Month: May 2021

On May 25, Russ and Kelly came over so we could all go to Pig Beach. Although this is probably the most touristy thing in the Exumas, we weren’t going to miss it! Russ had brought some food scraps he was going to feed to the pigs.

In the afternoon, we were able to re-provision some vegetables at the Blue Store, and took a walk across the island.

May 26 had us visiting another very touristy place, the Thunderball Grotto. At low tide you can snorkel into the grotto and see the light shine in from above. Although we weren’t the only ones ;-), it was pretty cool.

Later that day we hiked across to the oceanside beach on Staniel Cay to take a walk on the beach, but ended up doing a beach cleanup. It is pretty depressing how much plastic trash washes up on the beautiful beaches here. We had dinner off the lunch menu at Staniel Cay Yacht Club, a nice break for Anya from cooking for weeks on end!

May 27 we had a relaxing day at anchor in Staniel Cay, and made some freshwater with our Rainman R/O system. We got to watch as a seaplane landed, picked up people from the yacht next to us, then taxied around our boat and took off. Very cool to watch!

We finally had a sunset that was not covered with clouds, and it looked like the sky was on fire!

On May 28 (Anya’s birthday), we lifted anchor at Staniel Cay to sail south to Blackpoint. With only the genoa to sail with, we went pretty slow, and had to tack a lot since we were going into the wind. We sailed most of the day to go 9 miles, but we got there at 2 pm. We immediately met some other cruisers in this pretty anchorage, only sailboats here (no superyachts). We walked around this quaint Bahamian village that has kept it’s local vibe. We had a beer at Emerald Sunset Bar overlooking the bay and got some groceries, since the mailboat had arrived that day. We then went to Scorpio’s to meet the other cruisers, and then Rob got Anya her birthday dinner at Lorraine’s. The food was very good, but the waitress was the grumpiest I had ever experienced :-)! Corey and Alisha had invited us to come on their boat after dinner, so we ended the evening with a fun group of cruisers.

On May 29 we started the day with a big breakfast, and finally did our laundry. Since we do laundry as we shower, we can get by for weeks without a laundramat, but it is nice to have fresh sheets every once in a while… In the evening we went back to Scorpio’s with Nicola and Robert, and met some really nice locals. We decided on a sunset dinner at Emerald Sunset, and DJ (the local DJ, go figure) kept us company.

On May 30 we geared up for a big hike to the northern tip of Blackpoint and Gotham Cut. On the way we stopped at the Blow Hole. To take a picture, you had to wait for the “blow” and then run quickly 🙂

Since there was no path where the map said there was one, we just made our way north along the beaches and cliffs. It was great exercise!

Since everybody had left and we were the only boat in the anchorage, it was Rob and Anya and the locals night at Scorpio’s. We ran into the usual suspects and Shiwago made us a fantastic dinner of grilled fresh snapper in broth. What a cool day!

On May 16, we decided to wait one more day before moving on, and took a long walk along the roads and paths of Norman‘s Cay for some much needed exercise.

We lifted anchor the morning of Monday May 17 to sail to Shroud Cay, the northernmost island of the Exumas Land & Sea Park. Shroud Cay is not really an island, it is a cluster of little hills and mangrove salinas with some curvy channels running through them, a great place to paddle, kayak and explore by dinghy. We sailed at around 6 knots with just a reefed genoa, the wind was still very gusty. After we anchored in a nice protected anchorage in Shroud Cay, a sailboat with a German flag anchored just in front of us. Friends! We made contact and it turned out they were with a group of 5 German and 1 Swiss sailboats that all pulled in after them. More friends!

We took the kayak and paddleboard throuch the southernmost mangrove channel across the island and to the eastern beach. What a beautiful beach!

That evening everybody dinghied over to a beach for a sundowner, and we had a great time hanging out with the rest of the “German anchorage”.

The next morning we joined the German channel broadcast and everybody decided to take the northern mangrove channel by dinghy and find the lookout point on the eastern side of the Cay. The dinghy flotilla took off from the anchorage and through the winding channel. On the other side we beached the dinghies and walked up all 65 feet of altitude to the 360 degree lookout point right above the “Rapids”.

After a quiet evening, everybody got together again in the morning for a sand bank “walk” through the shallow water at low tide.

In the evening, everybody gathered on a new beach for a fun evening of drinks, laughter and guitar singalongs with our star players Jonathan and Jonas.

