Day 251, Friday February 28

Day 251, Friday February 28^th

Well it is the last day of February.  Good-bye to another month.  Our friends and family back home will be counting down the snow storms left in the season.  It has been a doozy of a winter for them and an endless summer for us!

Last night the wind moderated in the evening so the wave action was mild.  Still a bit of movement, but not bad.  Julie is starting to wear earplugs to bed, a good thing to have on board for those thinking of heading out.

The Hermitage from the water

The winds continue to pick up during the morning and the waves join in.  We are tossing and turning and awaiting a squall.  The squall does not come, but the light winds which were forecasted don't come either.  Dawson plans to go for another run on the beach but by the time he takes action it is too rough to head to shore as he was worried about a repeat of yesterday.  Turns out the neighbouring boats were hoping for another show.  We just hang around, somewhat trapped on the boat as it is tricky getting into the dinghy when the back of the boat is rising and falling about 6 feet.  Better to stay put.  The winds start to "clock" at around 1 so we decide to weigh anchor and head north in the bay to seek shelter from the point that is jutting out to the west.  It takes at least an hour as there are head winds but soon enough we are anchoring in New Bight.

As we arrive into the new anchorage Mark from Down Island gives us a call to pass on that the swells  are still rolling in from the west while the wind is out of the north north west.  This combination would give the boat a bad roll if you just hang off a bow anchor.  Mark recommends that we rig up a wave bridle for the boat to allow the boat to face into the swell.  Dawson's response is that it sounds like a good idea but has never done it.  We get some instructions over the radio and Dawson sets out to get the line and tackle set up.  The rig consist of a chain hook on approximately 100' of line.  The key is to set the hook with the normal 7 to 1 scope and then attach the chain hook and separate line, you then play out about 50' of anchor rode while running the extra line back to the stern chock and then on to the jib winch on the opposite side that you want to turn from.  At the bow you hook up the bridle but again only on the side you want to turn from.  You then adjust the hook up so you have an equalateral triangle center end at the midship of the boat.  This rig pulls your stern up into the wind and allows the bow to fall off to face the swell.  Dawson gets it setup and it passes inspection when Mark comes over.  It works great.  It is like an anchored "Heaving to".  A quick look around the anchorage shows that the boats that are swinging only on the bow are taking the swell on the Port side and rolling , while we are just doing a small rise and fall with the swell right on the bow.  It is a good day as we have learned something new.  With the winch you can do small adjustments as the wind shifts.  The added benefit is the dinghy goes to the lee of the boat sitting in nice flat water.

Once we are sure the anchor is set we head to shore for a look around.  We had been to shore before but only for sundowners so we figure we should take a look around.  We land at the beach in front of the goverment building and drop our garbage off.  Turns out we have landed right at the road that heads up to the Hermitage which is the main place to visit in the area.  We had planned on hiking up the next morning but decide there is no time like the present, so off we go. Father Jerome was a catholic father who was an architect for the church back in the 1920s and 30s.  He came to the Bahamas to rebuild a number of church's that had been damaged or destroyed by a major hurricane in 1926.  The church that we had visited in Long Island was his creation.  The hermitage was his retirement home and a tribute to his god.  It is well worth the visit.  Father Jerome chose the highest point of land in the Bahamas at a total of 206 feet above sea level for the location.

The hike takes you along a paved road for about 1 km past a grove of banana trees.  There are a number of bananas ripening on the trees but there is a sign asking that you not pick them as they are being grown for shipment to Haita, good thing the sign was there or there would have been two less bananas for Haita.  At the end of the road we start up a trail through the scrub and soon come to the 12 stations of the cross which Father Jerome had created, all the time climbing up towards the Hermitage.  The Hermitage can be seen quite clearly from the sea and looks quite impressive and as you approach it maintains the look.  Upon arriving you find it is still impressive but almost miniature in scale.  The building features a chapel with single pew for one, a small sitting room, a galley kitchen, a spartan beadroom and a two story bell tower.  In the chapel there is a guest book to sign which Julie fills out for us.  Dawson then flips through looking at earlier visitors comments, one which catches his eye is from two years earlier and conveys the following story.  A visitor states that his mother had met Father Jerome in Cat Island and that he was a very tall man.  The reason for the small size to the hermitage (We had to duck in all the door ways) was to "modify his body to empower his soul".  It is quite an impressive structure when you realize it was built by one man as his final home and as a tribute to his god.

