Staniel Cay

My good friend, Jay Carey, tells the story about a long crossing from the Virgin Islands to Florida in a friends sailboat.   After 5-6 days from St. Thomas, the natural stop is Staniel Cay in the Exumas.   Its the kind of Caribbean bar that is always full, with a level of excitement from sailors making long passages, cruisers on their boats, locals, and the crusty ole bearded sailors telling tall tales.   Staniel Cay is unusual because it is out in the middle of nowhere.   In Jay's case, he overhears a conversation at the far corner of the bar from guys flying helicopters.   As those of you who know Jay, he was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, so naturally his ears perked up.  Turns out there are parts of our government flying helicopters around this part of the Caribbean watching boat traffic.   Umm...wonder what they are looking for?  It's that kind of place.   Very cool.

Staniel Cay is the hub of the Exumas, right in the middle of the 100 mile chain of beautiful islands.   After 4 days in the Exuma Land and Sea Park with no cell and no internet, Shelley and I were in major withdrawal to re-connect with the world.   For me, I rely on the internet to get my weather forecasts, which we have really needed down here.   Shelley, well she needs it for her mental sanity.   We got both at Staniel Cay.    Again, the water is still beautiful, the beaches are a soft white sand, and of course Thunderball cave.   Yes, just 300 yards off the marina is the cave that James Bond saved the world in from another villain.    From a distance the rock looks like a thousand others around these islands.   But you can tie the ding to a small mooring and snorkel under a ledge full of fish.   The cave is 50 ft. wide and maybe 80 long, and your can snorkel out the other side.   The top is open to sunlight which gives it a magical appearance as shafts of light come down into the water inside the cave.  Century's of waves have knocked the sides in and blown out the top,  as the water rushes into the cave.  Coral is everywhere.

Shelley and I snorkeled it at low slack tide so it was easier to get into the cave, and the current did not rush you out the other side.  Unfortuantely it was a cloudy day and we did not take any photos.   We went back for one of the few hours that the sun has been shining over the last 3 weeks, but it was high tide and it was a rushing river.   No way we were getting in that water.   Here are some shots:

See the snorkeler

Staniel Cay Bar

You too could swim with the sharks

Great Place to hang out for a few days, but we are restless.   Time to move on.

Marc

Exuma Land and Sea Park

Just 36 miles due west of Cape Eleuthera is the northern end of a long chain of islands called the Exumas.   There is deep 4000 ft water on their eastern side known as the Exuma Sound.   To the west is the Grand Bahama Bank (15 feet) that extends over to Andros and up to Nassau.   This chain of tiny islands runs basically southeast for over a 100 miles.  We are starting in the north end where the Bahamian government has established a national park surrounding a large portion of these islands and their water.

Remember that we are still in search of sunshine for over 3 weeks.   The Exumas are ground zero for a swath of spring moisture starting in Central America and pouring up over  Cuba and onward to Bermuda.   It is raining and windy, day after day.   But in spite of the cloudy conditions, I have never seen water so clear and so pretty.   Most of the islands are uninhabited, and the Park is off limits to any commercial activity.  Their reefs, beaches and salt ponds are the main attraction, and well worth it.

We have been out of cell and internet connections for days!!!    Major withdrawals here.   Last night in advance of some really bad weather coming, we came into a private marina on Sampson Cay.   It is a very high end resort with small villas and a restaurant in addition to the marina.   It is small but very well protected as the winds are up over 30 knots.   Plus they have internet, and Staniel Cay is just 5 miles away, so we have cell coverage.

 Snorkeling anyone?

 Warderick Wells Cay

 Our friends on Last Dance on a mooring at Cambridge Cay.  The ray is below our boat in 12 ft. of water.  Very clear.

More bad weather is coming, so we are hunkered down here for a few days.   Very expensive to stay here, but better than the alternative.   But let me have the pictures do my talking.   I can only do a few as we have a limited data connection.   Enjoy.   Marc

Spanish Wells and Harbour Island

The north end of Eleuthera is covered by a major reef called the Devil's Backbone.  It's considered foolish to even attempt to weave through the heads of coral to make you way along the northern and eastern shore from Spanish Wells to Harbour Island.   We did not.  But we let the professional wind his way through the reefs, in the large ferry that travels each day from Nassau to Spanish Wells, then on to Harbour Island and returns.  

