Cheryl's Notes:

We left Compass Cay last Sunday morning. The winds had finally died down and we were able to make a smooth exit. We left behind a considerable amount of our budget, but at least we had survived the blow. We headed back south to Big Majors Spot. Our camera had arrived just before we had to leave the area, and we wanted to come back and get some good pictures of Staniel Cay. On Monday morning, started at the pig beach and got more pictures of the swimming pigs for John's sister, Debbie. We went into Staniel Yacht Club and saw the bloody and damaged tender that belonged to the mega yacht "Man of Steel". I will let John tell that story. We wandered around the island getting some great shots. Check out our gallery for the pictures. You don't want to miss John standing in front of the island airport terminal.

On Tuesday, we took our dinghy up to the Sampson Cay Yacht Club with Joe from Bucket List to have a look around and fill up some jerry cans with gas and diesel. It is another beautiful spot with a really well stocked marina store. The marina is well protected for winds from 360° and was full of motor yachts. Some of them looked like they spend their whole winter there. We spent happy hour getting a tour of Joe's sailboat which is a Hunter 456. It has a lot of the conveniences that we are missing, i.e. water maker, ice maker, washing machine, separate freezer, but not really a lot more storage.

Wednesday morning we braved the building winds and seas to head into Staniel for provisions. The supply boat comes in on Wednesday, and if you want any fresh produce or dairy products, you have to get to the stores early. We picked up another loaf of bread, some romaine lettuce, two tomatoes and four apples, and it was just under $18. We got back to the boat in time to pull up the dinghy and wait for another cold front to pass through. Another night of little sleep and a lot of wind and rocking waves. This is a great anchorage, but not with winds over 15 from the west or northwest.

This morning we pulled anchor and motored down to Black Point on Great Guana Cay. It is really pretty here and a great spot to do laundry. We are going to regroup here and then set plans to move down to the George Town area. John's birthday is Sunday, and I would like to treat him to a really nice dinner out.

John's Notes:

It's been quite a few days since our last entry. Lots to catch up on though.

The first, is the near tragedy involving the tender from the mega yacht "Man of Steel." It happened last Sunday night, the 14th. Man of Steel is about 180', give or take. Really big by anyone's standards. It has two big tenders. Both of which are almost the size of our boat. One is an inflatable and the other is a center console, open bow boat with three 300hp outboards on it. That is a lot of horse power. This particular tender is used for lots of activities from fishing, water skiing, transporting, you name it. It's cost is probably in the neighborhood of $300K by itself.

So, here, to the best of our knowledge, is what happened. Man of Steel had all of its guests ashore at the yacht club to celebrate Valentines Day and someone's birthday. Apparently there was quite a lot of booze involved (what a surprise). The bartender was trying to get everyone out sometime after 11:30. The tender made one trip to the mother ship to deposit guests and then returned to pick up the rest. The second return trip is where things went south.

You have to know the geography to fully understand what happens next. Lots of us, including Man of Steel, are anchored in Big Majors. It is about a mile and a half from the yacht club and you have to navigate a big of jagged headland that sticks out at the end of Big Majors Cay. We always give it a wide berth when we take the dingy to shore. Remember, all these islands are made out of volcanic rock and coral.

On the second trip back to the mother ship, the tender ran into the tip of Big Majors doing an estimated 30-35kts. At low water, you can actually see where they hit the island. They only missed by about 3 or 4 feet. This happened about 12:30 Monday morning. There were at least six people aboard. Not sure how many were crew and how many were guests. A boat the size of Man of Steel normally has at least two and sometimes three or more licensed officers aboard at all times. We had already turned off our VHF radio for the night so we didn't hear what happened next. Apparently, someone got on their radio and sent outa MAYDAY. It was a very weak transmission but fortunately someone on one of the other boats or ashore heard the call and finally was able to figure out who was calling and sent out the Island Shuttle to see if they could find them. When the Island Shuttle arrives on the scene it was a disaster. Just about everyone is injured, some seriously. Somehow, the shuttle gets the injured and the boat back to the yacht club. We are a little vague as to the sequence of how this was done. What we do know is that several of the injured had to be medi-vac'd to either Nassau or the mainland. The rest of the injured were treated at the little local clinic and then flown to the mainland early Monday morning. All of this is happening within less than a half of mile of where we are anchored and we know nothing until we take our dingy to the yacht club around 9:00am Monday morning and we see the tender tied up to the dock and see all the damage. There is blood everywhere in the tender and lots of it. Hanging around the dock is where we begin to piece the story together. The Bahamian cops are everywhere. Again, understand, it's not like an accident scene back home. The cops are a kind of loosely organized bunch whose only mode of transportation is another 30' center cockpit open boat.

For what it is worth, here is my take on what might have happened. (Nobody from Man of Steel is talking much because I'm sure there can or will be lawsuits involved here) I think that the crew of the tender was acting as the sober cab. I can't imagine that these guys were drinking. They get paid way too much on these private yachts to jeopardize their careers. Assuming my theory, I think one or more of the shore party could have staggered into the helmsman who lost control of the wheel and possibly the throttle controls causing the tender to veer to starboard and into the island. I just can't imagine the tender, with professional crew aboard, would be doing anywhere in the neighborhood of 30kts when it is pitch black out. When it gets dark here, it gets really dark. There would be no need to travel at that speed when you are coming into a crowded anchorage. Since we were anchored only a hundred yards from Man of Steel, it's a little scary to think that had they missed the island and then lost control, they could have ended up right in the middle of our boat. That gives me something to ponder when I have run out of other things to worry about.

That's all I have to say. Anything else that happened the last few days, you will have to see Cheryl's notes.

UPDATE on Accident: We met a gal in the laundry this afternoon who had just been at the Yacht Club at Staniel. According to her, there are still three people in critical condition. The one whose birthday they were celebrating is in a coma. No further information available at this time. Damn shame though.

One other thing we forgot to mention about our weekend at Compass Cay. We thought the dockage was $2.00/ft per night. Actually $2.50. Not a deal breaker. The dockmaster asked us if we wanted the electricity hookup and we declined. According to one of our cruising guides, it would have been $15.00 per night. We couldn't use that much electricity in a month in this kind of weather. Sure glad we declined. A couple of other boats that were with us took the electric. When we returned to the Yacht Club at Staniel Sunday we were in the bar comparing notes and both of the other boat owners said that they were charged $40.00 per night each. That is $160.00 total for electric. You can run the generator on Compass Cay for two weeks for $160.00. I didn't even pay for it and I'm mad. That is either really biting the hand that feeds you or they are sending a message that they don't want people like us visiting much.