After the hike we head into town to see what it has to offer.  We find a bakery where we purchase some coconut bread and have a conversation with the bakers 4 year old son.  We then head over to the convenience store and back to the mothership to host sundowners.

Wilma and Barrie

Barry and Wilma (she just became a great grandma a couple weeks ago) from Syrena and Dave and Sue from Sans Cles join us and we chat for a couple hours until we go our separate ways for dinner.

We spend a quiet Friday evening with coffee and reading.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 250, Thursday February 27th

Day 250, Thursday February 27^th

Well we were awoken to some wave action.  The winds shifted to the west earlier than anticipated and stronger than anticipated.  We were safely anchored so managed to get back to sleep.  Dawson woke Julie up with the declaration he was kayaking to shore for a run, time for Julie to do her French lesson.

Part way through French however, Dave called on the radio to announce a squall was on its way, so Julie took action to get the boat ready for the incoming weather.  Laundry in, windows shut, steering wheel  put back on, everything secured...  Dawson returned quickly once he had seen the clouds (he was running with his back to it until he turned around and by then he was a couple kms. away).  It started raining as Dawson was kayaking back to the mothership.  The winds whipped up but he managed to get on board (after falling in while boarding as the boat was rising and falling about 4 feet.  Then the kayak started blowing away, it had not been secured, so back in the water Dawson goes swimming after it.  (only about 20 feet, but had to get wet again).

The squall only lasted about 15 minutes.  We had hoped for more rain as it rinses the boat nicely and we gather the water for later use.  The waves stayed somewhat high so the day was spent monitoring our anchoring.  There is no safe haven around here from a westerly except a marina that is very buggy so we don’t want to go there.  We spend the day reading, and blogging, glad we have someone’s internet to use.

The wind does not abate as early as we would like so at 8 we are still rolling a bit, however we know our anchor will hold, and hopefully during the night the calm will come.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 249, Wednesday, February 26

Day 249, Wednesday, February 26

Up and at em.  A few errands on the agenda and a run for Dawson.  Dave decides he will join Dawson for the run while Julie and Sue head to the Grocers.  We dinghy to an abandoned pink coloured resort where the books say we can access the road  to the grocers which is about a 10 minute walk.  The 4 of us stay together until the grocers has been found.  The runners head off and Sue and Julie peruse the store.  It is adequately stocked, and clean.  Unfortunately the mail boat that brings in supplies is due tomorrow so the freshest stuff is probably a week old.  The broccoli still looks excellent, but Julie takes a pass on other fresh stuff except some limes.  We are able to get real milk and resupply our UHT emergency supply with our preferred 1% parmalat so that is good.

Dawson Barbequing Mahi for all of us

We grab a couple bottles of wine as Sue and Dave are coming for dinner to share in the Mahi catch.  On the way back to the boat Julie grabs some coconuts so we have fresh snacks, and coconut water.  Julie is going to try to make Sky Juice which is a gin based drink offered at the Santa Maria resort on Long island.

Back at the boat we decide to reanchor about 3 miles south as the south winds are building and there will be better protection.  Our existing spot at New Bight is starting to get lumpy.  The move takes about an hour but is well worth it as there is very little movement down  here.  It is now about 3:30 but still time to fit in a snorkel.  Dave and Sue have marked a spot on their GPS so we follow them out about a mile and have a great snorkel.  It does not compare to the snorkelling we have done in the  nature parks here, but it is one of the best outside of the parks.  There are lots of corals, and fish, but no lobster is seen.  Darn!

Dave, Sue and Julie in our cockpit

On our way back we go to shore and husk the 3 coconuts.  Dave and Sue have another 2 to husk.  It is a bit of work, but Dawson  has a process that has been working well so in about 20 minutes we have our fresh stash of coconut.

Dinner is wonderful.  The company is great.  Sue and Dave sure make us giggle.  Love the sense of humour.  We teach them how to play king’s cribbage and then call it a night.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

The pics not blurry it is us that is blurry!

