WOW!!!! What a crazy week we have had. Sunday we wanted to go around to the Cape Santa Marie point and do the cut that almost cost us our lives last week on a calm day so that we could appreciate it and not come home with excrimate in our wetsuits.  The cut looked pretty flat (only 2-4’ swells vs. 6-8’ swells last week), but the current was going the wrong direction for me to swim through it.  It was sucking me in through the cut and I was afraid I would not be able to swim back through it to get back to the dinghy and I didn’t want John to have to take the dinghy through the cut with 2-4’ swells.  This is something we will have to put on the list to do on a much calmer day.  We snorkeled the area off of Cape Reef and John got a fish for dinner.

Monday: We rocked and rolled all night last night (Sunday, January 18) and not in a good way. The surge in Calabash bay was horrific and we didn’t sleep a wink, so as soon as there was sunlight, we anchored up in search for a calmer anchorage. We headed south to duck behind Hog Cay, but the surge was just as bad.  We also tried the anchorage to the west of Hog Cay, but we were just getting beat up.  We tried to put sails up and see if we could get on a heel and stabilize and sail to George Town, but no matter what we did, the boat felt like she was ripping apart at the seams.  We had to pass the entrance to Joe’s Sound on the way to Hog Cay and when looking at the entrance, it looked way too dicey so we ruled that out initially. Now after bobbing for over an

perfect ending to a rough day

hour, every which way, like a toy boat in a hot tub with all the jets on, we reconsidered. The entrance is dangerous enough on a calm day much less with 2-4 foot swells pushing you around, but we had to get somewhere protected.  Since we had been in Joe’s Sound before, we had a track on the GPS to follow so we felt like we could get in safely.  The problem was the seas had more control over the boat than I did at the helm.  I had to punch the RPMs up a bit to overcome the swells pushing me about.  Not something you really want to do in 5.5’ of water with jagged rock within 3 feet of the boat on either side. Just as I punched the engine up a bit a big swell pushed us half way through the entrance and the engine died. I yelled at John to throw the anchor down as we drifted through the cut and just past the jagged rock ledge.  We anchored in the channel while John assessed the engine problem.  He diagnosed that the fuel filter was clogged so he switched to the forward tank and we were able to pull up anchor and re-anchor in a comfortable spot. It is a world of difference inside a protected anchorage.  We finally get to relax and have our first cup of Joe. Matt and Lyndsey had not left Joe’s Sound since we left them.  They came over and introduced us to Dave and Leslie on Texas Two Step. Later they brought surf boards over and we went “durfing” (dinghy surfing).  We used the surf boards just like wake boards and had a blast.  In the evening we had dinner on Makani with Matt and Lyndsey bringing fried grouper, Dave and Leslie brought fish soup and fresh homemade bread and we made a beet salad. We visited well into the night as we lost track of time in this calm, quiet, peaceful anchorage.

Our "new" fishing pole

Tuesday, January 20. Matt and Lyndsey and Dave and Leslie headed out early with plans to go to George Town.  We looked at weather and are set on going to Rum Cay and Conception, so we stayed in Joe’s Sound.  We went out snorkeling about a 1/2 mile off of Calabash Bay.  I spotted a lobster almost immediately after getting in the water, but it was too deep for my capabilities.  John came over and nailed it.  We swam around some more when I noticed a fishing rod and reel on the sand.  I dove down to get it, but the line was tangled in the coral and it was deeper than I had anticipated and I had to drop my spear and scurry to the top before my lungs burst.  Again John was my hero as he came over and cut the line and retrieved the fishing pole and my pole spear.  The fishing pole could not have been in the water for long as it functioned perfectly.  After cleaning it up, it looked brand new.  We estimate it was about a $300.00 find. In the evening, we made preparations for an off shore as we have decided to go to Conception Island tomorrow.

Our "new" mixing bowls

What a difference the seas look on our way out of Joe’s Sound from when we came in.  Within a half hour of starting out to go to Conception Island, the engine died again.  We had to bail into Calabash Bay and take the fuel lines and blow them out. The whole process took about an hour and we were on our way again. Things are calm, too calm.  We had to motorsail all the way to Conception Island as there was little to no wind. Conception Island is an uninhabited island with no facilities and a preserved land and water park. Obviously a no take zone so we will just enjoy its loveliness with our eyes only, and LOVELY it is.  We dropped anchor and immediately went for a snorkel off the north end of the island.  We saw all sorts of fish and we were in about 6 feet of water when a bull shark decided to check us out.  The coral heads were abundant and many broke the surface so swimming through them left few options and the bull shark was just taking the same route we were. After the incident with our friends daughter getting bit by a shark last month, we are much more weary around sharks than we used to be.  I swam the 1/2 mile back to the boat while John rowed the dinghy just to get exercise.  I noticed there was no trash in the sand and we noted there was very little trash on the beaches which makes this spot all the more beautiful.  The one exception to this is I saw something shiny near our boat and I dove down and it was two bowls stacked on top of each other.  The one thing that we lacked on the boat this trip was mixing bowls.  We only have one, which I thought would be sufficient, but many times we have wished we had another or even two more and whala. I had found mixing bowls at some of the stores we had been in, but did not want to pay upwards of $30 for one. Later in the day, I wanted to do another snorkel, but could not find my hood.  We looked everywhere, but it was gone.  The sea givith and the sea taketh away.