On Thursday May 20, Rob and I had a leisurely brunch, and then our new friends came over to Ronya for some “sunscreen and body care products on a boat” education and to get some Stream2Sea samples. Everybody is really excited to finally have found products that are truly (tested and proven) safe for our waters and our bodies too!

The German/Swiss dream Team: Wiebke & Ralf (S/V Flora), Natasha & Jochen (S/V Caroline), Janna & Ilja (S/V Thuja), Andrea & Ingo (S/V Easy-One), Leonie & Jonas, Jonathan (S/V Jollity) Mareike (S/V Morea).

Friday May 21 everybody (including us) left. Our new German friends all heading north (some to prep for their Atlantic crossing back to Europe) and us heading further south in the Exumas Land & Sea Park to Warderick Wells. There was much waving and yelling about as we all left the anchorage, and we pulled up sail right after we pulled anchor at 11 am. It was still blowing 26 to 28 knots out of the NE, so we settled on a full Genoa, which moved us along swiftly going 5 to 6 knots. Coming into Warderick Wells we had to tack a few times and motor the rest of the way in, and 5 hours later we dropped our anchor just west of the mooring field at Emerald Rock in Warderick Wells.

The next morning we dinghied in to Whale Beach and checked in at the Park Headquarters to pay for our 4 night anchorage in Shroud Cay and our anchorage in Warderick Wells. We got some great information on the available hiking trails, and decided to immediately hike up to Boo Boo Hill, the 360 degree outlook point where scores of cruising boats have piled up their boat signs and insignia. To us it looked like a pile of trash, but hey, it is part of the experience.

We then followed the trail further south and ended up doing a succession of trails for 2 hours which led us around the salt pond and back to Whale Beach on a different trail.

We meet Heidi and Eric (who were there on their Bavaria 47) on the last part, and saw them again at the (inofficial because of Covid) Saturday night cruisers meeting on the beach that night. Great fun was had by all cruisers attending, and Boccia can easily be playeed while maintaining social distancing :-).

Sunday May 22 Heidi and Eric came over to our boat so we could hike the trails from Bushwackers Beach to Pirate’s Lair together. We set off in our dinghy together (note to self: it will not go on plane with 4 people in it), landed on the beach, and started out on the trail. We soon found Pirate’s Lair, which has another interesting story: Pirates used the channel on the esat side because it could accommodate their up to 12 foot draft, and their masts could not be seen from any side. The “lair” is a hidden area accessible by the beach with a fresh water well, and the pirates would meet there to rest and socialize. Interestingly, with their belongings they brought seeds from distant shores, so there are plants growing in the Lair that are nowhere else to be found in the Bahamas. A fascinating place!

We kept hiking the trails from beach to beach, and had a wonderful time. The next morning we lifted anchor in Warderick Wells to sail to Compass Key. We had a big problems trying to raise our mainsail since the in-mast furling kept getting stuck. When we finally got it out, the sailing was fantastic with 15 knots of wind on the beam and both sails out fully, doing 6 to 7 knots.

As we got closer to Compass Key we decided to skip that spot and see it on the way back, the sailing was just too good. We sailed to Staniel Cay instead.

When we got close to our intended anchorage and it was time to pull in our sails, we quickly realized that this would be a problem. It took us 15 minutes of combined effort to furl in the mainsail, and we were really relieved when we finally got it all the way in. After we anchored, we started finding little metal pins on the deck, and knew that this could not be good. Anya posted a pic of them in the sailors’ forum on Facebook, and we quickly had the answer: our top furler bearing had broken, and we needed a rigger. Needless to say, there are no riggers in the Bahamas (with so many sailboats around, how can that be?). So we had to face it: we are now without a mainsail. Luckily we have a large genoa so we can still sail a bit, but we will probably have to do a lot of motoring to get back home to the Keys. We both agree that this will not make us turn around and rush home – we will stay and make do, just at a much slower pace.

We hopped in the dinghy and went to Staniel Cay Yacht Club, there is a bar that the cruisers meet in. We ordered a beer, looked around, and saw Russ there, who had been our neighbor in Great Harbour Cay Marina for 6 weeks last year when Covid started. What a fun reunion!

We spent 3 nights in Nassau at the marina, using their free 2-hour courtesy car to pick up our motor, provision, get some things from the marine store, and have lunch “under the bridge” at one of the food stalls. We picked the right one (“The Burning Spot”), the cracked conch and conch salad were outstanding!

