After spending a few days in Black Point, we moved south around the point to Plain Bay to wait out some winds that were in the forecast. On our arrival we found two boats at anchor and one, a big Gulfstar ketch hard aground on the reef just off the Sandcastle, (one of the two large homes in this bay). Once the anchor was in place and the boat shipshape, I dinghied over to see if I could be of any assistance. The boat was being single-handed by a guy from Philadelphia who had everything in order and was just waiting for high tide which was about 5 hours away. He was embarrassed and thanked me for not mentioning his problem on the radio.
The beach here is one of the best in the Exumas and it is just a short walk to the Sound side of the island to search for treasures. We like it here and spend as much time as possible in the area. Our friends had all moved north to Big Majors for boiled dinner and green beer so we found ourselves comfortably alone for a while.
Our days were spent on boat projects, in the morning, reading during hot part of the day and walking beaches in the afternoon... sometimes staying for the sunset.
Jim and Nancy showed up after a few days and we got together with them for a couple of meals and some beach time as well. On one of our walks I had located a small sandy beach on the ocean side that I couldn't get to. To get there I had to walk on needle rock for about a half mile and then descend the bluff to the beach. I could get to a point directly above the beach but couldn't find a way down the bluff. Kathy doesn't walk on needle rock ... ever, but when Nancy and Jim heard about a beach that was impossible to get to, they were ready for the hike. Once again, we made our way through the brush and scrub walking on needle rock and avoiding holes that went down ten feet or so....we passed the beach hoping to find a way down the bluff, but once again were stymied and turned around in failure. I did fine a crevasse in the bluff that I could follow down to a point where it would have been only a 10 foot climb but without pants and proper shoes, it would have been suicide. We returned with shins bleeding and bruised but without serious damage.
On the twenty second of March we motored around the point back to Black Point to get rid of some trash and pick up a little water. (Our watermaker isn't working so I pickled it and will take it to Minneapolis this summer to have it fixed. I could tear it apart but it is still under warranty so I will be schlepping water for the remainder of the season.)
Around noon, with our errands run, we weighed anchor and spent a couple of hours sailing up to Big Majors. There were lots of boats but there is tons of room. It is never a problem finding a suitable place to anchor.
We got together with the crews of "Fine Lion", "Night Hawk", "Sam the Skull" and "Solitaire" to plan our wedding reception for Scott (Steve's son) and Amy. (his wife of a week) They flew to down to a resort in Andros for the event and got a little bone fishing in on the side. On their way home they flew to Staniel Cay to spend a few days with Steve and Kim.
The reception was planned for the beach on Wednesday afternoon. Kathy wove a palm frond tiara with a heart bean center piece for the bride and Nancy baked a cake. She also staked out the beach most of the afternoon to keep others from interloping on our festivities. The guest list included about 20 cruising friends who all went way overboard on snacks. We all had a great time and I think Scott and Amy were pleased.
They stayed a few days hanging out with us before flying back to Annapolis to snow and jobs.
On Sunday after their departure we sailed back south to Black Point to do some laundry. It took us about 4 hours to tack the 5 miles south in light air. On Monday after trips to the Rockside Laundry and Lorraine's Café for lunch, we weighed anchor and headed north to stage for a jump across the Sound to Rock Sound, Eleuthera. Once we got away from shore we found 20 knots of southwest wind and were having so much fun sailing that we kept going past our intended destination in Pipe Creek and ended up at Exuma Park. We made the 28 mile trip in less than four hours...averaging over 7 knots.
After a good night's sleep we were off... out and around the sand bores to the sound. Once again, we found lots of wind and made the 50 mile crossing in style...no fish, but we were looking good and made great time. In can remember only two days this season when we had to run the engine during the entire trip.
Anchoring in Rock Sound, we made dinner and got another good night's sleep. In the morning we were off for a walk around town, a trip to the bank and a stop at the grocery store. After unloading our stuff... we returned to shore and walked to a Sammy's for a nice lunch.
