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Bank Sailing the Exumas and an Offshore Passage to the Abacos

Time hurries on and we find that spring is approaching.  In our world we are beginning to think about positioning our boat for a trip back to the states to “gear up” for an Atlantic Crossing.  Our current thinking is that we will wrap up our “Bahamas Time” in the Northern Abaco region of the Bahamas and then head straight for Beaufort, NC to haul the boat and do our prep work.   In the mean-time Kim’s parents deserve a couple of gold stars for arranging a “spur of the moment” visit with us at Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos in April.  Anna and Finn and Mom and Dad are very excited to be able to share some of our adventure “real-time” with family.

So in contrast to our seemingly aimless wanderings of late we now have an actual calendar date (April 9) where we have to be somewhere specific.  Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos lies close to 200 nautical miles (230 statute miles) away from our current location near Staniel Cay.  There are numerous potential paths or routes to take which will likely include passing through cuts, sailing off-shore, and crossing shallow banks with coral heads and reefs.  We must consider wind strength and direction, tide heights and timing of highs and lows, current strengths and directions, day-light, moon-light, sun and rain.  On top of that we must consider intermediate anchorages and sailing angles and how to minimize motoring to preserve cruising dollars.  We also want the trip to be fun and interesting and not too hard on people or the boat. 

Fortunately, because I don’t generally like people I don’t feel compelled to explore the people side of these islands.  It is not that I am not somewhat interested it is just a much, much lower priority for me.  I understand that interacting with the natives and visiting the populated places to experience the “culture” is most admirable and what most cruisers seem to do but I won’t kid you into thinking that plays a big role in my passage making/cruising plans.  For me it is about the earth…about nature and trying to work with it to get somewhere…I want to see the things that few human eyes have seen.  Kim, I think might be interested in the culture side of things but she hasn’t brought it up so for now it is a non-factor for me.

Though we have been greatly enjoying our explorations of the land and sea areas of the Exuma chain of islands, the more we explore the more we realize that there is no way we can see it all on this short trip.  We trust that we will be back some day and decide it is time for us to move on as conditions will allow.  As captain it is my responsibility to plan our routes and time our movements with the safety and security of our family and our vessel as a top priority.  Probably the most common error made by cruisers and voyagers is to get in a situation where they set aside good judgment and common sense because of pressure to make it to a particular destination on a particular date and time.  These boats move about jogging speed so you simply can’t outrun the weather.  The risks are real and range from the need to endure extremely uncomfortable voyages to the possibility of losing the vessel or even lives.  I suppose I am boring you all with this but I want you to understand that there is a lot more to this process than seeing a cool place on the map and simply driving to it.

In my approach to route planning I like to think in terms of macro-level factors first (Big Picture, more seasonal stuff) and then micro-level factors (Daily variation).  We are still in the steep part of the learning curve so this is an evolving process.

Cruising ground of interest:  Bahamas Starting from the East Coast of US

Examples of the macro-level:

1.       Cruising Season: January through May to avoid hurricane season.

2.       Prevailing winds are East so push to the East fast, far and early when opportunity arises

Note: Seems like it hardly ever actually blows east

3.       Cold fronts tend to be stronger and more frequent in the Northern Bahamas and lessen as spring approaches: Start by getting as far south as you want to go then work your way north as the season progresses.

Examples of Micro Level stuff:

1.       Interpret government wind models from www.passageweather.com

2.       Listen to Chris Parker interpret government wind models on the SSB Radio

3.       Look at our own weather instrument data and look at the sky and water

4.       Consider wave height and direction as well as swell height, direction and period

5.       Check tide charts

6.       Study chart books

7.       Use electronic charting program to lay out proposed routes, estimate speed and distances etc.

8.       Look for safe anchorages and backup safe anchorages

9.       Consider opinions and suggestions of other cruisers

On top of this there are other factors largely gained by experience that help in the decision making and route/passage formulation process.

1.       Passing over the shallow banks should be done in good daylight because many of the areas are strewn with scattered coral heads and reefs which may or may not be charted

2.       Don’t pass through a cut when current is flowing out and waves are coming in

3.       I am comfortable sailing offshore at night in non-storm conditions given the safety of deep water coupled with our electronics like radar and AIS (ship identification system)

4.       I like to catch fish so bottom contours and their relationship to the directions of the wind have some importance.

Now for those of you who made it this far let me put it all together to show you how we went from Staniel Cay in the Exumas to Marsh Harbor in the Abacos.

We found ourselves anchored in the Bay of Pigs (Big Majors) in the Staniel Cay area to finish some last minute provisioning and errands.  The weather forecast revealed a period of sustained southerly winds which usually portends a cold front but it looked like we had a few days so we decided to get moving north while the gettin’ was good.  We left just after sunrise with a following wind.  We could have gone outside into the Exuma Sound but I promised Kim some more Bank Sailing.  Kim really likes the sailing on the bank side (shallow with no swell).  It reminds me a lot of sailing on the Finger Lakes in New York State, long straight runs.  I like it too but the fishing sucks.  We were pushing for Highbourne Cay in the Northern Exumas but when we got there the sun was still so high that we decided to press on a bit further.  Thankfully our days are getting longer so we have a lot more time to cover ground or at least we have a little daylight to enjoy when we stop for the night.  We made it to Allan’s Cay which took us minimally off our route north.  The sailing was slow that day and all dead down wind.  We flew the Genoa on the pole so we could run ‘wing and wing’.  Most folks were motoring or motor sailing but we decided we weren’t in a huge hurry and sailed until the last few miles when the wind died to a whisper.  When you sail with the wind the apparent wind (wind that you feel) goes down to almost zero which allowed us to get nice and hot.  It’s been a bit colder than we expected here so we enjoyed the heat and promised the kids we would go swimming when we were anchored.

 

The anchorage was well protected but full of boats.  Fortunately we found a good spot near the entrance to the lagoon.  Everyone jumped in to the crystal clear water.  Suddenly we had a 3 foot shark darting all around by our feet.  He wasn’t big but still…!  After closer inspection I realized this wasn’t a shark but a really big Remora (has a suction cup on his head and usually catches a ride on another fish).  This one was really big.  Anyway he must have thought our boat hull was a big shark or something.  Anna and I tried to catch him all evening and we were so close but we couldn’t quite hook him.  Apparently it is not uncommon for Remora’s to catch rides on boats.  You learn something new every day.

