I Am A Winner

     We're back at Little Farmer's Cay for the 5F festival.  The 5Fs are - Festival, First Friday, February, Farmers.  As last year was our first trip to the Bahamas, it was also our first 5F festival.  We had a great time last year at the festival and were reunited with some cruisers we had met elsewhere in the Bahamas.  (Click HERE to see lest years blog entry)  For those of you who have followed this blog, you know very well that I had entered the festivals Best Male Legs Contest last year and finished second to a fellow cruiser on M/V Second Star.  Last year (actually it was 2010) we had made the crossing from Miami to Bimini with Second Star.  I knew the competition well but I was robbed of the Best Male Legs title.   So, for the past week I have been working on tanning my legs.  Today, we went "into town" for a walk so I can start toning my leg muscles for the competition.   Word is that I'm the heavy odds-on favorite for the title because of my training and M/V Second Star may not be in the area.  But then on the other hand, I may just retire from competition and become an observer.  Either way, I know I am a winner.

View of the harbor at Little Farmers Cay on a beautiful but blustery day

A Thousand Words (Part 2)

Grotto on Rudder Cut Cay

Another Grotto on Rudder Cut Cay

A Thousand Words

     I don't claim to be a prolific writer or even an award winning blogger.  I just try to convey to family and friends how much damn fun we are having as full time cruisers here in the Bahamas.  Take for example this past week, we meet 2 fellow cruisers from, well let's just say they fly ol' glory on their boat and would like to remain anonymous.  We'll just call them Romeo and Juliet.  It was by chance that we had meet them.  We had just anchored at Lee Stocking Island south of the Caribbean Marine Research Center and one thing lead to another and for the next week we did it all.  We went snorkeling numerous times, moved the boats to Barraterre to watch the New England/Baltimore football game. Romeo left the the Same Ol Place bar feeling quite depressed over the Ravens' loss.  Happy hours and dinner parties were always on top of the list.  But all good things must come to an end as they were expecting guests flying into Georgetown, Bahamas.  Romeo is very knowledgeable about everything Bahamas and with a little coaxing he was willing to share that knowledge, and I took it all in; Thanks Romeo.  Juliet, in her own right is also very knowledgeable.  Sharon and Juliet had lengthy conversations while the guys were out doing what guys do best - acting like a couple of irresponsible teenagers.  I can't go into detail because I "signed a confidentiality agreement" with Romeo.

    Back to cruising - Sharon and I decided to leave Childrens Bay anchorage this morning and try a new navigation route that took us on the Brigantine and Galliot Banks instead of the Exuma Sound.  Some of the areas had very skinny water (not much depth) but our planning paid off with our arrival time at the questionable area and mother nature supplying high tide when she said she would.  Our bank route adventure was was very great cruise on a beautiful and sunny day in the Bahamas.  And because my writing skills leave a lot to be desired, I thought I would post a few pictures worth a thousand words.

The Exuma Sound At Lee Stocking Island/Williams Cay

Leaf Cay At Adderlys Cut

Grotto And Beach At Rudder Cut Cay

Bob Snorkeling Somewhere In the Exumas - Secret Fishing Honey Hole

Size Really Does Matter (Mine's Bigger!)

Lee Stocking Island Sunrise

M/V Island Link

     This is M/V Island Link, shown with her drop gate stern to the government dock at Salt Pond.  She is considered to be a power catamaran.  In the Bahamas, this is the mail boat.  A few call it the freight boat, but generally it's the mail boat.  Once  a week on Tuesday, she departs Nassau  for Salt Pond, Long Island with anything and everything including the kitchen sink.  From goats to people, cars to trucks, building materials to construction equipment, it all comes by boat.  Most cargo arrives in one of the trailers you would typically see on the open highway.  They can place on average four 40' trailers on the cargo deck.  She even brings her own jockey tractor to move the trailers onto shore and also a forklift for palletized freight.  One of the most critical items she brings is food including dry goods, refrigerated items and frozen items.  It all comes by the mail boat including the mail.  Most mail boats may service 2 or 3 islands per trip but Island Link's mission is Long Island.  Should you elect to take the 16 hour journey from Potter's Cay Dock in Nassau to the government dock in Salt Pond, the fare is $60.00.

