3/5/14

The lighthouse at Matthew Town, Great Inagua, Bahamas

The Morton Salt Plant in Man-O-War Bay, Great Inagua

No snow here - just piles of salt!

Jerry & Gerald sit at a picnic table at a fishing shack on Great Inagua

The remains of the church and Man-O-War Bay in the background

Working: Gluing & clamping Jerry's sandal that fell apart. 

Duncantown, Ragged Island, Bahamas

Conch drying on lines at Duncantown, Ragged Island

One of many empty conch shell piles at Ragged Island

Where cruisers gather on the beach at Double Breasted Cay.  Beach trash adorns the site.

Gerald burns our trash on the beach

My addition to the cruisers spot on the beach

Sunset at Double Breasted Cay

Curly tailed lizard shares our crackers

Just hanging out

Gerald's lobster at Ragged Island

A view of Little Ragged from my hike

2 more mahi from our passage to the Bahamas

Hog Cay cruisers shack & Dyad's birthday party

A shack full of cruisers

Jerry's Bluejacket fan and Persephone's ketchup bottle

3/5/14
Sorry - nothing to report about our passage from the Virgin Islands to the Bahamas.  That's what we sailors say about uneventful sailing.  That means no storms, nothing broke, the winds were good, the forecast was right.  No stories is a good thing.
Last I wrote we were ready to leave St. Thomas to sail to the Bahamas.  The weather window opened a day sooner than we had planned so on Sunday 2/16 we went to Honeymoon Beach to use the internet, reanchored in downtown Charlotte Amalie, bought food & supplies, went to the laundromat, cleared out of customs and sailed out of the harbor by 3 pm.  Helps to have 3 of us onboard to conquer the tasks.
Another stupendous downwind sail, St. Thomas to Great Inagua, Bahamas and a couple more mahi in the freezer.  When Gerald is sailing there's always a line or two in the water!  And after doing the 21 day passage 4 days was a piece of cake.  "We're there already?!"  Just in time too as the winds were picking up to 25 knots and gusting higher after our Matthew Town arrival. 
The Bahamas are beautiful - the turquoise water, the sandy beaches, the underwater life and the lighthouse at Matthew Town on Great Inagua is a welcome sight.  But the best thing about the Bahamas is the people.  Maybe is has to do with living in isolation on an island; they're happy to have visitors.  Maybe it has something to do with living a simple life; away from the rat race and technology that defines our American way.  We have had a customs officer come to the beach to greet us in the past.  This time we dinghied to shore and were on our way to the customs office when a pick-up truck slowed next to us.  We met Kevin, a fisherman, who informed us that the Customs and Immigration had moved to a new building.  He offered us a ride so we wouldn't have to walk the couple miles.  Kevin not only drove us to the office, he came in with us, chatted with his fellow Bahamians at the offices and waited a half hour for us as we filled out all of the forms to clear in.  Then he brought us back to the beach where we had left the dinghy.  How's that for hospitality!  The challenge of dragging the dinghy back down the beach, getting into it and through the surf before it crashed onto the beach and swamped us went without a hitch.  Back on the boat, the sail up again to go around the corner to anchor in protected Man-O-War Bay just past the Morton Salt plant with the tanker being filled at the dock.  Man-O-War Bay is peaceful.  Again as in years past we were the only boat anchored here for a few days.  Great snorkeling on the reefs around the bay and excellent places to walk around on shore.  We saw only one truck go by on the one-lane main road around the island!  Our next passage - one overnight to Ragged Island, part of the Bahamas Jumentos chain, just 60 miles north of the eastern point of Cuba.
At Ragged Island we hiked into town bought a soda from the one store and used the internet at the government office.  The lady there allows cruisers to use the connection and room in back for internet.  Fishing is the major industry here.  Outside homes they had lines strung with conch drying for export to Japan I believe and rolls of fencing material to make their fish traps. Jerry and Gerald went diving with spears borrowed from Rick aboard "C-Language" and came back with a lobster each before heading north a couple miles to Double-Breasted Cay.  More diving....more lobster.  More beaches...more beach combing and looking for sea glass.  We had a nice visit and dinners with Don and Ann on "Next Exit".  We have a new recipe for Conch Fritters which involves more conch, less flour, red peppers, corn and just skillet frying.  No deep frying necessary.  Excellent - thanks Ann. 
Our next stop, back south to Hog Cay where the annual birthday weenie roast for David aboard "Dyad" was scheduled.  Dyad, David and his wife Cathy were not present for the first time in years.  They were still in FL so the party went on without them in the bamboo shack made of beach finds at Hog Cay.  The east side of the island faces the Caribbean and everything floating ends up on the beach with the prevailing winds.  I found a fan blade and a ketchup bottle and added our names to the hundred other pieces of beach trash turned art with boat names drawn/painted on.  Think of it as graffiti...in one of the pictures I posted you'll see Jerry standing next to the Bluejacket fan blade with the Persephone ketchup bottle hanging from above.  We enjoyed talking with old friends and new in the group of 20 some sailors during the party.  Another late night - we didn't dinghy back to Daydream until like 8:30! 
While here at Hog Cay Gerald and I walked the 1/2 mile trail across the island from west to east to walk on the beaches.  Imagine our surprise when we came to the beach at low tide and there sitting in the 4 inches of water left in one cove there were 4 big conch.  We found some beach trash (old milk crates) to fashion a cage in the water for the conch, continued our sea glass gathering beach walk, and came back to pick up our "catch" for the 1/2 mile walk back.  Conch fritters for dinner!
With perfect winds for heading north Buena Vista was the next stop then the next day to Water Cay with the fishing lines out on the east side of the Jumentos chain.  Our surprise heading north was to hear our friend Patti's voice on the VHF.  She was heading to Water Cay as well and we had dinner together aboard Daydream.  Lobster again!  (Patti had grilled lobster the night before, lobster quiche for lunch, and then pasta with lobster for dinner with us.)  We'll have a chance for more conversations and such when we're both in Georgetown.  Wednesday was another perfect day for sailing with the wind behind us all the way to Georgetown.  We're here in thriving metropolis at Eddy's Edgewater using the internet so I'll finish here.
Hope all is well with you!