Day 248, Tuesday February 25 - a great fishing day but not a good sailing day

Day 248, Tuesday February 25

Plans written in the sand at low tide.  We left conception, heading north.  

We are really undecided, cause we had wanted to go down to the Ragged islands, but slowly the thoughts of home and knowing every mile south is a mile we have to recover to head home, we turn to Cat island.  We are quite looking forward to Cat island as our good friend Caroline Wright was born here.

 As soon as we are under way Dawson puts new line on our rod and rigs a new leader/lure and we get the rod out.  There has been a fair bit of chatter on the radio about fish on over the last two days so we have our hopes up.  About an hour in we spot some activity on the water, with sea birds diving and fish jumping, we are next to a feeding frenzy so change course to go through it, hoping to catch one of the fish on our line, but no luck.  There are hundreds of about 16 inch fish jumping about with seabirds fluttering amongst them all diving for smaller fish.  There is little to no wind unfortunately so we are motoring.  We have been quite successful sailing versus motoring as we keep our plans flexible to go with the wind.  There are many things to consider though.  Waves, tides, future weather and safe anchorages etc.

Dawson landing the mahi mahi

 While underway we do a myriad of domestic duties.  Cooking, cleaning, blogging....  Other than the departure and arrival there is lots of water, so with the autohelm it is a no brainer for getting there.  Dawson is actually reading a book during his watch.  Julie was playing solitaire on the ipad during her watch.

Dawson holding 48 inches of Mahi

We are just about to pull in our line as we are approaching the south end of Cat Island and will be turning into the shallows in about 20 minutes.  We figure might as well leave it out a few more minutes and bang we have a fish on the line.  Dawson quickly grabs the line so we don’t make the same rookie mistake we did a couple of days ago losing the line because it ran out.  It takes Dawson 40 minutes to reel it in.  Once again Julie bumbles around keeping us on course, getting stuff out of the way, getting the sprayer with Scotch ready, towels, cutting board, bag, knife, net etc.  About 20 minutes into landing the fish Dawson looks up and spots a whale surfacing for air about 300' off the boat, he yells to Julie who happens to be looking in the right direction and spots the whale just as it dives.  We can’t get the fish in the dip net due to it's size but Julie follows it as Dawson just hoists the fish into the cockpit.  Not much chance Julie would have caught the fish if it got off the line at this point.  This fish was not as tired as the last one and it was banging against the side of the hull.  Once in the cockpit it also bounced a bit, but we quickly put a wet towel on its head after Dawson managed to spray some alcohol into its gills.  Wow this fish is bigger than the last one.  Another Mahi Mahi and about 48 inches long head to tail.  Dawson bleeds it out all over the cockpit, which is fine as the cockpit is easy to spray clean and scrub.  Once again we are very excited.  We put the fish is a garbage bag, then put ice packs on the bag and a wet towel over top to keep it cool until we can fillet it which is in about 2 hours as we are close to the anchorage.

Towel over fish to calm it

We decide to go into New Bight as we can get some supplies.  As we are getting closer the internet starts to work and we can see via facebook that San Cles is at anchor which we are thrilled about as we have enjoyed their company immensely and had lost where they were.  Upon getting closer we also see Syrena has made it safely into anchor.

The local band, one of Brits is trying his hand on the saw

It is now about 4:00 and we start cleaning the fish.  A few boats pull up to ensure we are aware that there are sundowners on shore.  One boat pulls up and tells off of the sundowners and that they have hired a band.  We indicate we will come as fast as we can but that we have a fish to clean.  It takes us about an hour to get the fish cleaned, stored away, and an initial rinse to the cockpit.  Another 30 minutes and we are off to shore.  We know just 3 of the boats, the other 5 or 6 are new introductions.  A British boat with 3 couples on board has arranged for a rake and scrape band to come and play for us for an hour or so.   This is the first true rake and scrap bands we have seen, earlier ones had electric guitars and a drum kit.  This band is made up of grandfather and two granddaughters, the oldman is on a small accordion one of the girls on half a 45 gal drum with a skin on top and the other one is playing the carpenter saw by scraping a file on it.  The music is great and the company even better.   The sunset is excellent and we are treated to the “green flash” phenomenon.  It is 7:30 by the time we are making it back to the mothership.  We give 3 ladies from the British ship a lift as they are anchored near us.  We have had a lovely time on shore. 

