1/24/18

We left Georgetown, Exumas sailing east with Scheherazade and Bluejacket right behind through squall after squall.  Not a lot of wind but tons of rain!  That has been the theme this winter so far – lots of rain!  By the time we arrived in Thompson Bay on Long Island the skies had cleared some. 

The next morning the whole gang headed to the beach and north up the road to electric pole 108 where we turned onto the trail to the beach.  A whole day spent walking and looking through the sea grass on the beach.  Treasures – sea beans.  Sea beans are seed pods that have traveled the ocean currents from as far away as Africa landing on the beach here.  With hours and hours of sanding the beans become highly polished.  No luck finding sea glass.  During our picnic lunch the rain started falling again.  By the time we made it back down the road to our dinghies we were all thoroughly soaked!

Our next destination would be south to the Jumentos or Ragged Islands where there are no supplies so off we went to Hillside Grocery here near Thompson Bay.  We realized after picking up a few things that every item was the same price – about $7.  A bag of potatoes…$7.  4 apples…..$7.  A bag of oranges….$7.

The first day traveling from Thompson Bay we sailed with light winds trolling the fishing lines along behind.  Jerry caught one bonito ; enough for dinner and lunch the next day.  An overnight stop at Flamingo Cay and then on the next day for our destination: Southside Bay at Ragged Island.  The farthest south we’ll be going. 

The only settlement here in the Jumentos is called Duncantown, population about 60 I think, which suffered a direct hit from the hurricanes this fall.  They had a school, government building, police station and a number of houses all with extensive damage.   Most residents were evacuated to Nassau where many are living until they can come up with money and supplies to rebuild and repair.  The little they had here at Duncantown was destroyed.  The electric poles have been replaced with new as the old were twisted and knocked down in the wind.  17 people stayed on the island and survived during the hurricane.  They have a deep faith in God. 

Our friend Maxine who has had a small store at Duncantown for years happened to be in town assessing the damage and stocking supplies for residents and boaters. Maxine came down to the anchorage and we brought over bags and boxes of tools, clothing and household supplies gathered from boaters back in Georgetown.  We hopped into the back of her pickup truck and took a tour of the length of Ragged Island, about 3 miles, witnessing the damage and repairs some have begun.  We asked how others could help out the Duncantown community.  For anyone interested you can donate to a Go Fund me account.

https://www.gofundme.com/raggedisland

The bank receiving these donations: Scotiabank, Bay Street East, Nassau, Bahamas.  Account number 50385/3334292

While at Southside we went on more all day beach hikes that included a picnic along the way.  It’s been windy and cloudy.  The solar panels haven’t had a chance to top up our batteries.

When the wind forecast called for clocking winds to south of east we hauled anchor and had a brisk sail to Hog Cay.  Southside has a lot of motion with waves coming around the end of the bay with southerly wind.  We were able to sail close hauled 4 or 5 miles up to Hog Cay going 8 knots at times in the 25 knots of wind!  All this sailing watching the depth meter at all times – don’t want to run aground going that fast. 

At Hog Cay the sun finally came out!  More beach walking and we even went snorkeling.  Ron, Jerry L, and Jerry S. filled every bucket.  No fish. Just lobsters.  We did see a lot of fish but none willing to come home with us.

There are other boats here at Hog Cay and even a pavilion on the beach that survived the hurricane.  It is right behind a rocky cliff so it had protection from the strongest NE winds.  The ocean side of Hog Cay facing east tells the story of the hurricanes.  I’m sure there were 50 ft. waves crashing onto the shore.  Lots of beach erosion and the sand blown inland.  Water and wind – 2 powerful forces.

We are preparing for high winds this weekend.  35 knots sustained with gust to 50 expected from the NE and E.   Unusually rainy and windy this winter in the Bahamas. We’ll be hunkered down reading books and playing cards!  

Bluejacket sailing to Thompson Bay, Long Island.

