L is for Landrail

The Bird Rock lighthouse that guards the reef as you approach Crooked Island.

This picture of Bird Rock was in Gibson's Restaurant. We are glad that the ocean was calmer when we arrived at Landrail Point. The last trip to Crooked and Acklins we hadn't had the opportunity of visitng Landrail Point on Crooked Island. After many days of waiting for a break in the weather and taking Stugeron (sea sick medicine) while at anchor we motor sailed up to this tiny settlement of 50 people. What they lack in numbers they make up in friendliness. Shawnelle who runs the local gas station pumped our diesel for us and gave us a ride in her jeep to the beach where we had Goldberry pulled up. Then she proceeded to give us a ride around the little community and dropped us off at Gibson's Restaurant. Willemina or Willie told us that she would make us conch dinners for pick up after lunch and we were pleased to hear that. Her daughter-in-law and new four month old baby boy chauffered us around (me holding the baby in the front seat of her car) from one tiny grocery store to the next with narry a vegetable to be found. After three stops we had 6 onions, three oranges and two small yoghurts!?! Once again it is a good thing that we are well provisioned on the good ship Celebrian. After two trips for diesel and our big shop we returned after lunch to Gibson's Restaurant to pick up our dinners and I was able to do the last blog entry....twice in a matter of speaking. Nothing is easy or ever works quite the way you expect it will. Nonetheless we had had a good day and were treated very well in Landrail; however we had to leave the anchorage because of the nasty surge that the point gets. We were picking our way through the coral heads just before sunset but once we were safely anchored and we opened our dinner we found not only our conch meals but a plate of chicken wings and two pieces of roll cake. It had been worth the effort to visit the good folks in Landrail.

We had planned on leaving Crooked and sailing south to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The window of weather that we needed slammed shut by 36 hours and it was no longer possible for us to get to our destination in time. Chris Parker forecast one of the nastiest cold fronts this winter so we had to decide where to go where we could be safe and comfortable. We are presently in Mayaguana in Abraham's Bay. Mayaguana is the most eastern Bahamian island and still offers us a chance to get to the Dominican Republic if the weather ever cooperates. We had another long and arduous 26 hours of motor sailing to get here but at least we are safe and reasonably comfortable. I now know why sailing to windward is called the thorny path? Today, Tuesday March 7th we have been told by Chris Parker to expect winds of 20 to 35 plus and more in squalls and that we are here for at least a week? We were going to try and put Mr. Johnston on Goldberry and get to town today but it is just too rough and not safe to do. We are hoping that we might be able to paddle the kayaks to shore with a change of clothes in our dry bags and walk to town. If we don't do it today we won't get off the boat for at least another five days. Just think about that....five long days boat bound with your partner in a space the size of most people's bathroom ensuite?! I am writing today before I become a little stir crazy and while it is not too rolly below decks. Does anyone wish they were here?

The captain needed a little nap with Sea Bear after our overnight passage. Today is Saturday March 11th and we are still in Mayaguana after having several days of squalls with winds gusting to 40. We have had to take our sea sick medicine for a couple of days as the waves were close to three feet in our reef protected anchorage. We haven't had the dreaded corkscrew death roll but we have had a lively boat nonetheless. Before the winds really picked up we managed to paddle to shore and walk to town but when we got to the little dock area we couldn't get across the channel because of a mangrove creek and thick brush...so near yet so far away. We have tried to stay busy doing a few boat jobs, reading and baking; however it isn't easy being below decks when the boat is rocking. Today the wind is down a little so we have launched the dinghy and are going to motor over to the tiny settlement of Abraham's Bay.

We are feeling somewhat thwarted by the weather forecast as Chris Parker has just told us the next week will be steady 20 knot winds with little change. Three years ago when we sailed to the Dominican Republic with First Edition we had such an easy time and this year it has been a struggle with very few decent weather windows. We haven't given up but we are losing our momentum and at some point we have to decide whether to push onward or turn back to The Abacos. We are still hoping to sail to Great Inagua and the windward passage to the DR but we have to have the right conditions to do so.

The squalls have been constant this week.

K is for Keeping Out of the Way

This big freighter wouldn't even answer our security call letting him know our position. Some boats are just very big bullies!?

