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| Kelly-Peterson 44 | ||
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Eleuthera to The Exumas
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More Governor's Harbour
Although our stay in Governor's Harbour was much longer than planned, we had gotten quite accustomed to being there and had a hard time leaving. The mooring ball was nice, and amenities (such as fuel, groceries, and ice cream) were nearby. So after returning from our hotel, we stayed a couple of nights more before leaving. Eight more sailboats had shown up - all the mooring balls were taken, so a few were anchored nearby. We were surprised, given that we had been the only boat there for so long. It was nice talking to other cruisers. Most of them were retired couples, although we did meet one young man named James (who was maybe 20 years old) on a small 22' sailboat that he sailed over from Florida. He said that he had grown up on a sailboat and that when he was 16, someone gave him this boat. We believe it - it looked barely seaworthy. He quickly made friends with some of the Bahamian children and he had to move his boat further from the dock just to prevent them all from climbing on his boat. This isn't normally a problem, but given how he had invited them aboard a few times, it was just an issue of the children not knowing they were getting out of hand and James being too close to their age to feel comfortable setting boundaries. He told us he was headed to Puerto Rico to live on his sailboat and look for a job. Seeing his small boat reminded us of another young man we met in Lucaya who had sailed a 19' sailboat from Tampa, around the Keys and over to Lucaya. His boat was much nicer than James' boat, and he had taken a month off from work to sail over to Grand Bahama Island and back home. He actually lives in Cartersville, GA, and had trailered his boat to Tampa for the trip. On Friday, the librarian informed us that they have arts and crafts for children every Saturday morning at 10:00am, so we made plans to take Nolan. Also each Friday night is a fish fry in Governor's Harbour at 6:00pm. When Steve and Robin and their family were with us, Brian and Steve went over and brought a few plates back - in the wind and rain - so we decided to go again. Since Nolan fell asleep early, Brian went ashore to get the food. He went late - about 7:00 - since it got started late last time. Island time is different - everyone runs on their own clock. It finally got started - around 8:30. Not learning our lesson regarding the whole time issue and also not wanting Nolan to miss arts and crafts, we showed up promptly at 10:00am at the library the next morning. It was still closed. Around 10:40, someone arrived to open it up, and the arts and crafts got started around 10:50. Several other kids showed up, Bahamian as well as tourists. None of the Bahamian kids were there on time - all the tourists were. Nolan had a great time finger painting, and then they made curtains for the children's section by putting handprints on fabric with everyone's name and age by their handprint. Nolan loved it all and wanted to do more handprints and paint with paintbrushes, too. After we left, he said, "I didn't know libraries had paint -I just thought they had books!" Since that morning, we've pulled out our paints on Belisana quite a few times.
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| Arts and crafts at Governor's Harbour Library | ||
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| One last lunch in Governor's Harbour | ||
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Governor's Harbour to Rock Sound,
Eleuthera
The next morning we prepared to cast off and head to Rock Sound so that we could get closer to the Exumas. Nolan was upset that we were leaving "his" town and said that he wanted to go to arts and crafts again. We've found that he likes staying in one place longer than moving every day like we were on the ICW. So we're trying to stay several days at each place so that we can do plenty of exploring and not feel rushed. This schedule seems to fit us all better, actually... The trip to Rock Sound was uneventful, except that we caught four fish. A large barracuda (Brian had to reel it in because it put up such a fight that Maria couldn't get it all the way to the boat), a small bonito on our yo-yo reel, a small grouper - all of which we threw back - and then one decent-sized grouper that we kept. Since Brian has never cleaned a fish, Maria cleaned and filleted it. She grew up fishing with her family and had cleaned fish but never filleted one, although she had watched her dad several times. She did a good job and we put the fillets on ice for later, while we chopped up a few small pieces and put them in lime juice to make ceviche.
