4/29/18

We arrived at Beaufort, NC Saturday morning at 6:30 am after a 3 day passage.  Our phone works now!  I can call my mother!  And when Mom says, “now you can update your blog” that means I have to get to work!  There is even the luxury of a coffee shop here in Beaufort to use the wifi.  No excuses.

Last I wrote we were in the Abacos at Guana Cay.  For my birthday Jerry gave  me a yard of the famous “Androsia” hand crafted batik canvas.

Androsia fabric is made in the Bahamas on the island of Andros.  I got out my sewing machine and made a tote bag.

Here’s my purple Androsia sea turtle bag.

Me, Deb and Cindy from “Oopsea” at Nippers on Guana Cay.

From there we sailed here and there, back and forth, to and fro around the Sea of Abaco with Scheherazade as Ron and Deb had a friend, Anna, fly in from Syracuse.  We helped entertain for the week!  I had a chance to make my lobster pizza with carmelized onions again.  At Hopetown on Elbow Cay we climbed the 101 steps to the top of the lighthouse again.  The view is worth the climb!

The view from Elbow Cay Lighthouse looking south.

The view from the lighthouse looking east.

I also noticed something I hadn’t seen the first time from the top.  An Albin 25 that is at the marina below the lighthouse.  It’s just like my Albin 25 that is back home.

Nemo at Hopetown.  Abandoned?  Forgotten?

Nemo – Albin 25

Just like mine!  Sure hope someone comes back to take care of this boat.

When we were anchored at Elbow Cay we also had a chance to visit our friend Nick again and also Dan and Sharon from Oriental, NC.  We went to trivia night with Dan and Sharon.  It was a good thing we had Sharon on our team!  We didn’t win but we did very well.

My view of the anchorage at Manjack Cay

After saying goodbye to Anna we stopped sailing in circles around the Sea of Abaco and headed north to Green Turtle Cay and Manjack Cay.  Beautiful snorkeling in calm conditions on the ocean side of Manjack!  Coral structures that rose 20 feet up from the bottom and surrounded by all manner of fish and sea creatures.  Jerry invited a hog fish back to Persephone for lunch.  There were more places to snorkel in the bay where we were anchored.  Two wrecks, old barges it seems, provide the perfect places for many fish and other creatures to live.  We snorkeled along in the schools of fish feeling like we belonged.  Lots of fish of all colors and sizes.

Manjack Cay also has an area with creeks through the mangroves.  At high tide we took the dinghy and went up the creeks.  Sea turtles galore.  Another day I took my kayak through the mangroves near low tide. There were many deep water holes where the turtle and small nurse shark wait for the tide to come back up.  Manjack has a beautiful stretch of beach on the ocean side.  Bill and Leslie, who have lived on Manjack for many years, maintain trails on the island to hike.  We walked the beach with Ron and Deb from Scheherazade and Joe and Mary Beth from Sapphire.  Joe and Mary Beth are from Lake Ontario.

Manjack beach walk.

From Manjack we sailed to Double Breasted timing our entry at high tide – the only time we could pass around some coral, over some shallow sand bars, and around a sand spit to a deep pocket to anchor with 2 other boats.  I went for a short swim here at Double Breasted.  It was like being on a treadmill with the strong current.   My last chance to swim the Bahamas for this season.

Anchored at Double Breasted, the sand spit behind dries out at low tide, our dinghy is on the foredeck secured for passage.

Another view at Double Breasted looking out towards the sand spit we have to go around to leave.  Follow the dark water for the deeper water.

The next day we timed our exit from Double Breasted to stage for our departure from the Bahamas at Grand Cay.  Scheherazade and Sapphire, also headed to NC, were at Great Sale Cay 15 miles south of us.  A cold front blew through overnight providing west winds for the beginning of our sail north from Grand Cay to Beaufort, NC.  We had a variety of conditions on our 3 days of sailing.   

Here's a youtube link for a video Jerry took at sea.  https://youtu.be/Hx5xkJ6-Xbg

The wind was always in a favorable direction – which means it did not have any northerly component.   At times when the wind dropped below 10 knots we started the motor and motor sailed.   We had an additional 3 or 4 knots of speed thanks to the gulf stream flow.  We stayed in the center of the gulf stream and kept our speed at 9 knots give or take.  A couple of times we hit 12 or 13 knots as we surfed down a wave.  Friday night black clouds and lightning came off the coast of Georgia/ South Carolina bringing heavy rain for a bit.  We were able to call Scheherazade and Sapphire on the vhf to discuss weather, sea conditions, sailing, or whatever all the way to Beaufort.

And here we are, back in the states, anchored out in Beaufort, acclimatizing ourselves to the temperature, traffic, people, news, the pace of life.  It’s a good place to transition – we’re anchored out here somewhat isolated until we choose to come to shore.  After 5 months the old flip phone is a novelty to use once again.  And the news….we didn’t miss not having the news as we went about life onboard in the Bahamas!

Send a note when you can and tell us what’s going on in your world.  We would love to hear your news!

