Dirty Laundry

Photo credit - Ken & Cindy, S/V Meant To Be

     The dinghy, the backbone of the cruising world.  Once you drop the hook for the mothership, the dinghy becomes your runabout.  In the above photo, Sharon and I are returning to Big Run after doing laundry at Black Point Settlement.  It's a 15 minute dinghy ride over to Black Point Settlement from Plain Bay.  If we didn't have the dinghy, it would be a 2+ mile walk to town with over 2 weeks of dirty laundry.

The Plain Bay Gang - Part 2

Photo courtesy of Cindy & Ken, S/V Meant To Be

     Christmas dinner at Frank & Peg's home included turkey and all the fixings for the Plain Bay Gang.

The Plain Bay Gang

       We had left Plain Bay about 10 days prior to our return to the bay on the 16th of this month.  During those ten days, we anchored over at Black Point Settlement for a few days before heading north to Pipe Creek to do some snorkeling and fishing.  The anchorage at Pipe Creek is a little exposed to foul weather, especially when the weather comes from the south, west or north, so we were forced to leave after few days because of an approaching "cold" front and seek refuge in between the Majors (Big Majors Cay & Little Majors Cay).  We are not to thrilled with between the Majors as an anchorage because the currents and winds combined can sometimes foul your anchor.  After anchoring that morning, we decided that afternoon to head over to the Big Major anchorage near pig beach.  Pig Beach is for pigs that haven't learned to fly so that they can go swimming!  Well, after watching pasty white women in muumuu dresses and large sun hats get absolutely giddy over swimming pigs, we decided Sunday morning it was time to get back to Plain Bay.  As we rounded Black Point we could see there was one catamaran anchored in the southern section of Plain Bay.  As I glassed the bay I thought the boat looked familiar and just about the time my brain was thinking the boat looked familiar the call came over the VHF "Big Run, Big Run.....where have you been?"  There she was, the boat, and crew we have been searching for - Bill and Mara on S/V Puddlejumper!   I immediately returned their hail and after a few moments Puddlejumper informed us they were 10 minutes away from leaving the anchorage and heading south.  I asked if they could stay for an hour or better yet can they stay for happy hour!  It was a great surprise to see Puddlejumper anchored there.  Back in January 2012 we left Puddlejumper in Plain Bay without getting their email address.  Then in August I posted on the Blog that we were seeking contact information for Puddlejumper.  Many people helped us with the endeavor, but still no contact.  Then in early December our friends on S/V Meant To Be contacted us from Morgan's Buff in Andros, Bahamas that Puddlejumper had dropped anchor just 2 hours after Meant To Be dropped their anchor.  Yes, Puddlejumer stayed in Plain Bay with us for happy hour that evening and over the next four days we had plenty of time to catch up over more happy hours, land excursions and a few games of Euchre.  We learned from Bill and Mara that many friends had contacted them about our inquiry we had posted on this blog.  Bill and Mara had attempted to contact us through the blog's comment section but without success.  Then, when Puddlejumper arrived in Morgan's Bluff, Meant To Be informed Puddlejumper that Big Run was in Plain Bay.  After a few days in Morgan's Bluff, Puddlejumper headed down to Plain Bay only to find an empty anchorage.  Had our departure from Big Major been delayed by 10 minutes we would have missed a glorious 4 day reunion.

      As the week progressed, S/V Meant To Be arrived at the anchorage and the homeowners at Plain Bay also returned to the islands. Thursday evening we all went to town for burgers and rum punch at DeShaMon Restaurant in Black Point Settlement.  As there was ten of us for the dinner party,  the restaurant sent a pick up truck to shuttle us into town which is 2.2 miles from Plain Bay anchorage.   In the photo below is part of the Plain Bay Gang.

The Plain Bay Gang at DeShaMon Restaurant.

    

Trying To Escape

    Last night was a typical night.  We went over to S/V Eleanor M last night for another social hour(s).  What we did not expect was the surprise that was laying in store for us this morning.  You have to get up early to catch the weather reports, and we also had laundry to do today.  I was up at 6 a.m., and Sharon was up shortly thereafter.  During my morning routine, I noticed a "new" sailboat in Black Point Harbour.  The odd thing was its location and its orientation to the wind.  The sailboat was on the north side of the harbour laying in an east west fashion.  All the rest of the boats on the hook were on the south side of the harbour facing SSE because of the breeze.  Upon further investigation with the binoculars, it appeared the vessel was on the rocks, in a state of disrepair and not a soul to be seen.   After the weather report and breakfast, we went into town and discovered the story behind the mystery vessel.  The story goes like this.  The boat was sailed from Haiti with 103 immigrants on board trying to find a better life.  Sometime during the night,  many individuals were dropped off at Bitter Guana Cay, an uninhabited island lying to the north of Black Point Harbour.  Then, the sailboat with many people still onboard was sailed south to Black Point Harbour and scuttled on the rocks so that the remaining passengers could escape to land.  As we did our morning errands in town, we witnessed the local police boat hauling (Haitian) people to Regatta Point at the edge of town.  This was the processing station for the illegal immigrants as they are going to be taken by boat up to Nassau and then returned to Haiti and the life they were trying to escape.

103 people on this boat gives you idea of how desperate they are for a better life.

I Can Handle That!

     It has been a little over four weeks since our arrival here in the Bahamas.  I would have to admit that the weather has been, let's just say a little different than previous years.  The wind, or the lack thereof, helped us to cross over to Nassau in an overnight run.  Prior to Thursday of this past week, the sustained winds had been limiting our activities.  We did manage to squeeze in a few walks and did go snorkeling on the lee side of the island when the winds shifted to a north-northeasterly fresh breeze.  However, the event that did shock everyone was this past Thursday when during the overnight hours the skies opened up and dropped 3 1/2 inches of rain on everyone.  This was a widespread rainmaker that covered the majority of the central Bahamas.  Back in Pennsylvania that much rain overnight would have caused some minor flooding and delayed school openings.  But things are starting to moderate in the next week's forecast.  As a matter of fact, boats are now making the crossing from Florida to many different locations in the Bahamas.  One boat in particular is heading our way, S/V Meant To Be.  Yes, our favorite catamaran couple, Ken, Cindy and Miko their dog, are coming to the Exumas to drop in and continue what we started back in October in their hometown of Brunswick, GA. So let me see if I have this right.  There will be dinner parties, check.  Happy hours, check.  Sundowners, check, and a few social hours, check!  Who cares (or not!) what Mother Nature throws at us when you have friends dropping in to say hello.  I can handle that!