The Bird House Lighthouse is 112 twelve feet tall and made of local limestone. It marks a huge reef on the north side of Crooked Island. Before it was built the people of Crooked made their living as wreckers (salvaging what was on board ships that foundered on the reefs).

Thompson Bay, Long Island is usually a one stop shop place to stay for a few days...internet, groceries, laundry, diesel, book swap, and a meal out; however Long Island Breeze was out of water and there were no laundry facilities available. They use water collected in cisterns for part of the year and then the government trucks in water for the remaining months. This year has been particularly dry so getting water on a large scale has been a challenge for Mike who runs Long Island Breeze. We did however spend a morning at The Breeze doing internet, picking up a few things at the grocery store, trading books and having lunch out. The forecast for the next week was strong easterlies so we had to decide whether we could get to Crooked Island before the trades ramped up and pinned us down. We decided to leave Thompson Bay in the early afternoon and sail overnight to Crooked and Acklins. The forecast was for less than 10 knots overnight, east to southeast going more easterly the next morning. This was not an ideal forecast but we were faced with waiting another week if we did not leave. It was a slow and arduous passage but after almost 28 hours we were anchored on the western shore of Crooked Island. During the night watches we saw two cruise ships, three pleasure craft, and a large freighter. During the day we had several ships including the one in the picture which would not answer our securite call. Ships are moving so fast compared to us that if they are within a couple of miles we want them to know where we are. At night a ship two miles away feels like it is close enough to run you over. We were grateful for our radar which displayed how close the ships were. There is a new program called AIS (Automatic Identification System) which tells you the name of the ship, its position, bearing and speed. It enables you to call the ship on the VHF radio rather than issue a securite with your position. It is definitely on Celebrian's wish list for next season's cruising. Needless to say we were exhausted after our passage and slept over eleven hours the next night. Today is Monday February 27th and we are anchored in the lee of Crooked Island. The winds as forecast are 25 plus knots and Hal is breaking records with his amp output. We used to run Harry the Honda generator if we had been sitting at anchor for a couple of days; however now we can watch a movie, eat with more than one light on and keep the fridge cold without worry. We even tested short blasts with the microwave and the low battery indicator did not come on. We wished we had put a wind generator on the boat before we had left Bayfield. Better late than ever as they say. Celebrian is evolving into quite the cruising boat. Today is February 29th...leap year...and we are still waiting out the winds. We have done a few boat jobs including our laundry. As you saw from the picture the only place we can safely hang things in this wind is along the side decks and I think I counted 16 pegs on our sheets including the massive flamingo pinchers that Lynn and Peter gave us last year for Christmas. How I appreciate my new washer and dryer at the cottage after doing all our laundry in ammonia. Did I mention that yachting is elegant? We have managed to paddle to shore in these winds but it is a good work out; however once along the shore the island gives enough of a lee that we could paddle along the beach and do some exploring. As you can see from the one picture there are trees down all along the beach as a result of hurricane Irene. Crooked and Acklins got hit harder than some of the other islands. Tomorrow the wind is forecast to go down so we are hoping to go to Landrail Point to buy diesel, I am not sure whether there will be any place available to do internet, but you will know if you get this blog before we get to the Dominican Republic. Landrail is a tiny community of Seventh Day Adventists so it is a good thing that we don't need any wine or beer; however we are really hoping that they have diesel and maybe something green and crunchy but I won't get my hopes up. If we get our Sunday weather window we may leave here and sail the 250 miles in the windward passage to Ilse A Vache on the southern coast of Haiti. It is the only safe harbour for cruising yachts in Haiti these days. Three years ago we went to the Turks and Caicos on the way to the DR; however this is a new option that we have been reading about and allows for cruising the south coast of the DR rather than fighting the trade winds on the north coast. Time will tell but we are excited about seeing some new places and continuing our cruising in the Caribbean.

Sixteen pegs managed to keep our sheets on the life lines in 25 knot winds!?

The sky over our French Wells anchorage ...a few miles south of Land Rail Point.

Hurricane Irene did some damage along the shore lines in Crooked and Acklins. For the most part the damage in Land Rail was not too extensive. There are only 50 people who live here so it is a tiny settlement....very much an out island.