The Guys In The Grey Suits

   In between tanning and getting ready to depart Salt Pond tomorrow, we were entertained by fish the better part of the day.  Although difficult to see in the upper photo, the little white streaks are a school of bait fish, each about 1 1/2" long,  jumping out of the water because a predator fish is looking for a meal.

     The lower photo, well, that's a predator fish.  A very big predator fish.  It's a shark about 1,000 feet from Big Run.  In the photo the shark is toying with a piece of drift wood.  This is the second time the shark surfaced to attack the piece of wood.  Sharks are called many names but the name I like the best is "the guys in the grey suits".

Salt Pond Sunset

    There was a green flash last night but not tonight and we never tired of watching the sunset (aka "The Event").

Salt Pond Sunset

Tanker Ocean Energy

     This is Tanker Ocean Energy, hailing from Belize City, Belize, .  She is 175 feet long, a beam of over 40 feet and a draft of close to 10'.  She is just one of many fuel tankers serving the Bahamas.  We spotted this ship in Salt Pond, Long Island, Bahamas, which does not have a "deep draft harbor/dock". Ocean Energy came into the harbor with the mid-day high tide. What may be unique about this tanker is how they refuel land based petroleum storage sites.  Ocean Energy came to within 1500 feet of shore and dropped her anchors, 2 bow and 1 stern anchor.  In the photo, on the port side just at mid-ship is a very large hose reel.  The next operation was to "drag" by dinghy not one but two fueling hoses separately to shore and connect to the storage tanks.  No ocean terminal to connect to here. Then Ocean Energy delivered the gasoline and diesel fuels by pumping the product to shore.  This phase of the operation took a couple of hours and thankfully without incident.  Once refueling was complete, Ocean Energy had to wait until the next high tide at midnight to depart the harbor.

Road Trip

     Thursday was a day of living dangerously.  It all started on Tuesday when Sharon and I made an inquiry for a car rental.  Long Island (Bahamas) is about 75 miles long, and no more than a couple of miles at its widest reach.  There is one main road running north & south, Queens Highway, with a few "side" roads.  The roads are narrow with a few twists & turns and do tend to have grades but nothing mountainous.  The highest elevation on the island is about 125 feet.  Although the car we rented was a conventional car with the steering wheel on the left side, that is also the side of the road you are to be driving on.  So, I gave Sharon strict orders,  no matter how mad I got at her for reminding me to drive on the left side, she was to badger me with reminders to do so.  Actually, if I would have drank 6 Kaliks (Bahamian Beer) before we left at 8 a.m., it would have been easier to drive on the left side!
       While in Salt Pond, we met Dan and Deb (S/V Lady Hawk) from Dover, DE.  We knew Dan from last May when he worked at the West Marine Store in Rock Hall.  We had run into them in Black Point, Exuma and were surprised to see them again in Salt Pond.  They asked if they could share the car rental with us for the day.  Hey, when you're a cruiser, you never pass up an opportunity, especially when you can share the cost with someone else.  It proved very beneficial as they had toured the island before by car.  Dan also shared some of the seat time behind the wheel.
     Our first journey of the day was to go the the very north end of the island, Cape Santa Maria, to the Christopher Columbus Monument, dedicated the the native islanders, the Luycayans and Columbus's arrival in 1492. 