Spanish Wells is a working community full of large fishing boats and the houses to match. Harbour Island is a tourist stop mainly due to its very pretty pink beach.   Natually we now have a small bottle of said sand.   Get ready grandkids.   Do I hear Christmas presents???

 We rented a golf cart for the day and saw all the sites of Harbour Island.   Great place 

if you are wanting to get away from everything.

But we have places to go and are in search of sunshine, so its off to the Exumas.

Eleuthera

We made it!!!   Sounds silly but we have been waiting for almost a week to get a proper weather window to make the open ocean journey of 60 miles from Little Harbour in the Abacos to Royal Island on the north side of Eleuthera.  I actually paid for a weather service to provide us a 3 day forecast for our crossing.   Funny they predicted today, Tuesday as the day to cross.   But we got up yesterday morning, checked the forecasts, looked out at the Atlantic, and said lets go.   We did, and it was a good decision.   So here we are.  I had to show the obligatory beach scenes.   The water is beautiful here.   Prettier than the Abacos.  

What I did not expect is to take photos of the houses in Spanish Wells.   This is a fishing village that has been the main staple of the Eleuthera economy for over a century.   It has the feel of Bermuda, not the Abacos or other Caribbean islands further south.    It is very proper,  British in ancestry, and very beautiful.

Now we are here.   It is all protected waters as we explore Eleuthera.   Then it is only 25 miles across Exuma Sound to get to the northern tip of the long chain of islands called the Exumas.   It is supposed to be even prettier there.   Not sure how, but that is what they say.  We do not have to cross any major open waters to explore all these islands.   Get your Google Earth out and look this up.   Cool.

 If you need to contact us, you can call our Bahamian phone # of 242-475-8677, or email us.   Our  deadline is that we will be back in the Abacos by the 4th of July.  

Marc

Hope Town

It has been a week since we cleared into the Bahamas at Green Turtle Cay.   We really enjoyed our stay on Guana.   Todd and Peggy were wonderful hosts and let us stay on their mooring ball for several days.  Todd and I went fishing with some buddies of his and we caught 7 Black Fin Tuna.   Umm.   Fresh tuna.   We put some on the barbeque that night, and Shelley and I still have a bunch of filets in our freezer.

We then stayed a couple of nights in Marsh Harbour.   It is a busy place and the largest town in the Abaco's, so it is not my favorite.   It let us do the last minute preparations for our journey south.   But we could not leave the Abaco's without first stopping into one of the prettiest spots in the Caribbean, Hope Town on Elbow Cay.   The entrance is marked by the lighthouse, which still works.

This would be a great place for a family vacation.   Our kids and grandkids would love this island.   Mark and Gayle Rolland would love it as well.  So Shelley and I went by the real estate office and got brochures on the numerous houses that are for rent.   Some are small, some have 4/5 bedrooms.   Elbow Cay is 6 miles long, but we would want to be right in town.  Maybe someday.....

There are beautiful beaches and fun bars and restaurnats, and great snorkeling nearby.    Perfect.

 Tomorrow or Monday we will head south down the Abaco island to Little Harbor.   That is the last place you can anchor before you head across to Eleuthera.   The winds are a bit high right now, so we are TRYING to be patient...damn this is hard. But we do not want another 5 hours of banging into 5 ft. waves such as we had coming over from Ft. Lauderdale.   So patience is needed right now.   I engaged a marine weather forecast company to email me the wind, wave and weather conditions for the crossing.   I think it will be next Tuesday.   Once we get to Eleuthera and find an internet connection, we will update you all.    Wish for calm winds and smooth waters...
Marc

 We made it across.   It was not the easiest crossing I have had between Florida and West End Grand Bahama, but we made it.  To the left is my good friend, Todd Rucker, who lives on Gt. Guana in the Abacos with his wife Peggy.   Todd had business in Ft. Lauderdale, so it worked out that he joined us for the crossing.   Always nice to have someone along.  We fired up the engines at 4:15 am on Friday, May 4th, and were heading out of Port Everglades into the dark early morning by 4:45 am.   The forecast was for east winds 10 to 15 and two ft. seas.   It was higher than 15, and waves were more like 4-5.   We were banging right into these steep waves, which made for a pretty uncomfortable next 5 hours.   You just never know what you are going to get until you get out into it.