Luckily we did not eat any of the munchies that are typical of sundowner socials.  We did not have time to put something together, so the rule we have is no contribution, no eating.  We decide to BBQ the mahi mahi with an olive oil, lime and garlic marinade and it is fabulous.

The anchorage is very peaceful so we have a great night sleep.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 247, Monday, February 24

Day 247, Monday, February 24

The day starts with a run for Dawson, joined by Guiomme, and French studies for Julie.  Today Slow Waltz is continuing south so we will bid them a final good-bye.  First they are interested in going for a snorkel so by 8:45 we are snorkelling on a nearby reef.  There are fish to see and some coral but it is nothing like the snorkelling we have done in the Exumas.  A storm of some sort must have come through and damaged the coral.  We try later at another site and it is even worse.   This is unfortunate as Conception Island is supposed to have excellent snorkelling.  They do have lots of accessible reefs but they all seem somewhat dead.  We bid our good-byes, which is very sad, in part because we will not see Gwen and Guiomme for a long time but also because it represents that we are “turn arounders”.  This affirms that we are not going any further or else we would have gone with them.  It is a landmark recognition of an unspoken decision.  We know we had decided to go back to work, and talked about where to put the boat in storage, but this cements the decision to head north.

Slow Waltz leaving us for the last time

We have the rest of the afternoon ahead of us with no plans so Julie sets up the hammock chair and reads for a couple hours  We then spend the rest of the afternoon looking for another spot to snorkel, going for a bit of a hike and then pop over to visit Harmonium.  Harmonium is an ABYC boat which is Ashbridges Yacht club which is the club we had joined as associate members while in Toronto.  We are welcomed aboard and have lots to chat about.  They lived in Leslieville which is a couple miles from the Beaches where we lived.  After about a 30 minute visit Julie asks Christi if she had taken the Extended cruising course through Power Squadron and it turns out her and Phil and us were in the same class for 10 Tuesday nights the spring of 2012.  We thought they looked familiar.  Again what a small world.  While at Harmonium, Haven (Al and Brenda) called and suggested we come over for a sundowner, so after a quick shower on our boat we head over with drinks in hand and an appetizer.  Another couple from Milleexcursions also joined in and brought some cervichi made from the fresh Mahi Mahi they had caught on their crossing.  We can only stay for an hour as we have social plans for the evening on Serena with Barry and Wilma.  Of course we are longer and get back to our boat 20 minutes before we are to get to the next social.  Quickly we fry up the sausages planned for dinner last night, and head out with another snack and something to drink.  Typical to boating you bring what you want as we are a long way from any supplies and it is understood you don’t want to drain others of their inventory.  We are not sure where their boat is and it is dark.  We know the general direction in the anchorage so it is quite funny as we go boat to boat calling out Serena.  Barry hears us and hails us over.

We have a lovely evening of euchre and Mexican train which is dominoes.  Our heads start bobbing at 10:00 as we have had lots of sun today.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 246, Sunday, February 23

Day 246, Sunday, February 23

Mangroves

The morning starts with exercise.  A run for Dawson and a walk along the beach for Julie.  We have decided to head up to the Mangrove swamp by towing the kayaks behind the dinghy.  We want to get there for high tide as the entranceway is shallow.  We are about 2 hours early but there is sufficient water.  We get into the salt water estuary without touching bottom or getting caught in a breaker.  Just the trip to get here was interesting as it was about 2.5 miles and we had to go slow due to towing the dinghies.  Once we rounded the point we were also in the swells of the Atlantic which were about 3-4 feet on the nose, so we got wet also.  The wet part did not matter as we were in swimsuits and it was warm, but we did not want to swamp the kayaks.  As a safety measure we of course had the handheld radio and had told Serena where we were going.  (did not think to take the spot connect with us)

Turtle in the water

After a quick picnic lunch, we head to the right with the wind on the nose for paddling but the current was pushing us so it was not too bad.  We saw lots of turtles and 2 small sharks, and a healthy conch population.  The turtles swam fast, and were from dinner size plate size to about 2.5 feet across.  When we went to the left of the entranceway there was what looked like a shallow blue hole which was very pretty with its varying water colour.  As we were on this branch of the estuary we see Barry and Wilma from Serena.  We ask them if they told anyone where they were going and they said no.  We laughed as they were our safety if we got lost, so now we are together and no one knows where we have gone.  (it is not dangerous or anything so not a worry at all, just thought it was funny).