K is for Keeping Out of the Way

This freighter would not even answer our Security calls on the VHF radio. Some boats are just big bullies. Thompson Bay, Long Island is usually a one stop shop place to stay for a few days...internet, groceries, laundry, diesel, book swap, and a meal out; however Long Island Breeze was out of water and there were no laundry facilities available. They use water collected in cisterns for part of the year and then the government trucks in water for the remaining months. This year has been particularly dry so getting water on a large scale has been a challenge for Mike who runs Long Island Breeze. We did however spend a morning at The Breeze doing internet, picking up a few things at the grocery store, trading books and having lunch out. The forecast for the next week was strong easterlies so we had to decide whether we could get to Crooked Island before the trades ramped up and pinned us down. We decided to leave Thompson Bay in the early afternoon and sail overnight to Crooked and Acklins. The forecast was for less than 10 knots overnight, east to southeast going more easterly the next morning. This was not an ideal forecast but we were faced with waiting another week if we did not leave. It was a slow and arduous passage but after almost 28 hours we were anchored on the western shore of Crooked Island. During the night watches we saw two cruise ships, three pleasure craft, and a large freighter. During the day we had several ships including the one in the picture which would not answer our securite call. Ships are moving so fast compared to us that if they are within a couple of miles we want them to know where we are. At night a ship two miles away feels like it is close enough to run you over. We were grateful for our radar which displayed how close the ships were. There is a new program called AIS (Automatic Identification System) which tells you the name of the ship, its position, bearing and speed. It enables you to call the ship on the VHF radio rather than issue a securite with your position. It is definitely on Celebrian's wish list for next season's cruising. Needless to say we were exhausted after our passage and slept over eleven hours the next night.

Today is Monday February 27th and we are anchored in the lee of Crooked Island. The winds as forecast are 25 plus knots and Hal is breaking records with his amp output. We used to run Harry the Honda generator if we had been sitting at anchor for a couple of days; however now we can watch a movie, eat with more than one light on and keep the fridge cold without worry. We even tested short blasts with the microwave and the low battery indicator did not come on. We wished we had put a wind generator on the boat before we had left Bayfield. Better late than ever as they say. Celebrian is evolving into quite the cruising boat.

Today is February 29th...leap year...and we are still waiting out the winds. We have done a few boat jobs including our laundry. As you saw from the picture the only place we can safely hang things in this wind is along the side decks and I think I counted 16 pegs on our sheets including the massive flamingo pinchers that Lynn and Peter gave us last year for Christmas. How I appreciate my new washer and dryer at the cottage after doing all our laundry in ammonia. Did I mention that yachting is elegant? We have managed to paddle to shore in these winds but it is a good work out; however once along the shore the island gives enough of a lee that we could paddle along the beach and do some exploring. As you can see from the one picture there are trees down all along the beach as a result of hurricane Irene. Crooked and Acklins got hit harder than some of the other islands. Tomorrow the wind is forecast to go down so we are hoping to go to Landrail Point to buy diesel, I am not sure whether there will be any place available to do internet, but you will know if you get this blog before we get to the Dominican Republic. Landrail is a tiny community of Seventh Day Adventists so it is a good thing that we don't need any wine or beer; however we are really hoping that they have diesel and maybe something green and crunchy but I won't get my hopes up. If we get our Sunday weather window we may leave here and sail the 250 miles in the windward passage to Ilse A Vache on the southern coast of Haiti. It is the only safe harbour for cruising yachts in Haiti these days. Three years ago we went to the Turks and Caicos on the way to the DR; however this is a new option that we have been reading about and allows for cruising the south coast of the DR rather than fighting the trade winds on the north coast. Time will tell but we are excited about seeing some new places and continuing our cruising in the Caribbean.

There will be more pictures in the next blog. Stay tuned from the Dominican Republic.

J is for Just Another Boat in George Town

George Town has a magnificent harbour for cruising boats. There is always room for one more here and the day we left the boat count was 231. We anchored off the town so that we could do our town jobs but most of the boats were anchored behind Lee Stocking Island.

This is the high tech computer shop where I did my internet work in George Town. This local gentleman said that he was my colour two years ago so we had to do a picture skin comparison shot.

The straw market is always a fun place to visit. This lady was happy to show me her plaiting and weaving work.

