It’s Monday and we are still enjoying our time here in Big Major Spot.  Yesterday Brenda and I had an easy day of walking on the beach and wading in shallow water looking for shells.  While it’s still windy at 20-25 most days,(did someone say that the Bahamas are windy in January?)we enjoyed doing our beach combing on a windward shore, out of the wind.  Given the great popularity of this anchorage(there are over 50 boats in here and room for another 25-50, I expect)the beaches are pretty well picked over.  In spite of that we still found some nice little shells.  We also came upon a great starfish that was compliant and agreed to pose for a photo as long as we returned him to the water after the shoot.  Yes, this color is true, he/she was a brilliant red.  Amazing.

We also visited with some of the local residents who were wading out into the water hoping for a treat.  These pigs are a local attraction and are always happy to visit with anyone offering handouts.  These guys are really big, weighing several hundred pounds at least, and certainly couldn’t be convincing stand-ins for the three little pigs that we all know and love.

The white one had a particularly cute face, actually the other two were down right ugly, perhaps even pigish, and oinked in a pathetic way when we didn’t come through with the requested offering.  I shudder at the thought of what might happen if one of these porkers tried to climb into the dink in their quest for handouts.  I felt badly that I didn’t come through yesterday so I’ll head back today with some veggies today.

When we returned from the beach to Pandora yesterday I spied a ray swimming slowly along the bottom under the boat.  I quickly donned my fins and mask and jumped in with my video camera in hand.  I was able to follow him for several hundred feet and got some great shots.  Unfortunately, the videos will have to wait till we have big bandwidth so I can load them up.  The videos are really fun.

Today we plan to visit Thunderball Cave for some snorkeling with some friends.  I can’t wait.

On Tuesday we plan to head south a short distance, about 5 miles, to Black Point Settlement, one of the larger settlements, a relative term, I am told, in the Exuma chain.  After that we hope to visit Little Farmer’s Cay, a bit further south, for the weekend festival that begins on Friday.  This is one of the best events of the winter season and features racing on Bahamas sloops, the local traditional sailing craft as well as special events ashore.  We also hope to get our hands on a simcard for the i-pad so that we can use BATELCO, the local phone company,(Bahamas Telephone Company, Get it?)for getting e-mail and posting to our blogs. That will be a lot easier than using the SSB and running the posts through our son Christopher who has been happily handling this for us when we are out of range of wifi.

Interestingly, this morning I contacted the Little Farmer’s Yacht Club to reserve a mooring for the festival.  I was successful in securing one of only four left.  Lucky me!!!  My call on the radio set off an avalanche of mooring requests and within ten minutes they were all booked.  I guess that “the early bird catches the worm”.  Between that and the three little pigs thing, I guess I have tortured the nursery rhyme thing enough for one post.

Perhaps I will quit while I am ahead before I lapse into another rhyme.  So for now, all I can say is that this little piggy has no interest in running all the way home as I am just having too much fun.

It’s Sunday morning and yet another sunny day in the Bahamas.  Yesterday we motored about 20 miles into a brisk wind, unfortunately as I would have much preferred to sail.  The forecast for the next few days calls for strong winds from the east which is too close to our course to allow for sailing.  That’s fine as we had planned to spend a few days at Big Major Spot and Staniel Cay, where we are now. Staniel Cay is known for Thunderball Cave, a very popular snorkeling spot which we hope to visit while we are here.  This may be a familiar name to you as the cave was used as a filming spot in the James Bond movie of the same name.  The entrance to the cave is only accessible at low tide when the current is slack and you can get into the cave without diving, something that a snorkeler wouldn’t want to do.  I am told that there is a hole in the ceiling where sun streams in.

Also, another “attraction” is that Big Major Spot is known for their wild pig population.  I understand that these guys are very used to cruisers and will swim out to your boat to get any treats that you might have for them.  I expect that we will visit them today and I’ll be reporting back on our “encounter” soon.  I wonder if they are they are the bacon sort of pigs?  I’ll call them “turf”.

