Marsh Harbour, Abacos
26 March 2015
Sailing has often, if not always, remained possible during this slow meander through the northern portion of the Exuma chain of islands. This despite the amazingly light winds which have been in place for several days now – and that are forecast to remain for several more.
I have never seen so much settled weather during previous cruises in the Bahamas. It certainly had not been the case until recently. The twice-weekly fronts that were hammering through the waters as I approached the Bahamas were normal despite every experienced Bahamas cruiser’s protestations to the contrary. They always say that it wasn’t this windy in the past – and have been saying the same thing for years.
Then the fronts stopped penetrating south into the Bahamas and we had almost two weeks of 15-25kn from E to ESE – bad for those trying to head to the eastern Caribbean but really good for those moving north – like me.
Now there is no appreciable wind.
Weird – but in a nice way.
This portion of the Exuma chain is the heart of the Exuma cruising grounds and includes the islands and waters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park – my favorite area. There is good snorkeling in many areas and the snorkeling is at its best in relatively calm, settled conditions. Moving the boat around and through tight inlets and reading the waters and maneuvering around reefs and sandbars becomes easy. There is still a lot of current in some places – important to pay attention to, but, again, easier when winds are not a factor as well. And, anchorages are calm – never a bad thing. If there is a negative, it is only that when the winds die the afternoons get really hot. It is a nice problem to have – and, let’s face it, you can always jump into the water.
I enjoy hiking the trails on Waderick Wells Cay, the headquarters island of the Land and Sea Park. While not difficult in distance or elevation change, the very sharp surface of the old coral that forms these islands does require respect. You pick your foot placements carefully (especially when wearing Crocs – my bad!) and make sure that you don’t slip and fall. It is not considered cool to bleed all over the trails – and the razor sharp edges would draw a lot of blood!
The trails wander from beach to beach, through ruins of old plantation structures and along the rugged sound-side coastline.
I took this picture of one of the trail signs complete with a local resident looking out over the western anchorage and the shallow banks that extend to the horizon. He was quite rude and never turned to look at the camera – but at least he stayed still long enough for me to snap a pic. I have not had such good luck getting a pic of Fred, the gecko who has been living aboard KR. In fact, I don’t see Fred all that often – perhaps once every week or two. He is very shy.
I am not sure of Fred’s nationality. I do know that I left Guatemala with at least 3 geckos on board. Fred may be the last remaining of those. It is possible that he joined the crew when KR was docked in other places enroute. Or, perhaps he hid out on the dink when it was ashore and climbed up the painter to take up residence.
I don’t actually mind having a gecko aboard – they eat bugs (which is useful) and usually are out and about at night when I am not. And, they can be entertaining (although Fred is apparently too shy for such things).
At Captain John’s, the marina that KR was docked at in the Rio Dulce this past hurricane season, there was a large flat-screen TV in the palapa on the main dock. Frequently, we would gather there to watch a movie or sports event in the evening. The brightness of the screen inevitably attracted a diverse and interesting variety of bugs. These were mostly small and were easy enough to ignore – becoming the visual equivalent of “white” noise. However, it was far more difficult to ignore the geckos which soon arrived to race about the screen hunting for their dinner. There is just something humorous about the profile of a gecko superimposed on some dramatic/romantic or humorous movie.
There have been a couple of times when I could have grabbed and evicted Fred but couldn’t quite see the point in doing so. As long as he doesn’t flick that long lizard tongue in my ear while I am sleeping we will coexist just fine. He really should jump ship sometime before leaving the Bahamas, however. I don’t think Maine would work well for your average gecko from the tropics. Frankly, it remains to be seen how your average tropical sailor re-adapts to Maine waters.
It’s cold up there.