After dinner Kim and I reviewed our progress for the day and made plans for the next day’s travel.  We were basically at the end of the Exuma chain and we had a lot of options as to how and where to proceed.  As I wrote earlier the southerly wind usually means a cold front is approaching and it looked like we had two and a half more days until it would hit.

We considered four options:

1.       Sail East to the south end of Eleuthera (rejected because there are people there)

2.       Sail North across the banks to Current Island and then on to Royal Island,  Royal Island has a natural hurricane hole and an abandoned marina and is said to be a fantastic place to hide from bad weather.  (This option was rejected because we realized Current Island has a canal you have to run through that can have an opposing current of up to 11 knots.  We can only run about 6.5 knots with our engine at full throttle.)

3.       Sail North across the banks on the Fleeming Channel which opens into the Northeast Providence Channel (ocean) between Nassau and Eleuthera.  Then sail a bit further to the northeast to Royal Island, same as above. 

(This option was compelling but ultimately rejected and would serve as a backup if necessary).

4.       Sail North across the banks on the Fleeming Channel and then continue on North through the night, across the Northeast Providence Channel (Ocean) up the East side of Great Abaco Island and run through a cut into the Sea of Abaco near Marsh Harbor at daylight or thereabouts. (Accepted!)

You all know that I would be all over option 4.  I wish I had a way of describing the look on Kim’s face when I presented the idea…Dad do you remember that “sick dog look” that we used to get as kids?  Anyway there was no getting around crossing that damn ocean and she knew she had weeks to relax once we did it so she accepted the idea.

That evening we laid out the path on the charting program and projected our speed and realized that we should not be in too big of a hurry in the morning or we would get to the Abacos before light.  In any case, this would be a serious passage and there would be lots to do to prep so early to bed we went.

 

At first light Kim, Anna and I got up and began prepping the boat.  We had not put the dinghy up on the forward deck since Grandpa helped us in Fort Lauderdale.  We were all a bit apprehensive of this task but it went surprisingly well.  We actually tried to go slowly just so that we wouldn’t leave too early but we have gotten so efficient at prepping the boat that we were soon finished and just said “the hell with it” let’s go.

Kim needed some time at the wheel so I raised the anchor and finished tying things down on the deck while she got the engine running and piloted us out of the anchorage.  She steered us out to the charted track and we hoisted the sails and we went running to the North like nobody’s business.  The southerlies were increasing and we had gusts to 20 knots.  We ran on various reaches and just one bit close hauled through the last stretches of the Exhuma Chain.  We skated along the shallow bank and then briefly out into the North edge of the Exuma Sound and then into the entrance to the Fleeming channel.  Kim steered the entire time and it was a “spirited sail” to say the least.  We hit new speed records (7 knots) and it was really quite fun.  The entrance to the Fleeming Channel was marked by a little island with an old abandoned light house building which looked like it could have been off the coast of Ireland or something…I loved it. 

 

Once on the channel we set Otto to take over steering.  We actually timed our run onto the Fleeming Channel to coincide with high tide because it had a lot of coral heads to watch for.  After an hour or so these coral heads and mini reefs showed up.  We were in about 20 feet of water and dropping.  At one point we went over one of the heads to see how deep they were and the bottom came up 7 feet.  After that we took the steering away from Otto and posted Anna at the bow to point out the heads and we steered around them.  For the majority of the trip we could see no land and the colors of the water and sky were postcard amazing.

 

This Fleeming Channel passage went on for hours and hours.  Once we got through the bulk of the coral heads and just had a sand bottom Kim went down below and made us our favorite boat snack…POPCORN!

 

 After that Kim and Finn excused themselves.  It was time for Finn’s nap and Kim decided to take a sea sick med and take a nap as well.  Anna and I had a nice sail towards the north entrance to the Fleeming Channel where it empties into the Northeast Providence Channel.  This cut has reefs on both sides and just as we were approaching the tight spot….FISH ON!  We were too close to the edge to heave-to so we just continued.  Fortunately it was a barracuda and not a very big one at that so he played himself out quickly as we never even tried to slow down.  It was a bit awkward trying to get him gaffed and unhooked all by myself at 5 plus knots of boat speed.  I ended up reeling him in as far as I could and then putting the rod in the rod holder.  At this point the fish is just skipping along the surface.  I then hooked my harness to the boat and got out onto the swim platform with the gaff and leaned out and eventually gaffed him under the bottom jaw and released him.  Anna wasn’t too crazy about the whole process but we did it.  At this point we reset the fishing gear and entered the ocean and watched the bottom deepen until our depth sounder could no longer get a return…all the while thinking we would surely get a fish…Nothing.

Kim showed up on deck…our fishing action had kept her awake…Oops.  We steered onto a course that would take us to the Abaco’s.  The wind was out of the south east which gave us a nice broad reach and we zoomed along with a following sea which was minimal because we were in the lee of Eleuthera.  At one point we saw birds working and sailed through a school of feeding fish…but no bites.  We passed Royal Island to starboard and decided it looked like a nice place to go sometime.  Kim noticed a passing ship so it was time to start watching AIS.  AIS is a system that gets data from ships through our VHF radio and gives us information on their heading and speed and closest point of approach…all very handy.  For fun we checked our email and passage weather and I instant messaged my dad our coordinates but we were soon out of range.

As day turned to night we discussed the sailing details.  The wind was forecast to clock from the Southeast to the South and then to the Southwest at 10-15 knots or less.  I decided that I really didn’t want to try to run the whisker pole at night.  Dead down-wind without the whisker pole is really uncomfortable and carries with it the risk of an uncontrolled jibe so we would just continue on with a broad reach.  The wind would force us off our course and we just sort of tacked down wind.  We had plenty of time so this seemed like a good plan to me.  I discussed shortening sail (reefing) and decided against it with the forecasted wind strength (maybe not a great decision).