Sundowner gathering on the beach

Calling card of previous owners of Jazzebelle

We dinghy back to the mother ship and see Slow Waltz and another 23 new boats have anchored in the bay. 30 boats in total, and we were alone yesterday for an hour.  There is an organized happy hour on the beach that we attend and say hello to our fellow yachties.  Some of them we have met before, but not many.  When we get back to the boat there is a large fish hanging around under our boat.  It is about 3 feet long and just sitting there.  We cannot fish here as it is a protected area.

Slow waltz hosts us for dinner which is fabulous of course.  During our visit Gwen tells us they spotted a "Jazzebelle" calling card at the laundromat.  Although this is our first trip to the Bahamas our boat has been here before.  Glenn and Solange are the wonderful people we have bought the boat from and they would have posted this card on the wall about 13 years ago, so we had quite a hoot over Gwen and Guiomme finding it.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 245, Saturday, February 22 - a great sail but a bad fishing day

Day 245, Saturday, February 22

Today we move from Calabash bay, Long island to Conception Island.  It is a fabulous sail.  Our heading is about 50 degrees and we are able to sail a straight line to get there.  We have a reef in the main as the winds are gusting up to 20 knots and it is a close haul (wind coming across the port bow with sail pulled in tight) sail most of the time.  This point of sail causes the boat to heel/lean quite a bit so we spill some of the wind from the main so it is a more comfortable ride.  We keep a good speed the whole way.  About midway through the sail the fishing rod starts to scream and we are thrilled to have a fish on the line.  Unfortunately we spend too much time getting to the rod and the line runs to the end and the knot comes undone and no more fish, lure, or line!  We feel like idiots.  A real rookie mistake.  Darn! Oh well, back to sailing.

When we arrive we are the only boat in the anchorage/bay.  The anchorage is gorgeous, clear blue water with a white sand beach in the background.  Makes us wonder if perhaps it was not an appropriate time to be anchored here i.e. because of weather and safety.  We were no longer anchored for an hour when we did see another sail on the horizon so we had about an hour and a half to have the anchorage all to ourselves.  What to do. ...

Julie talking to our 1st neighbour

By the time the new neighbour is anchored, there are another 5 boats on the horizon.  We end up being 8 boats anchored overnight.  We all keep to ourselves and we don’t know any of the other boats.  The anchorage is beautiful.  We head over for a hike across to the north side of the island.  Winds are typically from the east so we mostly hide on the west coasts for anchorages.  The north east sides are usually quite wild as the waves have been crashing the coastline for ages. 

Julie signing the hanging book

On the way we find a plastic bag hanging from a tree with a booklet in it.  We head over to read it, Dawson getting a few sand spurs, picky burrs, in his feet on the way, it was almost like a trap, with you being bare foot and focused on the bag and then to spread some sand spurs below the bag.  Inside there is a brief story about a similar book in the Netherlands that was left 72 years ago for all those who find it to sign it and leave a note behind.  The persons who started this book had been to Conception island in 1972 and had just returned this February.  It had only been signed by about 10 boaters so we added our boat and a comment to the pages.  It will be interesting to come back in 10 years and see if it is still here.

After our hike we head back to the boat for sundowners.  There are clouds on the horizon so no chance of seeing the green flash.  The green flash appears just as the sun departs the horizon if there are no clouds or land.  As we are sitting in the cockpit there is a splash beside the boat.  We lean over to investigate and there are thousands of 3 inch fish swimming madly about and jumping out of the water.  We figure something is chasing them and for the next hour we are entertained by about 20, 8 inch fish chasing about 5000 of these minnow sized fish around the boat.  It was cool to watch and hear.  

There is no cell towers or internet on this island.  It is literally an uninhabited island, so we use our satellite phone to call family.  We finally reach Dan (Julie’s brother) to wish him a happy birthday and get updated on Olympics, life and Ross’s (our son) provincial races.  Good to hear Ross has gotten gold in the 1500m at OUA’s.  Next is the Canadian University competition in Edmonton in 2 weeks.  Way to go Ross!  Wish we were there! (Well except for the snow....)

