow spots, our group made our way out the cut to the open ocean. It's amazing how the tidal flow out the cut, which was opposite the wind, kicked up a tumultuous maelstrom. Alison had a roller coaster ride. The rest of us stayed dry however.

Since the winds were light, we motored, arriving at Staniel Cay at about noon, which was just about low tide. We anchored just off the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and put the dinghy together and headed for Thunderball Grotto - the scene of the James Bond movie of the same name and another movie Splash. Alison, in full snorkel gear, rolled in in true diver fashion and promptly stood up in waist deep water. A bit embarrassing for her given all her preparation.

Thunderball Grotto - what can we say - words don't adequately describe it. We'd include some pics, but they were shot with the underwater camera, so you'll have to wait until we get the 35mm film developed. In the meantime, here's how we'd describe it: picture this - fighting against a strong current through a very narrow passageway to come into a cavernous space, complete with vegetation hanging down from a large opening in the dome top, shafts of light illuminating the pool of colour, coral, rocks that appeared iridescent, schools of brightly coloured fish....and did we mention the current? It actually shot us out when it was done with us. Spectacular!!!!!

Next we went to Staniel Cay Yacht Club for our happy hour, with an extra special greeting committee waiting for us.....dozens of sand sharks, gars, a puffer, rays and myriads of other fish - they were waiting to feed on unsuspecting arriving dinghy people. Everyone was careful getting out and up onto the dock. See the pics:

We went back to the boat for a 15 minute snooze, change of clothes and then it was back to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for dinner. And celebration of Ann's birthday (yes, we did order a birthday cake for her!). After a scrumptuous meal, the waiting staff came through the restaurant singing 'Happy Birthday', and carrying a huge chocolate cake. Everyone else in the restaurant joined in the singing. We did our best with the cake but we are still going back to the boat with enough leftovers for a number of days.

With the early start we had this morning, the crew's bagged - party poopers. Tomorrow, we get to sleep in a little later since our distination is Warderick Wells Cay, about 17nm. But we'll be stopping to see the swimming pigs and then at a sea aquarium at O'Briens Cay.
The

Mike: 19/20 Jun
We had been anchored over at Volleyball Beach on Stocking Island and needed to return across Elizabeth Harbour to collect our newest crew member. We also needed water so the best solution was to visit Exuma Docking Services and get the water, diesel and dingy outboard gas replenished. The fuel was the easy part. One of our crew, no names, had torqued down the forward water filler cap which now required removal by chiselling. I was not in my happy place to say the least, but we did get the cap off and the tank filled. Overall, we've used about 30 gal of diesel to travel the over 800nm covered so far. Gotta love sailboats.

Bill and Brian headed to the airport to pick up Ann leaving Alison and myself to look after some boat maintenance issues. These included the fixing of a poorly installed new shift lever and the correction of a minor electrical problem that was supposed to have been fixed during the month long refit prior to our adventure. At the same time I checked the other head's holding tank to ensure that a repeat of the other day's head problem did not have the potential to happen again in that head. Alison also spent considerable time trying to remove the stains left from the colours that ran from the new nationality flag that we'd bought in the BVI just prior to departure from there. Unbelievable that a marina parts supply shop would sell items for boats that weren't colour fast. They'll be getting an email from me when I get home!

After loading Ann aboard, we moved to the tranquility of Volleyball Beach again since the winds and water had kicked up and staying at George Town would be uncomfortable. The St Francis Resort and Marina offered the evening's fare. Co-owners Tony and Suzy and their dog Nina treated us like royalty... we were the only guests that evening, and had a great time.

After retiring to our bunks, we were awoken in the wee hours by a dazzling light show outside. I have never seen so much lightning off in the distance ever before. While topside, a dolphin lazed about. While we never really saw him, we certainly heard his unmistakable sounds. At about 4am, we were all awakened again, but this time by torrential rainfall and thunder and lightening directly overhead. I sat up for the next hour watching the anchor drag alarm to ensure that we weren't somewhere we weren't supposed to be. In between flashes, the mast and rigging of another boat loomed precariously close. Fortunately, everything stayed where it was supposed to be. The downpour continued until about 10:30am when the rain abated and the sun finally broke through.

