Windy in the Exumas

We are soon off to Pipe Creek to shelter from the next front that is coming from the west. If you have looked at the Exuma chain of islands you will see that it is easy to get protection from the trade winds from the east but more of a challenge when the winds come from the west. Generally we travel on the bank side and always anchor on the bank side. Pipe has all around protection so that is where we are soon headed. Just a couple more pictures to add to the blog while I have a signal.

Pictures of the admiral and her first loaf of coconut bread, Peter, Lynn and Rob at Pipe Creek, a nurse shark taken from the dinghy in Staniel Cay, Rob on the beach in Pipe Creek and Peter, Lynn and I on our first evening together on Celebrian.

Christmas for Celebrian and First Edition

Today is February the 2nd and we are anchored outside of Sampson Cay Marina where we have been able to purchase a Wifi signal....thus the barrage of blog entries. It is a little like feast or famine when it comes to sailing and finding a Wifi hot spot.

First Edition joined us in Pipe Creek two days ago. It was wonderful to see Lynn and Peter again and we can't seem to hug enough let alone talk and get caught up. There is a special bond that develops between sailing friends. It is a mobile world but if you connect with another couple you make the effort to spend some time with them cruising each year if possible. Tonight we are celebrating Christmas and Peter is cooking a roast of beef that Lynn bought back in Florida. I will include some pictures and send them out tomorrow.

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration with Lynn and Peter last evening. Ringing my holiday bell around my neck we arrived in Goldberry to Oh Holy Night wafting down from First Edition. We opened our presents while enjoying our happy hour. Lots of thought had gone in to our gift giving and I think everyone was touched by how well we seem to know each other.
Today we are soon hauling anchor and heading to Staniel Cay to time the arrival of the mailboat. We have done no food shopping since Marsh Harbour and are down to our last few fruits and vegetables; however we do not have scurvy yet!?! We hope to pounce on the produce this afternoon in hopes of getting something green that crunches. Thankfully cabbage keeps a long time even without refrigeration. From Staniel Cay we will move on to Black Point where we will haul several bags of laundry to shore. I do the small things by hand now that we have the water maker but Black Point's laundromat is the only one in the Exumas so it is a must stop for the all the cruisers. From Black Point we are heading back up to Pipe creek for the weekend to take a front that is bringing west winds. As I have mentioned before Pipe is well surrounded and a great spot to get all around protection.

No pictures today because the internet signal is not strong enough at Lorraine's Cafe in Black Point. I will add pictures to the blog the next time we have a good signal.