Our next hop is another 60 mile sail north to the Spanish Wells area at the top of Eleuthera Island. We could make the trip tomorrow but would end up hiding for a couple of days up there waiting for decent weather or we could wait here and move north with better winds in a couple of days. We decided to wait. On Friday we rented a car with "Fine Lion" and drove the island. We did a little shopping, had very nice lunch and saw about half of Eleuthera. The place we stopped for lunch had undoubtedly the best food that we've eaten in the Bahamas. I ordered a pizza with onions and bacon. The onions were caramelized and the bacon didn't over power the flavor of the other ingredients. Kathy ordered a salad of mixed greens with warm goat cheese that was to die for. After we finished, I drove a stranded Canadian couple (they had broken off the key to their rental car) to their apartment and returned to pick up the group for our drive back down to Rock Sound.
There was a fish fry advertized that night which we planned on attending and could see the site from our boats but nothing ever happened. The place was closed. We found out later that there was a function at one of the churches so the fish fry was canceled.
On Saturday morning early we made our way out of Rock Sound and headed northwest to Current Cut at the north end of Eleuthera. Once again we started off motor sailing but were able to turn the engine off about half the time... we could have sailed without the engine all day but were under the time constraint of reaching the cut on a ebbing tide which translated to being there before 3:30.
Listening to radio traffic it was evident that the anchorage a Royal Island was quite full so we motored over to Meeks Patch and hid behind one of the small islands for the night.
Sunday morning found us on our way north again for the 50 mile Ocean run up Little Harbor in the Abacos. Until about 11 a.m. there wasn't enough wind to sail. We had easy swells of about 6 feet with a nine second interval which made things very comfortable. The engine was turned off about 11 and "Sapphire" spent the rest of the trip fighting her way into the wind about as tight as she could. We maintained a ground speed of over 6 knots but it was a strain. "Fine Lion" on the other hand was happy and moved ahead of us all afternoon...the difference between a sloop rig and a ketch was apparent all day. Somewhere during the mid afternoon hours while sailing out of the way of a tanker towing another large vessel, we hooked a Mahi and after few minutes had the thing landed without getting the boat all bloody.... which is one of the main goals of catching fish on a passage.
We had a wonderfully calm night at Meeks Patch and made lobster fettuccini for dinner. The lobster is lobster from the Jumentos (it's been in the freezer). Kathy made a tossed salad and we think you can't eat better than this!
The rest of the trip was noneventful and we made the Little Harbor cut on a rising tide. We got ourselves anchored off Lynyard Cay, got the boat ready for the evening and cleaned our fish. Most of it went to the freezer for Sam and Chris' visit but there were a few ugly pieces that we had to fry up with some rice and a salad for dinner.
We were expecting to stay a day or two here but the weather forecast called for nasty thunderstorms on Thursday evening so we took off in the morning on a high tide to take the short cut up to Elbow Cay where we planned on anchoring behind Lubbers Quarters for the storm. On the way up however we decided to check for mooring in Hope Town and ended up there for a few days before moving over to Marsh Harbor on Thursday or Friday.
We got cleaned up and went to town to have lunch with "Fine Lion" and "Mutual Fun", (friends from Michigan). Then we all wandered around town for a few hours enjoying the quaint town of Hope Town.
Around noon on Thursday the skies started to darken in the west. On the Miami radar we could see the line of storms heading our way. It was the same storm that caused thunder snow in Michigan and tornados across the South. By about 5 p.m. the sky was black. We'd been listening to thunder approach all afternoon and could see the lightening getting closer and the sky get darker. When the wind hit we were thrown sideways on the mooring, but everything held together. (There's always a question as to how often mooring in the Bahamas are checked out) Before it got to us I soaped and scrubbed the decks happy for our first fresh water rinse in a long time. The initial blast of wind was probably about 50 knots and but quickly settled in at 35 for about 40 minutes. The rain was coming down in sheets. All in all, it was much like a line of summer thunderstorms in Michigan. It was nice that everything happened in the daylight. The only excitement occurred after the winds died down and the boats here in the mooring field refused to point in the same direction. We found ourselves stern to stern to the 48 foot power boat that was on the mooring in front of us...just before we hit I gave it a good push with our dock pole and sent it back where it belonged. We had a nice dinner (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans) watched some video and had a pleasant night's sleep.
On Wednesday morning after coffee, I used the rain water in the dinghy to wash down the "Sapphire's" hull and then bailed the rest. A little later we took the dinghy into town for a walk and a stop at Vernon's grocery for some limes and found some nice summer squash as well. We had lunch with Kim and Steve at a water front place and ended up playing dominoes with them all afternoon.
In the morning at about a half high tide we will make our way over to Marsh Harbor.