23 30.50 'N:75 46.24'W
2019-03-03
Culture Shock
We departed Hog Cay on Feb 21 to work our way slowly north along the Jumento Island chain. On route to our first stop at Racoon Cay we were escorted by a pod of frolicking dolphins. They stayed with us for about 10 minutes or until one of us got the bright idea to bring out the camera. I'm convinced that dolphins know when the camera is out and say to each other that's it we are out of here!
While they were with us though they were playing peek a boo at the bow of the boat and splashing us as they dove under one side to roll over and look up at us on the other.
Next stop was Buenavista Cay. The hunters set out to explore the reefs. Paul came back with 2 lobster and 2 trigger fish.
Glenda, Greg and I headed for the beautiful beach that runs the full length of the island. Sadly, this time there would be no visit with Edward (the only resident of the island). Edward's home was badly damaged by hurricane Irma and then shortly after that he suffered a stroke. We understand he is recuperating but it seems unlikely he will be able to return to the island. We did find a peacock and a rooster still living around Edward's house. We took them in some crackers and oats which they gratefully accepted.
This was national margarita day so what to do but introduce Ti Amo, Migration and Delphina to margaritas 2 Outrageous style. I tried to make them without showing how it was done but Glenda was hovering so I finally fessed up that there would be beer in the margaritas and she would just have to trust me. She was shocked but game to give it a try. Another convert!
On Feb 24 we departed Buenavista Cay for a great 26 nautical mile sail to Flamingo Cay. We set out in the early morning and made our arrival at Flamingo Cay just before noon. This gave us lots of time to enjoy some snorkelling in the afternoon. No luck finding any lobsters though. Just before dinner the crew from Get Routty stopped by to ask us if we would like a Hog Fish. Are you kidding? Hog fish is one of our favourites. That chicken we had thawed out could wait another night! Apparently the hunters on Get Routty had been told by the admiral of the boat, no more fish for awhile! They couldn't resist shooting the large Hog Fish and voila we had dinner!
The next morning we sailed in 15 - 20 knot winds toward Water Cay. We made a pit stop at one of the blue holes near the island for some snorkelling/hunting. I spotted a couple of lobsters right away. Paul got the first one and took it back to the dinghy. He came back for the other lobster. There was a reef shark swimming a good distance away from us but as soon as Paul shot that second lobster the shark turned and came directly at us, fast. Now I know you are supposed to swim slowly, keep looking at the shark, stare him down if you will, but all that goes out the window when you see one of those barrelling at you. We got back to the dinghy and after a few tense seconds got out of the water. Paul got back in right away. I let my heart rate calm down for a bit before getting back in the water. I was doing good and was even starting to relax and enjoy the underwater scenery when the shark was coming back towards me again. Enough is enough, I got back in the dinghy and waited for Paul to finish his hunting trip. He wasn't long coming back with a large trigger fish. We hauled up the anchor and headed towards the southern anchorage at Water Cay. This is a cool spot where only a small spit of land separates the bank side anchorage from the Atlantic Ocean.
We headed back out for some more snorkelling on the reefs near the island. There were lots of colourful fish but no lobster sightings. Also no more shark sightings, which was just fine by me!
The wind piped up through the night making our anchorage a bit breezy. Delphina departed for Georgetown but the rest of our crew decided to stay just one more day. Paul and Charlie headed out for some hunting but found the current to be more than they bargained for. After about an hour they were completely exhausted.
We set out for a dinghy tour and found Tim from Wayward Sun. Tim was hunting along the shoreline. He speared a fish but the fish and his spear were stuck in a coral head. While he was wrestling with that along came a very large bull shark who thought he might be able to assist. Tim left the fish and the spear, got back in his dinghy and was pretty much resigned to waiting until the next morning to attempt to retrieve his spear. We haven't seen him since so not sure how this story ended.
We put it off as long as we could but we finally had to admit it was time to head back to Georgetown. With only one carrot left in the fridge we could declare we were completely out of fruits and vegetables. We do have canned goods on board but that just isn't the same. We departed Water Cay shortly after 7AM and had a sporty sail in 20 to 25 knot winds to the Hog Cay Cut. We kept trying to slow the boat down on that journey so as to arrive at the cut around high tide. As it was we got there a couple of hours before high tide. We made it through the cut with only a couple of light touches in the shallows south of the cut. No big deal.
We anchored at Peace n Plenty with Ti Amo then quickly headed for shore to see what there was in the way of produce at the store.
One bag of apples, that was it. The mailboat was at the dock being unloaded but the fresh stuff hadn't made it to the store shelves yet. Oh well, we headed to Choppy Waters for a burger and beer. The shopping would have to wait until the next day.
The next morning we headed back to the store. Produce, produce, produce! All the crunchy stuff you could want. I am in crunch heaven!
With the fridge full again it was time to tackle the laundry. Glenda and I headed for Miss Lee's Laundromat with 30 days worth laundry. We lucked out in that we only had to wait a short time for multiple machines to be freed up for our use.
Paul went on a fuel run to get all our jugs topped up with diesel and gas. It was a very productive day and by getting all this stuff done it would shorten the time we would need to spend in Georgetown. Coming back to Georgetown after so many days spent in remote, isolated islands I think would be similar to arriving in downtown Toronto after spending a month in Wilno.
Lila Mae is here! We had not seen Bruce and Terry since we left No Name Harbour to make our crossing to the Bahamas back in December.
Saturday Mar 2 we had a full morning of indecision. Should we stay in Georgetown for a couple more days or go? Stay or go? Finally by early afternoon we said the heck with it. We were only missing a few items on our list as well as topping up one of our propane tanks. All of which we could do in 10 days or so when we return to Georgetown to pick up Sarah who will be joining us for a week of fun in the sun!
We headed for Lee Stocking Island. We did some fishing but no catching during the 4.5 hour motor-sail. On the way, we received the sad news from home of the sudden passing of a good pal. While we never feel homesick it is at times like this we wish we could be there to wrap our arms around our friends and lend them a bit of support. R.I.P. Barney, we had some really fun times over the years, both on the water and off. We will forever miss that big laugh.
Upon arriving at Lee Stocking we promptly met a cruising couple from Deep River who know many of our friends from there. Jim built his boat (Gaia) in his backyard while working at Chalk River and 23 years ago retired and sailed around the world.