Bonus video - My first time online to be able to publish another of Jerry's movies.  Here's our sail in the Jumentos to Southside.   https://youtu.be/mXE4N0K5sXc

4/6/18

The Exuma chain in the Bahamas, where we spent a couple of weeks, is very popular.  Only 90 miles from the big city of Nassau with an airport, cruise ship terminal, and resorts galore.  Large groups of tourists are ferried by high-speed boats to see the sights of the Exumas - Norman’s Cay with a wrecked plane to snorkel, pink iguanas at Allen’s Cay, the “Thunderball” grotto to snorkel where a James Bond movie was filmed near Staniel Cay,  the infamous pigs at Big Majors Spot, the Exuma Land and Sea  Park, and miles of beaches.  More traffic zipped by than we’ve seen in the past 18 years of visiting the area.  After dark the traffic stops the stars come out and we enjoy the peace at anchor in the beautiful Exumas.

From Rudder Cay to Black Point, Pipe Creek to Norman’s Cay we slowly headed north.  All with excellent places to snorkel for fun and dinner, walk on the beach looking for seaglass and shells, kayak, and live at anchor.

A view of the anchorage at Little Bay, Black Point at low tide.

Ron, Deb, Karen and Jerry sitting on the beach at low tide, Little Bay, Black Point.

Persephone and Scheherazade at anchor in Pipe Creek taken from Thomas Cay.

We walk a beach on the Exuma Sound side of Thomas Cay.

Lobsters and hog fish from the Exuma Sound while we were anchored at Pipe Creek.

A message in a bottle we found along the trail on Thomas Cay.  I wrote an email to the kids who placed the message in the bottle but haven’t heard back.

 

Another picture of Persephone and Scheherazade at anchor in Pipe Creek.

Ron, Deb and Karen return from snorkeling.

What to do with all that lobster?  Make pizza.  Carmelized onions,  tomato slices, lobster, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Ron saw a lizard acting funny on the trail one day.  He didn’t notice the snake that was ready to strike the lizard until the snake was attached to his foot instead.  He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It looks bad in the picture but he had no snake bite related problems – other than a new nickname, Snake Bite Ron.

One of the many pink iguana on Allen’s Cay.

A “Disney” boat at Allen’s Cay with tourists who came to see the pink iguana.  We called all the tourist boats “Disney boats”.

Norman’s Cay in the northern Exuma chain has always been a favorite stop.  This year we saw a massive construction project.  Someone is building a marina for yachts.  The runway was extended to accommodate larger planes.  We could come ashore to walk as long as we stayed out of the way of the construction.  Normans Cay still has the ruins of a huge house that belonged to a drug lord from the late 70s or early 80s.  In the old days you could take your laundry ashore and draw water from the well at the house to put into buckets to do the wash.  Those ruins have been blocked by construction materials and equipment. 

The houseboat is still there on the hill.  Legend has it that the drug lord asked the owner of the houseboat to go away; anchor at some other cay.  The houseboat owner chose not to.  When he came back to his houseboat the boat was gone.  The drug lord had somehow airlifted the houseboat to the highest point on the island.

Walking up the hill at Normans Cay to the houseboat.

The houseboat at Normans Cay that was placed on the top of the hill during the early 80s. 

 

A panoramic view from the top of the houseboat.

The sea plane taking off from Normans Cay after the guests snorkeled the old plane wreck.  Not far from where we were anchored.

Karen kayaking with the look bucket (clear bottom bucket) at Normans Cay.  Looking for conch.  No conch.

Persephone anchored at Normans Cay.

Sunset from the little island at Normans Cay.  I used to call it Lone Palm Island but the palm, as you can see, fell down.

From the Exumas we headed north to Spanish Wells and Royal Island.  We met a wonderful family from Savannah, GA and enjoyed meeting Andras and Hanmari with their boys Eric, Matthew, and Brian.   And Grace the dog!  They were on a 3 week vacation from Savannah and brought supplies for an orphanage and some churches in the Bahamas along the way.  In Spanish Wells we husked coconuts together on a beach.  And when we arrived in Marsh Harbor, Abacos Jerry gave the boys lessons on cleaning conch.  They had found some while snorkeling, found someone to show them how to get the conch out of the shell and then froze the conch.  Now they are experts on the entire process.  With only  a few days left for them to get back to Georgia we had to say goodbye.  Hope the conch was tasty!

This is Grace.  She stopped by to visit from "Providence" with her family.

Currently we are in the Abacos enjoying the company of  old friends and new.  Ron and Deb on Scheherazade are here and introduced us to cruisers they’ve met.  A boat named “Cayuga” from Ithaca, NY came in to anchor near us at Guana Cay and we introduced ourselves.  We had a chance to visit with Nick from St. Thomas who happens to be in the Bahamas this winter on his beautiful ketch Marie Elena.  We will be in the Abaco area for a couple more weeks before heading back to the states.

Three young sailors enjoying the breeze off Guana Cay, Abacos.

One more picture from Pipe Creek that Deb from Scheherazade took.  We brought our fancy chairs to sit at low tide on the area that dries out for sunset happy hour.

The  next time you hear from us we will probably be back in the states.