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| The approach to Rock Sound is quite tricky with many coral heads to look out for. We had the added pleasure of again having to watch the depth sounder, as our charts showed depths bordering on being too shallow for us. With Brian on the bow watching out for coral heads and Ria at the helm, we safely made it to the anchorage just off of Rock Sound settlement (as they call the towns in the Bahamas). After running aground in the Berry Islands, we decided to very cautious. Another sailboat was in front of us, and it zoomed along while we poked and zigzagged our way in. It's a large sound and they probably had their anchor out an hour before we arrived, but we really did not want any more mishaps. At one point we looked behind us and saw another boat doing the same as us - poke, poke, poke, 90-degree turn here, another one there, etc. We took advantage of whatever amenities we could while in Rock Sound, since there aren't very many settlements of any size in the Exumas, except for Georgetown way to the south. Grocery store, hardware store, ATM machine, plus a stop at Sammy's to get some conch fritters. Nolan rode his bike along and spotted a small park that we stopped at for awhile. While at Sammy's, we met a young couple who had their sailboat anchored next to us. Since most of the folks we've run into are retired couples, we both shared our stories for why we're doing a trip like this. They said they got tired of going to work every day, so they saved up for the boat, bought it, moved aboard and continued to work to save up more money. They'll return home and go back to work when their money runs out. Since we were headed in opposite directions, we told them about the wonderful mooring balls in Governor's Harbour and then warned them about Hatchet Bay and the potential for crime there. They said that several others had warned them about Hatchet Bay (wish we'd been warned) and then they cautioned us about the mooring balls at Little Farmer's Cay in the Exumas: their catamaran only weighs 13,000lbs yet it dragged the mooring ball 100 feet - don't think we'll grab one of those with our 30,000lb boat. We both had many tales of woe regarding mishaps and repairs. Also, the couple that followed us through the Sound was there. We all laughed at how cautious we had been: even though the coral heads ended at the edge of the sound, we piloted our boats around many more dark spots (knowing it was probably just grass or rocks on the bottom) all the way until dropping the anchor. Why take a chance? After returning to Belisana full of conch fritters, we decided to grill the grouper the following night instead. | ||
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Rock Sound to Highborne Cay, Exuma
Because of all the coral heads to dodge, we couldn't leave early in the morning - we needed the sun to be directly overhead when transiting between two waypoints called Kemp Point and Powell Point on the tip of Eleuthera. There are many coral heads to watch for. While waiting for the sun to get higher and since we needed fuel and water, we called ahead to the marina at Highborne Cay to see if they had a slip for us. They did not at the time, but told us to call later to see if they had a cancellation, which they did - much to our delight. We finally upped anchor around 10:15am, and with Brian on the bow again, followed our own track back through Rock Sound. (note: We hook up our GPS to the laptop and use digital charts - in addition to paper charts - to navigate. We can plot our planned course on the computer, but it also shows the exact route we took). We arrived at Kemp Point at 11:30am, just as planned, and had the sun directly above us while poking through the coral heads at that end of Eleuthera. No fun at all. But we made it and finally got to the deeper waters of Exuma Sound. There was absolutely zero wind, which was good for spotting coral heads but not for sailing. We motored five hours across Exuma Sound with some odd southerly swells that kept us slowly rolling from left to right as we were headed West. Putting the mainsail up helped steady us just a tad but not much. Ria and Nolan had to stay in the cockpit the whole time. Brian read more of Master and Commander, and Nolan watched Stuart Little 3 at least twice. Ria caught a couple of short naps but basically kept an eye out for land... The entrance at Highborne Cut is very narrow with large rocks on one side and a reef on the other. Again, Brian went on the bow and Ria took the helm (Brian is more adept at differentiating between coral/rock and grass. If Ria were on the lookout, we would never get anywhere because she would have us going around anything that looked remotely suspicious). Using hand signals and a whistle, we've developed a rather nice system of communicating from the bow to the cockpit. After getting through the Cut, we made the turn into the narrow marina entrance. Ria was on the bow then, getting the dock lines and fenders ready, when she looked in the water and saw a nurse shark sitting on the bottom in the channel. Once tied up at the dock, we noticed another one who seemed to be living under the finger pier two feet from our boat. Nolan was totally fascinated. Highborne Cay Marina is nice - the island is private and you can only come ashore if you're staying at the marina. Small and simple, the marina is quite clean and even more expensive. We have to purchase tokens to use for the showers: $4 for five minutes. We decided to stay two nights and then head out to explore more of the Exumas. After settling in, we discovered that there are many more nurse sharks than the two we had seen. The marina has about fourteen slips and most of them were full of sport-fishing boats. When these folks return from fishing, they clean the fish at the dock out by the jetties, and the nurse sharks gather for feasting. Our second day here we watched the show. About ten or so nurse sharks had gathered and were much more docile than we expected. One of the guides on a big boat was cleaning a mahi mahi and gave Nolan the contents of the stomach: a tee tiny little fish about an inch long and a small squid. He threw both to the sharks. Later that evening Brian grilled the grouper that we had caught the day before - delicious... and we enjoyed the ceviche for lunch the next day. Some pictures of Highborne Cay Marina: |
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| The sharks at meal time: | ||
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| Even though it's a small marina, Highborne Cay draws some nice boats. Since there's not much in terms of marinas until Georgetown, they must be positioned well for some of the more "elite" boating traffic. We were again the only sailboat, let alone a boat older than five or ten years old. One of the boats, Fifi, was a 96' pleasure yacht used for charters. The price is $38,000 a week. In the absence of the owner, the captain invited us aboard for drinks. He gave us a tour during which we shamelessly took pictures. He said it was the owner's first boat ever and that the operating costs alone were $700,000 for last year. It has a master suite with a king sized bed and a marble bath that has a steam shower between a his and hers vanity area. Then two suites with twin beds and another with a queen sized bed and its own bath. The captain's quarters are in the bow - a nice double bed and another marble bath. The kitchen has granite countertops and every amenity any chef would want (and yes they have a chef) - and is as big as our kitchen back home. A huge living room with leather sofa and chairs, wide-screened TV, and bar. Not only do they have a tender (the fancy word for dinghy) but also two jet skis... Wow. | ||
| On board Fifi: | ||
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After getting fuel and complaining about the $4-plus a gallon for diesel, we learned that the boat next to us took on 9,000 gallons of diesel. More than $36,000 for fuel alone. It made our $200 fuel bill not look so bad. And that boat was smaller than Fifi. We had planned to anchor off Allan's Cay to see the iguanas that live there, but since we were so close at Highborne Cay we decided to take the dinghy one day to scope it out. It's about a two-mile dinghy ride which amazingly only took us about fifteen minutes, once we got the dinghy to plane. The Allan's Cay area has three uninhabited cays, with the iguanas being at Leaf Cay and Southwest Allan's Cay. Taking our dinghy to the beach at Southwest Allan's Cay (or "Iguana Island" as Nolan renamed it), we were surprised to see all the iguanas come out to meet us. We had heard that you're not supposed to feed them but that everyone does anyway. The only thing we had to give them was one of the oranges we had for our own snack, so we peeled it and tossed them pieces of orange. They were quite aggressive and when Brian dropped the orange peel at his feet, they started scurrying over. It didn't take Brian long to snatch the peelings up and toss them away from us. The only casualty we had was Ria getting bit by a small crab near the dinghy.
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| After leaving Southwest Allan's, we thought about heading back to Highborne, but decided to check out the anchorage between Leaf Cay and Allan's Cay, in case we want to move Belisana there later on. Zooming by several boats in our dinghy, we noticed a little boy about Nolan's age in one of the boats - with netting around it like ours. We took the dinghy up to their boat and introduced ourselves to Paul, Sheryl, and Shea (2 1/2) on Freedom's Hope - their other son, Makai (6) was playing on nearby Liahona with their five children. The two families were not traveling together but had met once before in Florida. After talking awhile with Paul, Sheryl, and Shea, we decided to take our dinghies over to the little beach on Allan's Cay. Paul went back and got Makai and all five kids from Liahona and we had a great afternoon playing with them. After blowing out two sails in a storm after crossing the Gulf Stream, Paul and Sheryl were behind schedule just as we were. Having new sails made in Nassau set them back a month more. So they were doing some serious fast cruising - stopping for one night at a time - to get to Puerto Rico so Paul could do some surfing and then on to Trinidad by June to have the boat hauled for hurricane season. Our families hit it off really well and we contemplated joining them, since they were following the route we had initially planned. However, they are just beginning a journey that will be their lifestyle. Paul and Sheryl moved on the boat ten years ago and have raised both boys on Freedom's Hope off South Padre Island, TX. Paul is a physical therapist and they plan on sailing six to eight months out of each year, returning to Texas for Paul to work a few months at a time. So they don't mind rushing to get to Trinidad because they will be here again soon. On the other hand, this is a trip that we will more than likely not make again, or if so it will be years down the road, so we want to cherish each spot and not rush through it all. After returning to Belisana that evening, we seriously considered sailing with them but opted to go at our own pace, even if it means we don't make it as far or stay out as along. But we exchanged e-mails and hope to keep in touch. | ||
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After checking the
weather each day, we learned that a front was moving in towards the end of
the week, with very high winds and thunderstorms. Despite the costs,
staying at the marina through the front seemed like the best thing to
do. Soon afterwards, some of the sport-fishing and luxury yachts moved
out and the marina gained a few more sailboats seeking to weather out the storm
in a protected marina rather than at anchor. One of the boats that
came in docked next to us and was named Mimi - and we weren't
surprised at all that a boat named "Mimi" carried two very nice
couples. As we mentioned early in our trip, we had been told that one
of the best things about cruising is the people you meet. We have met
a lot of people along the way that we haven't mentioned - partly because
we're terrible with names and partly because we had not stayed in one place
long enough to really get to know anyone. Well, during our stay
at Highborne Cay, we came to know the crew on Mimi quite well.
All retired from the military, Bob and Margot own Mimi and are on
their extended honeymoon with their friends Chip and Joann who introduced
them. Nolan became totally smitten with Margot after she engaged him
in a game of "who can make the biggest splash in the mud puddle". She told him that she had grandchildren, and then he started
calling her "Grandma Margot". Both couples are a lot of fun
and we learned that Bob was "Mayor Bob" of Lake City, Colorado,
for ten years. At the weekly Saturday night barbecue on the beach, we shared with
them our primary motivator for this trip - Brian's ordeal with cancer - and
we learned that Margot's 29-year-old daughter is a five-year-survivor and
that Bob was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given six months to live -
in 1968... At the BBQ, it was quite cold and Chip and Joann left to
return to Mimi. Shortly afterwards, two jolly men came over and
took their seats and introduced themselves: Phil from Wales and Murray
from Scotland. There was a third one, Captain Pugwash, who was
at another table. They are on a sailboat, Quadrille, which they
brought across the Atlantic in 1996, leaving her in different parts of the
Caribbean and/or Bahamas each year so that they can come sailing during
their wet and cold winter season then go back home for summer. What a rowdy bunch... we were
thoroughly entertained by them.
Nolan made his own friends as well: Jessica (9) and her brother Steven (11) from Nassau on Rainbow Chaser, a pleasure yacht belonging to their uncle. Really nice kids here for a long weekend. They're much older than Nolan but took Nolan under their wing for several days. Jessica picked up jellyfish to show him which ones sting and which ones don't. On Sunday, our last full day at Highborne Cay, Brian used our scuba gear to dive under Rainbow Chaser and cut off a dock line that had fouled their propeller. He's getting to be an expert at that now... but we were happy to be able to help someone else out in return for all the help we've been given... |
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| Grandma Margot and Nolan | Nolan, Grandma Margot, and Joann | |
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| Nolan enjoying the mud in the aftermath of the storm | The crew from Mimi enjoying a toast at sunset | |
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| Nolan with Jessica and Steven from Rainbow Chaser | Brian with (L to R) Margot and Tom from Mimi and Murray and Phil from Quadrille, as well as Nolan with the little boy of the folks holding the barbecue (he never told us his name) | |
| The day that the other sailboats pulled in, a huge 120' luxury yacht ran aground just on the inside of Highborne Cut. They ran onto a rock bar at high tide, meaning that it was doubtful that they could get off at the next high tide. We all watched throughout the day as the tide went out and the boat's waterline came higher and higher out of the water. Relieved that none of us were the ones stuck, we all shared stories of running aground. So even veteran sailors run aground... but all of our boats put together would not amount to the cost of the beautiful boat on the rock in the channel before us. Late in the afternoon, a huge thunderstorm blew through - which we weathered with the folks from Mimi under a hut while watching two boats from BASRA (Bahamas Air and Sea Rescue Association) trying to pull the big boat off the rock during a rising tide. What a storm! It got so dark at one point that we could hardly see the boats out there, and lightning was striking all around us. It blew through rather quickly, however, and when it was over, we noticed that the big boat was moving. We all cheered from the beach, knowing what it's like to get free after being stuck. | ||
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| The rescue of the big boat | ||
| We really enjoyed our stay at Highborne Cay, even though it was an unplanned stop. In addition to all the fine points mentioned above, there was a very nice dog named "Mr. Wilson" who befriended us and often gave Nolan huge licks on his face. And one day, Ria saw a man on the dock reading an article about The Masters and discovered that he was originally from Augusta, GA, just 30 minutes from her hometown of Waynesboro. We also met some nice men from outside of Charlotte, NC, who were on one of the sport-fishing boats. They gave us two packages of mahi mahi that they had in their freezer - they needed to get rid of it to make room for all the other fish they caught. The only downside to Highborne Cay was the no-see-ums that come out around dusk. That was a huge motivator for us to finish making screens for our hatches. | ||
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| Mr Wilson (with sand in his eyes) giving Nolan a kiss | Nice stop sign! | |
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| Nolan had Jess and Steven over to play trains a couple of times - they had to leave shortly after the second picture, and he cried and asked, "Why do they have to go to school tomorrow? Why?" | ||
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From here, we're likely to head further down the Exumas island chain to explore more of these uninhabited and beautiful cays... |
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