Rock and Roll in the Exumas

Rock and Roll in the Exumas
We decided that we had had enough rocking and rolling in the Bell anchorage the other morning so we hoisted anchor and headed around to the other side of the island hoping to find some refuge. We anchored in a bay that gave us more protection from the surge and enjoyed a calmer rest of the day. We had a nice snorkel around a small coral head in the bay. The water is so clear here that it is a joy wherever one snorkels. Yesterday we knew we had to leave Bell Island because of the next wind change so we meandered our way through some sand banks and anchored off of another private island called Little Hall's Pond Cay. The park controls the waters around these private islands but the islands themselves belong to some verrry rich people. They post signs on the beach asking you not to come ashore;however the beach is public up unto the high water mark just like at home. We might stop on the beach to get warm while we are snorkelling but we respect people's privacy; although we have yet to see a soul anywhere except a couple of people cleaning a beach back on Bell Island. The anchorage off of Little Hall's Pond was a little crazy with the tidal current and the wind direction until the wind finished its clocking and we were protected from the cay. It is very unnerving when the waves are hitting the boat from the stern and you are anchored and sometimes the boat goes around a full 360 degrees. This is when you hope that Big Bruce, (our Bruce anchor) is well buried and doesn't trip himself. The crazy water comes at tidal changes so that is four times a day. We both slept with one ear listening for changes and the instruments and the cockpit prepared if we needed to re set the anchor in the middle of the night. Such is life on a home that moves....sometimes you don't want to be moving but you don't always have a choice. Things are much calmer this morning because we have had the wind shift and we are in the lee of the cay.
Once again we took the opportunity to go snorkelling along the areas of our anchorage and once again we were rewarded with seeing another turtle and lots of other fish. The whole Exuma chain is one big sea aquarium but the fish are definitely most abundant in the park. We tossed a pot of chicken juices and bones overboard after dinner and as soon as the juice hit the water there was a skirmish of large fish...maybe jacks of some kind? The sting rays would hoover up the bones but the fish are after the fat. I decided to try the same test in our most recent anchorage at Pipe Creek out of the park and wouldn't you know it...not a single fish appeared. I think my theory that there are more fish in the park is correct. They also seem less skitterish in the park because they know that they are safe, not that Rob and I much of a threat to the fish in The Bahamas? Before heading south to Pipe Creek we did some snorkelling at a dive site called the Sea Aquarium and it is quite stunning. We had been there last year with Lynn and Peter and we knew that we wanted to go back. Both of us had our cameras so here is hoping that we got some good shots. Much like the Thunderball grotto in Staniel Cay the pretty little sergeant major fish come right up to you. The first year when i snorkelled at the grotto I took bread crumbs and was mobbed and had fish kissing my arms...quite the sensation.
First Edition is on her way north to meet us in the next few days. We are excited to see them and spend a couple of weeks cruising with them before Lynn flies home to New Jersey to see her rheumatoid arthritis specialist. Peter will stay here and we hope that once she is back they will join us in the Jumentos for a couple of weeks before we need to think about heading north again. Everyone thinks that three months is a long time; however the time flies by and when you live on a sail boat you aren't in a position to hurry.
Pipe Creek is a lovely spot to anchor as it is protected on all sides but it is a real challenge getting in and out of here. We always time our comings and goings on a rising tide but have yet to get in or out of here without going aground at least once. Even so...we really like it in here once we get in safely. We have tried a new anchorage and are in here by ourselves. We have seen far few cruisers this year and we aren't sure why. It would seem that the Europeans and Canadians are still coming but there are far fewer Americans. Perhaps Lynn and Peter will have an opinion on why that is?
Today the captain is scraping Celebrian's rub rails and tomorrow he will put on a coat of cetol. We aren't sure yet where we will go for him to varnish as that needs a good week but for now he is happy doing the cetol. I feel a little boat bound at times because of not being able to paddle with my arm; however I keep reminding myself that at least we are here and at least I can snorkel and get back on the boat. Hopefully we will get for an explore in Goldberry tomorrow after Rob gets the first coat of cetol on Celebrian. I use these times to catch up on the blog writing and do some baking. I have also been enjoying some reading time and am on my fourth good book so I can't complain.
Today is January 29th and the captain is doing his first coat of cetol and I am about to do some stainless steel polishing. Yesterday I did some snorkelling at slack tide on coral near where we are anchored and saw all kinds of fish...triggerfish, sergeant majors, groupers, angel fish, squirrel fish and an array of others. In the afternoon I did some exploring of Thomas Cay and found a path to the ocean as well as the cut. Cuts are the openings from the ocean or sound side to through to the bank or shallow side of the islands (cays pronounced keys). When the weather is good we like to sail out on the ocean and fish; however we always have the option of sailing on the more sheltered side of the islands. The water on the bank side is usually less than 20 feet so we don't troll unless we want to catch a barracuda. 
Some of the pictures in this entry are...Norman's Cay beach, our hermit crab George before his release, Pipe Creek Yacht club, Thomas Cut beach and Pipe Creek anchorage.

