2012-02-29 - to Little Harbour, Abacos

What a day!  We left at 6:30am for the Abacos.  Cee Jem was with us, along with several other boats who had also decided that this was a good as it was going to get for a crossing.  It only took an hour to hit the deep blue water.  And, what does that mean?  Fish.  It didn't take long to drop a few lines in.  The seas, I might add, were quite rough (6 ft seas), but at no point was dangerous.  We also had to dodge 3 freighters in our path.  After about 3 hours, and in water that was 4 km deep, a fish hit the line and it took no time to realize that this one was bigger than the rest.  We were sailing only at this point, motors off, so Kerry had to take a few moments to depower the boat so that we could slow down and pull it in.  Connor was already reeling in the other lines so that they wouldn't get tangled.  We had prepared for each of our roles beforehand to make sure we all new what to do.  I was on the rod at first, and it took all that I could to slowly pull it in.  Connor then joined me on the rod as I hand lined it in while he turned the reel.  It was a team effort.  Then, Kerry, with long arms outstretched, held onto the boat with net in hand to bring this big boy in.  Wow.  It was truly the biggest Mahi Mahi (Dolphin Fish, Dorado) we have

ever caught!  The seas then picked up more to 10 ft on the beam.  The boys stayed inside and I kept low in the boat.  The movement in the waves was very jerky and unpredictable, so it is easy to be tossed off your feet.  We only had one rod in the water at this point.  We still could have pulled another (hopefully smaller) fish in, but I would have preferred not to.  Then, the seas settled once again and I was saying how thankful we were for catching a fish.  Then.....the rod was hit once again.  Stations everyone!  This Mahi Mahi was not as big but, again, it took all that I had to pull in.  We pulled in late in the afternoon to Little Harbour, Abaco.  It was nice to finally be in the cut and rest a bit.  We invited Cee Jem over for a shared meal as we had plenty of fish to share and they brought the trimmings.  It was great to hear their stories of their crossing.  Sadly, they took a wave or two into their boat - soaking their cockpit and inside on their cushions.  They were very glad to be in a protected harbour after a long day out on the water.  This is our last big travel day until we finally go back to the US.  The Abacos are fairly close together and within a protected Sea of Abaco.  We are looking forward to the next month of exploring!

2012-02-28 - to Royal Island, Eleuthera

We spent the morning finishing laundry, showers, email, etc. - the several benefits of being at a marina.  We set off at noon to head back to Royal Island to stage for the next days crossing to the Abacos.  Kerry has been checking the weather continually and tomorrow and the next day are the only 2 days that look the best for crossing.  They are not great...but the best 2 days to do it.  Cee Jem had also done the same and we will travel together for the 10 hour trip.  When we arrived at Royal Island (which we have later read that it was a pirate haven in the late 1600's) we all went ashore to check out the ruins from  an old property that was mostly stone construction with, what appeared, hand painted tiles throughout most of the building.  Now, nature has taken over.  Roots from trees run through the walls and ceilings and plants grow in the sinks, etc.  We enjoyed our time exploring the grounds and then made it back to Cee Jem for the first and only downpour we have seen since we have been in the Bahamas.  Luckily Cee Jem has a full enclosure, so we all stayed dry....but, we notice through the tarp that another boater had taken advantage of the fresh water and was scrubbing his deck in, what we all hope, was a very small speedo!  Good for him!  We called it an early night as it would be an early start tomorrow to make our way to the Abacos.

2012-02-27 - in Spanish Wells



Connor 5 years ago!



We spent another day in Spanish Wells at the dock.  This cold front is supposed to last until Wednesday, when we plan to cross to the Abacos

.  It's terribly windy and slightly chilly by the water.  We have not felt this for a long time.  We decided to rent a golf cart today to explore the island and to use it to haul groceries back.  We ended up going out several times.  First Connor and Kerry....then all 4 of us for several rounds of the island.  We even crossed the bridge to Russell Island and found a field full of goats that we just had to stop for.  It's remarkable how much property (houses and bare land) that is for sale around here.  Most houses, it seems, is listed for under $300, 000...but, as the listings state, 'please come forward with any offer'.   We plan to head out tomorrow back to Royal Island to stage for a 10 hour run to the Abacos the next day.  The seas will probably be a bit rough (with the wind that they have been having), but it should be dying down.  We are all excited to have mom, Adele and Brooke coming in a week in Marsh Harbor.  Just a few good days, and we will be there. 