Thursday, January 22.  We got up early to hit high tide to explore the mangroves.  Basically, Conception island is a ring of land with the entire center being mangrove marsh.  We saw lots of turtles. We were able to take Kiwi with us as this was a relaxing dinghy ride.  After we left the mangroves, we went in search for the dive buoys located off the southern shore.  We found the buoys and went back to the boat to drop Kiwi off and then suited up for a dive.  We dove the Conception Island Wall, described to be the most beatiful reef in the Bahamas and it did not disappoint. It is a very deep dive with the reef beginning at 60’ and a vertical wall dropping to infinate depths.  The coral is fantastic and there was a lot of fish and a bull shark followed us around. When John and I came up from the dive, we both immediately said this could very well have been the best dive we have ever done. Really, dives like this, there are simply no words that can describe it.  One thing that is notably absent on Conception is lobster.  Of all the snorkels and dives we have done here, we have not seen a single one.  This is quite curious to us since we thought we would see many big ones with it being a protected area.

to think we have been throwing these away

Huge lobster

On Friday morning, we pulled anchor to move about 2 miles south, just off of the dive buoys.  As we were leaving the anchorage, we saw the mega-yacht Rosa unloading all their toys, one of which was and amphibien car - pretty cool. We dove just south of the site we did yesterday and were equally impressed with the beauty of the coral and the wall.  It is amazing to go over the wall. The colors are quite impressive and the varieties of corals, sponges and fish are incredible. It is also awesome to anchor 50 feet off the dive site and be able to dive directly off the boat.  We can get ready in all the comforts of home and have snacks between dives and warm up and read and relax in our surface interval. After our second dive, we anchored up and planned to go to Rum Cay although we could stay here and dive this area for weeks.  Because Conception is uninhabited, it also means there are no services and no internet so we were unable to get weather reports while here.  After pulling around Wedge Point at the southern tip of Conception, the seas were confused and the swells were 4-6’.  It is only 14 miles to Rum Cay, so by the time we did everything in our game book to try and get into a comfortable sail, we were pretty much committed to go to Rum.  We were able to sail for about 7 miles of the trip, but we were only going about 4 knots with the swells and wind right on our nose and a northern antilles current running between the two islands. It wasn’t a totally uncomfortable ride, but it wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t until we were about 1 mile from the anchorage that things settled down. We had to get into the anchorage in daylight hours so we motored the last 7 miles. Getting into this anchorage was like walking through a mine field.  John was on the bow watching for coral heads and we zig zagged our way into Flamingo Bay.  Many of the coral heads are only 1-2 feet beneath the surface so avoiding them is critical.  We finally found a sandy area to anchor.  We put the dinghy down to sound the surrounding area and felt that we were a bit too close to a few shallow coral heads so we re-anchored about 150 feet further into shore and felt good about our position.  We could swing 360 degrees and have adequate distance from the shallow corals.  John said he would take care of the snubber and I could go for a snorkel since we didn’t have much daylight left.  Before John had even secured the snubber, I yelled at him to bring the dinghy and collect the bounty.  We got 2 HUGE lobsters both with tails over 10”.  Dave and Leslie told us the best part of the lobster was the legs.  We had never tried them before and had been throwing them out.  Tonight we made a meal (and a half) with just the legs off of these two lobsters and one knuckle fed Kiwi. Dave and Leslie were right, the legs ARE delicious.

Saturday, January 24.  The plan for the day is to snorkel the wreck of an old Haitian freighter about a mile and a half from our anchorage.  We will maneuver the dinghy through the coral heads until we come to  a mile and a half long shallow reef with the wreck on the northern tip of the shallow reef.  We are able to stick to the plan as the weather, waves, and wind are cooperating.  We found the wreck and were impressed by the size of the ship and the preservation of things such as clothing and metal staircases.  John always wonders about the cause of the accident, loss of lives, circumstances, etc. and wants to come back to the boat and read everything he can on

Haitian freighter wreck

the wreck.  We explored the area for a little over two hours and then headed back for some lunch and relaxation.  At 3pm we went out for another snorkel to get some fresh lobster to go with the steak we are grilling tonight.  We were amazed that despite snorkeling 10-15 coral heads in the same general area as finding 3 HUGE lobster last night, we found nothing but conch, lots of fish, a few turtles, a shark, and lots of fun.  On rare occasion I am able to talk John into a night snorkel and tonight was one of those nights.  He had just enough to drink to relax and explore a few coral heads with me. We played with a few trunk fish and saw lots of silversides and some shrimp. We have had Flamingo bay to ourselves and this gorgeous, calm private anchorage makes one uninhibited. The water temperature is 81 degrees. The water is crystal clear. The beach is pristine and I think there are more stars visible here than anywhere I’ve ever been.  This is paradise.

On Sunday, we sat through several squalls and thought it was going to rain all day.  We cleaned the salt water off the deck and decided to collect water when the rain suddenly stopped and the sun came out.  We took advantage of the break in weather to up anchor and go to the Southeast part of the island where the only settlement that still exists on Rum Cay is located.  We have been out of touch with no internet and no update on weather so we thought we would get wired in and then decide what was in store for us next.  The first thing we found out was that the weather was going to be turning bad and we were going to be in a bad spot for the wind and waves that were predicted.  The second thing we found out is that the marina that we thought we could duck into if the weather predictions were bad, was closed.  We went into the settlement and found that just about everything is closed.  Not because it is Sunday, but because this settlement is dying due to economy, closing of marina, etc. Everything the books and charts and explorer snips said about the settlement are history. We went out for a snorkel and lost one of our oars.  John noticed it when he took me to explore a reef 2 miles away from the boat.  We abandoned the snorkel and went searching for our missing dinghy oar.  We found it floating near our original destination quite thankfully.  

