Every day we wake up and look at our surroundings and know we are so lucky to be here in The Bahamas, in the Ragged Islands. Every day is a blessing.
We've had many days of brisk easterly winds. Most days we hike someplace on the island which involves dinghying to shore, walking on the trails up and down the hills from the sound side on the west to the ocean side on the east. The goats we disturb along the way baaaa to let us know they're not happy about having to give up their shady spots when we're too close. There are more trails here at Hog Cay than ever before. On the ocean side we look for sea glass and whatever else may have floated up on the beach.
Karen walking on the ocean side.
Trail markers come from the ocean side beaches.
Markers from the "Creepy Doll Trail"
Minnie Mouse has an almost matching pair of baby shoes from the beach.
Walking along the trails on Hog Cay is good exercise and entertaining.
I'm grating one of the coconuts from Hog Cay with the special coconut grater Jerry made years ago.
I come back from the "yacht club" hut on the beach with my basket making materials. There are many silver thatch palms and a number of basket makers here at Hog Cay.
One of the extremely rare items that can be found on the islands down here are vintage glass fish floats. I've found a couple of them over the years. One morning, on our walk to the beach, I was saying to Jerry that I wished I had one of the floats I'd found onboard now. I don't need a fish float nor do I have a house to display what I've found. I could have put a float in the Valentines Day Party auction. There are many cruisers who have never found one that would love to have a chance to buy one. Since I didn't have one onboard maybe I could find one though there are people here seriously searching each day. We got to the end of the trail at the ocean side, I walked off into the bushes and within minutes came out with a glass float!! I found a glass float to donate for the auction!
The glass float I found at Hog Cay.
According the the European Glass Floats book - Peser is a company in France that made glass floats.
I find it amazing that floats like these have survived thousands of miles in the ocean to be tossed up on the beaches here on Hog Cay. Much of the coastline here is harsh rock and it takes some serious wind and waves to toss them up as far up as where they are found.
We're used to seeing US Coast Guard helicopters sporadically surveying the islands. Maybe looking for refugees trying to sail from Haiti to the US? Maybe looking for drug runners? Maybe just recording our boat names and locations? It was unusual to see a Coast Guard plane. And it was flying low! I waved as it looked like it skimmed just above the tallest masts in the anchorage.
A US Coast Guard plane checks us out.
Flying low!
Our friends, Dustyn and Brandon with their dog Rita arrived aboard "Ada" at Double Breasted Cay just north of Hog Cay so we took a sail up to meet them. Here's the video of our arrival (we only sail - haven't started the engine in a month).
We ended up moving around a bit with Ada when a cold front came through. There's no one good anchorage for a cold front where the winds clock from the south to the west to the north. Persephone and Ada both sailed back to Hog Cay. We tried trolling while sailing on the ocean side from Raccoon Cay to Ragged Island with no luck. Here we are coming in at the cut between Hog Cay and Ragged Island.
The big event here at Hog Cay is the annual Valentines Day Party hosted by Maxine from Duncantown on Ragged Island She and others from Duncantown (population about 30) cooked up a feast of peas and rice, Mac & cheese, grouper, stewed goat, coleslaw and more to bring by boat a couple of miles to Hog Cay. It was the biggest gathering yet with almost 50 boats in the anchorage! Locals from Duncantown attended as well. Cruisers donated to pay for the food and donated items from their boats for an auction. All proceeds from the auction went to the school at Duncantown. (Many of you may remember that hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Duncantown. A new community center is almost finished which includes a new school and government offices.)
Here's Maxine serving up 2 kinds rice.
It was a huge gathering of dinghies for the Valentines Day Party.
The auction after lunch to benefit the school in Duncantown.
Valentines Day Party 2023 at Hog Cay
After the Valentines Day Party we sailed back north to Raccoon Cay with Ada. Our last chance to visit with them before they headed west to Staniel Cay to pick up company.
Persephone and Ada anchored at Raccoon Cay.
Dustyn, Brandon, Jerry and Rita at Raccoon Cay.
Dustyn, Brandon, Jerry and I went snorkeling at Raccoon Cay and brought home dinners. We helped add to Brandon and Dustyn's "strategic lobster reserve". They have company coming!
Brandon and Dustyn made pizzas for our last dinner together before they sailed off. Lobster pizza with lots of fancy toppings!
After our goodbyes we sailed back to Hog Cay. Sailing into the anchorage at Hog Cay always gets some attention....
Back at Hog Cay Jerry made a new sign for Persephone. The one we had made previously was gone. We found a rudder along the ocean side beach and dragged it home. With some paint and a lot of planning, Jerry came up with a new sign. All I had to do was paint in the lines.
Persephone sign at the Hog Cay "yacht club"
Jerry spears a 10 lb grouper on opening day of Nassau Grouper season.
Time flies down here....it will soon be time to start heading back to the states and my sister Susan has booked a flight to join us in the Abacos. That's a long way from Hog Cay in the Ragged Islands. We'll be heading back towards Georgetown in a week or so and then on up the Exumas to make our way north. You should be able to see where we are by clicking on the SPOT link in the upper right had corner of the screen. Zoom in and out and change the date range on the SPOT page to get a different view. If you have a chance, we love to hear from you!
That was a huge haul of lobster 👍, and well done to Jerry on that 10 Lb Grouper. 🥰🥰
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