2012-02-26 - in Spanish Wells

2012-02-25 - to Spanish Wells

2012-02-24- to Royal Island, Eleuthera

Kerry negotiates the coral heads carefully...see below

the dark spots to the left are coral heads that we need to navigate around on the middle bank

2012-02-22 - to Warderick Wells (Emerald Rock) via Compass Cay

We woke up to a very calm mooring field at Cambridge Cay.  We had a brief look around the boat for more sharks, but none were to be seen.  The busy waters from last night, were clear and, seemingly, absent from any sea life.  We decided to head to shore for a hike to the other side.  It was another lovely surf beach which had it's share of plastics (unfortunately) that had been corralled by cruisers and bagged for later pick-up.  We made it a shorter hike as we had planned to head to compass Cay for one last visit.  We had been there just before New Years and Connor has not stopped raving about the excitement he had swimming with the sharks there.  We had to let him have one more day with them.  Plus we enjoyed talking with the family that runs the marina.  They all seem so nice and are so kind to Dylan and Connor.  So, we anchored just outside the marina to take advantage of their day rates of $8 per person.  We are headed up to the Abacos now so we needed to put some miles under the hull to hit the window of travel on Friday to Eleuthera.  So, we just couldn't fit in staying the night.  the men remembered u right away and we settled into our 'Coompass Cay' experience.  The marina was full of mega-yachts. Connor  had another great day with the sharks.  One actually took a little nibble on his fin.  Connor needed to be pulled out of the water by 2:30 today so that we could get a few hour in on the banks to get us closer for heading to the to of Eleuthera on Friday.  The banks were dead calm.  The water was clear down to the bottom with an occasional ripple.  Sometimes you do have to pinch yourself.  It was beautiful.  We set anchor just outside the Warderick Wells park office  just as the sun was attempting to set in the sky.  Tomorrow we are going to do 5-6 hours to Allens Cay .

2012-02-23 - to Allens Cay

We left the anchorage this morning heading for Allens Cay.  We are preparing ourselves now to head to Eleuthera.  This is our last day in the Exumas.  :( 

2012-02-21 - to Little Halls Pond Cay, Rocky Dundas Cay, Cambridge Cay

Is was a very busy day today.  We woke up to a relatively calm anchorage this morning.  Connor really wanted to head to shore to see the pigs once more.  I jumped in the dinghy with him and we headed to 'pig beach'.  As we approached, the pigs were not to be seen.  But then, as the dinghy neared the beach, out came three big sows - at a fast trot and heading our way.  I had to abandon the approach as you really need  to watch them as they could jump in or on the dinghy and create holes.  So, it took about 3-5 minutes to finally attempt a landing.  They slowly approached us and Connor got to get  near and pet them.  I approached one of the girls and she lunged at me a bit and grunted.  No problem.  I will keep my distance.  Connor got his fill and we headed back.  One thing that we observed is that the pigs would stay very
still and stare at shells on the beach.  What I gathered was they were watching for hermit crabs moving - presumably for food.  It was interested to witness them changing their behaviours from their previous domestic existence.  So, we pulled anchor and made a short hop to Little Halls Pond Cay.  This, I understand, is Johnny Depp's Island.  He had pirate signs on the beach that said, 'restricted access'.  Although it would have been somewhat of an attraction to see Mr. Depp - the main reason we were there was to snorkle the sea aquarium at O'Brians Cay.  So, we did and it

"what's that shadow beyond the mooring ball?"....look below....