Last night was a bit of a rolling night, but this morning it is outright vomittsville.  We went into the settlement to shop the two grocery stores to see what fesh fruits and vegetables we could get.  Both stores had very limited selection and all of their “fresh” stuff was molded, soft, or sprouting.  We decided we didn’t need anything and went out for a snorkel.  We had to battle 4-5’ swells to get to any coral heads and when we arrived, the water was so stirred up that you couldn’t see and we didn’t see anything that we could get for dinner.  Frustrated, we returned to the boat and sat rocking and rolling while trying to play poker and distract ourselves from this very uncomfortable situation.  The weather predictions call for this to continue until Wednesday, so we will see if we can improve the situation when there is daylight.

Tuesday, January 27. Neither of us got a wink of sleep with the boat rolling to and fro and bucking like a mad bull.  John found a “flopper stopper” on the internet so we set a goal to build one and see if we could get some relief from this surge.  We went into the settlement and pilfered all of the materials we needed out of trash bins.  We cut a triangular piece of plywood, attached some weights and tied it to the spinnaker pole and launched our new flopper stopper.  I snorkeled the surrounding area and made some adjustments until we got the flopper stopper working.  Of course after spending about 4 hours gathering materials, constructing the flopper stopper, and making adjustments, the winds had decreased somewhat and we weren’t rolling as bad.  We can still tell it makes quite a bit of difference. I cleaned the hull of the boat and swam for about an hour because when it is this rolley, you want to be anywhere but on the boat.  By evening, things had calmed down to where we knew we could get some much needed sleep. It is times like this that are very demotivating for boat life.  The seas are too strong to enjoy getting out on the dinghy. Things are too stirred up to have enough visibility to hunt. We are at a location where there is nothing to do on land. It is unsafe to take the dinghy out in the ocean to dive. You can’t read without getting seasick. I’m glad we have very few days like this.

Monday, January 5 - We moved the boat a few miles SW to McQueens to be closer to our jump off point for our anticipated crossing from Cat Island to Long Island with plans to bail to George Town Exumas if the weather conditions vary from the forecast. We went for our last snorkel at Cat Island only to find a few scattered coral heads.  On each of the coral heads were a lot of fish, but mostly not the type we eat.  We were just jumping in the water and taking a quick look and then moving to the next coral head to do the same.  Getting a bit frustrated and thinking we may have to eat Top Ramen for dinner, I didn’t even put on my fins at the last coral head we were going to check out.  As soon as I jumped in I noticed hundreds of barracuda and a large turtle so I swam back to the dinghy and asked John to hand me my fins.  I was putting them on in the water and went to buckle the second one which required that I look between my legs and I see shark swimming straight towards me.  I hop into the dinghy and tell John there are sharks below.  I grab my spear and jump back in and John jumps in to see the action.  For just a few scattered coral heads, we saw a lot of fish and had a great snorkel.

Tuesday morning John lets me sleep in while he anchors up and single hands around Hawks Nest Point which I really appreciate as we have not had the most restful nights of sleep on Cat Island and last night was like heaven.  It turns out the weather was exactly as predicted so we are sailing nicely, on course, to our desired destination: Calabash Bay, Long Island.  We make one pit stop at Tartar Bank which is a huge underwater mountain which rises within 7 fathoms of the surface from it’s surrounding depths.  I jumped off the side of the boat to take a look, while John manned a life line since the current and tides are very strong in this area.  Really wasn’t much to see, but it was a fun diversion.  Just before we reached the bank, the fishing reel began singing the tune “I have a Mahi Mahi on” and the pictures of that will speak for themselves.

 The sailing was excellent using our main and a partial headsail; most of the time we were sailing at 6 knots with occasionally getting up to 7 knots.  We made the 34 mile trip in just under 6 hours.  As soon as we anchor, Matt and Lyndsey dinghy over from Joe’s Sound and say hi and ask if we want to go for a snorkel.  We go to the north end of the island and see some beautiful reef and a monument in honor of Columbus, but no lobster.  Nevermind, we have Mahi Mahi.  We give Matt and Lyndsey half the Mahi and cook a bit up for ourselves and then since we are both tired from the crossing, we bug out early for a good nights sleep.

Entrance to Joes Sound

Wednesday, January 7 - We take the boat into Joe’s Sound at high tide because that is the only time you can make it into Joe’s Sound.  The entrance is very narrow and it looks like you have to drive the boat on to the shore to maneuver it correctly and not go aground.  Matt took videos from under water as we were coming in and they are super cool and show just how difficult the anchorage is to get into, but now we are in a very protected anchorage.  We go out for a snorkel because I want to see the cut we just came in from the keels point of view, and check out the rocks just outside of the cut for dinner.

Anchored in Joes Sound

View from the cockpit

We visited with Matt and Lyndsey and took a walk around the area which used to be a marina.  When we walked in the old building that used to be the office for the marina, a bunch of bat moths flew right at me and scared the bejeezers out of me. Later in the evening we were visited by these bat moths and John caught one and took it below for Kiwi to play with. Unfortunately, the video of that was too dark, but she had a blast.

Kiwi's Playmate

Kiwi Hunting the moth

Thursday was windy and rained on and off all day.  These are the days that are very demotivating as you don’t feel like doing too much, but when we got a short break in the rain, we set up a golf course and played a couple of rounds of golf on the dry sand flats.  Joe’s Sound is really nothing more than a creek and at low tide 100’ in front of us the sand beds are dry and where we are anchored, our stern sits less than 20’ from shore.  We have swung 360 degrees and have not gone aground, so we are in the perfect spot despite being able to step off the boat, into the dinghy, and on to shore. We had a line out like we almost always do, and I heard it sing, so I went to grab it and it was a ray.  It broke my line and stole my bait AND my $10 weight.  I snorkeled for 30 minutes looking for the weight, but could not find it.