The Motion of the Ocean

The Motion of the Ocean
Today is Wednesday January the 20th and we are crossing from Royal Isand, Eleuthera to the northern chain of the Exumas as I write. The captain is to call me if he see dolphins or catches a fish. We made our escape from Marsh Harbour on Monday and had a raucous sail to Lynyard Cay averaging 6-7 knots...not bad for Celebrian considering she is full of 800 pounds of water and all our provisions. Lynyard Cay is often used as a staging area for the trip to Eleuthera. By the time the day was through there were almost a dozen boats anchored along the shore and most of those boats left the next day at the crack of dawn with us; however by the time you have sailed the 60 miles we are often out of sight of most of the other boats. Usually the Atlantic Ocean has a good roll but we had a very calm day and we were not bothered by the motion of the ocean. We were just able to keep our main sail filled which gave us a lift along with Mr. Yan working below decks. Ten hours later we anchored outside of Royal Island for the night. We didn't bother going all the way to the protective harbour because it was forecast to be a calm night so we anchored just after we sailed through the cut. It was a pleasant evening with bright stars and a beautiful crescent moon. Both the admiral and the captain were reading their books with their eyes closed before 9:00pm.
Up again at 6am this morning and off to the Exumas. It is another lovely day and we are in deep ocean water for about 3 hours hoping to catch our first fish of the season....a nice skip jack or a small mahi mahi would be welcome. We heard someone say on the radio yesterday that something had taken their whole line and lure so we are glad that we didn't have that happen. We aren't very good fisher people but we play the part and the captain picks up a new lure each season. We tend to troll only in deep water because the liklihood of catching a barracuda is much greater on the banks. Not that we haven't caught a barracuda in deeper water but they are hard to release and we don't want to kill them needlessly. The larger barracuda have a strong liklihood of carrying a ciguatera toxin in their flesh. The poison is produced by microscopic algae and it is passed up the food chain when carnivorous fish consume reef eating fish. Ciguatera poisoning is very dangerous and there is no antidote so it is important to identify your fish and not eat a msytery catch.
When we leave the deep ocean today we will be crossing what are called the Yellow Banks and we will need to be ever watchful for coral heads. Even Noah (it all), our chart plotter doesn't plot a course over the banks but says that you must use VPR, visual piloting rules and not rely on your instruments. I am sure that there are some boats that would drive right over a coral head if their chart plotter had a line over it!?! Using one's eyes is a very important part of cruising in The Bahamas as the colour of the water tells you everything. The picture of me steering is an example of visual piloting while steering with my foot while the captain was indisposed. Generally one of us is on the cabin top being the look out when we are watching for coral heads.
Our plans for tonight are to anchor in the lee of Highborne Cay with the hopes of hailing First Edition on the VHF radio. We need to be somewhere for protection from the south west Friday so we will have to decide where to go from here and where we will meet up with Lynn and Peter. As it has turned out it will be a little while before we see them as they have gone further south to Georgetown and are accompanying another boat to Long Island. Lynn says that they will be returning to the Exumas to have Christmas with us and enjoy some cruising time together in the not too distant future. In the meantime we will meander our way south in the Exuma chain and perhaps find a spot for Rob to do his varnishing? We may choose to return to Pipe Creek where he had done the varnishing the first year we were south. I need a spot where I can safely get off the boat so that I don't end up with cabin fever while he is merrily varnishing.
Our first evening in the Exumas was equisite. We arrived in time to anchor close to the reef and go snorkelling. It was our first dip in the ocean and it was a balmy 23 degrees celcius (about 76 degrees farenheit) much warmer than the water in the Abacos. We had our first dinner in the cockpit and there was absolutely no wind, not seen very often in the trades. Today we also saw our first dolphins of the season...two swam over for a quick look at us as we sailed through the coral heads. It is good to be back in the Exumas.
Today, January the 21st we motor sailed to Norman's Cay, once under the unfriendly control of drug lord Carlos Lehder. In fact there is a wreck of an airplane in the anchorage from the drug dealing days. Now much of the island is privately owned and there is a tiny fly in resort. We chose to come here because the anchoragw has all around protection and we are expecting some strong south westerlies tomorrow.
The winds were not nearly as strong as predicted and we were able to get off the boat for a snorkel over to the plane wreck. It is becoming quite the reef as corals are growing all over the plane. It is in shallow water just off the channel so it is great for surface snorkellers like myself. The following day we took Goldberry with Mr. Johnston (3 HP outboard) and were able to go out in the ocean and all along the island to the northern anchorage. The northern anchorage is for keel draft boats as the water in places is very skinny(shallow) and even at high tide Celebrian with her 5 foot 4 inch draft would not be able to get through. We explored for a couple of hours and had a great outing.
Rob's birthday was Friday January 22nd and I baked him some raisin oatmeal cookies in lieu of a cake. The picture shows him with his cookie and its little plastic sailboat. The admiral also gave him a nice pair of quick dry blue shorts for when he wears clothes?!?!
Yesterday, Saturday January 23rd we motor sailed about 20 miles in the ocean to Bell Island. We took the opportunity to troll and lost a complete lure to something large that chomped it or broke the line right off. Once in the Exumas Cays Land and Sea Park we were no longer allowed to fish. The park stretches about 22 miles from north to south and approximately 4 miles on either side of the cays. The area is a no take zone, no fishing, conching,shelling, or lobstering; nothing living or dead may be taken from the park. The park seems to be working because we have seen more fish here than anywhere in The Bahamas. I have also seen my only lobster here in the park. Yesterday we went snorkelling off of the boat and found a beautiful coral garden all along the anchorage. There were lots of fish as well as a turtle along the soft corals. We also saw the largest sting ray I have ever seen ...he was at least five feet or more from wing tip to wing tip and maybe more. I am grateful that rays are not aggressive. They certainly are prehistoric looking and just like sharks they haven't evolved much in millions of years.
Speaking of the motion of the ocean, the Bell Island anchorage has not provided us with as much protection from the easterlies as we had hoped. We rocked and rolled all night and unfortunately are continuing to do so this morning. We are hoping that as the wind moves more southerly the roll will settle down. We try to ignore it by keeping busy but needless to say that is not easy to do. Picture moving about your house and having to hang on to a railing everywhere you go because the floor is rocking back and forth. Nonetheless we are safe and that is the important thing. So I am going to brace myself in the galley and make some muffins while the captain is installing some pin rails in my spice lockers. Pin rails are small teak railingss that can keep things from toppling over on a shelf also known as a fiddle. See the next blog entry for more on the motion of the ocean.
Some of the pictures in this blog entry are....ocean sunrise, my fish face to lure the fish onto our line, toe steering through the coral heads, the captain and admiral's first night in the Exumas and Rob's birthday cookie.