We cook a traditional Bahamian meal of Mahi Mahi (that we caught a couple weeks ago).  This method consists of putting everything in a tinfoil bowl so we put chunks of potato, yam, onion, garlic and the fish and then added a garbanzo bean broth we had kept, add some salt, pepper, oregano, and carefully put it on the BBQ.  It was delicious.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 244, Friday, February 21st

Day 244, Friday, February 21^st

We have a sad start to the day to hear that Cassie has passed away.  Sad news makes it hard to be far away.  We did not realize our good-bye to her last August would be the last time we would get to give her a hug.  We are very fortunate that Alicia and Alex were able to welcome Cassie into their home for our year away and took such good care of her especially when she was sick.  We try to reach both boys on the satellite phone but no luck. 

We head to shore and Dawson goes for his run and Julie goes for a speed walk.  It is very hot out already so our speeds are low.  The resort here is beautiful, probably also a time share if anyone is interested.  Santa Maria Resort is the name of it.

It is 11:30 by the time we get back to the boat so we only have an hour until we have arranged to go snorkelling with the neighbours.  It is never a problem to fill the hour as getting everything together for expeditions and putting stuff away is an ongoing battle.

Dawson in Kevin's long sleeve wet suit to stay warmer

We head out in 2 dinghies as a safety measure as it is very windy and the reef has some waves on it.  It is about ½ a mile away and both dinghies get anchored okay in about 20 feet of water.  The reef is quite large and mainly about 10 feet deep with a shelf on its outer perimeter that is most likely housing some lobsters.  Dawson heads off with his spear and Rick goes in another direction, Nancy is staying with the boat and Julie just explores near the dinghy.  Julie only lasts about 10 minutes as she is nervous snorkelling by herself.  Dawson and Rick are in the water for about an hour getting exercise but not spearing much.  Rick does sight a slipper lobster which he says is large, but does not manage to spear.  This is a different breed of lobster than we have been seeing.  Normally it is spiny lobster we have been eating.  We are back on the boat by 3:30 and relax awaiting our guests for sundowners.

Nancy and Rick from Angel Eyes

The sunset is gorgeous tonight although no green flash.  We have been hoping to see the green flash here as there is no land on the horizon with the sunset in this bay, however there have been clouds adn we have been told the green flash does not happen if there are clouds.

Rick regales us with many stories.  Rick and Nancy from St. Catherines have built their Reliant 44 over 11 years and it is a beauty.

Dinner is cancelled due to too many snacks at sundowner time so the rest of the evening we blog, try to watch Ross’s provincial race which is livestreamed and read.  We do manage to watch the medal ceremony and glad to see Ross receive the gold in the 4X800 which is a different race for him than normal.  It would be a fun race.  Normally he runs the 1500 and 3000m indoor.  1500m is being run tomorrow but the 3000m he took a pass on as his team had sufficient runners in that event.  He will run it at the all Canadians we assume.

Overall it has been a wistful day as our memories of Cassie have been with us constantly.  Life is truly a gift.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson

Day 243, Thursday, February 20th

Day 243, Thursday, February 20th

We awake to another beautiful day.  Today we have declared a relax day, i.e. we will not be moving.  Around 9 Dawson heads out for a run and Julie stays onboard to clean the boat and do her French lesson.

Dawson’s run takes him out the main road, the Queen’s Highway, and then along the road for about 2 kms.  En route he passes Pratt’s Convenience Store which may have some milk for us.  He is back to the boat for 10 and finds the boat looking nice and tidied.

Dinghy ride up the creek

We decide to head into the convenience store to try our luck, but instead of walking we take the salt water creek up to the Queen’s Highway leaving us with only a 1 km hike.  The trip up the creek we figure will be interesting.  Our thoughts are right and we enjoy the ride, spotting a number of Eagle Rays and a large barracuda.   We park the dinghy at a small dock and head in for the 1 km walk.  The store is there but shelves are quite bare.  The owner is planning on doing a new order at the end of the month, there is no fresh milk but we do buy a jar of mixed nuts.