On Friday, Matt and Lindsey invite us to join them on an excursion to Hog Cay.  Hog Cay is privately owned and visits ashore are by invitation only. Hog Cay is home to the largest flock of West Indian Whistling Ducks in the Bahamas.  The owners of the island feed them (at a rumored expense of $10 grand a week).

Whistling Ducks

 We heard a rumor that the owner of Hog Cay was offered $80 million for his island and turned it down.  My question is, why on earth would you want an $80 million island that smells like duck shit and has really annoying whistling birds on it?  Anyhow, we had a nice hike around the island and while leaving the island, I just had to snorkel the surrounding rocks and nailed two nice size lobsters for dinner.  In the afternoon, we went to explore a blue hole just north of our anchorage.  It truely was a sorry excuse for a blue hole, but on the way there, we saw a couple of guys trying to swim across the river to see the blue hole.  The current is very strong through here and you could tell they were struggling, so we picked them up in the dinghy and took them to the blue hole and ferried them back to their shore where they were staying in a vacation rental.

Pizza Night!

Saturday, January 10 - John and I are hankering for pizza.  We start planning and know we have all the ingredients we need, but could really use some mozzarella cheese.  At high tide, we decide we will take the dinghy across the sand flats that are dry during low tide and visit Burnt Ground which claims to have a small grocery store. It’s a 2.5 mile dinghy trip and about a half mile walk, but we get the mozzarella and a few more items and spend most of the day making fresh pizza dough, fresh pizza sauce and chopping ingredients for pizzas.  We have invited Matt and Lyndsey to join us.  We have done all the prep work so I decide to go for a swim. I am particularly interested in swimming the cut at the entrance to the anchorage as we plan to leave tomorrow and I want to take a good hard look at where the boat needs to go to not go aground or ashore.  I was quickly reminded of the strong current as I was swept past the cut and was having a hard time slowing down.  I grabbed a big rock and pulled myself close to shore and looked at Makani which was now about 100 yards up current.  I knew that John was down below and would not hear me if I yelled for help.  I pulled on rocks until I was at the cut and then started swimming like hell.  Halfway through the cut, I look down and see my $10 weight, so I dive down and grab it and got a burst of adrenaline from my fantastico find and reached the other side of the cut.  I was so excited to find my weight that I swam all the way back to Makani, but did not realize it.  I looked up and two sharks were headed straight for me.  I lifted my head to see where Makani was and she was way in the distance (or so I thought).  I swam as hard as I could and looked up again to see if I was making any progress against the current and saw a dinghy tied to the side of the boat and thought “crap, Matt and Lyndsey are already there”.  I swam about another 30 feet before looking up and realizing I was way past Makani and was swimming towards Kindred Spirit.  I relaxed and let the current carry me to Makani where we enjoyed a night of great pizzas and fine socialization.

What’s a little wind (30 knots) and a little rain on a Sunday? Well it ruined our plans for leaving our anchorage and exploring more of Long Island because the cut in and out just looked too ominous to risk. We went outside of the cut in the dinghy and of course that side of the island is in the lee of the wind so it is calm.  We were able to snorkel and see some really interesting underwater landscape. I like to swim against the current for about a half hour every day and I was just about done with my swim when Matt and Lyndsey called and invited us for dinner.  When we returned to our boat, Kiwi was going crazy chasing bat moths and the boat was full of broken moth wings.

Monday - After cleaning up moth wings for about an hour, we got in the dinghy to assess the entrance/exit to Joe’s sound one more time before we head out to check out Thompson Bay.  The wind is stronger than forecasted, and Matt and Lyndsey came by to invite us on a snorkel with Patrick.  We decided to stay in Joe’s Sound and meet Patrick, who ownes a houseboat and 32 foot sail boat that he keeps in the Sound for use during the winter.  The rest of the year he is in NYC on his 100 foot sailing schooner doing charters (The yacht is moored in the financial district). We saw his boat while visiting New York and took pictures of it. When we came into Joe’s Sound a few days ago, he was in Norway visiting his girlfriend.  Matt and Lyndsey were anxious for us to meet him and he’s quite the character.   Matt and Lyndsey got a grouper and Patrick and John got a few lobster so we met at Patrick’s houseboat and shared dinner that night.  Patrick took us to some of his favorite snorkeling spots, one of which was a very rough dinghy ride through 6-8 foot ocean swells and into a small bay.  After arriving, we decided it was too rough to snorkel so back out the cut we go, up and over 6-8 foot swells with some breaking on either side.  It was the scariest dinghy ride Kathi or I have ever been on.  We all survived the trip and had a wonderful meal at Patrick’s. Patrick was in NYC on 9/11 and was one of the many boats that ferried people across the bay to safety.  He had some great stories to tell.

We’ve wanted to explore more of Long Island so we left on Tuesday with the intention of sailing to Thompson Bay, about half-way down the Island, 22 miles away. Unfortunately the wind was on our nose so we motor-sailed until we saw a line of squalls on the horizon.  We decided to anchor off of Bain’s Bluff, about 7 miles away from Thompson Bay.  We took a short snorkel where Kathi caught a few crabs to have with dinner and made it back to the boat shortly before a strong thunderstorm hit.  After we let the heavy rain rinse off the decks, we opened the scuppers to divert the rainwater into our water tanks.  In about 15 minutes, both tanks were full. The lightning was incredibly close and the thunder was deafening.  Kiwi was scared to death and for a while we just knew we were going to get hit by lightning.  We still had lightning and thunder all around us when we got up to go to the bathroom at 4am.