was marvelous.  I stayed with Dylan in the dingy for the first half.  The water was so clear that we didn't need to use his lookie bucket.  The fish, mostly Sergeant majors, swarmed the dinghy looking for snacks.  We did have a few for them and even  put in his toes for them to nibble.  He loved that.  Connor was searching for some smaller obscure corals and reef inhabitants that he had seen in his reef book.  He noticed a few Christmas Trees about 10 feet down and dove right down to show me.  He is really getting good at free diving.  As we were finishing up snorkeling we noticed, not too far away from where we were sand bars in between two cays that were forming due to low tide.  We approached and Connor excused himself from the dinghy and marooned himself on one of the sand bars.  We continued on a very short way in the remaining water, but shortly got out and walked Dylan in the dingy in.  There were so many sand dollars on the exposed sand.   We must have seen about 50. It was neat to see them all.  Oh, and I saw the best shell on this trip.  Unfortunately, it had an inhabitant.    Although we were having a great time exploring the low tide flats, we needed to head back as we had one more stop on our list - Rocky Dundas.  This is a cave that you can enter at low tide and explore the stalactites.  We were there earlier in the trip but it was too rough at the time and we couldn't have gotten in.  We anchored just outside the caves and Kerry and Connor jumped in to do a bit of recon.  All was well.  They had a nice exploration and then came back to give me a chance.  It was quite neat as you can stand up on the inside as the waves crash around you.  Outside the cave there was an outstanding Staghorn coral as well, which Connor was spouting facts on this coral and others he saw in the cave. It's great to see so much hands on learning.   It was a little too rough for Dylan in the dinghy unfortunately.  He hit all the great spots we do and we do our best to make sure that he experiences all that we do.  So, after that it felt like we had anchored for the last time but we up anchored and headed towards Cambridge

Cay.  We had been told a lot of nice things and so we finally ended our day there.  At Cambridge there is another mooring field that is run by exuma Land and Sea Park.  There is a host boat that stays for a couple of weeks to collect mooring fees from boats.  In return, their mooring is free and they get to enjoy the beauty of the park.  the eagle rays were supposed to do a lot of jumping out of the water (this is done, to remove parasites from themselves).  I saw one earlier in the day and Kerry heard a giant splash - but no actual sightings.  One of the main attractions, why we came to this area was the sharks.  As the sun was setting dark shadows started to appear under our boat.  I stuck the camera in the water to have a look.  Connor believed that they were lemon sharks and black tipped reef sharks.  We must have watched the sharks under our boat for a couple of hours.  It was so thrilling and fascinating to watch them all swim. What a busy day!

  

  



2012-02-20 - to Big Majors

We left Staniel for the 10 minute trek to Big Majors.  We have never been there before.  The biggest attraction there was the local pigs on the beach.  We immediately jumped in the dinghy to check it out.  But, when we got there, the pigs were not to be seen.  Just as we said, 'oh well, maybe tomorrow'...they all came coming over and also came with their cute little piglets.  The big ones were a bit more aggressive (especially to me).  Kerry ended up getting one of the piglets.  At first this little piggy was fine with it and then started to squeal like a...well...pig.  Mama did not like it and came charging.  On you go little one.  Later we had a bonfire on the beach with a few boys on spring break.  Connor loved the giant fire they were producing.  We pulled out before things got out of hand.  It was pushing 9pm afterall....

2012-02-19 - to Staniel Cay

We took the outside route today to Staniel Cay.  As we are now (self proclaimed) avid fisherman, we take any opportunity to head out to the deep blue water.  As we approached the cut we noticed that the cut was choppy as the waves and the wind were opposing.  Before we could say, 'close the hatches', we took a wave over the bow that completely soaked both cabins.  Ughh.  It's one thing with fresh water, but with salt water...this is another story.  But, before I go on about how we had to completely empty out both cabins, mattresses, bedding, etc. there was a bit of a silver lining.  We caught another Mahi Mahi.  It took the attention away from the dampness of the day.  After the bedding was cleaned and airing...we headed over to Thunderball Grotto again to take in the breath taking snorkeling.   It is one of our most favorite spots!