Scheherazade sailing to Thompson Bay in the rain.

Anchorage at Southside, Ragged Island

Duncantown government building.

Duncantown ruins of a home.

Duncantown, waiting for supplies to rebuild.

Many houses at Duncantown, such as this, are about 150 years old.

Goats on Little Ragged Island.

Erosion at the beach on Hog Cay.

Jerry and Ron play softball with a ball they found on the beach.

Sea beans, sea glass, shells, driftwood and glass fish float from the beach.  We found a friend for Bob too - a little Mickey Mouse.

Ron, Jerry and Jerry after snorkeling at Hog Cay.

This plane, which has been on Hog Cay for years, was hidden with trees last time we were here.

The hurricanes took the trees and now the plane is easy to see from the anchorage.

All that is left at the runway on Ragged Island.  The Welcome to Ragged Island is still here.  The building that was attached to the deck is gone.

1/8/18


A quick update – I arrived at the airport at West Palm Beach on New Year’s Eve day.  Within an hour of my landing we were on Persephone and on our way to the inlet at Lake Worth then out on the ocean by 3:30.  I called this passage from West Palm Beach to Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas my magic moonlit bus trip.  We had light winds, just enough to keep the sails full but not enough to shut off the motor and a bright full moon.  At midnight on New Year’s Eve I celebrated the event by waking up Jerry to take his watch.  He spent the first four hours of 2018 motor sailing with silvery moonlit waters across the gulfstream into Bahamian waters.

A cold front was approaching from the north which is why we skidaddled with full sails and motor to stay in front of it all the way to Georgetown where we cleared in 54 hours later.  Donna and Jerry on Bluejacket were near where we anchored to welcome us to the Bahamas.  Later, Ron and Deb from Scheherezade arrived.  I know it doesn’t sound like cold to you but the temperatures were in the 60s here in Georgetown.  Unusually cold, windy, with rain squalls for a couple of days before the sun came back out.  We listened to reports from the states of the frigid temperatures, snow and ice.  We left just in the nick of time!

It is beautiful here as always.  The water is crystal turquoise blue and the sand on the beach sparkling white.  We are able to check our anchor by just looking over the side.  Good visibility to 20 feet.  There are about 160 other cruising boats here in Elizabeth Harbor/Georgetown area which provides a frenzy of activities and people to meet.  On one side of the harbor we strolled the beach area around the Chat-N-Chill bar and saw boaters playing volleyball, weaving baskets, crocheting, playing games, kids on rope swings, lively conversations.  On the other side of the harbor we walked around town with Donna and Jerry and saw a new straw market building under construction for the locals to sell their wares.  Donna started asking questions to the man who looks like he is in charge and he was happy to talk and put his hand around her shoulders as they stood back and admired the project together. The next local we meet is officer Burroughs who is also happy to stop and chat asking questions about our stay and telling us stories from his time in the US.  The people here are wonderful.

We have no schedule of where we will be or when this winter in the Bahamas.  There is another cold front coming through the end of the week so we’ll probably be here in the Georgetown area until the weekend.  Then on to Long Island and points south, I think.  Even though I won’t be posting updates often I will push the SPOT so you’ll be able to see where we are.  Thanks to Jerry and Donna for sharing their Bahamian phone/internet with us!  Some day we will have one of those fancy phones to do the same!

Here’s a screen shot I took of our weather forecast (sailflow.com) showing the wind direction and strength from southern Florida through the Bahamas.  Our destination is at the bottom right hand corner right around the “Quicklook 062”.

Jerry calls for the fish to take a bite on the lure as the sun goes down on the Exuma Sound headed for Georgetown.

We take a beach walk with Jerry from Bluejacket after the rain passes through.

Jerry Luh finds treasure on the beach – a black stallion!

An update to the update.  It is 1/11 and the squalls are rain are on standby for the minute.  4 inches of rain in one of the storms we've had!  At least it's warm!