Just after dark we had an encounter with a cruise ship heading from Nassau to Eleuthera.  This one was on a heading that made us very uncomfortable so I called them on the radio.  They were very courteous and stated that they saw us and would pass safely to our stern.  After this Kim and I discussed the watch schedule for the night and decided we wouldn’t try to do something formal.  She hadn’t really gotten her nap and the medicine to prevent sea sickness had her pretty doped so she went to bed with the kids around 8:20.

Much of the trip seems like a dream from this point on.  I think I was awake for most of it but maybe not?  I had a few more encounters with ships until we were off the coast of Great Abaco and then it was just dark.  The wind never really decreased much but it did back to the south and southwest which forced me to continually alter course to keep the sails safely filled.  A decent sliver of moon was out for a while and then it clouded up and got a little foggy.  Not thick fog but fog nonetheless.  One thing started to nag me and that was our battery status.  I had not started the day anywhere near full charge and the sailing was so good we never needed to motor.  At this point I had the Auto Pilot, Radar, VHF Radio, nav lights and refrigerator running.  This particular point of sail reduces our apparent wind which minimizes the wind the wind generator sees so I was getting minimum power back.  I tried to steer by hand for an hour thinking it would help me stay awake and lessen our power usage.  That exercise only served to make me a lot more tired and realize that I suck at steering compared to Otto.  So during a period when it seemed like the wind had slackened a bit I started the engine and put two hours of amps back into the batteries.  After this I was done…I woke Kim up and we discussed the situation.  We had sailed a fair bit off the lay line to the East and we needed to jibe and sail back to the northwest.  It was pretty breezy, Kim was a zombie and I didn’t feel comfortable with the thought of jibing so we brought her all the way around to the south into the wind and came about and then bore off down-wind on a Northwest heading.  Once we had Otto steering I went down and had the best short nap of my life on the port settee.  I think Kim gave me a couple hours and then I could feel that the wind had freshened and was continuing to back so that the genoa was being blanketed by the main causing it to snap.  We sailed together for a bit and began to approach Little Harbor in the Abacos.  Very exciting but it was still like 2 or 3 in the morning so we brought her in as close to shore as we dared and then did our “come about” instead of jibing procedure.  The wind had really freshened at this point and I really should have reefed…you just don’t feel it when you are going downwind.  When we brought her into the wind to come about she really healed and we created enough of a ruckus for Anna to wake up.  Soon enough we got Midwatch back on a settled track and zooming to the northeast again.  Kim went back to sleep and I waited as long as I could to get her back up.  Just before dawn I was seeing some funky stuff on the radar…rain.  We started getting hit with a few squalls and the winds started gusting to as high as 23 knots.  Around dawn it was time to tack over again and head for our mark.  I woke Kim and we made the course correction.  We decided to run all the way to North Man-O-War Cut and go into Marsh Harbor.  We projected we would arrive at the cut around 8 or 8:30 A.M. just about slack tide and hoped that the cut was enough on the north side to avoid the southeast swell that we were currently in.  The wind and waves were pretty decent but daylight helped make it feel a bit less threatening, we were flying along at 6.5 knots.  I made a cup of coffee and Kim stayed up in the cockpit to keep me company.

 

Sure enough we arrived at the cut at about 8:00 AM.  We listened to the local Marsh Harbor cruisers net radio show and they reported calm conditions at our cut so with that reassurance we skated through into the Sea of Abaco and then motored towards Marsh Harbor in calm cloudy conditions.  Anna and I found a couple of little flying fish on the deck while prepping to anchor. 

It was especially pleasing to come to this spot after this big passage because it is such a familiar place to us.  Kim and I have had the good fortune of visiting this area a couple of times in the past with my parents and their good friends, Woody and Joyce.  It is a wonderful area and we are thrilled to be here again to share it with our kids.  In fact, the last time we were here Kim was pregnant with Anna, nine years ago.

When we pulled into Marsh Harbor we spied our good friend Stein on the Anna Rose anchored nearby.  We met Stein way back at True World Marine in N.C. where this all started for us.  We also ran into a number of other cruisers that we met on our journey…all very pleasing.  Needless to say we anchored, had a big breakfast and Kim and I slept like dogs.  FYI, the next night that expected front finally came through.  There was a gust clocked at the Marsh Harbor Marina at 78 knots (that’s well into hurricane strength)…I don’t know how official that was but for a brief period during this front many boats, and maybe even ours, were dragging.  Fortunately it was over quickly and there were no collisions but it was pretty wild.  Most of us started our engines and stayed up too many hours in case we got another burst.  Damn this boating thing can be tiring.  It’s a good kind of tired though!

 

Passage Data:

Day 1:  Big Majors, Exumas To Allan’s Cay, Exumas

Total Distance: 45.03 nautical miles

Average Speed: 3.91 kts

Trip Time:  11 hours 30 minutes

 

Day 2:  Allan’s Cay, Exumas to Marsh Harbor, Abacos

Total Distance: 140.71 nautical miles

Average Speed: 5.47 kts

Trip Time:  1 Day 1 hour 43 minutes

 Below is a screenshot of our charted tracks (see the purple line). Note the big downwind tacks we took on our approach to the Abacos.

 

 

All Who Wander Are Not LOST

A long time ago, Bob and I decided that if we were making a purchasing decision, we should ask ourselves if this purchase would keep us in the house or get us outside and keep us active. We credit this one decision in life for a lot of what we have achieved including this trip. As many of you know, Finn was born with a cleft lip and palate. Our day-to-day existence for most of his first year greatly contrasted with our more normal routine and by the time we made it through his fourth month and first surgery, we were beginning to question our long-standing decision of no television.  We had watched most of our movie library (on a small laptop) and exhausted the SailTV clips on the internet.  It was at this time we heard on the news that people were upset about the State of the Nation showing at the same time as LOST.

Being completely ignorant of pop culture, we decided to see what LOST was all about. I reserved the first season DVD set from the library (yes, we are very cheap), we watched and were hooked. I reserved the second season from the library and we waited, and waited, and waited. I finally asked the librarian what was up. Turns out the member library that owned Season 2, wouldn’t share such a popular title to out-of-towners! So we broke our own rule and purchased Season 2. And then 3, 4,  5 and 6.