We are anchored about a mile from Staniel Cay so getting there by dink is a bit of an adventure with wind and waves on the bow.  Our run into town yesterday was a bit rough and took quite a long time.  Once there, however, we enjoyed walking around the settlement, visiting the local grocery and yacht club.  Everything in the Bahamas is brought in by ship and between the extra freight and duty, prices are high.  Believe it or not, we paid $7.50 a pound for red peppers.  The lady in the store said that the were like gold, no kidding.

We also had a great lunch at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club a fun place that seems to be the social hub of the island.  They have a signature rum drink that’s just terrific.  It’s made with coconut rum, cranberry and pineapple juice. Yumm… As you can see, the club is a casual spot.  I didn’t see a New York Yacht Club burgee hung from the ceiling.  I wonder if the NYYC offers reciprocity with “members” of this club.  Perhaps not.

Speaking of “surf”.  This morning was the arrival of two nurse sharks off of our stern.  I just stuck my hand into the water off of the swim platform and got this shot.  They look little but aren’t.  I expect that they were about 4-5 feet long.  They were having a nice nap it seems and were there for about a half hour.  I wonder if Brenda will be swimming today?  Perhaps her “encounter” with the ray the other day has made her more brave.  Anyone want to place some bets on a swim today by Brenda?

We have been working our way south through the Exumas and are now only a short distance from George Town and are looking forward to meeting up with our boys there on the 9th.

I’ll close with a great sunset.  Not bad…

It’s Friday morning and we have been in the Bahamas for a week now.  We are now in the Exumas and visiting one of the largest islands in the chain, Warderick Wells, part of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park managed by the Bahamas National Trust www.bnt.bs, a  25 mile stretch of islands running south from Warderick that are protected .  Interestingly, studies have shown that protecting patches of habit benefit other areas nearby as protected species do better in the parks and migrate into other non-protected areas.

A few days ago I tried out my underwater case for my i-phone and took a number of photos and videos.  It was great fun, I have to say.  With the clear water, which these photos don’t really do justice to just how clear it is.Our friend Bill looking graceful.Some pretty little tube worms.To see your shadow on the bottom is a remarkable sight.  Even at night the shadows of the moon are distinct. One major issue that we have faced, and were warned about prior to coming here, is that the weather is something that you have to really pay attention to.   Today’s forecast is a good example of how quickly things change.   Today’s wind is from the ENE at 20kts dropping to 15kts.  Saturday will be more mild with winds in the 10-15kt range.   This quickly will change with freshening winds from the E-NE in the 20s and higher for the next 4-5 days.  What this means is that one day’s great sail can quickly turn into a need to seek shelter for a number of days while waiting for the next weather system to come through.

This also means that you have to choose your anchoring spot very well.  While it’s windy today the seas are quite calm as we are in an area that’s protected from any seas.  However, for several days we were in a very different position when we anchored in areas with fiends where there was quite a long fetch from a windward shore, allowing for a nasty chop to build.  This meant that any excursions in the dink were a bit harrowing with lots of water splashing over the side.

Perhaps the best example, or worst depending on how you look at it, was when we returned to Pandora the other night after dinner and a game of dominos with friends on another boat.   The winds were blowing  about 25kts which meant that we had to step into a dink that was bucking around in the chop running alongside their boat.   After scrambling into the dink we motored off into the dark.  In the short distance to Pandora we caught a good deal of spray including a bucket load of water into our faces.  Imagine how much fun that was for Brenda when her next planned stop was to be bed.    Well, we both stripped off our wet clothes in the cockpit and headed down for showers.     The lesson for us is that anchoring in the right spot depending on what’s coming weather-wise is the key.  Had we been tucked up against a shore with an island buffering the seas and wind we would have been in a very different position.  Well, perhaps that’s more than you really want to know about wind and chop but it’s what life in the Bahamas is all about.   All of this has also reinforced the value of our water maker which is doing well in keeping us in plenty of fresh water.   Remember, a salt free boat, and crew, is a happy boat.   As the saying goes, sort of, “when Momma is unhappy (or salty), ain’t nobody happy”.