Some shallow spots in the creek

We head back to the dinghy and then to the boat.  The plan for the afternoon is just relax, do some reading and small jobs around the boat.   As the sun is getting ready to set we try to hail the only other sailboat in harbour, Angel Eyes, to see if they want to come over for a visit, but they are not monitoring their radio.  So we enjoy our sundowers by ourselves.

Coffee after dinner, a game of Kings Cribbage and off to bed we go.

A very relaxing day.

Cheers

Dawson and Julie

Day 242 Wednesday February 19th another beautiful sail

Day 242 Wednesday February 19^th another beautiful sail

We had decided that it was time for a move yesterday evening so today the plan is to do just that.   Dawson gets up for the 6:30 am Chris Parker show.  Anyone planning to sail down here must get an SSB receiver as a minimum, not only do you get a good weather forecast listening to Chris but you also learn and get an entertaining 1 hour show, with Chris as the host and a cast of bunch of cruisers calling in looking for weather routing.  It is definitely worth getting up for.  (Well Julie does not get up for it)

Skinny water sailing

We are underway by 9:30 with a plan to head up to Calabash Bay at the top of Long Island for the night.  Just prior to us leaving Windward is up and underway heading back to George Town.  They call to say goodbye and to report that their daughter Michele has received a job offer from one of the plant in Sarnia.

The sail is a beautiful one in about 20 knots of winds out of the east.  For the 1^st leg we are on a beam reach with a single reef in the main and the full 110 genoa out.  When we have to harden up we reef the genny as well.  Jazzebelle is having a good time and we are galloping along at over 6 knots.  Somewhere along the sail we re-cross the Tropic of Cancer (back to the North side), not as exciting as crossing the equator but it is something. The water is fairly skinny (shallow) so we are riding the magenta line of the Explorer charts.  For all people coming to the Bahamas the Explorer Charts are a must.  If you go with a Garmin GPS they have the benefits of Garmin’s purchase and use of the explorer charts.  We have found the explorer charts to be very accurate; the Navionics charts on the other hand are way off to the point of being a navigation hazard themselves.  Do not use Navionics in the Bahamas!  Note that Raymarine does not use explorer charts and that is a problem.

 

Panorama forward 

Panorama to the aft

Julie on Calabash Beach

We arrive at Calabash Bay just after 1 pm.  As we drop the sails and pull in we see two sailboats leaving the anchorage, which we take as not a good sign.  We drop the hook in the south of the bay but can definitely feel a swell within the bay from the waves in the Atlantic.  The guide book does warn of this but we find it hard to believe that an eastern swell would wrap around the island like that but it does.  After about 30 minutes we up anchor to see what it is like on the north end of the bay.  It proves to be better in the north, we are still in the wind (you are always anchored in wind in the Bahamas) but the swell is less, and we are also closer to the resort.

After lunch and we are sure Jazzebelle is secure we head into the resort for a walk on the beach.  First we have to launch the dinghy and motor (the new one).  This is normally done easily, but today we have a disaster as when the motor is being lowered from the hoist the attachment breaks.  Luckily we have a second line on the motor, however it happens as Dawson is guiding it so he does have one hand on the harness and although the motor does go in the water he hoists it out within seconds.  Julie grabs the safety line and assists with the weight until we can get the harness back on and it fitted properly.

Monkey face carved into outcrop along Calabash Beach

  Once back on Dawson removes the lid to have a look.  We consult the owner’s manual and it says for full submersion we are to take it immediately to the Yamaha dealer as it starts to corrode immediately.  Well we know that is not going to happen as there is no dealership around here.  Fortunately there seems to be no water inside.  Most likely Dawson got it out of the water so quickly that there was no time for water to get inside.  We are hoping that is the case.  The motor starts up and runs fine so time will tell.  It was not until afterwards that we were so thankful it happened when it did.  (outside of happening to the old engine vs. the 2 week old engine)  We realize that the motor could have been over the dinghy and Dawson’s feet and had it fallen then, Dawson could have been injured and the engine could have gone straight through the dinghy.  Anyways we managed through this crisis and are heading out to try a Sky Juice at the bar.  Tracey from Jalu had told Julie she must try it if and when she makes it to Cape Santa Maria.  The resort is Canadian owned with the few guest we meet being Canadians.  We hear from one group that the Canadian hockey teams are doing well.  We head into the bar for a sundowner and we both have a Sky Juice.  A Sky Juice is Sweetened Milk, Coconut Water and Gin.  The 1^st one is served on ice and Julie asks if she can have hers out of a blender.  The bartender agrees but admits that this will be his first.  Julie gets his first attempt but it is too diluted, the bartender Dwayne, tries again and gets it right on the 2^nd try.  It is quite nice with crushed ice.