I is for Impressive

We anchored in Rudder Cut Cay and found ourselves next to two very impressive caves that we could paddle into.

The last blog entry was sent fromn Deshemon's in Black Point where we always order a conch pizza. Today's blog is being posted from a little internet shack in George Town in the southern Exumas.

The people in Black Point make their living by plaiting palm leaves. They send them to Nassau where they are made into purses and other straw goods.

We found a new anchorage on our way south at Jack's Bay with beautiful beaches and stunning cliffs.

I is for Impressive We had a thoroughly enjoyable pre-Valentine's dinner at Deshemons....our usual...conch pizza. I was able to do some internet and call my mom and the captain did the laundry. It is like old home week at Black Point because we know the folks who run the little store, laundromat and restaurant. There are always hugs and lots of smiles to greet us from the very gracious people who live here. Our stop was brief but a very pleasant one. It is Thursday February 16th and We are presently anchored in Rudder Cut Cay, south of Black Point and an area that we have not visted before. The only time you can come through this area is at high tide as the water is very skinny in places. There are a couple of very impressive caves along the coast of this cay. They are actually grottos as they are open to the sky in places. We did some paddling and explored the coast after we anchored. The island is private; however there are no buildings to be seen from this anchorage. We were hoping to keep moving south to Georgetown; however the wind is not at a favourable angle for us and we are still about 40 miles away. It looks like we are here until Sunday. Rob is re-bedding the chain plates on the deck this morning. We had some sea water come into the lockers on the sail down from the Abacos as we were heeled over on the starboard side. Needless to say it makes a mess but since everything is stored in plastic bags or jars things are not ruined and it just requires patience and clean water. We seem to be having our challenges with salt water this season; however I am happy to say that our tank water is tasting fine and we are back to normal operation. The PUC (Private utilites Company) is operating at one hundred per cent. From Rudder Cut Cay we motored eight miles in the ocean to Lee Stocking Island. We are seldom without our sails but the wind was light and on our nose so the sails were not going to help us. We had been to Lee Stocking before with Lynn and Peter; however there are many new spots to anchor and explore. We anchored in William's Bay behind Lee Stocking and William's Cay. We spent a wonderful afternoon paddling in the calm air and exploring the ocean cliffs. It is not often that we get to paddle in calm conditions. The next morning we left while the tide was high so that we could work our way south behind the cays rather than go out in the ocean for a short trip to Rat Cay. Rat Cay is the closest anchorage before you get to George Town for a boat with a deep keel. The catermarans can do a lot of exploring in the areas we have been sneaking through at high tide but since we draw close to five foot six we have to plan our skinny water adventures to coincide with a rising tide. Rat Cay is a good place to kayak, walk beaches and explore. The only consideration is timing of the tidal current which is fierce here. As it happened we were able to paddle with an ebbing current in the late morning, have lunch at the beach, do some exploring and beach combing and paddle back to the boat on the flood current. Our find of the day was an exquisite hawk wing shell. It is the best one we have ever found. Today is Sunday February 19th and we are soon to haul anchor and sail to George Town, third largest settlement in The Bahamas, population about one thousand. We spent some time in George Town the first year that we cruised but not since. We need diesel and some fresh food as well as internet so we are going to the big city?! As it happens Chris Parker, the weather guru is spending the week here doing some weather seminars so we may get a chance to attend one of his seminars and buy his book. He lives in Key West and provides a daily weather update on the single side band radio and we depend on his forecasts to plan our moves. You can sign up for several hundred dollars a year and get personalized forecasts and email, but so far we have found the general forecast information all we have needed.

The anchorage at Lee Stocking Island was another great stop with good paddling and great ocean views.

At times we were very close to sand banks as we made our way through the cays and islands.

Rat Cay was another new anchorage for Celebrian.

We found a real treasure on the ocean beach at Rat Cay. It is the nicest hawkwing shell we have ever found.

Many of you have received sand dollars as gifts from us over our sailing years. Those of you who saw our Christmas tree this year will have seen our tree decorated with them. This is what they look like when they are alive. Notice the little fuzzy legs around the outside of the shell and how brown they are. They don't move at a blistering pace by any means but we watched this one move along the bottom making a little trail. Today we are very busy in down town George Town. We have groceries to pick and diesel for Mr. Yan. This entails three trips back and forth between the boat and the Shell Station. In between trips I am scrambling to post this blog. The weather may let us sail to Long Island this week and then there might be a chance for a passage to Crooked and Acklins. We were to Crooked and Acklins the year that we sailed to the Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic.

