Life Aboard Persephone: April 2016

Our last stop in civilization before heading back to the states: Green Turtle Cay. Donna and Jerry had rented a golf cart by the time we arrived and anchored. Dodging the rain we took a trip into the settlement New Plymouth and sampled the famous goombay smash from the Blue Bee Bar.

The road from White Sound into town at Green Turtle

Waterfront drive in the town at Green Turtle

Inside view of the Blue Bee Bar adorned with decorations cruisers left: t-shirts, pennants, and boat cards glued to the wall

Goombay smash - tasty. One is enough!

Going down the hill into the town of New Plymouth on Green Turtle Cay.

We left White Sound at Green Turtle Cay just at sunrise to take advantage of the high tide, anchored at Manjack Cay for a couple of hours to clean the bottom of the boat, and then headed off to Great Sail Cay. This was our last stop in the Bahamas before heading back to the US.
There were 30 boats anchored at Great Sail ready for the weather window opportunity to sail to the states. The sail was up and we were off Tuesday morning before 7 am. We had some wind and big ocean swells from a system that blew off the coast earlier for our passage arriving in Beaufort, NC Friday morning. 3 days from Great Sail to Beaufort, NC! We'll be casually working our way back north - Beaufort - Oriental - ....Norfolk....NY.

Easter weekend anywhere in the Bahamas is loud we’ve discovered! Families that have moved to larger islands for school or work come back to their family islands to celebrate with family and friends. Our last night anchored at Black Point was loud! The whole weekend was filled with activities for the locals with a band at Regatta Park on Saturday night which played until very late. Sound travels well over water. We were up early Easter morning to sail with Bluejacket to Rock Sound on Eleuthera about 60 miles away. Another nice 12-17 knot sailing day with the winds on the beam. The first mahi we catch is a bull as big as me. The second is small and we’re able to pull it aboard easily. Good thing. By mid-day Jerry realizes he has the beginnings of a cold. Donna and Jerry come over for a mahi dinner when we anchor at Rock Sound. And rock sound is what we heard all night! Much louder than the music at Black Point. They played until 2 am and started again around 4 am. The Bahamians know how to celebrate! While at Rock Sound I went snorkeling with Jerry Luh. Coral crabs abound in the 3 rocks we snorkeled around. He came back to the boat with crabs and a lobster in his bucket. I took out conch from the freezer and make a big pot of soup. I know you’re supposed to have chicken soup for a cold. I figure conch soup will do. While at Rock Sound I’m able to get the companionway sanded and 4 coats of varnish on. We sail up to Governor’s Harbor on my birthday, the 1^st. Jerry is still sick but he makes a chocolate birthday cake (Mom’s recipe – a favorite) and Donna and Jerry make a steak dinner. Yum! I walk around Governor’s Harbor with Donna and Jerry. There’s a beautiful pink 2 story building on the point that is the library. Not many settlements in the Bahamas are lucky enough to have a library like this! I had planned on taking pictures the next day but we ended up leaving instead. Another cold front coming and Governor’s Harbor has no protection from the westerly winds. My birthday evening, after dinner was spent sitting on the bow of the boat looking at the stars and listening to the jazz and blues bands playing on shore.

The 50 mile sail the next day downwind was to Royal Island, passing through the top of Eleuthera on the way. We’ve zipped through Current Cut in the past doing 11 knots as the current was with us. This day we had about 1 knot against us. Royal Island is a great place to anchor with all around protection. I put the last coat of varnish on while Jerry rested.

Monday we motored a few miles to Spanish Wells settlement where Bluejacket was anchored. Spanish Wells is an industrious settlement, their harbor filled with fishing boats. Lobster season ended on 4/1. The houses are neat with flowers in their yards. We were able to find an abundance of fruits and vegetables at the grocery store there. I met friends of Jerry and Donna’s who live in the settlement for 8 months of the year – the other 4 back in the Massachusetts area where they were from. They have shelves and boxes of books all organized for swap. Cruisers or anyone can bring in their books and find some to take home. It is a great service for those of us who have read all the books on board as Jerry has. Jerry felt good enough to walk around town while I took pictures of the flowers and he coughed. We sailed back to Royal Island and hiked the trails the next day. The trails are paths created by a bulldozer about 10 years ago. Lots were marked and there were plans for a development. We see this all over the Bahamas. Reality took over, no one bought in, the developers probably lost a lot of money, and the remnants of their dream remain. One sign on a lot remains – “Turtle Beach 0.51 acre”.

With a favorable forecast we were up at 4:30 out of Royal Island at 5 am to sail 55 miles north to Little Harbor in the Abacos. The wind was the direction forecast but instead of decreasing stayed about the same all day around 15 knots gusting up to 20 at times. The southeast 8 foot sea swell and the wind chop made going into the cut at Little Harbor against the ebb tide interesting. No autopilot for Persephone for those conditions. Jerry took the wheel and kept sight on a house on shore in the harbor to steer through the entrance with reefs on both sides, the swells pushing us around the current pushing us out. The anchorage at Lynyard Cay is calm. Nice to be anchored along a stretch of white sand beach early in the afternoon. Reading, Scrabble, showers, and spaghetti for dinner. Donna and Jerry on Bluejacket and a number of other boats taking advantage of the window come in to anchor.

The Abacos are the northernmost islands of the Bahamas. We anchored in Little Harbor for a night, beachcombing the stretch of sand near Pete’s Pub and then made a 20 mile trek to Guana Cay where we met up with Ron and Deb of Scheherezade . Ron and Deb are from Baldwinsville, NY; Jerry’s hometown. Jerry wanted to have a treat and go out to eat at Nippers on Guana Cay. They have an all-you-can-eat pig roast that left Ron and Jerry aching after two heaping plates of bbq pork, peas and rice, watermelon, and more. The next day we had a beautiful sail with 15 knots of wind on the beam to Man-O-War Cay. The island seemed to be in full bloom as we walked the narrow golf-cart friendly streets. As always, the industrious locals were busy building boats at Albury’s Boat Shop, sewing bags at Albury’s Sail Shop, working on houses, cleaning the streets. Everyone came over to Persephone in the evening to have Jerry’s oven-baked mahi for dinner, Donna’s Key Lime pie for dessert, and a rowdy game of cards after. The stars were bright for everyone’s dinghy ride back to their boats late.

The next day on to Elbow Cay where we anchored just off Fry’s Landing in just enough water. (3 inches under the keel at low tide) Blue Jacket and Persephone crew went ashore to Dan and Sharon’s home for the evening. Dan and Sharon are from Oriental, NC. Dan had made a fresh conch salad and Sharon whipped up a variety of sides which included warm-from-the-oven focaccia bread and a bean dip. A pleasant evening of conversation and a coconut de-husking, cracking, and shredding session followed. We had picked up the coconut in Governor’s Harbor in Eleuthera and were hoping for an opportunity to open it. Dan has a coconut opening station – an old pick ax mounted to be able to get into and peel off the husk. Much harder than it sounds I suppose. Everyone had a sip of the coconut water and then we used the coconut shredder Jerry S. had made a couple years ago from a scrap piece of stainless to shred the coconut. I just took the loaf of coconut bread from the oven!

Next stop will be Marsh Harbor to do laundry and buy some fresh fruits and veggies. Then north through the Abacos to wait for the right weather to hop to the east coast.