By contrast, we are moored in similarly windy conditions right now and yet are very comfortable, thanks to having picked a good location, with good protection, to spend a few days.

Yesterday we had a great sail, around 25 miles in brisk winds.   It was fun to romp along for a few hours doing 7-8 kts all the way in clear blue waters.  It’s so different from anything we have ever experienced in our past lives.

The view from the ranger station here is spectacular.  Look at the contrast from the deep blue channel and the sand flats.How about this whale skeleton they have reconstructed on the beach?  It’s really big.Lastly, with the really really clear waters here we often see wildlife that we missed in the past.  Yesterday a rather large, perhaps in the 5’ long range, sand shark swam past our anchored boat a few times.   What an impressive creature.  I wish I had gotten a photo.

Well, off to explore the island.  Oh yeah, did I mention that today is in the low 80s and sunny?

Imagine being able to see 100′ in the water…  Me, I thought that I understood what that would be like.  I WAS WRONG…

On Monday we left the Nassau area to head over to the northern Exumas to begin our run down to George Town over the next few weeks.  Our first stop was Allen’s Key, home of it’s very own native iguana population.  This place is just amazing with water that is so clear that you can’t believe it.  I went snorkeling both Monday and Tuesday and enjoyed great visibility on the small reefs that ring the harbor. I tried my first hand with underwater photography and it was lots of fun.  However, I am still not sure that I have my SSB set up properly to send larger files.

My first try with underwater photgraphy. There were plenty of fish to look at.  I like the butterfly fish a lot. 

Brenda went swimming with a friend and spent an hour in the water, it was such a perfect temperature for her.  Toward the end of her swim a really large, perhaps 4′ across, ray passed her by.  I have to say that she was a very big girl about this and continued to tread water.  She didn’t even scream at all.  She was only a little anxious but I expect that her heart rate went up a bit as she had heard that they were gentle creatures, even if they are HUGE! The ray passed on and all was ok again.

To say the water is clear doesn’t begin to make the point.  “So Bob, how clear is it?”  Well, it’s so clear that when it’s calm you can’t see where the anchor chain enters the water, it just goes down from the air into the water and to the bottom where you see the anchor in the snow white sand.  A friend described the sensation as though the boat was floating in air.  I’d say that about sums it up.  It’s a completely new experience for us.

Today we are in Norman’s Key and will be waiting out the strong winds which kicked up into the 20-25kt range overnight and are expected to stay in that range for the rest of the day.

The signature attraction of Allen’s Cay, the Iguanas, are just so much fun.  These creatures, and they look like miniature, but not small, dinosaurs, are just amazing. There is a beach where they hang out waiting for the cruisers to come in and feed them.

I know that we are not supposed to feed them but watching them compete for a piece of cabbage is just too much fun.  One will grab it and others try to snatch if from them.  Sometimes a single scrap will pass hands, no make that mouths, three of four times. It sort of reminds me of work back in my last life.  You just bring your dink up to the beach that has dozens of 3-4′ long lizards milling around and toss them vegetables.  They are so aggressive I wouldn’t recommend trying to have them snatch the food from your hand.

Hopefully I will soon be somewhere with WIFI so I can post some photos to go along with these posts.