Most everything came off the walls and we moved everything off the counters.   The fridge became a mess as shelves slipped and slanted.   It was dark.    Really dark.   But my radar worked great and we weaved our way through some big ships outside of Port Everglades, and several headed down to Miami.  Once the sun came up around 6:45 we picked up our speed, and the ride smoothed out a bit.   We hit the Little Bahamas Bank by 11:15, and all things became right with the world and the boat.   The bank is 12 ft. deep and the waters were smooth.   Nice.

We anchored at Gt. Sale Cay that evening by 5:00 pm and cooked out on the grill.   I was relieved.   Rock Chalk is not really a blue water boat made for crossing oceans, but she took good care of us, in spite of getting the shit kicked out of her.  So for the next 6 weeks, we will take good care of her and let her only cruise through beautiful blue protected waters of the Abacos, Eleuthra, and the Exumas.  Promise.   No Hurricanes.

We cleared customs in Green Turtle Cay and pulled up to Todd's pretty house in Great Guana Cay by 5:00pm on Saturday.  Shelley has found the Bahamas Wi-Max internet system and signed us up for a week of good internet connections.   We have no phone, but text messages work.  If you need to contact us, try our email or text me.

Our plan is to not plan too much.   We know we are headed south through the island chains.   We will get as far south as Georgetown in the Exumas, then come back north to the Abacos by mid or late June.   Once again.....Nice.   If you all see a big storm coming off Africa on the Weather Channel, text me.   Hopefully we will see it too,   This is the prettiest time of the year here in the Bahamas.   It is not too hot yet, and the water is a gorgeous 80 degrees...perfect for snorkeling.   When I get another internet connection, I will do another blog to update you all.   Marc

It is Thursday and we have been waiting out the weather here in Ft. Lauderdale.   It has been nasty earlier this week.   Rain and wind, and no time to head out into the ocean and fight the Gulf Stream.  So we have spent the week provisioning the boat and helping our friends in the Bahamas with items they need.  The boat has some of those items so we are loaded for bear.    The weather window looks good for the next several days, and off we go.  We are up at 4:30 tomorrow morning and will take a heading for the West End of Grand Bahama Island.   If you look at your map you can see that is only 60 miles due east of West Palm Beach.   As we leave from Ft. Lauderdale, it is close to 80 miles on the angle to the northeast, but we will have a 3-4 knot current from the Gulf Stream pushing us north.  That makes the trip much easier.

So for anyone reading this there are some things you need to know about our communications in the Bahamas.   We are turning off our Verizon Mi-Fi.   Like Canada last summer, when you take it out of the country the normal $80 per month charge goes to something like $4000.   So we will be searching for wifi stations around the islands where we can tie into their system and send out our normal blogs and emails.   This will be a big challenge for Shelley as she will go through some major internet withdrawal.

We have bought a phone that is not tied to any network, an unlocked phone.   Once in the Bahamas we will get a sim card from the local phone service called Batelco.  So I will be texting you our new Bahamas phone number that we will call you from and you can call us without costing an arm and a leg.   I have also bought the monthly plan on our normal ATT phones so we can call if necessary, but our text service is completely normal.   So feel free to text us at anytime.  

We are really looking forward to these next two months exploring the Bahamas.   Our plan is to spend time in the Abacos, the Eleuthras, and the Exumas.   We may stop by Nassau and the Berries on the way back to the US.  Hopefully the weather will be kind and let us stay here until the end of June.   But if you do not here from us nightly, it is because we are in a much more limited area for communication.  I will post some blogs whenever we can find a hot spot in the islands.   Love you all.    Marc and Shelley