A mysterious animal at one of the abandoned residences

Our first trip to George Town wasn’t all that exciting and we left not too long after arriving.  We headed north with plans to slowly make our way through to the Abacos. Our first stop north of George Town was Lee Stocking island about 25 miles up the Exuma chain, a nice sized island with hiking trails, an abandoned laboratory (nearly 20 buildings), snorkeling, multiple beaches and almost-new moorings. We arrived at Lee Stocking on a Tuesday afternoon with enough time for a little exploration. The island is home to the now defunct Perry Institute of Marine Sciences. After a short walk through the abandoned lab site it was apparent that the island was straight from the set of LOST, complete with laboratories, abandoned food, mysterious animals and lurking strangers. 

Finn at the Perry Institute

Lee Stocking Island was purchased by businessman John Perry in 1957 and the Perry Institute of Marine Science was established in 1970. The early work at the laboratory included developing underwater or ‘hydrolabs’, Deepdiver submarines, and submersibles; they even provided the underwater car for the 1977 James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. Over 40 years, there were multiple houses, laboratories, tanks, experiments and other oddities constructed on the Island. Exploring these, in an abandoned setting, was eerily LOST.

Notice those fresh tire tracks?

The day of our arrival, we dingied over to the main dock and clambered up while trying to prevent assorted nails and other sharp objects from puncturing our inflatable. The dock was missing some planks but we were soon on dry land, in the facility welcoming area. This included a small gift shop complete with posters for sale, a dive locker, what looked like a residential house, a large, unidentified piece of equipment (cement mixer?) and a laundry area, complete with a load of wash sitting on top of one of the washers. We headed south, passing a salt pond with sideways-swimming fish and found the airport runway. There were three storage buildings there. One had Home Depot scrawled across the side, another was packed with an odd assortment of equipment like office chairs and building supplies. We continued over the airstrip, up a rise, and emerged onto one of the most beautiful beaches we had ever seen.

Runway Beach

Upon our return to the main building area near the dock, we strolled down a waterfront path on the north side of the dock, passing residential houses, a commissary, food storage, laboratories and large out-door aquaculture facilities. The aquaculture tanks and systems (Bob studied aquaculture and worked in the closed-system aquaculture industry for years) also allowed us to clearly see the value of the infrastructure that has been lost and abandoned.

Aquaculture infrastructure

We continued back around the main ‘road’ and realized that a tractor that had been sitting in front of a garage was gone. Tire tracks led out towards the airstrip. As the days passed, we made several trips back to the island. We never saw anybody there when we were there but we continued to see evidence of use including a laptop and lamp on in one of the houses, the trash pit burning and items being removed from buildings. One building we peeked in had working battery and rain water collection systems. We waited at each corner for a LOST VW bus to come screaming around the corner, Hurley at the wheel.

We don’t know the real story of what happened at the facility but it is likely a sad story; a lot of money invested in infrastructure, now abandoned. Although we joked about the hardship of being a researcher living in paradise and the secret pot stashes that must be there from long-forgotten graduate students, we did see evidence elsewhere of the institute including informational posters on local Bahamian creatures including the Queen Conch and Nassau Grouper proudly displayed at the Laundromat in Black Point. The abandoned computers, pumps and gas grills all looked well-used and spoke of a glorious time at the facility. But these have been hard times financially for many and research does not sustain itself. We don’t know how long the facility has been closed or what really happened there, but reportedly, it all could now be yours for the meager price of $30.0M.

Exploring the island and research facility was great fun but we did a lot of other things during our stay at Lee Stocking including sitting out two cold fronts.  We visited a number of fantastic beaches where Finn started to learn to swim with various flotation devices.    We snorkeled and hiked.  We dinghied to Norman’s Pond Cay, an old salt island where seawater was evaporated for salt, to salt the cod, which fed the slaves, who grew the cane, to make the molasses, which made the rum, which kept the sailors going, transporting it all back and forth. This was a full day of school on the fly including a sighting of a spotted sea hare, a 12-inch long, yellow sea slug with purple spots. It definitely goes down in my book as the most amazing sea creature I’ve ever seen.  

Back on Lee Stocking we hiked the highest peak in the Exumas, a whopping 123 feet.   Anna water skied and Finn went tubing.  We went spear fishing and explored a mangrove swamp, we made some great new friends from Maine on board the Lady Nelson. 

The best part about our stay at Lee Stocking was that it was the first place we were where we weren’t trying to get someplace else. This allowed us to kick back, develop a routine and at the same time, go-with-the-flow. We took advantage of the weather, skiing when it was flat, fishing when we saw fish activity and even had two evenings of dinner and dominoes with Bob and Betty from Lady Nelson. 

We not only had a lot of playtime on Lee Stocking, we also got a lot of school and work accomplished. An approaching phone call to the states gave us pause and was the final straw that forced us to untie from the mooring ball. We had to update our internet data card and we were not all that sure what we would encounter for services going north. We also had a lot of other maintenance items that needed attention and decided a half-day sail back to George Town (largest town in the Exumas) would likely get us most of what we needed with the least running around. Given that we only had a little over a month until we meet Yaya and Papou and head back to the States, we decided a good phone call, a thorough provisioning and hoe-out of the boat would be worth the half-day backtrack.

We had a good two days in George Town including meeting back up with SV Chinook. Bob has been following a few family cruiser blogs over the past year and he was quite sure that one of those families was in George Town. After we had completed all of our chores near town, we pulled up anchor and went and found their boat. Just as we were finishing anchoring, the folks from SV Wildest Dreams came over to see us! We soon realized we had more in common than just being cruising families, which we are finding isn’t all that surprising any more. They are both Cornellians and Bob and Tig (the Dad) even had the same aquaculture major and advisor! We had a great evening with them, eating the nice jacks that Anna and Finn had caught, the kids playing, a lot of crafts discussed between the girls and nightmare anchoring stories, as always. We hope to meet with them again on our trip and beyond.

In other news…We have hit our half way point for the school year and we celebrated with a cake. We are also beginning to really learn how to live on the boat including onboard haircuts, saltwater laundry, rainwater collection and washing with Joy dish detergent (lathers in salt water). The boat is also beginning to look like we live in it. The pristine condition in which it was handed off to us has been dissolved. We have added our own nicks, scars and stains and I am not really sure how it smells anymore. Ah well.