     One of the chores for the day was to get our propane tank filled. The tank was to have been filled on Wednesday but the driver for the propane company was on island time.  He stopped at Long Island Breeze Resort, cruiser central, but left when he did not see the propane tank.  Jackie at Long Island Breeze Resort had called him on the the phone that morning to remind him, but you know it's island time mon!  So we drove down to Gordons at the very southern tip of the island to get the tank filled.
      Our next adventure took us to Clarence Town on the east coast of the island.  We stopped at the Flying Fish Marina for Kalik and fries.  Dan was also on a mission to find some Cuban cigars, but it was no joy for Dan.
      We also visited Dean's Blue Hole near Clarence Town.  This blue hole is the deepest on the planet and with the clear water of the Bahamas was very interesting when viewed from the cliffs above.  In the photos below, you will notice the dive platform that is used for the free-dive competitions - no scuba tanks!
        Despite everybody driving on the wrong side of the road and my Bahamian driving skills, I managed to keep everybody out of harm's way.  It was a great road trip.

Click on any photo to see enlargements of photos

Cape Santa Maria Grotto, Long Island

White Cliffs of Cape Santa Maria, Long Island

Christopher Columbus Monument, Cape Santa Maria, Long Island

View from top of Cape Santa Maria Grotto Looking to Atlantic Ocean

"CYA" Sign

Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island - 663' Deep With  Free Dive Platform

Cliffs on North Side of  Dean's Blue Hole

Uniform Of The Day

      Sharon has decided that her new occupation is a professional beachcomber.  In addition to her being Big Run's Navigator, Chef, Junior Mechanic and Apprentice First Class Seaman, she has taken on the responsibility of being Big Run's Official Beachcomber.  I sure do like Sharon's uniform of the day.

Wahoo Party

     Location, location, location. To say that we were in the right location is an understatement.  We spent 35 days in the Black Point Settlement area.  Only 3 nights were spent anchored at the Settlement on the north side of the point, the rest were spent anchored in Plain Bay on the south side of the point.  And party, we did just about every kind of party you can imagine.  There was the traditional beach party and that was expanded to include a raft party.  We also did dinner parties, boat parties, bonfire parties and card parties.  Yes Jeff P., you can drum up a Euchre game in the Bahamas.  We even did a New Year’s party in the Sand Castle.  Just as our Christmas 2010 in Spanish Wells was very special, we had a very special New Year’s Party this year in the Sand Castle with all of our friends from the anchorage and Frank & Peg who own the other home on Plain  Bay.  Peg’s son Troy, from York, Pennsylvania also joined the festivities.

     We did attempt to leave Plain Bay on day 33, but on that morning as we were coming back to Big Run from the Sand Castle, I noticed a new boat in the anchorage that looked very familiar.  As we ran the dinghy closer to the sailboat I knew it had to be them but I still had to check the stern for the boat name.  Yes, it was S/V Margareta.  Long story short, we had never met the crew of this vessel.  However, we had on many occasions “ran” into them on the Intra Coastal Waterway.  Finally, we had an opportunity to meet before our planned departure of Plain Bay that day.  Plans … we learned from our buddy boat Broulee not to make plans in anything other than jello.  So, we did not depart Plain Bay that day, and, as a matter of fact we stayed there for another 2 days as we built a new friendship with Bill & Margaret of S/V Margareta.  Then on our day 35, this past Saturday, S/V Margareta departed Plain Bay to continue their adventure as they headed south.  Two hours after their departure, I decided it was time for us to depart, and by 9 am the anchor was pulled.  We were on our way to Georgetown,  Yes, I said Georgetown.  Sharon and I are not Georgetown people.  We would rather not stop there, but that’s how things go when you’re traveling from the Exumas to Long Island in the Bahamas.  Always looking to make a grand entrance, we pulled into Sand Dollar Beach anchorage at Georgetown just as all the happy hours were just getting underway.  It was 5 o’clock.  Fifteen minutes later our VHF radio sounded off with an MMSI call.  MMSI calls are a discreet way to hail another vessel without broadcasting your hail over the open airways of channel 16.  So the call was from our new friends on S/V Margareta who were also anchored at Sand Dollar Beach.  They invited us over for a Wahoo dinner.  Before your mind runs rampant, Wahoo is a fish.  Bill caught a Wahoo and a Mahi-Mahi earlier in the day.  Within an hour Sharon and I were relaxing on S/V Margareta having a grand time enjoying the company of good friends and eating Wahoo.  So I guess you could call it a Wahoo party!