On Saturday May 8 at noon, we left Palm Cay Marina in Nassau for the Exumas. It was extremely tight to get out of the boat slip, and we enlisted a dock hand to help from shore. We had met David from S/V Boom Sharkalaka in the previous days (I had remembered signing him up as a Stream2Sea ambassador, so I walked over to introduce myself), and he was nice enough to come over on his dinghy and help us get out of the slip.

When we got out of the Marina, we went directly into a huge squall with consistently over 22 knots of wind and 5 ft waves. No fun! We went between Yellow and White Banks for extra depth, just to be on the safe side.
At 7:15 pm, we arrived in the anchorage at Highbourne Cay, the trip having taken over 7 hours instead of the projected 4-5. We found a good anchoring spot and finally relaxed.

May 9 found us out and about exploring our first Exumas island. We took the dinghy over to the beautiful beach, and walked and explored. Back to the boat to rest, and a rain shower gave us a free much needed boat wash.

Monday we dinghied into Highbourne Cay Marina to check out the ship’s store and buy some rum. We are loving our Dark’n’Stormies for sundowners!

Then we dinghied over to Highbourne Rocks, anchored the dinghy, and went for a nice snorkel over the coral heads there. Fun, fun, fun! The next day we took the dinghy to the east side side of the island, to a 3 mile long white sand beach. The waves were pretty high, and we nearly capsized the dinghy when a wave broke over us, turning us side ways. You should have seen the look of terror on both our faces! We made it, bailed the dinghy, and went for a loooong walk along the beach.

We then had a nice picnic of crab cake sandwiches and grapes, and we had even packed a cold Kalik for the occasion.

In the afternoon, we went over to Oyster Rocks to find some reefs to snorkel on. We just looked into the water south of the rocks to find some dark spots, and hopped in. That way we found 2 beautiful small reefs, teeming with corals and sealife. We same two HUGE lobsters mating, lots of small conch, a porcupine fish with pricks extended, and unfortunately a few lionfish. Too bad we hadn’t brought the speargun to get rid of some lionfish!

On Wednesday May 12, we lifted anchor at Highbourne Cay at 2 pm to head south to Norman’s Cay, our next stop. We were able to sail most of the way although we had to tack. At 4:30, our anchor was down at Norman’s Cay. We anchored pretty far out to avoid the sand banks, and decided to move into an anchorage that is closer to the island tomorrow.

The next day we woke up to overcast skies, and at 9 am the rain started. It poured down until about 10:45, another free boat wash! We left the anchorage at 2 pm to move closer to the beach. Because of the sand banks we had to go around, it was a 6 mile trip to go 400 yards as the crow flies!

Finally closer to land, we went over to the beach to go for a walk and check out Mac Duff’s Restaurant (nice but a bit out of budget). At the end of the beach we found a beach bar, and had a cold Kalik there. Then back to the boat for a nice dinner!

Friday 5/14 was our “explore Norman’s Cay day”. We took the dinghy around the south end and onto a beach there, looking for ruins we didn’t find. Then further west and north around the island, and into a tiny cut the goes into Norman’s Pond, a big lagoon that is inclosed almost like a lake. The caves there that were described in our book were a non-event unfortunately, they were just overhangs, but we zipped around the “lake” until it was lunchtime – picnic time! We found a nice beach and settled down in the shade to eat.

After lunch we took a walk along this beautiful beach with the stunning colors of blue in the water.

Coming around the north end of Norman’s Cay, we rounded the corner and started to look for dark spots again, which usually means there is a small coral reef. We found a really beautiful one and snorkeled it, and when we came back saw the dark clouds on the horizon. We decided to snorkel one more reef, and then it was REALLY time to head back! We made it back onto the boat just in time to batten down the hatches for a big dark squall with strong winds and a big downpour. Had we been 5 minutes later, it would have poured into our wide open hatches!

On Saturday May 15 we took our dinghy to go snorkel the plane wreck. There are a lot of stories about this wreck as it used to be part of the big drug running operation out of Norman’s Cay. What a great snorkel spot, and the Sergeant Majors are so curious the will swim directly up to your mask!

We ended up leaving Bimini a day later, as it was so windy Monday morning, we couldn’t figure out how to get out of our tight boat slip in the very tight marina without risking being blown into another boat.

On Tuesday (April 20) we motored north towards north rock (we had a south wind) and once we made the turn east, put up both sails. We were on a broad reach, which was perfect for sailing the way we wanted to go.

Sailors (including us) always complain that there is either too much or too little wind, or that if it is the right amount, it is not coming from the direction you want to go. Not this time! With 14 to 18 knots of wind, we averaged 7 to 8 knots all day under full sails. It was sailing heaven!

We anchored out on the banks again because the forecast had called for a relatively quiet night. It was our 3rd time anchoring out on the banks, but we will never get used to being anchored out in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight!

Sunset was cloudy, so we went straight to pizza dinner, a beer and bedtime. It ended up being a rough night after all, and it was still blowing 16 knots when we got up at 7 am. We pulled anchor and set sail again, but needless to say the wind died within 30 minutes. Where was yesterday’s wind ? We were committed to sailing though, and only had about 25 miles to go, so we sailed along doing 3 to 4 knots with just the mainsail in 8 to 10 knot following winds.

We got to Great Harbour Cay around 3 pm, pulled into the basin before the marina, and set the anchor. This is the perfect spot to sit out a northerly blow (there are few of those spots in the Berrys).

We spent a few days catching up with our friends in Bullocks Harbour from last year, and made some new ones, got our 5 day Covid Rapid Test, provisioned, did laundry, and  just enjoyed being in our old “stomping grounds”. We went back to Sugar Beach several times, went for swims, and enjoyed a perfect lunch at the Beach Club. It was so nice to rid the marina bicycles around and see everything open and back to life, church services going on and shops open!

On April 29 we pulled the anchor again, went north around Great Harbor and past Stirrup Cay (the cruise ship island they call Coco Cay, which of course has not been reopened yet) and then south to Soldier Cay.

We had to beat into a 20 knot wind on the nose with 4 to 6 foot waves, so we only got to sail part of the way. Sushi took to her favorite place on the berth, wher it does not matter which way the boat heels or rocks, it is always comfortable:

We anchored behind Soldier Cay, and we were the only boat in the lagoon, with a beautiful white sand beach and crystal-clear water:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The next day we hiked along the beach and across the rocks, then lifted anchor around 2 pm to go further south to Little Harbour Cay. We met Linda and Allan on the Wildflower Catamaran, a very nice couple that had just run aground coming into the anchorage , fortunately close to low tide , and warned us on the radio as we were coming in. They invited us onto their boat in the evening, and we spent a fun evening over a few drinks and much laughter.

The next day we paddleboarded (Anya) and kayaked (Rob) to the beach, and then to the famous Flo’s to make a reservation for dinner. There is no menu, they just serve what they have, and you have to tell them in advance that you are coming. Back at the boat, a squall with about 20 plus knots blew through, and our anchor dragged, so we had to reset the anchor. Then an ocean bath, and off to Flo’s in the dinghy. Dinner was delicious Conch Fritters, followed by fried Snapper, Cracked Conch, beans and rice, and cole slaw, all accompanied by a cold Kalik:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The next day had us lift anchor again and head back up to Soldier Cay for better protection from the Southeast wind, and to wait for a good day to cross over to Nassau, where we will pick up our new dinghy motor!

The wind was very strong overnight, and we were glad to be in a protected anchorage for some nice sound sleep. Another perfect Monday of relaxing and beaching, and on Wednesday we will be going to Nassau. We already have reservations at Palm Cay Marina on the southeast side of New Providence.

Tuesday waiting out the wind at Soldier Cay, our fridge quit. Rob tried to pinpoint the problem, and it seems our compressor is broken. Thank goodness we still have the portable Engel fridge, but of course we can’t fit everything in there, so we will try to eat as much as we can and the rest will unfortunately go to waste. Cold beer will now be a real problem OMG!, and we can basically forget about provisioning in Nassau. At least we have lots of cans and dry goods on board, but we will miss our daily salads!

Wednesday morning we got up at 5 am and lifted anchor at 6 am. The wind was still blowing on the nose and we had 11 hours to go, so we bit the bullet and motored. It was pretty rough, but otherwise the crossing to New Providence was uneventful, except that the fridge made a miracle halfway recovery to 60 degrees. We will need to find a good ice box in Nassau. Coming in we passed Atlantis on Paradise Island:

We pulled into Palm Cay Marina at 5 pm on Cinco de Mayo, checked in, has some dinner on the boat (lots of food needs to be eaten now with only a tiny fridge working) and then a nice shower. The facilities here are really wonderful! Sushi and Miss Wilson came out right away too, and couldn’t wait to get on the dock to explore.

On a side note, we installed waterflow inhibitors on our faucets before we left, and have only been “showering” in the ocean with a freshwater spritz afterwards, so including our drinking water we have only used 40 gallons in 18 days between the 2 of us. That makes only 1.1 gallons per person per day!