Dark and Stormy night on Man 'O War Cay, Abaco

A Dark and Stormy is a great drink. I could use several tonight. But all we have is a dark and stormy night, with the first major cold front of the season blowing through the Abacos right now. After a fairly mild day, the winds picked up around 5pm, and by 6 we had winds 30kts with gusts up to 45, lightening every five seconds (mostly cloud to cloud, so little thunder) and very heavy rain which even blew small waterfalls down through the Dorade vents in the heavy gusts. On the satellite "radar" view we're able to see that the rains are almost over, but the winds are forecast to be above 25kts all night. So I figured what the heck, why not upload our latest batch of photos, since we have a decent wifi connection, and share them with you.  And view the video I took this evening with the lightening.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandjcornwell/sets/

We pulled into Man 'O War Cay on Tuesday and were so impressed with the marina facilities here we decided not to go on to Green Turtle Cay as originally planned. Man 'O War is a small cay which is at the far NE corner of the Bamahas. It is about 5 water miles from Marsh Harbour, the main town on Great Abaco, and Hope Town, the small village with the distinctive white and red striped light house. We have gone for some great walks! North of town, on the Queen's Highway (every island has one), we had to be careful that we didn't run into a golf cart. It goes from cement to dirt and is only wide enough for a golf cart, and typical of most islands, is the only street that runs the whole length of the island. We came upon a narrow part of the island where you could see both Abaco Sound and the Atlantic. It was a calm day, and absolutely beautiful. There are some pics from that walk. 

This island is very religious, they will allow you to bring your wine to dinner and will provide glasses, but don't sell any liquor anywhere. We saw several people coming in on the ferry for the holidays with cases of wine. Many of the people on the island are descendants of the loyalists who 'escaped' the US in the 1760's. If your name isn't Albury or Sweeting, then you're a newcomer. Like most of the Bahamas, it seems everyone is everyone's cousin. The permanent population here is about 300 people.

We'll leave Mystique on a mooring here and fly back to Florida on Tuesday to spend Christmas with my Mom and Dad in Bradenton. We've had a relaxing time in decent weather (until tonight) and met some interesting fellow cruisers and several locals. One, Hartley Albury, has lived on the island all his life and still makes the most beautifully hand-crafted wooden boats - a craft he learned from his dad and grandfather. One of his stunning brand new boats was on the ways today with flags flying from the mast and is due to be launched tomorrow morning. Should be great fun.

Jan and I are delighted with our cruise this fall. After some initial frustration with 'mechanical opportunities' Mystique has been running in very good condition with all systems functioning well. That has been a huge relief and allowed us to spend a lot of time relaxing, going ashore and meeting new friends. Also, the weather has been refreshingly cooperative with clear days, mild winds behind us and highs in the low-mid 80's. The water temperature is still around 80 so swimming and snorkeling have been enjoyable.

We plan to return to Mystique in April and cruise again for a couple of months. But we haven't decided whether to stay in these interesting and beautiful Bahamian cruising grounds (it's hard to imagine anyplace better) or return to the East Coast and head north. We'd like to spend time between the Chesapeake and Maine some day. Either way, we'd love to have some crew visits, so let us know when you can join us!

Hope Town Harbour, Abaco

Spanish Wells was a very locals/fishing community and supposedly accounts for over 50% of all the lobster caught in the Bahamas. Not as warm and friendly a place as Eleuthera of Exuma. We had Mystique at a marina overnight to fill up with water and fully charge the batteries. We walked around the entire island (about 2-3 miles) and were just flabbergasted at the extent to which these people decorate their houses, trees, shrubs, signs, and anything else that's exposed outdoors, with lights and Christmas decorations (plastic Santas, reindeer, elves, candy canes, and home-made sea-life of all kinds, plus inflatables of the same which they unplug during the day so they sat limp in the yards). And plastic manger scenes also, just by the way! It was amazing and we'll post some photos soon.

Tuesday afternoon we had a HUGE rainstorm for about an hour, and then moved Mystique 5mi. out to Royal Island, close to the NW tip of Eleuthera and near our jumping off point the next morning to Great Abaco. We didn't get much sleep, both because the wind was howling in the rigging and because we were a little nervous about our 9 hour sail in the open Atlantic. We weighed anchor Wednesday morning at 6:30, just as the sky was brightening. We raised our jenny, went through the cut in the reef and out into the Atlantic. As we got further from shore with the wind right on our stern we found significant waves coming from three directions at once. So it got rocky and rolly and the lessening breeze from astern did not let the sails stabilize the boat much.

We soon saw a HUGE cruise ship coming around the northern tip of Eleuthera straight at us heading for Nassau. It was close enough that we saw the name "MSC" on the side which turns out to be an Italian cruise ship company. Looking at MSC's departure schedule we learned it was the "POESIA", 1275 cabins, 3013 guests, 964' in length and 93,000 tonnes and coming from the Caribbean. Again let me say, BIG! There were also several freighters that came within six miles of Mystique, all of which were tracked on our RADAR. After getting further north of the New Providence Channel around 10am, the shipping traffic disappeared and we just settled in for the slog up to our cut into the Sea of Abaco shallow banks.

It was a clear day with winds in the 15kt range, so things could certainly have been worse. But the confused 6-8' waves kept us from being too comfortable until we made the cut around 3:30. It is always a great comfort to come in from the ocean into calm waters with land around! We found a quiet secluded anchorage, went for a snorkel and had a good night sleep. That evening we watched the water around the boat in amazement as small patches of light came and went - phosphor-luminescence from some sea creatures (jelly fish?).

Thursday morning we caught Chris Parkers' weather on single sideband at 6:30 as usual, and then for the first time the VHF radio "Cruisers Net" at 8:15 which carries all the news for cruisers from Marsh Harbour for the Abacos. With a cold front predicted for Friday it sounded like a number of boats were headed into our destination, Hope Town - just east of Marsh Harbour, for moorings so we decided to hightail it up there so we wouldn't lose the mooring which we had reserved earlier.

We arrived in Hope Town around 3:00 Thursday. This joined us up with Mystique's track on our chartplotter from the spring of '08, and completed our 'circumnavigation' of the Bahamas. It was nice to be back in familiar territory where we had enjoyed sailing with our friend Bob Bruce in tandem with his boat, and Andy's company when he crewed with us from Florida to here and flew home from Marsh Harbour.

Hope Town was first settled by white British Loyalists escaping the US after the Revolt in 1780. It is a quaint little harborside village with pink, white and blue cottages and many descendants of those first settlers. Plus many 2nd homeowners, yachties and tourists. Quite a different scene than quiet George Town, Exuma! And a LOT more money here.

Another front is hitting us tomorrow with 25-30kt winds and some rain, so we're sitting right here in this snug harbor on our mooring until Sunday. WiFi, coffee shop, several harborside cafes and restaurants, and other boats around to keep us busy.

We have about 25 more miles to go to our final destination, Green Turtle Cay, where we plan to pack the boat up and have her hauled out of the water for the winter. She'll dry out and be ready for a new coat of bottom paint just before we come back in April to continue the Voyage of Mystique! There are several fun places where we can stop between here and there - Marsh Harbor, Man 'O War Cay and Great Guana Cay.

We hope to get some photos uploaded soon - will let you know when that happens.

Rock Sound Harbour, Eleuthera

Yesterday we sailed 42 miles from Warderick Wells Exuma Land and Sea Park headquarters to Powell Point on the SW corner of Eleuthera, then up the Davis Channel NE over the banks down to the SE corner of Eleuthera Sound to the quiet community of Rock Sound. Winds, which started out at 10-12 kts died during the day to dead calm yesterday afternoon and overnight. It was very warm in the afternoon but cooled off to about 72 overnight which precipitated a very heavy dew over the boat. The sun has been up for two hours and the dew remains!

We have so far traveled 116 of the 180 nautical miles of our cruise from George Town, Exuma to Green Turtle Cay, Abaco. The weather has been very cooperative thus far with mild winds and clear days.

Our first two days out of George Town took us to Black Point on Great Guana over the Exuma Sound’s deep waters, then over the shallow, colorful banks to Staniel Cay and Big Major’s Spot. We went for a noontime swim in the beautiful Thunderball Grotto and dingy ride over to Pig Beach to see the swimming pigs. Then on to Sampson Cay, one of our favorite stops in the Exumas. After uploading photos, enjoying dinner ashore with another cruising couple, and a morning walk around the island we sailed north to the Exuma Land and Sea Park where we took a mooring just north of the HQ building. After a quick and peaceful overnight we set out at 7:30am for Eleuthera.

Mystique has been in the sparsely populated and gorgeous Exuma Island chain for the past year, and we shed a few tears as we watched the last of the islands slip from view astern. We’ve enjoyed these islands with both of our children and their spouses, shared Andy and Jessica’s beautiful wedding on the beach off George Town, enjoyed the company of visiting relatives, and befriended many locals and cruisers including David and Kathryn who have been so good to us.

As the 30 miles ticked by our thoughts turned to the upcoming two weeks and we began anticipating our upcoming stops and new adventures. Our first stop at Rock Sound began with some excitement. After walking through town to visit the Money Tree machine at Scotia Bank we stopped by a deli/hardware store where I overheard several locals discussing a fundraising project. I noticed two of them were wearing Rotary pins and asked if they were with a local Rotary club. Two hours later Jan and I were riding in a car north about 40 minutes to the weekly Rotary dinner meeting!! The club on Eleuthera was just chartered in June this year and we were among the first ten visitors. The BBQ rib dinner was prepared by Mariah Kary’s(sp?) chef on the island!

The person driving us to the meeting is the Principal of the Deep Creek Middle School, part of the Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute [ www.ceibahamas.org ], a progressive high school for native Bahamians and students from the United States who come over for experiential learning focused on the life of the sea around the Bahamas. The school offers tours on Fridays, very conveniently, so we’ll hitch hike the 20 miles down there for this afternoon’s tour.

Eleuthera is already proving to be a more populous and commercially successful place than Exuma. There are small villages scattered around the south end, with two larger and successful vacation hot-spots at the northern end: Spanish Wells and Harbour Island.(Dunmore Town). The long, skinny island has one main “Queen’s Highway” (two lane road) running from one end to the other connecting everyone together.

We’ll work our way up the west side of Eleuthera over the weekend then head for Spanish Wells, a bustling town on the NW side of the island, on Monday. After a few days there provisioning, taking on diesel, and doing laundry we’ll head over the Atlantic Ocean 60nm to the SE side of Great Abaco.

26 Nov '09 Thanksgiving in George Town, Exuma

George Town, Great Exuma, Bahamas

Hello friends and family,

We've been having fun and been staying busy. Sorry not to update you on the Voyage of Mystique earlier. Here's a quick recap:

I flew to Traverse City to spend 4 days with my family and help Mom and Dad get packed up for the winter in Bradenton, F. I enjoyed Big family gatherings which were lots of fun. Andy and Jess joined us for a weekend. Then Mom, Dad and I flew to Florida and got their place all set up, and the the old big baby blue Cadillac fixed with a new battery. I then drove down to Ft. Myers and spent the night with cousin Robinanne Holzworth and Alan before driving to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up my flight to George Town (about a 1 hour flight).

Our great friends here, David & Kathryn, who were so wonderful helping with Andy & Jess' wedding last June (and Kathryn was the official photographer) put me up at their house for several nights while I worked aboard Mystique during the days to get her commissioned and ready for Admiral Jan and 1st Mate Samantha who arrived 6 days later. Their hospitality was remarkable as I kept lengthening my stay and they drove here and there, and also picked Jan up at the airport when she arrived last Wednesday week.

I had positioned Mystique at the marina docks that night so we could throw luggage (and cat) aboard without a dinghy ride. We also filled up with water and fully charged the batteries. Since then we've been at anchor either just off the little town bridge and dinghy dock or across Elizabeth Harbor near the Chat 'n Chill beach bar.

It is with some frustration that I report having spent most of my time so far on various Mechanical Opportunities. A large project has been to replace the troublesome engine-driven impeller raw water pump on the generator (which as been the subject of numerous previous postings), last worked on in June by Andy & Jess during their honeymoon in 90 degree heat. The replacement pump is driven electrically by the generator and DOES NOT HAVE AN IMPELLER! This project has required numerous trips ashore to the marine shop and the hardware store.

We had invited Kathryn and David to join us on a day sail over to Cat Island for Thanksgiving. A friend from Frisco Rotary is there for Thanksgiving and we had hoped to meet up with him for some fun, food and wine! He is the traveling wine consultant at Fernandez Bay Resort which has a wonderful long sandy beach exposed to the west. Unfortunately as the date grew closer the weather forecast showed a front coming through with winds switching from the prevailing easterly trades to the west which would have made anchoring very uncomfortable. So we decided not to go and are enjoying a quiet Thanksgiving here.

We've had some beautiful weather so far. Jan's varnished half the toe rail. We've buffed and waxed the entire hull of the boat and the cockpit area (with Shorty's help) so Mystique is looking especially spiffy. We've installed the new genoa sheets. We have a new set of 12 volt LED Christmas lights which are strung around the bimini above the cockpit - very pretty at night! And I was presented with my Christmas present a bit early -- a Sony DVD/CD player which draws very little power and has a 12v car adapter which we can plug in to our electrical system. We've enjoyed great music (yes, Andy and Megan, Christmas music already) piped through our stereo and two movies so far! What a treat.

Our cruising plan is to sail the boat back up to Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos where we visited a year and a half ago. That is the best place to have her hauled out of the water for a fresh coat of bottom paint and a new survey which is required by our insurance company this winter. We will store her 'on the hard' ashore for the winter. It looks like about eight days of cruising to reach Green Turtle, a total of about 260 (nautical) miles. We hope to leave on Monday, heading back up the Exuma chain of islands to Highborne Cay where we spent much time last year, thence across the Exuma Sound to SW Eleuthera. Then up the west side of Eleuthera over the banks to Spanish Wells at the NW tip where we'll fill up with water and fuel for a long day sail across the open Atlantic to SE Abacos. From there it's a day sail over the banks up to Hope Town and/or Marsh Harbor. Then another day to Green Turtle. We have allowed for about 10 days of weather delays along the way.

On Dec 22 we fly from Treasure Cay to Ft. Lauderdale, rent a car, drive up to visit our good friend Bob Bruce in Jupiter before heading over to spend Christmas with Mom & Dad in Bradenton. This will be my first Christmas out of Colorado in 36 years and Jan's first ever, and our first spent with my parents, so this will be a very special Christmas for us!! Then Jan and I will spend our New Years Eve 36th anniversary "someplace" together before flying home January 1st.

With fair winds you'll hear from Mystique next in the Abacos! We are very grateful today for our wonderful family and friends, and this special opportunity to explore distant shores.

Click on the Flickr link to see our summer/fall photo album. Sorry, but no pics posted yet of this trip!

More Cousins Visit & Enjoy George Town

SYNOPSIS

The laundromat was our hangout for a while, then the grocery store, Exuma Market with its dinghy dock where all the cruisers bring their dinghies for trips ashore. Jan and I enjoy a week together and get some varnishing done on Mystique. We also enjoy our new friendships with a few fellow cruisers and also David & Katherine who we met at church.

One day after church they invite us to hop in their car and we whisk up just north of the now closed 4 Seasons Resort and also drive around the Grand Isle Resort (GIR) where we'll all stay in total luxury during Andy & Jess' wedding. Just beyond the resorts is Steventon town with its long white beach and "Big D's" beach bar, known for outstanding conch fritters and salad. It was a fun and relaxing afternoon with new friends.

Last Wednesday May 20 Jan's cousin Susan Hargleroad and her husband John arrived. We enjoyed their company and having fun together around GT (more details below). They left yesterday so we're back at the laundromat and computer shop uploading pics and writing the blog update!

Next up, Andy & Jess arrive June 6 in advance of their wedding on the 11th and spend a few nights aboard before we go to the GIR. In the mean time we'll firm up boat storage plans for the summer and look into getting the boat hauled and bottom painted over the upcoming months.

JOHN AND SUSAN'S VISIT

Long time family friends Susan and John have been intimately involved in our buying decisions regarding Mystique and the details of her upgrades and cruising story. They long ago named her "Dos Banos" because they wanted to be SURE she had two bathrooms if they were ever going to go cruising with us. We refer to Dos Banos often.

However, as experienced cruise line passengers the reality of the compactness and simplicity of the cruising life started to become apparent. John has a touch of claustrophobia and began sizing up the V berth accommodations, and Susan loves her 20 minute showers at least once a day with no stops in the steady stream of hot water. Life is not like this aboard Dos Banos!!! And there was some concern that we would have enough storage space for the case(s) of Chardonney needed for a week stay.

They arrived by cab from the GT airport and borrowed the VHF radio at Exuma Market to broadcast their arrival to all the cruisers in Elizabeth Harbor by calling "Boat People, Boat People, we are here, where are you?" We were just walking by so intercepted them before John could cause any more commotion in the boating community! Mystique was at the marina dock Tuesday night for her first overnight at dock since last November. We loaded the newly acquired soft luggage aboard, went out and anchored nearby and gave the boat introduction talk. John asked where the muster station was for the lifeboats! And, "When does staff bring the iced G&T's?" "I have to pump this handle to flush this toilet, I mean head, HOW many times?" "Which way to the shuffleboard courts?" And many other hilarious questions.

That night the wind picked up a bit and Mystique rocked and rolled a bit making sleep a bit of a challenge - not too exciting for the first night aboard. The next day we motored Mystique across the harbor to Hamburger Beach on Stocking Is. where David and Katherine and friends met us in their outboard for a picnic lunch. We had a wonderful hike along the windward "Sound" side of the island on the mile-long beach. By the time we returned to our dinghy it was beginning to rain and by evening we had a full-blown summer storm with lightening and lots of wind.

Mystique weathered the storm better than her occupants except Sammy who slept through it all! By 11:00pm or so the storm had passed and the crew was ready for a fairly quiet night sleep, which thankfully it was. The next morning was beautiful and sunny and all our clothes were on the lifelines to dry (pic).

So John and Susan were pretty much ready for a night ashore and booked a room at the nearby St. Francis Resort which straddles the Harbor side and the Sound side of Stocking Island. We joined them for a lovely walk along the pristine beach and for dinner at the resort afterwards. We all had a lovely quiet night with lots of sleep.

Other days were spent on a generator mechanical opportunity (part flown in next day), exploring more beaches by dinghy, enjoying drinks and dinner at Chat 'n Chill, sailing around Stocking Island in light to moderate breezes and having dolphins welcome us back to our anchorage off Chat 'n Chill. By the time Susan and John left us yesterday they admitted to having had some fun time aboard, with some great adventure thrown in for story telling in the years to come.

Relaxing in George Town

as usual, see more photos on our Flickr site by clicking link to left

SYNOPSIS

MYSTIQUE continues north in tandem with ROLESTRA back to the Park, then we leave ROLESTRA and sail back to George Town (GT). We re-provision, fix a mechanical

problem and several electricals and welcome crew aboard for a week of fun in the sun around GT and Stocking Is. Weather continues to be perfect with winds easterly 10-12kn and temps between 75 – 85F.

Tuesday, April 28

We left Lee Stocking and had a beautiful and comfortable sail out in the deep water of the Sound north 14 mi to the banks and then 20 more miles sailing on the “inside” of the banks, out of the big waves. Not at all as rough as Sunday had been. We met up with Bob and Warren in Sampson Cay, where we’ve been many times before. After going ashore to get internet, we decided to

take Warren up on his kind offer to buy us dinner in celebration of his birthday and our cruise together. What a treat! They really do a nice job at Sampson Cay. It’s owned by the guy who owns the Discovery Channel and others, and it’s certainly a step up from most facilities in the

Bahamas.

Wednesday, April 29

The next day we sailed to the Exuma Land and Sea Park – took a mooring ball in front of the pretty administration building. It’s a narrow deep blue channel with about 20 mooring balls that arcs around light colored tidal flats – we will need to get pics from Bob and Hal as we forgot our camera when we went hiking to BooBoo Hill. This is the place where cruisers can leave mementoes of their boat – as long as it’s natural. No plastic or anything else that won’t naturally decay. When we were there last fall with Megan and Jeremy, our memento was to write “Mystique” in the sand. It had naturally ‘decayed’. The round trip hike of the island brought us back to the ranger’s

headquarters. After a quick lunch we went snorkeling on the reef – because it is a park, all the fish and reef and coral are protected. So the fish aren’t afraid - sort of like Rocky Mountain Park. There were the usual hundreds of Sergeant Major striped fish, and when we saw a HUGE spotted “crawfish” claw-less lobster it didn’t scurry away – allowing

us to really watch it closely. Then we say a large sea turtle and wow, can those things swim fast! 2 giant spotted rays came up almost begging us to swim with them!! It was a rare and wonderful experience snorkeling.

Thursday, April 30

After dropping the mooring we headed back to Sampson Cay for a comfortable night at anchor and final dinner aboard Bob’s “ROLESTRA”. Warren was to fly out of Staniel Cay (5 mi. away) and Bob’s new crew to arrive the next morning for his trip back to Florida. After sailing with, or in tandem with Bob for 5 weeks, it was good-bye.

Friday & Saturday, May 1 & 2

Jan and I headed back the 55 miles to George Town via a night anchorage at Cave Cay (again), taking advantage of a good weather window with 10-15kn winds from the east. This allowed us to sail or motor-sail the two days SE in great conditions and arrive in our by now familiar neighborhood of Elizabeth Harbor between GT and Stocking Island’s Chat ‘n Chill beach bar by 3:00. We stopped by the marina to top up with fuel and water and wash down the boat, then anchored just off GT so we could easily dinghy in the 300 yards to town for grocery shopping,

church on Sunday and the arrival of new crew Monday.

Sunday, May 3

Boy, do those Anglicans/Episcopalians know how to throw a worship service here in George Town!!! We attended the big church up on the hill at 11:00. The beautiful church, dating back to 1802, was about half full. It was like a high service with processional, incense wafting, full robes and vestments and the congregation, mostly native Bahamians, dressed in their Sunday best. The church has a sound system because we saw the microphones and speakers, but boy when the choir started singing or the preacher started preaching, no sound amplification was needed, believe me. When the choir processed next to us we were blown away by the enthusiasm, power and beauty of each voice singing at full throttle. It took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes!

After a full TWO HOURS of this enthusiasm we were inspired! (and a little ready to get out into the fresh Bahamian air..although the church is air conditioned.) It felt great to get back to church after 6 weeks away from home. We met a gentleman, David, who gives the weather each morning on the cruiser’s net. We asked for advice on a local diesel mechanic who could help us with a persistent problem of engine fresh water antifreeze coolant growing in volume and overflowing the reserve tank. More on this later.

We stopped on the way back to the dinghy and offered to take a picture of a couple in the park. Turns out they were Paul and Susan Roberts (“JOLI SPOT”) from Boulder and Frisco, CO!!!

Small world. We agreed to meet later in the afternoon for dinner at Chat ‘n Chill after drinks and oover doovers aboard their 36’ catamaran sailboat. Great time. Jan and I dinghied home across Elizabeth harbor (almost a mile) while there was still a little light to see.

Monday, May 4

This is the arrival day for my 1^st cousin Robinanne Holzworth and her husband Alan Wale from N. Ft. Myers. But first, there was this ‘mechanical opportunity’ of the engine coolant to look after. After the 8:00 am cruisers’ net on VHF Ch72 we heard from Kelly Wilson “PENNY PINCHER”, a local marina owner and boat mechanic who had been asked to call us by David from church. Turns out his boat was anchored right behind ours, and he came over to take a look at our engine coolant issue. He brought his SCUBA tank and we connected it up to the suspect heat exchanger to run a pressure test. The theory, later proved to be correct, was that the only way for the antifreeze coolant reservoir to overflow consistently was by being polluted with sea water through a leak in the heat exchanger, which acts like the radiator on your car.

Although we could not detect a pressure leak, we called Westerbeke (engine manufacturer) and confirmed the heat exchanger was the only possible cause of the trouble. We ordered a new one from Seattle Monday afternoon. It was shipped overnight to Ft. Lauderdale and made it aboard a local flight Tuesday afternoon. After paying 40% Bahamian duty at the airport (in cash, only) we had the new part aboard by 5pm.

Monday – Sunday May 4 - 10

Robinanne and Alan arrived around dinner time Monday and we loaded all four of us and their luggage into the dinghy for a splashy ride through the waves back to the boat. It was their first time cruising aboard a small boat, although they had sailed with friends. They turned out to be great enthusiastic crew and good company and we enjoyed a wonderful week together. Alan is a master at mechanicals and fixing stuff and set out right away Tuesday helping me install and test the new heat exchanger. It fixed our problem, as predicted! But that took up most of Tuesday so we couldn’t set out for far shores.

The rest of the week we spent exploring Stocking Island and Elizabeth Harbor by sailboat or dinghy. One day the winds were perfect and we circumnavigated Stocking Is. (about 25 miles). Another day we motored south a bit to try some snorkeling and explore some potential wedding beaches for Andy and Jessica (for their wedding here June 11 with just parents & siblings). After we returned to anchor we learned there had been a bull shark attack about ½ mile from where we were snorkeling!!!!!! This was a very unusual circumstance, and it later turned out to be a Venezuelan tourist who was spear fishing (illegally) and was carrying his catch on a string from his body. He had a mangled hand. HELLO????? What was he thinking? So note to future crew – the snorkeling and swimming is safe here if you’re not carrying a string of bloody fish with you.

Most evenings we got into very lively and competitive games of Grama’s Rules cards or Rummikub. Great fun. And we celebrated Jan’s XXth birthday on the 7^th (and Andy’s as well), with a fine dinner ashore at Peace and Plenty. Then we celebrated Robinanne’s impending 65^th birthday and raise with another fine dinner ashore at St. Francis Resort next to Chat ‘n Chill. Wonderful times and great memories!

R & A went to church with us Sunday morning before leaving GT for their flight home. Alan was raised a Brit and confirmed that this Anglican service was the real deal! We were sorry to see them go. We were able to sneak in a few Skype sessions later in the day to exchange Mother’s Day wishes with Andy and Megan and my Mom who’s back in Traverse City for the summer. We also talked with our next incoming crew, Jan’s 1^st cousin Susan Hargleroad and her husband John Earl from Ft. Townsend, WA. They fly in next Wednesday, the 20^th, for a week of fun in paradise.

Monday, May 1

Jan and I are back to our normal quiet cruising mode. This morning we were planning on going to the Laundromat to do Monday wash and the marina to fill the water tanks and wash down the boat – especially the toe rails which need more coats of varnish. But we heard on the morning cruisers’ net that GT is without water pressure today. Thus a little quiet time to catch up on the much neglected blog. I type an original draft using Word so we don’t have to be connected to the Internet, then copy and paste into blogspot when we can also download some pics, which we’ll do via a land connection when we go ashore today.

North to the islands again!

SYNOPSIS: Jan suggests we add a quick synopsis for those of you who just want to know we’re doing well. Saturday – GT was a wild scene as the regatta came to a successful close. Sunday we sailed 2 hours north in very rough conditions to a quiet anchorage behind Lee Stocking Island. Monday, the Marine Research Center located here seems to be closed so Jan and I decide to stay put in calm waters hoping the Center will open, while Bob and new crew Warren Alpern head out into the Sound for an wild hour ride north so they can make for the central cays and be at Staniel Cay by Friday for Warren’s flight home. See details below. Also, we've been able to upload more pics to our Flickr photo album - click link at left.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25

The Family Islands Regatta in George Town is certainly an Event not to be missed. The 50+ beautiful and colorful sailboats with their huge mainsails are magnificent to watch, and we were able to get up close thanks to our ride with Wendle on his large outboard motorboat the first three days of the regatta. The town was hopping and crowded with people who came in from all over the islands. We ate dinner next to a gal from Jamaica!

The temporary shacks (booths) constructed of plywood set up along the Government Pier just for this week each had their own mega sound system with huge speakers trying to outdo the next booth with island tunes. The booths all had numbers, but the numbers weren’t in any kind of logical order! Many booths sold liquor. Many sold great island food like conch (stewed, cracked, in salad, any kind you want), fish, chicken, mac and cheese, peas and rice, and guava duff for dessert. There were so many people Saturday night that moving about was a very slow process, but so much fun to see all the island residents out whooping it up. The ladies were all quaffed to the utmost, with fancy dresses, elaborate hairdos and a few high heels, island style.

Cell phones are widely used and cost about the same for a monthly plan as we pay in the states. But it would be very expensive for us to set up a cell account just while we’re here so we use Skype when we’re able. There is quite limited internet bandwidth coming into the islands, which severely limits our use of Skype or uploading photos to our Flickr album.

We remained anchored on the east side of Elizabeth Harbor on the west side of Stocking Island, which is where up to 350 cruisers anchored this year. The count now at the end of cruising season down here is more like 60 boats. The tidal range is about 2 ½ feet, so beaches are frequent and wonderful.

We have been mostly eating aboard as a meal out is $15-25. We have been trading dinners aboard ROLESTRA then Mystique with Jan and Bob cooking and I doing the BBQ. The well-stocked Exuma Market is the small grocery store which is just by the dinghy dock and very convenient. Groceries are at least 50% more expensive here than in the states because EVERYTHING is brought in by boat.

Unfortunately the northeast trade winds have been blowing strong for most of the week which has either caused us to make very wet dinghy trips the ¾ mile over to George Town or hire Elvis and his water taxi to keep us dry, but he charges $12 round trip each. We used him Saturday night as the wind was blowing about 25kts and we were coming back from GT after dark. Warren Alpern, an old friend who Bob and I worked with at Holubar Mountaineering in the ‘70s in Boulder, arrived amidst the mayhem Saturday night to crew with Bob this week up to Staniel Cay where he’ll fly out Saturday morning and Bob’s next crew will fly in. Bob will then depart for his trip back to Jupiter, FL.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26

Bob and Warren were anxious to head north out of George Town to explore the cays, so we both weighed anchor at 6:30 and headed out into Exuma Sound in 20kt ENE winds which built back to 25kts during our 2-hour “sail” under staysail on a broad reach in 8’ seas up to Rat Cay Cut, just off the northern tip of Great Exuma Island. The ride was a wild one with both boats often rocking over 45 degrees and many of our stored items down below falling to the cabin sole – and we thought we were prepared!

We were greatly relieved to glide in to the smooth waters behind Rat Cay and motor north over the shallow banks at high tide to a protected anchorage behind Lee Stocking Island. We were anchored by 10:30 and had the rest of the day to relax and dinghy ashore. There is a short rise between us and the Sound which we hiked over for a breathtaking view of the rough seas breaking on the tall rocky cliffs that form the northeastern shore of most of these islands. And looking back to the west you could see that amazing turquoise colored water of the Great Bahama Bank.

MONDAY, APRIL 27

The winds stayed up greater than 25 all night and we closed many ports and hatches to quiet the boat.

Today is Warren’s birthday and we gave him a happy birthday call on the VHF. We had hoped to tour the Caribbean Marine Research Center here today. It is one of NOAA’s National Undersea Research Centers. The center is affiliated with Florida State, the U. of South Carolina, Oregon State, the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and the USGS. It offers scientists a complete marine field laboratory with easy access to pristine marine environments including coral reefs shoals, mangrove swamps, sea grass beds, and much native sea life. They have a 2-man submarine which can cruise up to seven hours at 1,000’ depth. The Center does some amazing research and I would guess you could Google them for more info.

We have not been able to raise anyone at the Research Center for permission to come aboard and take a tour this morning which we very much wanted. Since Bob and Warren are on a time schedule and we’re not, they decided to head north in the rough waters of the Sound (the Banks are too shallow here to stay behind) to another cut where they can travel farther north on the calm waters of the Banks. We decided we didn’t need another trip out into the Sound today and decided to stay put, hoping the Research Center would open this afternoon.

This is a great day for reading, writing and “mechanical opportunities”. Aside from installing the new diesel engine raw water cooling pump when I first arrived aboard Mystique, this trip has been refreshingly free of mechanical breakdowns (knock wood). I was able to connect the ‘drain to nowhere’ in the forward head to the shower sump pump via a new ½” drain fitting and T connection so now our guests can take showers in the forward head next to the “V” berth.

Saturday, April 25, George Town, Exuma

We have had a fantastic week + here in George Town. Sunny days, warm breezes (or winds), cooler nights, turquoise waters and white sandy beaches. Wendle, who looked after our boat over the winter, took us out on his 23' Whaler outboard for 3 days to watch the Family Islands Regatta which is DEFINITELY the highlight of the year here.

Each year Bahamian wooden sailing working boats are brought here from all over the Bahamas for their grand championship of yachting. I can't upload very many pics right now because of the limited connection, but there are a few examples I've posted on our Flickr photo album - see link at left.

We're sailing back north towards the middle of the Exuma island chain for a week of cruising and island hopping before Bob leaves for Florida aboard Rolestra with new crew, and we head back to GT next weekent to pick up my cousin Robiananne Holzworth and her husband Alan who are flying over from FL. They'll be with us for a week of adventure before flying home the following Sunday.

We'll post more pics as connections allow, but in the mean time, imagine us having a wonderful time in these gorgeous waters and warm, friendly people of the Bahamas.

George Town, Great Exuma Is., Bahamas

4/17 Friday

Boy, it’s been a long time since good wifi access and the ability to upload pics and blogs. I'll do the blog first as pics will take a higher-speed connection. As always you can look at previous pics by clicking on the Flickr photo album link to the left. I’m writing now from Stocking Island across Elizabeth Harbor from George Town, Great Exuma Is. where life is good. More about it later. I’m not adding daily bits about the weather because every day has been sunny, 80-85 degrees with mild to moderate winds. Nights usually get down to 72-75 and are great for sleeping. Pretty ideal.

Thursday, April 9.

Aboard Rolestra, our friend Bob Bruce’s IP 40 we continue our adventure. Bob has been a gracious captain and good cook and I have enjoyed my voyage with him. He's a long-time friend who I originally met working at Holubar Mountaineering in Boulder in 1971. We have enjoyed many sailing adventures together, including a year ago to the Abacos.

Jan is still in Frisco skiing her heart out as Colorado gets snow day after snow day! Hard to imagine down here in da islands. After a lovely stay on the hook at Norman’s Is. with a nice meal ashore we headed the next day out the cut east into the Exuma Sound (deep water) and motor-sailed a short distance down to Shroud Cay which is uninhabited and the northern-most island in the Exuma Land and Sea Park which we wrote much about last fall. Shroud Cay has a wonderful lazy mangrove stream that winds its way from the banks side to the sound side which we dinghied through. The mangroves dry out at low tide but have 2.5’ water at high tide, and there’s always a current in the stream. At the eastern end of the stream we ‘climbed’ a 35’ hill from where you could see the whole island and far beyond. This hill used to be an outpost for the US FDA drug buster team as they were tracking a notorious Columbian drug runner using the air strip on Norman’s Is. They tracked all the flights in and out of Normans long enough to put the guy out of business with evidence. That was the ‘60’s, man!

That same day we weighed anchor and headed 15mi or so down to the Exuma park HQ on Warderick Wells cay. After a quick stop and trip ashore we continued on south out in the Sound past Hall’s Pond Cay (owned by Johnny Depp – but no Black Pearl) and many other islands which Jan and I visited last fall, to Staniel Cay. The Staniel Cay Yacht Club is a marina, small resort and primarily, an active bar. There are yacht club flags hanging on every inch of the ceiling from all over the world. I’m sure I looked like the goofy tourist, but it’s fun to walk around with your eyes up looking at all those flags and wondering about all the cruising trips like ours that got those flags there.

Friday, April 10

The next day Don finally got to get out his SCUBA gear and head out on the Staniel Cay Yacht Club dive boat. Don is a rancher and farmer from Bozeman and northern Montana and he was very surprised to learn that the dive boat owner and divemaster was formerly a cowboy in Wyoming! Boy, did they hit it off! At night the divemaster played in the band at the Thunderball Yacht Club which is an even more laid-back place than the SCYC if that is possible. Bob and I arranged to have laundry done and had a nice relaxing day ashore sipping Kalik beer “The Beer of the Bahamas” and doing some Skype phone calls. It was great to have a down day.

After Don’s dive trip we dropped our mooring about 3:00 and sailed 12 miles down to Black Point on Great Guana Cay which we had learned was having a celebration that night. The anchorage is wide open and had great protection. This night there was music blasting ashore, floodlights and a ceremony to begin the fishing tournament the next day with lots of speakers boasting about how they were going to win the big prize which was a giant trophy, and apparently major bragging rights. Also there were many small plywood booths selling all kinds of local fare (and beer or rum). We stopped and had some guava duff, a delicious rich smothered cake desert with strong nutmeg flavor. Oh, and some Kalik!

Saturday, April 11

We had thought about sailing all the 48 nautical miles (about 55 statute miles) to George Town this day, but it was blowing like skunk out of the southeast – right on the nose. The forecast was for light winds the next day, so we decided to head down to Cave Cay and found a beautiful protected anchorage from where we explored a private marina/resort (under construction, like everything in the Bahamas – not because the economy is booming but because projects seem to take decades to complete), saw several caves and went out about a mile west on the banks to a sand island which we walked around at low tide but it was so shallow that at high tide it completely disappeared! We spent another peaceful night aboard after the daily showers and simple but delicious meal.

Sunday, April 12, Easter

As predicted we awoke to mild winds and motor-sailed the 7 uneventful hours down to George Town. I have been getting more and more anxious to see Mystique and see what kind of shape she was in. I was delighted to find her looking good and floating!!! It had been four months that she had been alone in this beautiful little hurricane hole. Over the next two days prior to the arrival of the Admiral from Colorado on Tuesday evening I worked like a dog getting everything put back together. Dinghy launched off the aft deck, outboard attached and started (on the 2^nd pull!), bedding, books, foodstuffs and electronics all removed from plastic bags and put away, some cleaning done and a major trip to the local and very complete grocery store. A major project was to remove a broken engine cooling pump and replace it with a new one. After that, the diesel engine started right up. So Mystique was ready to roll!

Tuesday, April 14

Jan arrived on schedule at sunset and I met her (and Samantha) at the airport. The next day was anothe obligatory trip to the grocery store and giving the boat the Admiral’s touch. When we leave Mystique for months, we put Everything we can in plastic bags and so far, knock on wood, we have not had any mildew or mold.

The Family Island Regatta is beginning next week and preparations are furiously underway in Georgetown. Every island chain in the Bahamas sends their local winning boats to this super bowl of sailing. It is said to be bigger than the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, World Cup, etc. The boats must be designed, built and mostly manned by Bahamians. They are traditional Bahamian working sailboats with HUGE mainsails. They must be made out of wood, with wooden masts that do not bend. They have hiking boards that slide from one side of the boat to the other as the boats tack, followed by enough bodies to keep the boats upright. Moveable lead ballast is also used in the boat, and if the boat capsizes the lead is so heavy that the boat sinks! It is recovered later by first removing the lead pieces, then raising the boat.

The boats alone are fun to watch, but the preparations are also entertaining. Everyone in town is madly building temporary booths out of plywood – some with decks overlooking the water! There is one booth that told us they would be selling beer and other alcoholic drinks. The name of this booth for the sailing races - ‘Liquor is quicker’. As a racer - - - hummm. We have secured crew spots on a photorapher’s boat for several days and are looking forward to that next Wednesday – Saturday.

More to follow, including pics, I promise, as soon as I find a faster connection across the harbor in George Town!

Exumas at Last! Norman's Cay

Wednesday, April 8

Long story short, the motor wasn’t back and installed in the windlass until Friday evening. Bob, Don and I took advantage of the pool, shower and covered patio at "Casa" to our hearts content. The traditional afternoon “opening time” of 4:30 was honored with spirits and 'horse doovers' and lots of friendly talk. Meanwhile the screaming southwest winds blew over and we avoided a nasty time heading south in the ocean.

Saturday was a glorious day and we headed out the Ft. Lauderdale cut around 8am. The light wind was behind us and would not propel the boat very fast so we motor sailed, passing a US Navy submarine several times as it practiced going up and down the coast. The shoreline along this stretch of ocean is even more crowded than farther north with huge condo complexes with their tenants wondering where their net worth went.

Our route took us into Miami Harbor straight west to downtown, then south to the southern tip of Key Biscayne where we were last year before jumping east to Bimini. We anchored in No Name Harbor with about 15 other sailboats and a few power boats. Since it was my birthday I was treated by Don to a wonderful dinner and drinks with key lime pie with a candle, and a serenade by the wait staff. A beautiful evening and peaceful sleep before our crossing. The Harbor Grill is the only establishment around this popular destination and is lively with Latin American music, owners and patrons.

The passage to Bimini on Sunday was a breeze. First, the anchor windlass worked! Sunny, warm and mild winds from the south allowed us to enjoy the day with conversation and reading. We had to motorsail with a heading about 25 degrees south of Bimini in order to counteract the amazing force of the Gulf Stream which flows at 3 knots northward. It is said the Stream carries a greater volume of water than all the rivers of the world combined, and it’s not surprising as the canyon is thousands of feet deep and the stream about 40 miles wide!

We arrived in Alice Town, Bimini around 3pm and got a good eyeful of the beautiful blue and green hues that make the Bahamas so gorgeous. We checked in with customs and immigration and Capt’n Bob paid the hefty $300 annual cruising fee. We decided not to stay at the dock in this sleepy little town but rather anchor out south of Bimini that night for an early start across the Grand Bahama Banks the next day – a 70+ mile day at 6 knots. After dropping the anchor we took our first swim of the trip which felt wonderful.

We decided not to attempt the overnight passage down the Tongue of the Ocean between Andros (the largest island in the Bahamas) and New Providence (Nassau) because of the weather forecast. We would instead stay north of Andros and go downwind to the west end of New Providence the next day in the 25kt northwest winds. Then head to the Exumas on Wednesday which was forecasted to be beautiful.

Monday the sky was clear and the winds started at 15 knots (about 18 mph) and built during the day to 25 knots (30mph) out of the south southwest. It was a great day for sailing due east across the banks and we had the engine off all day. We weighed anchor at 5:30 am and dropped the hook at 5:30 pm just east of Joulter Cays on the north side of Andros. The wind was forecasted to switch from the southwest around to the northwest overnight and we needed as much protection as we could get. We had seen no sailboats all day and we were all alone at anchor that night. We did get an amazing amount of sleep in spite of 20kt winds at sundown and 25kt winds at sunrise the next day.

Our ride down the 2000 meter deep Tongue of the Ocean was a wild one, to say the least. It blew 25kt steady, gusting to 30, behind us and the waves were big (8 – 10’) and coming from two directions. The most sail we dared put up was the small staysail with the engine.. We didn’t see any other boats and felt very much alone out there for the 6 hour adventure. It was not a comfortable ride.

Finally we rounded the western tip of New Providence Is. and returned to the comfort of the shallow banks which really cut the waves down to size. The Bahamian Defense Force has a harbor which allows sailors to take refuge from the weather, Coral Harbor Marina, and we took full advantage with a wonderful, quiet night at anchor.

Wednesday broke clear and gentle with north winds at 10-25 which were very welcome for our 45mi journey across the banks (12' deep average) to the Exumas. The temperature has been moderate in this cold front with 75 degree highs. Norman's Cay was our destination and we dropped anchor about 3pm. After chatting with our cruising neighbors and taking the dinghy out to see the partially submerged wreck of an old drug-running DC-10 we walked across the airfield to have a celebratory dinner at McDuff's restaurant from where I'm sending this update. Sorry not to have been able to post more pics tonight, but I'll do that in Georgetown where we plan to be Saturday or Sunday.

Another stop at Casa del Sol

April 2, 2009 - Ft. Lauderdale

All the food was loaded, crew Don arrived from Bozeman, Montana, we had a final lovely meal with Bob's mom Elana in Jupiter, and after an anxious night dreaming about the voyage we left the dock at 9am on Tuesday. The sun finally poked through the clouds as we headed south down the ICW, and we had a wonderful day. We learned later that those clouds produced torrential downpours, lightning and tornadoes around Jupiter! We anchored for the night in a peaceful round basin in Delray Beach and threw some chicken on the barby.

After a sound sleep we had breakfast and made preparations to weigh anchor with Don and I at the bow. Bob moved the boat slowly forward to put slack in the anchor chain and we pressed

the 'up' button on the windlass. "Click click". No movement! This brought back vivid memories of our Abacos adventure with son Andy aboard when Mystique's windlass did the same thing. Don and I pulled the chain in hand over hand, and we set out for Ft. Lauderdale knowing the windlass would need to be fixed before going any further.

Casa del Sol to the rescue again!! This wonderful small condo with docks and swimming pool and party patio with awning had been Mystique's first home after we bought her two years ago and spent two weeks refitting our new boat. And home again last fall when we waited for favorable weather with Swabby Jim aboard - attending the Boat Show. What a perfect place for working on boats and enjoying the friendship of Shelly and Arone, the owner/managers. Bob found a mechanic through a friend who came over right away, removed a non-working electric motor from the winch and delivered it to an armature repair shop. Another "mechanical opportunity", but this time another mechanic did the work;-)

The motor will be installed in the morning, and we plan on heading south to Key Biscayne south of Miami by noon. Saturday morning the weather forecast is for mild winds which should make for a good Gulf Stream crossing to Bimini.

For more pictures, click on our Flickr photo album link on the left of this page.

Spring 2009 Exumas

Monday, 3/30/09

Hello friends and family! Join us as we set out for the Bahamas after a great ski season in Frisco. We've heard from many of you that you live vicariously through our blog and we're delighted to have you along!!

But first, we were invited by Andy to Cleveland 3/19 for the weekend to meet then girlfriend Jessica

McClellan's parents and help celebrate an impending engagement to Jess. We stole into town and met Cheech and Janet for dinner, feeling like we had been life-long frinds (whew), while Andy took Jess to dinner to pop the question. I received a text message after dinner saying "She said YES!".

Then, by pre-arrangment with Andy, the four parents surprised the newly

engaged couple at an upscale bar for champaigne. This was a complete surprise to Jessica and we all shared in their excitement. Andy, Jessica and her parents and large family entertained us royally for the weekend and we had a wonderful, memorable time. No, no wedding plans have been set

yet.

On Monday Jan returned to Frisco to finish up on numerous volunteer responsibilities (Copper Mountain, CASA and church) while I flew down to Bradenton, FL to spend the week with my parents. It was a special treat to have them to myself for 5 days and we had a great time together. Dad is still taking his daily walk at 91 and mom is still driving and organizing their schedule as she prepares for her 90th birthday April 28. What a blessing!

Last weekend I drove east across state to Jupiter to help Bob Bruce (with whom we sailed in tandem a year ago to the Abacos, you might recall) finish preparing his Island Packet 40 sailboat for a trip to George Town, Exuma where our Mystique has been sitting on a mooring all winter since we left her Dec. 10. I get a free passage plus avoid paying 40% duty on several hundred dollars worth of boat supplies. Plus the opportunity to sail again with our friend who I first met working at Holubar Mountaineering in Boulder in 1971. Bob was a partner with Jan and me on our first 15' C-15 sailboat way back when Andy was one year old!

Jan will be flying down to George Town on April 14 with Samantha the Cat. I should arrive a number (unspecified) of days prior to that in order to put Mystique in order for the Admiral's arrival! Mechanical opportunities, varnishing, waxing, cleaning, stocking and launching the dinghy & outboard will all receive my attention.

We head out of Bob's snug little harbor in Jupiter tomorrow morning - the same place we left for the Abacos a year ago(with Andy as crew) and where we left for the Exumas last November (with Swabby Jim as crew). Our planned itinerary this week: Tue, Boca Raton; Wed, Ft. Lauderdale; Thr, Miami/Key Biscayne; Friday, Bimini; Sat - Sun, a two-day overnight trip across the Bahama Banks, down the Tongue of the Ocean and across the Decca Channel to the middle of the Exuma chain. The weather forecast looks perfect at this point with southerly winds to get us across the Gulf Stream and Bahama Banks.