It’s Monday morning, warm and sunny with light winds forecasted for the next few days.  We are anchored on the north side of Rose Island, a short distance from Nassau.  Yesterday morning we decided to leave Nassau for the short run with some friends to get a feel for transiting the shallow banks and coral reefs.  Unlike the States, the Bahamas don’t have very many navigation aids or buoys, actually, they have almost none, which makes it a very different sort of cruising.  In the states markers tell you what to avoid but here you only move when the visibility is good so you can see the obsructions.  The good news is that the water is impossibly clear, even in downtown Nassau, the largest city in the Bahamas.  To be moving along in 20′ of water and see the bottom as if the water is only a few feet deep, which it sometimes is, with reefs everywhere, can be very disconcerting.  Where we are anchored now it’s about 15′ and yet you can see the bottom as if it was only 3 feet deep.  In fact, last evening, after dark with the half moon,you could see the shadow of the dink clearly on the bottom.  It was very different than anything we have ever experienced.  In spite of having heard so much about the clear water, it’s amazing to see it first hand.

The water is so clear that you always take a visual check on your anchor after it’s down to be sure it’s well set. For example, yesterday when we anchored, a French Canadian from another boat anchored nearby took his dink out over our anchor and looked down to see if it was well set.  He put his head into his glass bottom bucket and gave me a high sign that all was well.  It was a very nice gesture and I appreciated his help.  When the water is calm boats almost seem to be floating on air.  That’s a lot different than our experiences up north.  Taking advantage of the clear water I dove on Pandora yet again to check if there was any evidence of damage from last summer’s grounding.  Happily, with the exception of the big bite in the front of the keel, all appears to be well.  Whew!!!

The weather for the next few days is forecasted to be very settled which is good as it will give us some more time to get used to moving through the shallow banks while having particularly good visibility.  The winds are expected to pick up into the 15-20 range by Wednesday night and then a bit higher into the 20-25 range from the E/NE by Thursday so we will want to be somewhere that’s well protected from the wind or at least the chop.

After our arrival yesterday to Rose Island we decided to head to the beach with our friends. The landing was our first on a beach with a surf and it was a unique experience to be sure.  We did our best to time our run for the final few yards to coincide with the the wave breaking on the beach so that the next wave would sweep us up onto dry sand.  Actually, that went pretty well but we did have to scramble out of the dink onto the beach at just the right time to avoid the next wave.  It was comical to see one of the other boats time things less well and have a wave come right over the transom of their dink and fill it half full of water and sand.  Oops.

On the way back out through the surf it was a different kettle of fish for us.  While we did our best to time our departure between waves, we were caught unawares and were swept back up the beach before we had made it even twenty feet.  We tried again and made it although in our haste to jump back aboard Brenda landed on her behind in a jumble of wet clothes and sand in the bow having missed the seat as she scrambled aboard. As you can imagine, there was plenty of laughter along with the indignity of it all. Brenda was a good sport and rinsed off when we got back to the boat and hung out her clothes to dry.  We weren’t alone having difficulty and friends had a similar experience getting off too and got plenty of sand and water in their dink.  Note to self, be sure to put the camera in the dry bag next time.

Speaking of surf, after our run from the beach yesterday, I went for my first snorkeling run with some friends.  While I have been snorkeling plenty of times over the years, it’s a much different feeling to do it off of your own boat.  The reefs at Rose were nice but not in particularly great shape.  There were plenty of fish but not a lot of healthy coral.  Perhaps that’s because it’s so close to Nassau.  I expect that conditions will improve as we head south.

Today we are heading to Allens Cay which is at the top of the Exumas chain and an easy 30 mile run from Nassau.  Our arrival in Allens will mark our entry into the more remote areas after the more populated islands of the northern Bahamas.  Allens will also put us within a reasonable distance of George Town, where we will be meeting up with the boys in a few weeks.  Allens Cay is about 100 miles from George Town and with nearly three weeks to make that distance we have plenty of time to enjoy spots along the way.  Heck, with nearly 1,800 miles under our keel on this trip, 100 miles seems like a day sail.

I can’t begin to describe the color of the water here, perhaps aquamarine is the closest color that I can think of.  An aquamarine stone that you sail over.  Clear and blue sparkling water.  Hard to imagine, actually.

Well, I have to say that it’s good to finally be here and I am very excited about making our way south.