H is for Happy in The Exumas

Happy is being in The Exumas instead of Nassau.

Pipe Creek is a favourite place for us.

H is for Happy in the Exumas We are so happy to be in The Exumas instead of Nassau. We have spent the last couple of days at Warderick Wells snorkelling and paddling. We finally feel like we are cruising. There are usually a lot of boats around the park; however there were only 8 boats in the main north anchorage and none on the moorings at Emerald Rock where we anchored. We paddled over to what is called the Ranger's Garden and drifted with our kayaks in tow. The last time we had seen 8 eagle rays flying in formation. This time I counted 14 huge rays flying under us as we drifted in the current. It was a sight we will never forget. You can only drift dive there at slack tide or the current gets too strong. The tide becomes slack about an hour before and after it changes so you have to time your dives carefully. The next day we moved Celebrian out to Malabar Cays to snorkel the reef there. We did find a lobster and a nurse shark but no turtle on this dive. The weather was so calm and settled that we stayed out at Malabar over night. What a wonderful couple of days we have had. Chris Parker was talking about a strong cold front reaching us on the weekend so we hoisted anchor and moved down to Pipe Creek. Pipe is one of our favourite stops along the Exuma chain. There is lots to do here....paddle, shell, walk and even find a few pieces of sea glass if you are lucky. The only down side of Pipe is that you have a fierce current here and you have to time your paddling and swimming carefully. The current rules here and sometimes the wind is blowing from one direction and the boat is lying to the current. The tell tale sign is the flag blowing toward the boat instead of away. The other concern we have is with Big Bruce and how he is doing with Celebrian`s pirouhettes. Sometimes an anchor can trip itself with the chain so today I snorkelled out to see what Big Bruce looked like. Gratefully he was dug in well and our chain was stretched out and doing fine. We are expecting very high winds tonight and tomorrow so we need to feel confident that the anchor will hold. My snorkel was like swimming in a wave pool. I would not have wanted to try doing it without my fins. Last night we had high winds and wild current changes in the night. The anchor chain thumps and clangs when we are tacking back and forth in the current. Needless to say it makes for a night of awakenings; however once again Big Bruce was our hero and continues to be so today as we are still getting winds in the 25 knot range. We are hopeful that tonight won't be as crazy as last. We have been doing some boat jobs as well as reading out books. Yesterday I made a raisin cinammon loaf from a recipe that my friend Jane, a sailing neighbour at the condo gave me. It definitely is a keeper and will become one of the staples on Celebrian. Today is Sunday February 12th and we will be here until tomorrow when we hope to sail down to Black Point. We will do our laundry and go out for conch pizza at Deshomon's Restaurant where I will get a wifi signal to do some internet. From Black Point we hope to go to Georgetown, the fourth largest settlement in The Bahamas...population 1,000. We haven't been to Georgetown since the first year that we sailed to The Bahamas so it will be interesting to see if there are many changes. Georgetown has a huge protected harbour and during the cruising regatta in March there can be several hundred boats there. This murex had a tenant so we took his picture and let him go. Those of you who have received sand dollars will be happy to know that we have managed to collect a few more for next season.

The rising moon is beautiful.

G is for Good Sailing and Good Grief Too

We had a very good sail from the Abacos to Eleuthera.

This picture was taken in Man O War before we headed back to Marsh Harbour. They are famous for wooden boat building in this community.

Sights of Man O War

This green turtle hung out at the local Sail Shop.