On Wednesday we made it to Thompson Bay and filled up with 14 gallons of dinghy fuel (We had been down to our last cup of gasoline).  We walked to the grocery store and explored the settlement somewhat.  We both were very tired from not sleeping well with the storm last night so we went to bed very early.

Thursday we walked to the ocean side of the Island carrying our snorkel gear hoping to find a great reef and dinner. It was pretty rough with much surge and opposing currents which made snorkeling a bit unsafe and things were stirred up so much that visibility was limited.  We left our gear on a cliff and walked about two miles down the beach where we found a beautiful cove.  We had to hike uphill about 100 yards and then we looked down a steep cliff.  It looked like a great seaglass spot so we did a bit of mountain climbing to get into the cove.  Unfortunately, we didn’t find any seaglass AND, we had left our camara in our bags back at the original cliff so this beautiful Kodak moment will have to be in our memories.  When we returned to the boat, another couple that owns a Gozzard stopped by to say hello, so we invited them for cocktails and appetizers and visited with them.  They are doing the opposite route of us so they told us all about the places we are headed to and we told them about the places they are headed to.

 We decided to leave on Friday the 16th but the winds would not cooperate so we hunkered down in the anchorage, did laundry and played games. We tried to snorkel in several spots, but things were so stirred up, that visibility was about 2 feet. The middle part of Long Island doesn’t seem to fit with what we like to do; snorkel, spearfish and look for seaglass.  Most of the area we explored is very sandy with little or no reef. 

We decided that we should move back up to the north end of the Island on Saturday so we can explore our options which are to head over to Conception Island and Rum Cay or go west to Georgtown.  We sailed the entire distance using our main and the staysail.  Our average speed was 6.4 knots and our maximum speed was 7.6 knots—a very robust sailing day for us!  At times we wished we had less sail out, but Makani was sailing fine and we just had to get use to the amount of heeling.  We anchored in Calabash Bay then went for a snorkel and got two lobsters with 8+ inch tails.  The area we were hunting in was about 25’.  It is quite a different workout getting lobster in 25’ vs. less than 10 feet.  The lobsters here are way back under shelves, so finding them is challenge number one.  Then you have to dive down with spear ready to go and shoot them.  I have to leave my spear in them and dive down a second time to retrieve the spear and the lobster because I can’t hold my breath long enough to do it in one dive especially if the lobster wants to fight.  Sometimes I swear I am going to drown getting a big lobster, but I never get sick of doing this and the lobster dipped in fresh homemade pesto butter was delicious.

December 31, 2015:  On Wednesday morning, we looked online for the cruise ship schedules to see if we could stay in our comfortable anchorage or if we would have to move.  It’s not that we can’t stay where we are, it is just that the cruise line has purchased this island and have built on it what they feel are peoples dreams for a vacation.  The island has water parks, private cabanas, buttered party rooms, restaurants, and of course all the toys like jet skis, paddle boards, and wind surfers as well as all the snorkeling, glass bottom boats, horseback riding and fishing excursions that guests might want.  They don’t own the water and can’t tell you not to anchor there, but we don’t think vacationers want to pull up to their fantasy vacation spot and see a sail boat with dive gear hanging out to dry and two old people reading books and drinking coffee.  From what we read, the ships arrive at 8am and it was now 8:30am so we thought we lucked out and this was a day no cruise ship was coming in; although, we did look at the shoreline and saw what looked like ants scurrying everywhere raking the island and polishing it up like they expected guests. Sure enough 15 minutes later the ferry boats that shuffle passengers to and from the cruise ship came out of their private harbour and rocked our boat.  We had failed to look up the schedule of Carnival cruise ships which was bought by Holland America. We scurried to get Makani sail ready and got out of the anchorage before the first passenger disembarked from the cruise ship.  There are well over a thousand passengers on those cruises so we didn’t really want to be in the epicenter of all their activities.  We anchored about three miles south in about 20’ of water to check out the steep drop off.  The way the wind was blowing set our stern less that 50’ to the drop off so we swam off the back of the boat and observed the drop off and saw some hog fish and sharks.  We then dinghied close to shore to hunt and got two very large lobster.  

Kiwi inspecting dinner

One of the lobsters had a 10 1/2 inch tail and might be a boat record.  It certainly is the largest we have found this season.  John about drowned getting it back to the dinghy.  We found more huge lobster, but we have no room in our freezer for lobster this big.  

After we returned to the boat, we decided to go ahead and move on to Cat Island where there aren’t so many people.  We anchored at the north end near Orange creek next to another sailboat.  Just about the time we got our anchor set, Matt and Lyndsey from s/v Kindred Spirit came over to introduce themselves.  They came aboard and we learned in a very short time that they knew people we knew and they were both nurses and had in fact worked at hospitals I had worked at and in the same departments.  We were most excited to learn that they like to do many of the things we like to do while cruising including fishing, spearfishing, snorkeling, diving, and playing cards and games.  We invited them over for dinner to share in our monstrous lobster and play some cards and ring in the new year together.

