ISLAND HOPPING...BAHAMAS STYLE!

By the time Magic departed Warderwick Wells Diane and I were ready for a bit of civilization. We’d been “off the grid” since leaving Nassau two weeks prior and were ready for a “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and a cold Kalik (the Bahamian national beer…not bad!) served by someone other than ourselves. In short…we needed a bar! So, off to Staniel Cay!

            In the first calm wind day we’d seen since our crossing of the Bahama Banks 3 weeks earlier, we dropped our mooring and headed into Exuma Sound (the large body of water to the east of the Exuma Island chain), and turned south. Most cruising boats take the normally more protected “inside” route along the west side, but the Admiral Of All Things really wanted to fish and that was best done in deep water (well over 2000’) just a few miles east into Exuma Sound. As we cleared the boundaries of the Exuma Land and Sea Park “No Catch” zone, Diane got to fishin’. Diane mostly uses a “Cuban Reel” on the the boat which is nothing more than a plastic pulley-like disk with fishing line wound inside and then attached to the boat with a bungee cord. When a fish strikes, the bungee cord stretches out and you know you have a…”FISH ON!” I should stop here and tell you that despite having more fishing “stuff” than LL Bean, Diane is a true neophyte when it comes to catching fish, and I’m no better. She’d fished any number of times as we transited from Virginia to Miami and again as we moved between a few of the islands here with never a nibble. I must admit I’d gotten totally complacent with no expectation of her catching anything other than a few strands of seaweed. While frustrated with her fishing prowess, Diane was (and is, trust me!) a tenacious woman and wasn’t giving up. Well, literally seconds after letting her lines out it was FISH ON! A beautiful, fairly small Bluefin Tuna had taken one of her lures and dreams of tuna steaks that night entered our heads. We got the fish to the side of the boat fairly easily but from there unfortunately, it was all downhill.  The next few minutes were right from a Keystone Cops film. We quickly realized we didn’t have a net or gaff nearby to board the fish (remember, I never expected it to get this far!) so I dove into one of our lockers to find a net. We’d been told that pouring cheap booze into the gills of a fish would quickly and humanly put it out of it’s misery so while I held the tuna in the net Diane grabbed a bottle of cheap gin. Because it was thrashing around so much in the net, almost all the gin missed its mark and went into the Atlantic. We then had the bright idea to put the fish into a bucket and deal with the rest when we’d calmed down. I finally got the fish into this bucket and turned to put the net down. At the same time Diane reached for something in the cockpit. This poor fish was pretty pissed off and chose that moment to thrash around, tipping the bucket on it’s side and slithering off the boat back into the water. It was one of those slow-motion moments in life as we watched our first fish escape our grasp as I lunged over to try to stop it’s progress toward the side of the boat. Oh yea, no photographic evidence of either the fish or our inept attempt to keep it onboard was taken. You’ll just have to trust me! BTW, while Diane still hasn’t caught anything, she’s still trying every chance she gets!

CREWS OF MAGIC, VERITAS, TEHANI AND SANITY II IN "CIVILIZATION!"

 

            After a couple hours sailing south in the Sound, we came to “Big Rock Cut” (you have to love the names they give to islands, cays and cuts here!) and carefully wound our way to an anchorage just off Staniel Cay. Civilization at last! No sooner had we set our anchor, the dingy was in the water and the crews of Veritas and Magic announced liberty call for all hands! I have to tell you that civilization to us here isn’t the same as home! Staniel Cay, while a very nice island, is still pretty small with limited opportunities for eating, drinking and shopping. Other than the marina restaurant, the place is so small that almost all the stores are identified by color, not name! There is the “yellow” store which sells just fresh baked breads, the “pink” store (not sure what they sold since they were closed), the “red” and “blue” stores sold groceries, but only had fresh veggies for a few hours a week after the mail boat arrived from Nassau! Word gets out quickly when produce is available and if you aren’t there early, the pickings can be a bit sparse. Having said that, this was civilization in our world and the four of us cozied up to the bar for a couple cold Kaliks and some conch fritters. Even Jennings from Veritas, a true beer aficionado has come to like this fairly light lager. He says it makes his dwindling stock of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale’s last longer and taste even better!