One more major shop in Marsh Harbour and we were ready to head to The Exumas. G is for Good Sailing and Good Grief Too We returned to Marsh Harbour for the top up shopping and last minute things that needed attending to. In a day and a half we managed to do three trips to two grocery stores, three trips to the liquor store, several hardware and bakery stops, a shoe store, one trip to the laundromat, propane tank filled, happy hour with Richard and Carol on Kalissa and Harry into the Honda dealer for a check up. It was quite the frenzy; however we were trying to get to Lynyard Cay to stage for our trip to Eleuthera as it sounded like Friday was going to be our window for our ocean passage to Eleuthera. Our ocean passage to Eleuthera was a sleigh ride in 20 knot plus easterlies with Celebrian with a double reefed main sail, her new stay sail and yankee moving us along at her hull speed of 7.5 knots for most of the day. It was boisterous and wet but we made very good time and we were going so fast that we hooked our first dorado. Unfortunately before we had a chance to reel the fish in it managed to get off the hook. Nonetheless that was our first dorado. Before the day was gone something else bit our hook and took the whole lure...stainless steel leader and all. We were just as glad that whatever it was got away or it might have slowed our speed down. As we turned to make our approach to Eleuthera we had difficulty getting the engine started. It did finally start but it was a little anxiety producing. The last hour was brutal as we had to power into the wind to reach our Royal Harbour anchorage. We had had an exhilirating day but were plenty exhausted. The good grief occured when we realized that the valve to our water tank had been left open during our sail and our water tank had filled with sea water. The only saving grace was that we only had about 15 gallons of fresh water in the tank. It took our little pump 45 minutes to pump the 100 gallons of water overboard. Such is the sailing life. The captain is working on the engine today. He has just commented that he is tired of working on the boat...fixing things in exotic places comes to mind once again. The admiral can say that she is tired of living in chaos and clutter as a result of the captain having to fix things. We were hoping to continue south across the yellow bank to The Exumas tomorrow; however we need to stay until Rob can figure out what is wrong with Mr. Yan. Today it is howling with plus 20 knot winds and squalls. We are hoping for a squall that will fill our poor empty water tank. Once again we are grateful for our three emergency water jugs. We will use them until we can make water. Rob spent a second day trouble shooting our engine. We think that the problem may be related to the alternator and the battery charging system and it may some how be connected with the new wind generator? It looks like we may have to go to Nassau and have a mechanic help us out as Rob has done has much as he can to sort out what can be causing our charging problems. Nassau is an easy day sail of 35 miles from Royal Harbour so we set out for Nassau the next day. After the engine was on for several minutes Rob checked the volt metre to find that it was charging the batteries as it should. We immediately made a course change and headed for the northern Exumas delighted that we did not have to sail to the big city. The interesting thing was that the wind generator had been turned off while we listened to Chris Parker's weather forecast on the ham radio. It causes interfere with the frequency of the radio bands. We still are uncertain as to what is going on; however if the wind charger is off while we are motoring we are able to charge our batteries normally. When we anchor we turn Hal back on and he is happy to continue to charge the batteries. We were a very happy crew as we anchored at Ship Channel Cay in the northern Exumas. Not only did we not have to go to Nassau, we were able to make water for most of the 8 hours that we were under way to The Exumas. We now will have close to half a tank of water. Unfortunately we were not able to pump all of the salt water out of the tank so it is still slightly salty, but gradually becoming less so as the water is diluted. We have vowed to never ever have that happen again. Thank goodness for the water maker and the engine that is now able to run Anthony. We are hoping that we can now begin to feel like we are cruising instead of working in a boat yard. We spent the first day in Ship Channel Cay catching our breath. In the morning we did some cleaning and organizing and in the afternoon we did some exploring around the cays. We had anchored here before but never taken the time to paddle and explore the area. Powerboat Adventures from Nassau bring a boat load of tourists here every day for snorkelling, lunch and an afternoon at an island beach. They take them over to Allen's Cay in the morning to see the iguanas and then along the coast to their spot at Ship Channel for the afternoon. It's about 40 miles to Nassau from here but the boat can probably get them here in an hour...a little faster than we travel?! Today is Wednesday February 8th and we are heading south to Warderick Wells, the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We hope to snorkel at Malabar Cays where we saw the large sea turtle and nurse sharks the first time that we snorkelled there.

Ship Channel Cay welcomed us back to The Exumas.

The Powerboat Adventures have a great spot at Ship Channel Cay. What a great day trip for people holidaying in Nassau.

What an incredible sight and we couldn't even get them all in the picture.

This eagle ray was about 6 feet across.

The nurse shark was resting in the coral at Malabar.

Celebrian anchored at Malabar Cays at Warderick Wells.

A beautiful Malabar Cay sunrise greets us in the morning.