Thursday, January 1 2015:  We had planned to go for a snorkel with Matt and Lyndsey in the morning, but the winds were a bit heavier that we expected and more southernly so the anchorage got a bit sloppy and lumpy.  Matt came over and shared some movie files and music files he had and told us they were going to move south and try to get into a calmer anchorage.  We told him we had some exploring to do in this area and may see them later.  We dinghied to the farthest northern point called sand point where there is supposed to be a beautiful reef and lots of sharks, but as we approached the swells on the ocean side were too large to safely leave the dinghy and explore.  We did a bit of spelunking, but a big swell crashed into the back of the dinghy and pushed us ahore and the next swell filled the dinghy with water so I took a quick look in the cave and then returned to the dinghy to finish bailing it out while John took a quick look in the cave.  We snorkeled a beautiful small reef not far from where we were anchored and then went into the Orange Creek Settlement forgetting that it is January 1 and none of the shops were open. Still recovering from last nights festivities, we headed to bed early, but now the wind has changed course again and it is opposing the current and waves so we are rocking and rolling and I’m up well past boaters midnight waiting for the sleeping pills to kick in.

Friday, January 2, 2015:  We put up with as much rolling as we could stand; in fact, probably one of the top 5 worse nights we have experienced on the boat. We got up early and anchored up before having our coffee or making the bed to move south to Fernandez Harbor which we hoped would have some protection from the swells we were experiencing.  We called Kindred Spirit who had anchored a few miles south of us and they had the same idea.  We had a very good sail, tacking once to make our way to the harbor.  On the way, Kathi caught a 20 inch fish, either a bluefish or a mackerel.  After anchoring, we went out on a short snorkel to explore the area; unfortunately not finding any nice reefs.  Matt and Lindsey joined us for spaghetti, an antipasta appetizer plate and fresh bread that Kathi baked.  We ended the evening with a game of Rummycube which got interrupted by a discussion about sea glass when Kathi found out Lyndsey was as much of an enthusiast as her. We made plans for a hike to the ocean side for some beach coming tomorrow.  The night was not as rolly as the previous night but still very uncomfortable.  Things would be calm for about 3 minutes, then 4 or 5 surge waves would sweep in, roughly rocking the boat from side to side.  

Oceanside Beach

Saturday, January 3, 2015:  Kindred Spirit moved up to Smith Bay, a couple miles north, which is very protected but also very small. We didn’t feel we could comfortably get Makini into the bay.  We dinghied up to meet them and took a long walk to the ocean beach on the southeast side of the island.  Kathi and Lyndsey went one way down the beach to look for treasures and Matt went the other way.  Matt has been finding brand new hardwood 4X4 ’s probably from a lost shipping container and he carried one all the way back to the dinghy. He has found several and has gathered 4 of them, but his boat is already listing from the weight of these posts.  I don’t know what he is going to make with them, but he is determined to get a few more to take back.  

The beach was beautiful, clean, and deserted.  Once again that evening we put up with the rocking swells and made plans to move the next day.

Father Jerome's House

Sunday, January 4, 2015:  One of the best known and most visited sites on Cat Island is the Hermitage.  Loceated on the highest point in the Bahamas, 204 feet above sea level, the Hermitage was the home of John Cecil Hawes, also known as Father Jerome, who was an Anglican Priest.  He also was an architect and was sent to the Bahamas in 1908 to help restore churches damaged by hurricanes and to build new churches.  He is well known for many of the beautiful structures that he was responsible for building.  We moved from Fernandez Bay to New Bight and anchored just below the Hermitage.  We could already tell that this anchorage was much smoother than the one we just left and after our visit to the Hermitage planned to move 4 miles further south to another anchorage that we hoped would be calmer still.  

The walk to the Hermitage took about 30 minutes and we passed several small farms, more like large gardens, growing tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, ochre, beans and corn.  All of the crops were growing in very rocky ground, ground that would be considered unusable in the US, and with limited water.  The local farmers sell their crop to supplement their income.  

Chapel

One of the Stations of the Cross

At Entrance to path

Hearth in Kitchen

The path to the Hermitage is up a rocky hillside where the stations of the cross had been built by Father Jerome.  The entire experience of walking up to the Hermitage and the building itself was AMAZING!  Kathi said the excursion to the Hermitage was well worth all the rocking and rolling and sleepless nights.  It was our favorite thing on Cat Island.  The building looks larger than it actually is, and consists of a chapel, belltower, bedroom, kitchen, bathing area, and guestroom.  It is a fabulous looking building with views of the ocean that cannot be surpassed.  

After returning to the boat we moved the 4 miles to the southern anchorage in the Bight and have the calmest anchorage that we have experienced on Cat Island.  We are looking forward to a nice nights sleep.

Monday, December 29.  We left Cape Eleuthera marina, having fueled up and watered up; our destination was Little San Salvador (aka Half Moon Cay).  The winds were blowing harder than forecast and from a more southerly direction which made the first 4 miles of the trip fine, but after that we were heading almost directly into the wind.  We tacked back and forth for a couple of hours but soon decided that with squalls on the horizon we should postpone our trip until tomorrow so we headed for Davis Harbor, the only decent anchorage along the south-western shore of Eleuthera.

We enjoyed the sail and the practice of tacking but around 1pm decided to motor-sail the final 4 miles to our destination.  Kathi had been fishing, Kiwi was below in her typical hidy-hole that she uses when the engines get turned on.  As we are nearing the breaks between deep water (3000 feet) and the shallow banks (30 feet) the fishing rod starts to sing.  Kathi grabs the rod, I throttle the engine back and Kathi lands a 3-4 foot barracuda.  Not what we were hoping for since we won’t eat it but still fun to catch.  Kiwi hears the commotion topside and comes up to see what’s happening.  Kathi releases the barracuda and we get motoring back on our track.

