N is for Never Leave before a Good Weather Window

The waves were 10 feet plus on our trip down from Mayaguana to Great Inagua.After a week in Mayaguana we were getting anxious to leave but it is never good to leave before a good weather window. The weather was a window in terms of wind 17-22 knots and the direction was good; however we learned just how big 10 foot plus seas are. We had moved to the other end of Abraham's Bay and anchored behind the reef in preparation to leave for Great Inagua...a distance of ninety miles. We had planned to get into Great Inagua in the early morning but we sailed so fast that we were anchoring at five am in the dark. At least we knew that we could get safely in to anchor even if we had to do it in the dark. Celebrian was amazing in the waves and kept us safe; however we were exhausted from steering, the extreme motion of the boat and it was difficult to rest off watch. The good thing was that we had planned on stopping at Great Inagua and the passage was only sixteen hours. Once anchored we slept for several hours and spent the day recovering. We have decided that we will press onward to the Dominican Republic but we will wait for the sea conditions to be a little milder. This winter has been difficult for moving east and south and the windows have been short and not wonderful. In between the times we have been able to move the winds have been so strong that we have not been able to get off the boat as much as we would like. Needless to say it has been frustrating but spring is coming in the Bahamas and Caribbean too and that should mean some lighter winds and some bigger weather windows.

Great Inagua's claim to fame is its 60 thousand pink flamingos and the Morton Salt Company, the second largest solar salt operation in the world producing over a million tons of salt every year. The company employs 104 people and operates some 80 odd salt ponds covering 12 thousand acres. Henry Nixon, warden of the Inagua National Park (also policeman) drove us on a 43 mile loop through the salt operation and along the miles and miles of salinas and mangroves that are home to thousands of sea birds including the pink "fillymingos" as they are affectionately called. In 1964 the Bahamas National Trust convinced the government to set aside 287 square miles as a preserve for the flamingos complete with warden to protect them. Evidently they were hunted for "fillymingo steak" prior to those days and the numbers were being decimated. As you can see from the pictures it is difficult to get up close to these birds but it was still wonderful to see them in the wild. According to Henry they fly to Crooked and Acklins and Cuba from here....isn't nature amazing?

We returned to the dinghy with two full diesel cans, a take out of grouper fingers, a great haul of sea glass and with big smiles on our faces after our trip with the warden. Much to our delight there was a Haitian sailing ship in the government basin taking on scrap metal. Evidently these vessels come up to trade quite frequently and often bring charcoal to sell. It is about a 120 miles to the north coast of Haiti from here but keep in mind they are on a 50 foot wooden boat with no engine and no GPS....just a compass. Customs and Immigration were there and the police to make sure that none of the men jumped ship. We couldn't understand their concern as there is no place for anyone to disappear on an island with a population of 300. We watched the boat leave the harbour with no engine and no wind. You can see from the pictures that they have to use what they can to maneuver the boat. The Haitians are amazing sea men.

Today is Thursday March 15th and the mail boat "done reached" Mathew Town so we are on our way back into town in quest of fruit and vegetables. We will also return to the best sea glass beach we have ever found. Lynn, on First Edition will be very jealous when she hears this. I will post this blog and then our plan is to sail the two nights and one day to Isle a Vache in Haiti and then along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic leaving here tomorrow night. Chris Parker and the National Weather Service are promising us lighter winds and smaller seas so we will venture onward to new and exciting places.

And I thought I was the only person who had a solar flip flap in their car?!? A post script on the mail boat....the dry goods mail boat and not the lettuce and fresh veggie boat :(

Here is a picture of Henry in his police uniform. That day he had to drive the Governor General around to see the "fillymingos"!

M is for Mayaguana

It is the people that we meet that make things fun. The fellows at the gazebo helped me do that last blog entry?!?

Getting diesel and a take out conch dinner are high on the priority list of a town visit. We have spent the last week in Mayaguana pinned down by squalls and relentless winds. We have almost given up getting to the Dominican Republic; however today we are pushing on to Great Inagua in hopes of getting our momentum back. It is going to be a challenging passage for us with NE to E winds of 20-25 and seas upwards to 8-10 feet. We have 90 miles and an overnight sail ahead of us in these conditions. We are both a bit nervous but we either wait for another week in hopes of less wind or see how we do in these conditions. It has not been easy this year.

We did manage to get to shore on Saturday the 9th as the wind was down to about 15. It is frightening watching the dinghy bob up and down as Rob hoists the motor over the transom and onto to Goldberry. We do it together but the timing with the waves has to be just right. At least all of our efforts paid off and we had a lovely day getting to know Mayaguana. The local ambassador/ greeter/tour person by the name of Sculley Cartright met us at the beach and welcomed us to Mayaguana. We hired Sculley to take us the 18 miles over to Pirate's Well to fill our jugs of diesel. We went along with him to learn about the island and the people. Sculley spends most of his time taking people bone fishing; however from what we could see we were about the only white folks on the whole island...population 350 in three tiny settlements. There was one couple at a small hotel in Pirate's Well and we hope that they like being alone because the place was deserted. This island could be called the very very out island. Much to our disappointment the mail boat did not "done reach" Mayaguana this week because of the weather around Nassau. However we did find a head of lettuce that didn't look too bad and some cheese but narry a carrot or a piece of fruit to be had. I hope you can keep scurvy at bay with fruit cups??!!

On the more positive note we did find Mrs. Emmeline Morris who made us take out conch dinners. Two dinners fed us to two nights...even Rob? We also made several friends at the gazebo in town where you can pick up the local restaurant's wifi signal. The little restaurant wasn't open so we were just going to sit and wait for mrs. Morris to make our take out and we were invited by the fellows at the gazebo to come and sit down. Before we were through they helped me get on line with the password and I was off to the races. When I send my blogs out you just never know where I will be?? Before we were through we had five locals all sitting around having a great old chat with us. Rob and I both felt very lucky to have spent a little time with these hospitable folks. As Freeman said, "It is better in The Bahamas"!