Ahh! Beautiful Exumas
28 January 2013 | Big Majors Spot/Piggy Beach
Sunny and breezy
Tuesday afternoon, January 22, 2013
After lunch we walked into Nassau for ice cream and to obtain a Bahamas Telephone Company (Batelco) SIM card for the iPad. This will enable us to have limited Internet access when we are near a Batelco tower. There is a limited number of bytes of data so we will not be sending pictures except the picture that accompanies the blog update. We actually have some pictures we would like to send and if we get wifi service somewhere we may try to forward them. For dinner that evening, Six of us went to an excellent Italian restaurant that we had tried last year. It was still as good as we remembered. As we arrived at the restaurant, by foot, it started to rain and the wind whipped up. It was still raining after dinner so it was a short cab ride back to the marina.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Due to high winds out of the northeast we decided to stay in Nassau another day. It was a cool and overcast day. We did boat chores in the morning and then went for a hike to the east end of the island. We found a "fish market" set up in a parking lot. They had every imaginable local seafood (except mahi mahi which must go to the restaurants) for sale. Since our freezer is still full, we passed, although the fish and lobsters looked wonderful. There is a small fort (Fort Montagu) located at the point and we walked around the outside, but did not pay the admission to go inside. This was the smallest fort we have ever seen. It was about 40' by 40' and had four cannons. We walked as far as the Nassau Sailing Club and then turned around. On the return we did stop at the Royal Nassau Yacht Club for a drink. This club was established in 1931 and has 600 members. They honored our Old Point Yacht Club membership and we enjoyed a Bahama Mama at the bar. Quincy, the bartender, is our newest best friend. That evening we had dinner with our old friends Van & Lauren and with our new friends, Madi and John, on their 45' Bristol.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
We awoke to winds that had settled some and shifted a little more to the east. As we looked out in the channel that separates Nassau mainland from Paradise Island, it looked like a mass exodus of sailboats to the east. We checked our weather forecasts and decided to head for Highbourne Cay. Van and Lauren were still working on an alternator problem and John and Madi were awaiting a heat exchanger. We bid farewell to them and headed out at 9 am. As soon as we cleared the harbor we had the sails up and shut off the engine. This was the first time that we had actually sailed without the engine since before we left Norfolk in October. We had a great sail, averaging 6.5 knots on the 35 mile run to Highbourne Cay. The harbor at Highbourne was crowded with more boats than we had ever seen At that anchorage. It was obvious we weren't the only ones ready to get out of Nassau. After the anchor was set we deployed the dinghy which had been lashed to the deck for the crossing and headed for the bar at Xumas Restuarant. When we returned to the boat for dinner we actually hoisted the dinghy on to the new davits that we installed as a Christmas present to ourselves. Now, getting the dinghy in and out of the water is pretty quick and easy.
Tomorrow, if the weather is agreeable, we plan to go to Warderick Wells or Cambridge Cay in anticipation of meeting up with Tim and Diane on Magic and Jennings and Patty on Veritas. We have agreed to try to get to Cambridge Cay on Saturday for an overdue reunion.
Reunion!!!
The sailors were all up early listening to Chris Parker and because it was so rolly in the anchorage, I think many were anxious to get underway because it was an early departure for many. The winds again were favorable for sailing, so main and job were deployed and off we went. Our original plan was to go to Warderick Wells but after being out there and knowing the group from the south (Magic, Veritas and Tehani) were planning on going to Big Majors (Staniel Cay) we decided to head there. We re about 15 miles out and called Veritas just to see where they were and Magic answered and said they were all anchored at Big Majors. Tim and Diane were excited because Santa was bringing them Christmas presents in the form of a propeller for his dinghy and other stocking stuffers. We were met with conch shell horn blowing as we entered the anchorage. After finding a protected area because the winds were going to blow again (is there a theme here), anchoring and deploying the dinghy, "Santa" donned his hat and put all his gifts in the Santa bag and headed to Magic for distribution. I am sure the other boats were wondering about us, but what's new. We have enjoyed our stay with our Fleet 30 friends, but it is time for them to explore south and Sanity II to explore east. I think there may be less access to cell towers, so may not have Internet access but we will be back as soon as we get back on the "grid".