Finn Visits Hope Town Lighthouse

By Finn

We went to a light house. The light house was two colors, white and red. I climbed up at the top. There was a net at the top. I could see boats!  I got to play with my friends Jack and John from Morning Star. (Actually the second friend was named Fiona)

The ground outside the lighthouse

This is me climbing up the lighthouse. There were a lot of stairs.

This is our lighthouse

Our dinghy

Travelling North

As we begin our trek north, taking small jumps from cay to cay, we have had some time for reflection, some good sailing on the banks, a little bit of motoring and some almost chilly weather. After leaving George Town for our second trip, that great sail north where we got all tangled up in those mahi mahi (see previous post by Bob), we passed back onto the banks at the Galliot Cut. There is a nice anchorage just inside the cut where we anchored with four other boats. That evening, we visited a small beach, grilled some fish and relaxed. Since then we have made our way in small jumps north, hiding from a northerly front near a big castle, catching up on laundry at Black Point Settlement and waiting for propane on Staniel Cay. I have also had fun converting all my recipes from beef and chicken to fish. That was one big fish!

We spent one day just south of White Point and visited a beach that was just loaded with sand dollars. You couldn’t walk without crunching them. It was a little bittersweet to know what was happening beneath your toes. Meanwhile, above the waist, we were remote enough and it was warm enough for me to dig out my two piece suit, which only resulted in a burnt tummy. I should have known better at my age.

Although we only spent one evening in Black Point, we all really enjoyed our stay there. Please take a look at Anna’s photo journal, posted a few days ago. All the photos were taken on the same day, at Black Point Settlement in the A.M. and around the south side of Black Point in Little Bay in the afternoon. We had a great snorkel there on some nice little coral heads and Finn learned to ride on the back of Mom and Dad as we snorkeled. Anna and Finn made friends with all the cruisers at the Laundromat and I was thrilled to be called Super Woman as I hefted 12 gallons of water back to the dinghy.  I was able to boast to Finn that he wasn’t the only super hero in this family!

Boat School under sail

From Black Point we travelled back to Staniel Cay so that we could fill an empty propane tank. We go through about one tank a month and after six weeks here, decided we better get one of the two tanks filled. We missed propane in George Town by only a day, (scheduled for Wednesday AM but arrived Thurday PM, we arrived Friday PM) and Black Point does not have propane sales, so we decided to make a quick stop at Staniel for propane.  We headed back to Big Majors, now more affectionately called “The Bay of Pigs” by Bob, anchored and quickly drove to town. Over a period of two afternoons waiting for the tank to be filled, we were able to get in a very pleasant lunch of cheese burgers in paradise at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and a nice visit with  Hollie at Leaf Cay. We were happy to eat at the Yacht Club but had been interested in trying one of the other two restaurants in town, which at 1:30 in the afternoon had “no more food.”

Our respite at Staniel allowed us to go see Hollie at Leaf Cay. Hollie is the caretaker there and had spent some pleasant time with Dr. Bob and Grandma Judy last fall in their visit to Staniel.  We had a wonderful visit.  We did not get enough of his stories and easy-going sense-of-humor in the three hours we spent with him and we hope we can return next year and take him to Green Cay for a couple of days. He so wants to go.

We left Staniel Cay early this morning with a full propane tank and fresh vegetables. Today we passed the point where we had entered the Exumas near Sampson Cay and passed through the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We had a beautiful but slow sail north, traveling wing and wing.  Anna did school work and Bob and I relaxed in the cock pit; Finn ran amok, as usual. Our merry atmosphere was broken this afternoon as we followed an attempted rescue of a fallen hiker on nearby Warderick Wells on the radio and later watched the helicopter return from Nassau. We believe we met this person a few days ago, which sobered the entire afternoon. No news yet but things sounded grave.

Tomorrow we had plans to head up to Royal Harbour, a protected anchorage near the north end of Eleuthera where people sit to wait for a weather window for the passage to Abaco. In refection on that plan tonight and some great weather forecasted, we have decided that tomorrow is just the sort of day people wait for to cross. So as of now, we plan to head for Abaco in the morning and anticipate a 24-hour crossing.

Trying to catch the shark-like remora under the boat at Little Allan Cay

Anna’s Blackpoint Settlement Photo Journal

Me, my mom, and Finn went to the ROCKSIDE  LAUNDRAMAT.  People say it is the best Laundromat in the Bahamas.

Water side

Street side

 

Here are pictures of the police station. My brother is staring at the police station, which makes the reflection in his glasses.



Here are some shots from around town.

The view down the main street.

 

A swing made from a boat bumper.

This is the school. It goes through ninth grade. Afterwards they have to go to Nassau.

My Mom is filling up our water jugs at the community spigot.

The world famous Lorraine’s Café.

Improvements

OBAMA!?

View from town.

My Mom, Dad, Finn, and I went snorkling, we got a lobster. I did not get a picture of it, but we got these great shots.

 

I found perfect sand for sand castles.

STORM!

Funny boy

Fish Tales and Sailing Stories

So I “Bob” am going to take a stab at this blog posting thing.   I am thinking of writing two sections but today I will combine them.  One will be on fishing because Kim can’t tell a lie or even enhance a story which makes me crazy and then one on sailing because poor Kim is prone to seasickness and is generally in a medically induced coma while at sea.

We will begin at Lee Stocking Island in the southern Exuma chain of the Bahamas Islands where the LaDue family finally stopped travelling to or away from something…we were there.  Kim can give you details about this grand spot and about the idealistic routine we found ourselves in starting the day with ssb weather reports and then breakfast and then work and school until noon then lunch and then exploration and fun yadda yadda.  Well finally one day, it doesn’t matter which one and I can’t remember anyway, I woke up at 6:30 and popped my head out of the companionway and almost fell off the ladder.  It was dead flat calm!!!  Anybody that has spent any time in the Bahamas knows the wind never stops…day and night and on and on.  Also anyone who knows me or has seen our boat knows that I have a problem with gear and toys.  Anyway we dragged Anna’s water skis all the way from Maine so that she would have a chance to keep up with her cousin Alice who skis every day in the summer (thought we could get the sneak on her over the winter down here).  So, a declaration was made…”no school and no work while there is flat water”.  Anna actually shot out of bed.  Finn, of-course, is always ready.  We have to break a few rules while pulling skiers with our dinghy and it’s 10 great horses.  A severe weight restriction means that Finn (the designated watcher) has been taught that he is actually 10 years old and not 3 if we happen to be stopped by the authorities.  So cautious but capable Anna proceeds to ski all through the anchorage (so mom could take pics) at 7 am.  They were mostly Canadians so we decided it didn’t matter if we woke them up and spilled their coffee with our wakes.  The skiing was grand but then all of a sudden the water all around us erupted in an epic feeding frenzy of foot long Jacks (fish).  It looked a bit like a bluefish blitz for those of you from the Northeast US.   Anna was yanked over the side of the inflatable…skis were stowed and off to Midwatch we screamed to switch out our gear for fishing rods.  Anyone who fishes the salt knows what “running and gunning” is and if you don’t then figure it out for yourself.  Anna was on point…arm up and coaching me to the head of the schools.  Finn was staring at the engine, hand on the throttle with mine…he loves when that Mercury screams.  As we approached…Anna launched the perfect cast into middle of the boils.  I worked Finn’s 3 foot ice fishing rod…his accuracy isn’t quite there yet.  Fish-on…fish-on…we had multiple doubles.  These are hard fighting fish again like Bluefish.  We lost some and caught some…in the end we had 4, two apiece.

 

I filleted those fish on the swim platform of Midwatch while sitting on the bow of the dingy with my feet on the swim ladder.  It was very efficient but again it was calm.  The carcasses were carefully slid into the water so the Canadians wouldn’t see why all the sharks and rays were hanging out under our boat.  Didn’t take very long!

That evening I realized that our lights in the boat were attracting baitfish and every once in a while a big fish would crash the party.  I still hadn’t unpacked any of my spinning rods yet so the closest thing I had with the heaviest line was actually Finn’s 3 foot ice rod.  The first hit was a clean bite off.  I tied on some big rubber thing and tossed it in and bang “fish-on!  Finn’s rod was on fire…my first goal was to try and keep him out of the other moorings and anchors of neighboring boats.  I tightened the drag down until the line felt and sounded like piano wire.  The fish was a bulldog.  I fought him for a good half hour and then he made a surge and snap.  The next morning I opened the reel and found a thimble full of salt in it.  That night I tried again and it was the same story.  I finally felt compelled to pull out the big gun and was rewarded with a dinky Jack and then a hundred casts with no bites.

So this is a ‘catch-up’ blog so the order of events may not always be correct…who cares.  Grandpa had left and with him so had our ability to catch fish.  We were out of fresh protein and have 25 pounds of rice on board…school and work were over for the day and Anna and I decided to break out the spears and try to shoot dinner.  We had a map that I stole out of one of the buildings of the abandoned research facility that Kim will tell you all about.  On this mapped was marked a dive spot by a couple of small islands/rocks called the Tug and Barge.
 

It is about a mile run from Midwatch.  Very cool spot with an occupied Osprey nest on the Tug rock.  We put on our gear and went over the side.  There was a lot of current and Anna stayed in the Lee of the Barge rock while I worked the perimeters.  I found a coral head with what looked like a pair of lobster whips moving back and forth in the current.  It was a tight spot and I wasn’t able to ever get a look at the lobster but while diving on it I was surrounded by a school of large Jacks.  One of them made a mistake and I let him have it.  Now these are Hawaiian Slings and when you shoot them at a fish you lose contact with the spear.  When hit this fish goes berserk and does spirals down current until the weight of the spear finally brings him to the sea floor.  I swam down and bring him towards the surface and then I made a mistake.  This spear only has one flapper type barb on it and I held it so that gravity allowed the barb to go flush with the spear and whoosh I lose my fish.  He was hurt and I chased him unsuccessfully.  I felt pretty bad and decided to go back to the coral head with the lobster.  He was still there but impossible to get at and just as I was about to give up I spied my fish.  He was hurt pretty bad and was trying to hide near some coral heads.  He made his second mistake and swam into a hole that only protected his head.  This time I made it back to the boat with my prize.  Looks like we won’t starve after all.

 

We finally had to leave our beloved Lee Stocking Island paradise.  Basically we were being buried alive in stinky garbage.  Our internet needed a cash infusion, we had burned so much gas skiing and tubing and running and gunning that we simply had to go back to civilization.  So back to Georgetown we went.  Our choice was simple: that was the way the wind was blowing and they have free water there.

So after weeks of living in the protection of this great anchorage we had to deflate the tube and stow the mercury, lay out the jacklines (safety lines to connect your harness to while at sea), take down and stow the shade awnings, secure the galley drawers, start the main engine and head for the cut.  Cuts are breaks in the islands with depths that allow one to pass from the inside (western shallow bank side) to the outside (eastern deep ocean Exuma Sound side).  These cuts can be very dangerous especially if the waves and tidal currents are opposing which creates dangerously steep and breaking waves.  From past experience we have learned that the motion of the boat is greatly controlled if you have at least one sail up while motoring.  This dampens the rolling of the boat.  It is also very nice to set the main sail while you are not in the big waves and swells of the ocean.  So we did this and motor sailed through the cut into some really big and confused waves.  The boat takes these conditions amazingly well and we hardly get a drop of water on the deck but it is still a period of great stress for me.  The wind was fair and we were able to set the genoa and cut the engine as soon as we were through the cut.  Anna always comments on how nice it is when we cut the engine.

Once in the open sea and deep water the waves lengthen out and my confidence builds.  We start by gaining “sea room” which means get the hell away from land which equals “danger”.  Eventually I am satisfied with our sea room and we get the boat on a heading for our destination and let ‘Otto’ the autopilot take over steering and trim our sails for speed.  Today was unique in that we were able to head almost dead down wind.  So we set her ‘wing and wing’ meaning the main was set off the starboard side and the genoa off the port.  There was a lot of roll and snapping of the genoa so I went forward and set the whisker pole.  This is an aluminum pole that attaches to the mast and then genoa sheet and helps hold the sail out and flat away from the boat.  Once set, things settled down nicely.  Unfortunately like so many of our other sails in the ocean Kim and Anna start feeling the effects of seasickness.  So I am sent running below for drugs and water.  Finn pretends he is seasick and makes me run for milk and toys.  After the girls are sufficiently doped they both go to sleep or some version of a coma and it’s just me and Finn.  Today he goes below and just runs amuck.  Every once and a while he climbs up the ladder and asks if I can go down and play with him…I tell him I have to watch over Otto he asks why three times, gives up and goes back down below.  Finally it is time to set the lines.  Some people actually sail hundreds or even thousands of miles and never fish.  Who can understand that?  I have two trolling rigs and a bunch of back-ups if I need them.  One set up is a big Penn Senator that was Uncle Tim’s that Uncle Don had set up for sharking.  I had to give Don back the Shark rod because it was so big it wouldn’t fit in a rod holder…instead Grandpa donated a big spinning rod that does the trick.  The other set up is a fancy shimano rig that I hope to use for jigging up giant cod in Norway.  This rod has a high speed reel strung with braided line.  Grandpa saved the day a few weeks before when he realized the reel had been installed backwards at the store…thanks Dad.  On each line I have a bird teaser that flutters and splashes like crazy (thanks to our friend Mark for the recommendation) and to the teasers I have a leader and an off-shore style lure.  These are of the tube variety which have a separate hook that usually separates from the lure when you have a fish on (good if you catch a fish that jumps a lot).

Anyway I trolled for 20 nautical miles without a bite.  The only action was Finn hollering for help in the head (bathroom) like a dozen times.  The girls woke up just before we entered the harbor.  We hove-to and took the main down and motor sailed with the genoa the 5 miles down Elizabeth Harbor to Georgetown.  It was interesting to see the entrance to the harbor in the day light. 

Weeks earlier we had sailed all day and till well after dark on our way from Dotham cut near Black Point to Georgetown.  On that passage we had sailed ‘close hauled’ the entire trip in winds to 20 knots against an unfavorable current.  We even had to tack out to sea once to gain more sea room as well as reef or shorten the main sail so that we wouldn’t heal so much.  I trolled that day until dark, again without a bite,…maybe 35 nautical miles.  I don’t know how much Kim remembers of this trip as she spent a fair bit of it sleeping on two bean bag chairs wedged between the kids’ bunks in the aft cabin.  I did get her up to have her help me reduce sail.  I have to give her a lot of credit as she never complained or said she couldn’t do something even though she looked a bit like death warmed over.  We did have quite a debate as to whether we should stop at dark or continue on and then whether we should spend the night at sea or go in the cut at Georgetown after dark.  Kim will tell you I have a number of problems and one of them is that once I am sailing I don’t want to stop.  That combined with the fact that I knew the forecast for the coming days and figured this was our best day to make it to Georgetown for the next week made it easy for me to decide to press on.  After dark Kim and Anna started to come out of their comas and Anna did a fantastic job running the AIS monitoring vessels as they approached and passed us.  The next decision to be made was do we risk the cut after dark or stay out all night.  To stay out all night you either tack back and forth or hove-to or do some combination of the two.  You have to watch out for ships and keep your sea room.  I am a glutton for that sort of thing and didn’t mind doing it but Kim…not so much.  I finally reasoned that the approach to a harbor that is as popular as Georgetown is very likely to be safe in all but the worst conditions.  We also had good moonlight and a great charting program on our laptop.  Finn had long since gone to sleep so around 10:30 P.M. Kim, Anna and I pushed buttons on Otto to steer our way down the zigzag path of the harbor.  It was a pretty neat experience, once inside the cut we had breakers to our port all lit up in moonlight and the lights of a big city 5 miles in the distance.  As we approached the anchorage we realized that the lights were not of a city but that of 400 mast lights on sailboats.  Somehow we squeezed in between the boats in the dark and dropped anchor.  It was windy and squally and I was nervous about how close to the other boats we were so I opted to sleep in the cockpit to try and keep track of our relative positions.  I was finally driven below about 3 in the morning by a rain squall.  I am pretty sure Kim doesn’t remember any of that.

Let’s fast forward a bit.  We tired quickly of Georgetown and motor-sailed to Lee Stocking, another 25 miles of trolling with no luck.  Spent our time at Lee Stocking and then back to Georgetown, re-supplied, rid of our stinky garbage and it’s time to start heading north.

After a family debate coupled with weather forecasting models we agreed that we would shoot for a Sunday “Day-Sail” to the Galliot Cut near Big Farmers Cay about 15 miles north of Lee Stocking.  There was to be a big swell from the Northeast due to a big storm well away from us.  Winds would be out of the northeast clocking through the day to the east north east.  Our proposed track lies in a northwesterly direction and my hope was that we would be on a beam reach or not more than a close reach which is normally a fast and controlled point of sail.  We have also managed to avoid this point of sail for the entire trip so I was particularly eager to make this run.

Meanwhile a sense of urgency to catch a fish while trolling has been building.  Anna, completely unaware of the cut of her question, has been repeatedly questioning why we only caught fish trolling when grandpa was with us?  At this point I have trolled a good hundred miles without a bite.  The one quarry that I am most after is Mahi Mahi and trolling the Exuma Sound is supposed to be the place to catch them.  This run is likely to be my last really good chance to catch one of these guys for weeks…so the pressure is really on.

We prepped Midwatch on Saturday night and only had to do a few last minute things on Sunday morning and we were off with a good fresh wind gusting to 20 knots.  We motor sailed the 5 miles to the cut partly to charge the batteries.  Believe it or not we use more electricity sailing than at anchor;  Otto is a hungry autopilot.  As we reached the cut you could feel the tension in the whole family.  The breaking waves and agitated sea state were far more than we had yet experienced.  This is a good wide cut and I believe the tide may have been slack or minimal so we got through with minimal trauma.  We were able to carry full sail and the angles were good so I got my close reach.  Once Otto was set Kim and Anna did their best to sleep in the cockpit.  It was a bit rough down below for Finn and he went to sleep on the cockpit floor.  The sailing was awesome and we pushed 6 knots through the water most of the trip.  The first couple of hours we lost a knot or so to a contrary current but it turned around and assisted us for the bulk of the trip.  After an hour or so Finn woke up and was chipper.  I asked him if he wanted to fish and he eagerly agreed.  We set the lines and moved to the back of the boat to watch. 