After happy hour we head back to the boat.  We have a nice curry dish for dinner,  a game of Kings Cribbage, a coffee and then off to bed.

Cheers

Dawson and Julie

Day 241 Tuesday. February 18, a car trip to the north of Long Island

Day 241 Tuesday, February 18^th 

Ocean Energy leaving Salt Pond

Early morning, French done, Chris Parker show listened to and in the dinghy at 7:30 a.m. to get to the rental car for 7:45 and head north on the island.  Dave and Sue are just 2 minutes ahead of us.  The car has rested fine over the night.  Ocean Energy is at the government dock as we tie up to the dinghy dock at Island Breeze.  We had last seen Ocean Energy at Staniel but know her travels as the captain calls in to Chris Parker every morning.  Ocean Energy is a tanker that travels around to all the outports in the Bahamas delivering fuel.

View of Thompson Bay as we head north, Jazzebelle is in the middle

We head north planning on getting to the furthest point and working our way back as we are to return the car by 1:00.  First stop is the Columbus monument at Santa Maria head.  This is where Columbus first landed in the Bahamas and one of his ships went aground, you must guess which one.  The road is bad for the last mile so we park the car and hike.

Start of the hike

Sail boat in the distance off of Cape Santa Maria

Panorama of Cape Santa Maria with Columbus Monument to the left 

Arrival at the monument, Sue, Julie and Dave

Columbus Monument in the distance

View North along Cape Santa Maria

  Sue is again our driver (thanks Sue), and finds a good spot for us to leave the car. 

End of the road - North Long Island

We all enjoy the hike and take lots of pictures.  The monument is at a height of land and we can see a lovely 360 degree vista.  It is windy and there are whitecaps and only 1 sailing vessel in sight.  After the monument we turn left and try to get to the farthest spot possible but the bridge is out so the road just ends.  Oh well, time to turn around.  We have to limit our stops as we have only 3 more car hours and about an hour drive to get back to Salt Pond.

We passed on breakfast before heading out and the granola bar snack is running thin so we decide to stop a Stella Maris resort for an early lunch.  On our drive down to the resort there is a cave sign so we pull over. 

Party Cave c/w bar and tables

The cave is limestone with a few bats, but the resort must host events in it as there is lighting and tables and benches made of rocks and cement along with a bar and barbeque.  Interesting.  To Dawson it is strange to enjoy an evening “underground” vs. overlooking the ocean. 

Another couple miles and we are at the resort.  What makes the stop at Stella Maris is that Dawson had just started a book by Jimmy Buffet, Where is Joe Merchant?, and the Introduction was written in Stella Maris on Julie's birthday in 1992. There is a bar and grill at the waterfront which is on the Atlantic side and although windy affords a beautiful view. 

Julie and Dave at Stella Maris Bar and Grill

After a yummy lunch we wander about and find an ocean pool the resort has carved out of the rock.  Looks very inviting.

Ocean Pool carved out of the limestone

Closer to the car park we find a viewing tower that comes complete with osprey and nest so of course we have to climb up.

Osprey wondering what we are looking at

It is now about 12:15 so time to get the car back to its owner.  The drive back is uneventful.  Sue puts the pedal to the metal slowing down as we pass through the communities. 

The afternoon is spent blogging and napping.  Julie attempts to buy some milk but no luck.  The mail boat comes in with supplies tomorrow which is too bad as we want to get an early start in the morning.  Oh well, we have UHT milk that will have to do.

We head back to the boat but stop at Windward to introduce ourselves to their daughter Michele who is visiting during university break.  She has just had 2 interviews in Sarnia for summer employment so our paths may cross in the spring.

A early night to bed although Julie stays up watching a bad movie on DVD.  Not even worth the dollar we spent to buy it.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson