2012-01-24 - back to George Town, Exumas

This was a sizable 'couda that we let loose!  love those big teeth!

A lovely spot in between two cays that goes dry at low tide.  Next to it, Hog Cay, is where they shot some of the Pirates
of the Carribean.

Pat performs Tina Turner - couldn't resist posting this one Pat!

....waiting quietly for the iguanas to come back....look at their 'tell-tale' tail trails!

2012-01-23 - to Salt Pond, Long Island

2012-01-22 - to Harvey's Bay, Long Island

It was a short ride today to Harvery's Bay.  Makana had told us about the bay and that most don't realize that it is a nice spot.  We thought we would check it out.  There was a lovely beach bar that was quite underutilized.  It was hard to see from the water and, because lots of businesses may not be open, we thought that it may be closed.  But, it wasn't.  The owner was from Port Dover, Ontario originally - and was very quick to ask us to tell all boaters we meet about his spot.  We patronized him with the purchase of a few rum punches and kalik. 

2012-01-21 - to Calabash Bay, Long Island

Saying good-bye to Bennie



"What do you think of my new duds!" 

We were leaving Conception and heading towards Long Island today.  Before we could do that we had to return our pet Hermit crab, Bennie, to shore.  Last night Connor had brought him back from the mangrove trip and wanted to keep him overnight to observe.  The most interesting thing with this little guy was we offerred him some other shell options. He was in the traditional elongated land snail shell that most smaller hermit crabs 'wear'.  We offerred a few other stylish options and he examined each one very carefully.  As we quietly observed, we watched him stick his whole front of his body into the shell to 'try it out'.  When he had decided on his new duds he lifted himself out of his old shell and put his very muscular back end into the new shell.  The new shell he chose was a bit big and a bit more clumsy, but he soon got comfortable in it and struted about the bucket.  But, we had to return him to shore, so we did that - said goodbye to Bennie - and lifted anchor for Long Island

 It was a brisk sail and we saw 11 knots a few times throughout the day.  As we pulled into the bay lots of other boats were calling this home as well.  We saw the boat Makana.  I had met the mom, Katie, in the George town computer store a few weeks ago and chatted with her for a while.  She has a daughter, Hoku, who is 8 and said that if we were to meet again, Connor and Hoku could be buddies.  So, Connor was excited to quickly jump in the dinghy to introduce himself and see if Hoku was interested in playing.   A couple of the other boats were venturing inside the island in a 'high tide-only' mangrove that apparently went by a small town.  Sounds great.  Connor jumped in the dinghy with the Makana crew and a lady from a boat called Cookie Monster.  We all ventured up the very shallow river but we were hitting bottom a few times with the dinghy full of 4 adults and Dylan.  We pulled into a boat launch area where a local man was cleaning fish from his outing to a reef.  There were at least 10 lobster and 1 very large Snapper laying out there.  Lots of flies joined him as he cleaned his fish, throwing scraps into the water for the smaller fish that seemed to know it was feeding time.  We all turned around and headed back to the anchorage.  This bay has a very small resort call Cape Santa Maria Club.  It seemed very nice and quiet and a great spot to unwind.  We walked the beach and ventured into the main building to inquire about the services.  We also wanted to inquire about the rental of a Hobie cat or the small sail boat that sat out on the beach.  Connor has been dying to do a bit of sailing on a small sail boat.  Unfortunately, it was only available to rent for the guests of the hotel.  Seeing that know one was there, I would think that they would appreciate a bit of business and accept the hourly fee.  They stuck to the rules and Connor did not get his sail.  He did, however, have a great time with his new friend Hoku and they ran and played on the beach for a couple of hours. The sun was setting and we all had to retreat back to the boat.  Makana would be leaving in the morning as they have guests joining them in Staniel Cay, but I am sure we will meet each other again. 

2012-01-20 - In Conception Island

Happy Birthday Dad! I woke up to notice that we didn't get Internet way out here in the Out Islands.  Nothing - not a phone signal.  Very stressful.  After thinking of all the ways I could possibly call home to wish him happy birthday, I had to give up and just send good vibes.....  :)

Kevin, Pat, Connor and Kerry jumped in the dinghy to do a bit of dinghy exploration and would take me back to the best one they saw. There are a lot of reefs that encircle the island so they were hopeful that they would find something good. 

Unfortunately (or I suppose fortunately), one of the other boaters came over, as they were in the water, to inform them that they had just noticed a large shark in the area. Yikes.   Later, we learned that he thought it was a bull shark - double yikes.  They quickly ditched their plans for finding the perfect snorkeling ground and headed back to the boat - snorkeling would have to wait another day.  We had another adventure planned anyway.  On the island there are mangroves that you can access from the outside by dinghy at high tide.  We had heard that there were lots of turtles and sea birds to find.  There were another few boats that were wanting to do the same thing.  As we approached the entrance two of the dads from the other boats were in their dinghy just outside to do a bit of spear fishing before going through the mangroves (this was later found to be against the sea park law...but, at the time they didn't know). 

Kerry quickly talked me into their boat so that I could do a bit of snorkeling with them, while they spear fished (as I didn't have a chance today).  Reluctantly, I jumped in.  Now, I was still a bit nervous about the previous shark siting so I stuck near the anchored dinghy, snorkeling out to the reef and back while they hunted for dinner.  I was also keeping in mind that when a fish is caught the fish needs to come straight out of the water or we could quickly be in the company of sharks.  So, he caught the fish, spear went straight out of the water, I swam 'briskly' and all was well. We joined up with the other boats but they had changed their minds about doing the mangroves.  We knew that we would be leaving in the morning so we ventured out on our own.  The mangroves have meandering paths of water in between the trees - very pretty.  We ventured off of the main path and all of a sudden shadows streaked in the water below, zipping in and out.  What were they?  Turtles!  It was so cool.  These are Green Sea Turtles and they go unbelievably fast.  Connor and I jumped in with them and we managed to capture a few on 'film'.  We had never seen turtles like this.  I was quite the experience. 

2012-01-19 - to Conception Island

We decided late last night that we would head over Conception Island and Long Island. The thinking was two fold: the winds would be more favorable to head east instead of North and we had never seen this part of the Bahamas before.   Either one would have been a good decision, but we made the decision finally and left. We headed towards Conception island, part of the Out Islands in the Bahamas. Conception is considered a sea park and protected under the Bahamian Trust. This was like Warderick Wells in the Northern Exumas, where you can't fish or take anything from the island. On our way there we experienced our first large fish catch - a Mahi Mahi(or Dolphin fish, or Dorado). It was quite spectacular and we were all thrilled to have caught a fish on our first day out. Fishing is new to all of us. Although I really don't enjoy the part of catching a fish, we are trying to live and sustain ourselves by catching our own food. By doing so, I hope that we can all learn about the food we eat.   Kerry and I worked at preparing the fish.  We are learning as we go - and I think we are doing very well!  We landed at Conception Island after about 8 hours in the wavy sea. At the end of the trip we had to use Visual Piloting Rules to watch out for coral heads as we made our way into the anchorage. The island was uninhabited and beautiful. We all dinghied to the beach and walked to the more rougher side of the island. There was another beautiful long beach that ended with a climb up a rope to the top of a white rock!

2012-01-18 - in George Town, Great Exuma

It is Kevin and Pat's first day here. We were expecting to take off this morning for the northern Exumas, but we decided that we needed to hang

around for the Wednesday Propane filling. On the net in the morning, they announced that Clarence would be in the parking lot to fill propane tanks in the downtown George Town area. This happens only (or mostly) on Wednesdays. When 'Clarence' is scheduled to have a truck full of propane, a flock of boaters head over for the 'propane filling party'. Kerry took Kevin and Pat over to Georgetown to get the last bit of shopping done, before we head out tomorrow and to fill up 2 tanks of

propane. I ended up staying behind and
working on my basket weaving with Dylan in the cockpit. Connor stayed behind and had kayaked over to see Christian as their boat was next.  I watched as he paddled his way and then later he returned with  Christian.  They spent their time filling up the kayak completely with water and having a great time.   

In the evening one of the boat couples Rockin' Ron and Kool Karen put on a dance for the boaters at the chat n' chill bar at Volleyball beach.  It was well done and a great time!  Tomorrow we are planning on heading out.  Still unsure of the direction....north or south?  We shall see.

2012-01-16 - in George Town, Great Exuma

 We are still in Georgetown. I like to stop now and again and just relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings - but I do enjoy heading out and exploring as well. But, Georgetown is a hub, so to speak, for meeting guests, joining in activities and provisioning for points further. Also, Georgetown seems to be a retirement beach camp. Some boaters head here and stay the entire season. Everyday at 8 am there is a cruisers net on the VHF radio. Some boaters take turn being the radio chair, coordinating announcements from various businesses, Boater Community announcements, and boaters general announcements. The boaters general portion, I find particularly interesting or amusing. It is here that boaters can ask for help on various and sometimes obscure electronic equipment on their boat, ask for a paticular washer size that they are looking for, or get rid of or trade items on their boat they no longer require. After the net boaters hail each other and most of the time they get what they have asked for. It's amazing. Boaters can also ask for help with wound care, glasses adjustment, hair cuts, you name it. There is always someone out there to provide assistance. After the morning net, there is yoga on the beach, volleyball in the afternoons, dominoes, cards, and basket weaving. Connor and I finally joined in and learned a bit of basket weaving. It is a great opportunity to learn something that is part of the Bahamian culture. Connor has really taken to it and is doing a great job on a round basket. We ended up staying at the beach learning weaving techniques until the boaters all retreated back to their boats.  In the evening we came back to the beach for a bit with our friends from Ann Bonny.  Connor, Christian (Ann Bonny) and Delmino (the owner of the bars son) were running around having a great time and ended up flying a super kite from shore.