 

At 6 knots of boat speed the birds really flutter and lots of water was spraying up around the lures.  At one point we started to pass through a lot of Sargassum (seaweed from the Sargaso Sea).  This is prime Mahi Mahi (Dolphin Fish) habitat.  I discussed this with Finn and he really got it so that he was pointing the clumps of weeds out and saying we should catch one soon.  I looked back and realized one of our lures wasn’t behaving correctly so I reeled it in and pulled some Sargasum off the hook.  This is actually not that easy at 6 knots in big seas while towing a rubber inflatable dingy that is crossing back and forth in your wake.   The last thing I need is to hook the dingy.  Anyway, I cleared the hook and let the rig back, set the rod in the holder, sat down and wham!  Fish-on.  The starboard reel is screaming and the rod is bent over big time.  A second later wham!  Fish-on and the port reel is screaming.  We have a double and there is no way I can stop them.  Fortunately Kim and Anna jump awake.  We have to move fast…real fast or we will run out of line.  Best I can think of is to heave-to.  For those non-sailors out there, heaving-to is a way to set the sails and angle of the boat so that both sails basically counteract each other and cancel each other out and the result is that the boat sort of stops and drifts slowly sideways in a fairly controlled manor.  We have done it a few times but I think it is still a mysterious process to most of my crew.  I jumped in the cockpit, had someone put Otto on standby, brought us about and cranked in the genoa and let her lay backed across the stays.  I sheeted in the main and set the rudder and ordered Anna to the wheel to hold it in place.  Kim was working to stow Finn in a safe place and if all went well I would need her on the gaff.  Well when we came about with both fish on, the lines got all weird.  The fish weren’t pulling very hard anymore and it seemed like they were circling.  It was looking to be a real mess.  On top of that we were drifting slowly towards shore with really big breakers crashing so there wasn’t an infinite amount of time to sort this all out.  I started in on grandpa’s rod as that looked like it was going to be the biggest problem.  By now the line was under the boat and the fish was on the other side a long ways away and I couldn’t really tell what direction.  I pulled a bit too much at the wrong angle and the line ended up getting caught in between the rudder and keel where the propeller is.  This is not good but I was still able to slowly retrieve line.  After what felt like an eternity of scraping the line across the boat bottom, watching the breakers get slowly closer, and seeing the other rod get bent in the wrong direction Kim hollers out that it’s a Mahi.  She worked at gaffing it on the other side of the boat from me but the fish stayed too deep.  Finally I was able to work him under the boat and he came through clear.  He was pretty small as Dolphins go and after a few misses with the gaff I impatiently tried to lift the fish over the side with the line and of course the fish fell off.  No matter…we still have another fish on.  Fortunately this fish is not yet under the boat but it is way off the bow so I untie the rod (normally keep them tied to the boat for obvious reasons) and walk/crawl forward and around the forward stay and back down the port side.  This one had taken a tremendous amount of line but I had the high speed reel so soon we were in the fight again.  She came in close quickly but we couldn’t get her close enough to gaff and then she took off and went acrobatic jumping 5 or 6 times.  The kids really got into that part.  Finally the fish tired and I was able to get her up for Kim.  This time Kim was ready and got a good stick in the fish after the 2^nd or 3^rd try.  Anyone who has ever tried to gaff a big fish, while on a sailboat, in a big sea while sea sick and half asleep knows just how hard this is.   If you know Kim you know how strong she is.  She hefted this fish over the side and held it knee high while it went berserk for some period of time, she may have even been screaming at it…I am not sure!  I think everyone was screaming with excitement.  I was finally able to put the rod down and get a hand in behind the fishes gill plate get the hook out and gain control.  I brought her to the back of the boat and tied a rope through her to keep her secure.  Then it was time to get ourselves together and regain our sea room.  We secured the rods and gaff and Kim and I handled the sails while Anna piloted the boat back on course.  Anna was amazing.  She really has a good sense of what this is all about and handles the wheel really well.  We had to go close hauled to get back to our track and it was pretty wild in the 20 knots of wind.  Once we reached our track we could bear off the wind, trim the sails, set Otto, deploy the fishing gear and then get to work cleaning our fish and a whole lot of blood on the deck (and Anna’s face!).

 

 

 

This really picked up everyone’s spirits…though Kim still wasn’t feeling well.  An hour before the fish hit we had given Anna a seasick pill and it really seemed to work wonders.  She was feeling great and engaged the rest of the day.  Unfortunately we only have two more of these pills and you need a prescription for them.  Kim has to go through some sort of internal battle as to whether or not she can steal a pill from her daughter.  I am staying out of it.

Perhaps 10 miles on our way we had a hit and a miss and then I got to watch another Mahi smash a lure and get it.  This time we were prepared.  We hove-to, Anna took the wheel, I pulled the fish in, Kim gaffed it but this time Finn slept through the whole thing.

For you fisherman out there:  When pulling this one in we could see another 5 or 6 Mahi ghosting alongside the fish on the line.  I had Kim take a few casts with a spinning rod and one hit but it was just too rough for Kim to cast and retrieve effectively so we gave it up.  This fish was not to be kept…already had too much meat, so I just hefted him over the side got a picture and tossed him back.

 

We continued on to Galliot Cut and sailed through without the engine on.  The tide was right and it just pulled us through but I will admit I was a bit scared of it.  I like being away from land a lot better.  We made great time and it was the first day of daylight savings and our chosen anchorage was right near the cut so we had time to play.  I will let Kim describe the rest of the day.

This catches us up to today (March 11).  We got up early and headed north on the inside (shallow bank side) at high tide in our highest sailing winds to date (20-25kts).  Only had a few miles to go on a reach so we never bothered to set the main and flew along under genoa alone and virtually no waves.  This is Kim’s kind of sailing and now that she has had a good taste of it I think my days of miles of Mahi Mahi trolling are numbered.  For the time being it is back to work and school till noon for us with short hops north on the “inside”.