            We’d anchored close to town for a couple reasons, not the least of which was an issue I was having with our outboard (I think I’ve said before we’ve come to call the engine “Christine” after the movie). The prop was basically stripped and I couldn’t do more than a couple knots, necessitating close-in anchoring until a replacement reached us by friends sailing over from Miami. The other reason was our close proximity to “Thunderball Grotto,” one of the filming locations of the movie. We were able to dingy over to this very small island, tie to a dingy mooring, and snorkel into what is essentially one of the world’s largest aquariums. As soon as our masked faces hit the water, beautiful fish of all kinds surrounded us…mostly hoping for a morsel of food! We were able to swim into this huge domed cavern inside the island (essentially a hollowed out rock) with large holes in the top where sunlight filters in. Inside even more fish greeted us. For those of you who have watched the movie, this is the place that James Bond is lifted out by helicopter after dispatching Emilo Largo, the #2 evil genius in Spectre empire. We don’t own a waterproof camera and now wish we did even though I don’t think amateur photos could do the peaceful beauty of the place justice.

SHORESIDE VIEW OF BLACKPOINT ANCHORAGE. EASILY 50 BOATS COULD ANCHOR HERE!

            After our “fix” in Staniel Cay, our next priority after well over two weeks was…laundry! One of the only laundromats in the Exumas is right next door at the Blackpoint Settlement on Great Guana Cay, just a hour’s sail away…so off we went! With three (count ‘em, THREE!) restaurants, free internet, that really nice laundromat and even free water, Blackpoint is at the top of all cruisers favorite destinations. The people are also some of the nicest around and it is obvious they truly appreciate our being there. The anchorage here is well known as one of the best around from the prevailing easterly winds and there are often 30 or more sailboats anchored in the bay. 

JAM SESSION AT BLACKPOINT

One afternoon we participated (Diane participated, I attended!) a guitar jam session ashore with some pretty accomplished musicians. Great fun. Large part of this experience has been meeting people and learning from their experiences.

LORRANE HOSTS A LOBSTER DINNER AT HER CAFE.

There are just two drawbacks to this anchorage, both of which we experienced. The first is that Blackpoint is essentially a suburb of Staniel Cay and many of the people who work on Staniel actually live at Blackpoint and commute every day by small boat. Right at 0600 EVERY MORNING (!) large wakes from a number of these boats passing through the anchorage act as reliable alarm clocks. The other drawback is if the wind clocks around to the SW-NW (during the rare frontal passage), the anchorage can get pretty exciting! During our 5-day stay, just such a front passed thru and we experienced 2-3’ seas in the anchorage for a good part of the afternoon. Going ashore most of that day was out of the question so we just hunkered down with good books and rode it out. Of course, that was the day other good friends of ours from home waters  (Pat/Laura on Tehani) called on the radio, and anticipating settled weather had changed their plans, were coming to join us and would arrive mid-day. Heard from our bouncing boats in reply; “Sure guys, come on down, it’s a bit bumpy right now but should smooth out by the time you get here!” NOT! We didn’t get together until very late in the day onboard Veritas, and even then got drenched during the short run between boats!

CREW OF VERITAS AVOID HUNGRY "PIGGY BEACH" RESIDENTS.

            At the end of our stay we got word that more good friends of ours from home waters had finally gotten away from Miami and were in Nassau preparing to head for the Exumas. While we were excited about seeing Dave and Mary on Sanity II, I must admit that excitement was enhanced with the knowledge their boat held several important repair parts for two critical items; our outboard motor and one of our toilets! With that in mind, all three of us headed back north and sailed to Big Majors Island, home of the almost famous “Piggy Beach.” On the west side of the island is a sandy beach, which is home to about a half dozen huge pigs, which basically live off the scraps of food left by cruising boats. Of course, that means whenever they hear a dingy approach the beach they run out in eager anticipation of some morsel of food. They have absolutely no fear of these boats and have been known to actually climb in if they sense food onboard. With sharp hoofs this is definitely a bad thing for those of us with inflatable dingys! Still, they are kind of cute and provide lots of entertainment for boats anchored nearby.

CHRISTMAS IN JANUARY AS SANITY II BRINGS ME A NEW OUTBOARD PROP!

            Late the next day, Sanity II arrived and Diane hosted a pasta dinner party for 8 onboard Magic, partly to greet our latest arrival. As Dave and Mary approached our boat I was as excited as a kid at Christmas in anticipation of a new prop for our outboard and they didn’t disappoint…Dave even had a Santa hat on and our “gifts” were inside a huge red Christmas bag! Down here where it is mostly “fix or make do,” having new parts really made our day!

            We spent one more full day anchored and took advantage of our new prop to dingy the short distance to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club where we had lunch and a rousing pool-side game of “Farkle,” with the crews of Sanity II, Veritas, and Tehani. If you’ve never played, it is a hoot, best enjoyed with good friends and a good adult beverage!

            Next stop…Little Farmer’s Cay and the 5F (First Friday in February Festival at Farmer’s). Stay tuned!!