Setting sail, our destination today was Lee Stocking Island, about 20nm up the Exuma chain. There's a Marine Research Station located there, but we arrived too late in the day to get a tour of the facility. The wind had been light, and with our late start, we elected to motor sail in order to arrive before the sun got too low to allow visually navigating through the reef into the anchorage. Mooring balls were required but they're free. Right after we secured to one and shut down the big diesel, we noted a delicate fragrance eminating from below deck. It wasn't the head though. All hands were mustered to search their respective quarter for the offending stinky. This was located and religated to a line and cast off the transom of our boat. Surprisingly, it attracted a school of yellowtail jacks. Well, to each their own.

While snorkelling the waters here, some of the crew saw what they believed to be a sand shark, complete with ramoras attached. I didn't, so I'll just take their word for it. For dinner, a feast was prepared on the barby and a bottle of champagne was popped to celebrate Ann's arrival.

In the morning, we're heading on to Staniel Cay, the site of the water scenes for, among many, the James Bond film Thunderball. We hope to explore the same caves. To get there in a reasonable time, we cast off at 7am, right at high tide in order to arrive by early afternoon. Hopefully we'll get some great shots that we can post.

Mike: So today was supposed to be an R&R day. You know, the kind of day where you simply float, snooze, suck back a few brewskis and generally veg. Somewhere between the yawn and snooze came the pungent odor that could only come from a head. Alison came up on deck and told me that I should pull my feet out of the warm waters that flowed past our transom. The quizzical look from me had her fill in that one of our crew had just dumped their holding tank - -right there in the harbour - in about 6 feet of water. Going below revealed Brian standing ankle deep in the head (the door was open) with effluence at his feet. He was pushing the overboard shower pump out button for all he was worth. Oh the sight! Oh the stench! Oh the inhumanity! OK... so after the laughter subsided, I took the cover from where the holding tank should be and lo and behold, there it lay, out of its mount, the pump out hose ripped from its fitting spewing its 'shit' out. Over the past week, we'd cleaned that head a number of times already due to odor. Now we knew the problem. Anything that went into the holding tank was vented directly into the head. Brian did what I believe was the right thing... as soon as the tank was full and it overflowed into the head, he dumped the tank overboard. Better outside than inside I agreed. During the reassembly and clean up, I noted the following: 1) one screw that holds the strap that holds the tank in place had been ripped out completely, 2) the pump out hose was disconnected, 3) the venting line was plugged. So what happened? Our best guess is this: As the tanks was filling through use while at anchor it was getting heavier and was beginning to bulge (nowhere to vent to). The bulging tank actually caused the retaining screw for the retaining strap to pull out of the bulkhead it was attached to. The weight of the full tank was now free to fall about a foot down. The hose that attached to the deck pump out couldn't support the weight and separated. The result was the spilling of the tank contents behind the paneling and draining onto the floor of the head.

So here's what we did: Removed the mounting for the other half of the strap that was still attached, threw away the vastly undersized screws that were originally installed and put in more appropriately sized strap screws. Next was to detach the vent hose and clear it out. Not having a plumbers snake handy, we took apart a wooden close pin and with pliers expanded the steel spring which ended up being about 6 inches long. This we used to clear the throughhull fitting from the outside. Next was to reassemble everything and start pumping to fill the tank. After about 50 strokes, I realized that the overboard drain was still open, so I closed it and started again. This time, we did see the vent discharging as it was supposed to.

A swim over to Volley Ball Beach was the next order of the day, at the least to get rid of any possible residue that may have attached itself to me from the morning's adventure.

Later in the day, we popped over to the St. Francis Resort and Marina which had just opened two months earlier. We did two loads of laundry, ordered a pizza and enjoyed $3 beers. We met Tony and Suzy, the owners, and their dog Nina. They've got a great location and offer great food at reasonable prices in a brand new facility. Check out the pics below. Good times!

Alison: Yes, I can honestly say it was a shitty day in paradise. But I guess this gives us an idea as to what cruising life is all about - there are some days of relaxation, and there are other days where things on the boat need to be fixed. But what better place to have to do work on the boat! We are really getting into the cruising life style. Going ashore and talking to other cruisers. And for us, it's learning from their experiences sailing in the Bahamas and specifically the Exumas - what anchorages we should visit and which we should avoid. And then there is dingying our dirty laundry ashore to a laundry facility and then dingying our clean, fresh smelling laundry back. Mike and I spent the afternoon planning our route from here, through the Exumas and on to Nassau. We've been here in George Town a few days now and we're starting to look forward to moving on and exploring more of the Bahamas. But we're here until Monday when we pick up Ann (Bill's girlfriend), who is joining us for the remainder of the trip.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a day of relaxation.