By this time, we are about a mile offshore and coral heads are prevalent in the area.  I tell Kathi to take watch on the bow so that she can see any shallow coral heads that we might need to avoid. I toss Kiwi back downstairs so she is out of our way but she runs back up and follows Kathi out of the cockpit.  She then jumps up on the dodger and back on top of the bimini.  I’m too busy trying to steer the boat, watching depths to think more than “If you go overboard, cat, you deserve it.”

About 10 minutes later, we are on a good course to make it into the anchorage.  I tell Kathi to take the helm so I can get set up for anchoring.  I tell her to watch out for Kiwi, she’s on top of the bimini.  I take a quick look for Kiwi and see that she is no longer there, and I didn’t see her jump down.  Immediate panic sets in as we know she has gone overboard.  Kathi takes a quick look downstairs to make sure she didn’t go below and I turn the boat 360 degrees to start a search along our track.  The odds of seeing a 4 inch round head in the water with 2-3 foot swells is like looking for a needle in a haystack.  We search for about 40 minutes then decide that it is a lost cause and we need to get the boat to the anchorage before the threatening squalls hit us.  After we get anchored, we put the dinghy down, go back out to search again because we can’t just give up.  After another 30 minutes of searching, with rain starting to fall, we head back to the boat, our hearts heavy, and guilt and sorrow setting in.  

We talk about the good things we shared with Kiwi and feel bad that she met a sad ending.  John lays down to deal with his sorrow.  He’s seen before when she’d gone into the water the look of terror on her face just before being rescued.  He can’t get that thought out of his head.   Kathi goes into the cockpit to read and forget her sorrow.  Kathi suggests we play a game so we play an entire tournament of cribbage.  Neither of us felt like cooking, so we just heated up some leftovers.  Around 6pm, about 5 hours after Kiwi “went overboard” we hear the tinkle of the bell around her collar.  Of course we both heard Indi’s bell for over a month after she passed so Kathi yells, “John, John,” and I rush on deck to see Kiwi sitting on top of the Bimini.  Kathi asks me if she is seeing things or had she had too much to drink or was Kiwi really just sitting on top of the bimini.  You can’t believe the hugs we tried to give the little sh*t.  Apparently, she had climbed into the boom, which is essentially a hollow tube, and had finally decided to rise from her nap. We are thrilled to have her back.  Unfortunately, we wonder if the inevitable was just pushed back because she is fearless and reckless.  Two traits not so good for a boat cat.  We just have to wonder what new trials and tribulations she has in store for us.  Certainly a night of emotional roller coasters.

Tuesday, December 30:  With a full compliment of crew, we motor-sailed to Little San Salvador, aka Half Moon Cay.  The Cay was renamed after Holland America Cruise Line bought the Island to use as a destination.  A cruise ship was in the anchorage so we took an alternate anchorage and then went for a snorkel.  We knew the big ship would be leaving this afternoon and we could then move to the more protected spot.  We drifted over the reef towing the dinghy as the reef went from 6 feet to 60 feet of depth.  As we got to the deeper water we spotted a couple of sharks, tuna, amberjack and grouper cruising along.  The clarity and color of the water is amazing!  The shallower water is bright turquoise while the deep water, which goes to over a 1000 feet deep less than a mile offshore is cobalt blue.

On Tuesday the 23rd, We took the dinghies to shore to walk around the island and explore the ruins of a private estate built in the 30’s.  According to Explorer Charts and other references, a big development was planned here including a resort, villas, golf course and marina to be completed in 2010, but very little development has occurred and the island is virtually uninhabited except for a few fishing shacks and a resort with no guests and only minimal maintenance and security employees. The private estate used to be a large pineapple plantation and you can tell from what is left of the structures and the materials used, including some very fancy tile, that it was quite something in it’s day.  There is no evidence of pineapples any more and the estate is even more run down and full of graffiti

than it was last time we were here. We spent the evening charging up the batteries by running the generator and watching a few episodes of Sea Patrol.

The 24th brought increased winds and cloudy skies as predicted.  I went paddle boarding around the harbour and went over to the inlet to see what it looked like on the outside and was glad that we are tucked in a protected harbour.  While I had the paddle board out, I thought I would start getting Kiwi used to riding it so we put her in her pet carrier and placed it on the board, but John opened the door to her pet carrier when we were ONLY 10 feet away from Makani and she flew through the air and landed back on the boat.  We are constantly amazed at how far she can fly.  Of course she went into one of her many hiding spots and was not about to gives us a second chance today.  We spent most of the day playing a cribbage tournament and reading. John had promised me buttermilk pies for Chrismas since we couldn’t find the ingredients for them at Thanksgiving.  When we went into Spanish Wells, we couldn’t find buttermilk.  I was dissappointed as I was sure I was not going to get my buttermilk pie.  When we returned to the boat, I looked up how to make buttermilk and found a simple recipe which called for 1/4 cup lemon juice and 3/4 cup milk and in 15 minutes you have buttermilk.  I couldn’t believe it and told John, but he was very unwilling to try it and made up all sorts of excuses as to why he didn’t want to do it.  Some of his excuses were legitamate like because we couldn’t find buttermilk at the store, we did not buy the pie crusts or the vanilla that we needed to make the pies.  Also, we have no pie tins on board.  Mostly he did not want to alter his family recipe and take the chance that it would ruin a memory of something that tastes so good.  He was pretty adamant that he did not want to make the pies so I told him “fine, I’ll make them”.  This required that I make the pie crusts from scratch, the buttermilk from scratch, borrowing some vanilla and a pie tin from Lindy and baking the pies the night before so John could decide if they were up to his standard before serving them to guests. Lindy only had one pie tin, so I had to bake the second pie in our frying pan.  THEY WERE DELICIOUS! Almost as good as when John makes them.

