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