Christmas day 2014.  Spent the entire morning deep cleaning the house partly because we were having guests, but mostly because it made me feel good to have the house super clean again.  John did all the prep work for dinner: prepare the dressing, stuff the turkey, put the green bean casserole together. The table settings looked incredible with the entire set of my new dishes layed out. Our guests arrived at 3pm and we enjoyed the “starters” they prepared.  Dates wrapped in bacon.  They also brought roasted potatoes and carrots and we sat down for a huge Christmas feast at 3:30pm.  We were trading sailing stories when I decided to go up on deck and when I did, I heard Kiwi crying. I followed the mews and found her hanging from the bottom support for the bow sprit in the water. She looked like a drowned rat and I yelled for John and he grabbed the net while Barry got in his dinghy and started to pull up to her, but she let go of the cable and swam for Barry’s dinghy and jumped in.  This is her fourth time she has gone into the pool without a lifeguard on duty. We have no idea how long she had been hanging there.  We were playing Christmas music and visiting so no one heard her go in.  Each time she has gone in the water, we have been lucky that there has been no current and the last three times, at least the water is relatively warm, but she obviously is not a fast learner.

Today is totally planned around getting through Current Cut.  Current Cut is a bit of a navigational challenge. It is located at the northwestern tip of Eleuthera and is the gateway to the Bight of Eleuthera.  It has very strong current going through it that propels your vessel straight toward shallow grassy patches so you have to make a hard starboard turn

Bight of Eleuthera

Glass Window

immediately after getting through it, but you have sharp jagged rocks on your starboard side that you can’t get too close to (and believe me they seem VERY close). You have to stay in a very small channel for about another 1/2 mile making 2 zig zag turns with strong current.  The cut is very shallow so you have to time it near high tide or on a rising tide.  We saw depths of 9’8” and it propelled us through the cut at 11knots.  John handled it like a pro.  We then travelled another 90 minutes to a place called The Glass Window.  This site used to be a geological wonder.  An 85’ arch between where the bight of Eleuthera and The Atlantic Ocean almost meet.  In 1926 a hurricane washed away the rock bridge.  It was replaced by a concrete and steel bridge in 1960, but in 1991, that bridge got hit by a rogue wave and it moved the northern end of the bridge 7’ westward.  Seeing the huge rocks from the original arch up to a mile away from the bridge and seeing the current man-made bridge sitting 7’ from it’s original site makes your mind reel realizing the forces of nature.  Also, can you

Now a one lane bridge

Atlantic side

 

Entrance to Hatchet Bay

imagine a bridge in America that has been moved 7’ at one end only and DOT coming in and saying it’s ok, we’ll just keep on using it, only now it is a single lane bridge (see pics). It was truly an amazing thing to see.  You look to the east and see cobalt blue water of the Atlantic and then look to the west and see the turquoise water of the Bight of Eleuthera.  We had to make a decision to stay anchored here for the night or move on to Hatchet Bay in Alice Town.  We checked the weather report again and it looks like we have a run of good weather in the foreseeable future and we want to get to as many of the Far Bahama Islands as possible so we decide to move.  The entrance to Hatchet Bay is another place where you need good navigational skills. It is 90’ wide channel that was blasted through sheer rock so you have cliffs and jagged rock on each side of you and then long jetties well into the harbour.  After safely anchoring, we put the dinghy down and went in search of a cave about a mile from the harbour.  We found the cave, but the water was thick with jelly fish.  I could tell the reef was fricking amazing, but my wetsuit does not have sleeves.  I found the jelly fish thinned out the further away from shore so I moved away from the cliffs, but became frustrated because now I couldn’t see the reef.  John had a full wetsuit on, so he was enjoying the sights and I went back to the dinghy and caught up to where he was snorkeling and noticed there were less jelly fish now.  I got back into the water and was able to enjoy about a full 1/2 mile of incredible reef before the jelly fish started getting think again and I could not dodge them.

Saturday morning we got up early and went into Alice town in search of hamburger buns and to just see what there was to see in Alice town which really is not much.  We were unsuccessful in finding hamburger buns or any fresh food for that matter, but we had a nice morning walk. The Bahameins celebrate Junkanoo the day after Christmas and we looked up information on where the celebrations were being held and nothing was said about activities in Alice Town. By the time we heard the noise makers and singing and revelry, we had settled in for the night.  On our walk we saw the aftermath of Junkanoo with liquor bottles and cans all over and masks and confetti and plastic jewelry all over the streets.  Of all the times we have been in the Bahamas, we have never been at the right time or the right place to really see a Junkanoo celebration so we have to make a point of it next year. We had a great sail over to Tarpum Bay where we spent the afternoon reading and playing games.

Kiwi helping John defrost the freezer

Sunday. December 28: Perfect weather for a nice smooth sail.  We decided to stay in a marina so we could top off with fuel and water and get laundry done and have things ship shape before we go offshore and hit some of the Far Bahama islands.  Cape Eleuthera marina is a very nice marina with very nice amenities, but the dockmaster put us in the worst “slip” (actually on a cement wall). With the winds blowing from the south, it pushed the boat up against the pilings all night long so the bumpers squeeked and the boat banged all night. Also the no-see-ums were awful.  You hate to have to smeer yourself with stinky bug spray after taking the first hot shower you have had in a month, but if we didn’t, we both would have been eaten alive. We also wanted to have good internet so that we could catch up and let friends and family know our plans, but their internet was very poor. Overall, we wished that we would have just anchored out and saved our money.