March 30-31 - North along Long Island to Calabash Bay

In the morning, the wind was still blowing 20-25 out of the ESE in Thompson's Bay. Over the next two days the wind was forecast to remain about that strength but shift to the SE.  It was questionable about what the conditions would be in Calabash tonight, as with these strong winds there is often uncomfortable swell in the bay. So we decided instead to go halfway up Long Island and stop near Bains Bluff and Alligator Beach. The Bluffs would provide some wind protection and we could probably get in behind the point a bit to get out of any swells.  

We had a great sail up on a broad reach with just a bit of jib out.  Just before arriving where we planned to stop, we saw a catamaran tucked up in a small bight between the points of the bluff. They looked quite comfortable. Unfortunately, we expected that our deeper draft boat would prevent us from getting in as close as they had so we continued on around the corner. We dropped the anchor where planned and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and evening.

The next morning we took the dinghy ashore to another beautiful beach Alligator Beach. We aren't sure why it is called Alligator Beach as there are none of those reptiles in the Bahamas, at least not anymore.  We were looking for a little exercise so jogged a mile or so up the Queens Highway in search of a blue hole that appeared on the charts.  We looked in the area but could not find it. A local resident also said he didn't know of one so we turned around and jogged back to the beach took the dinghy back to Juno to head north to Calabash.

The sail to Calabash was much like the day before, only needing a bit of jib to keep us sailing downwind at 6 mph. We did have to go over some shallow areas but that only enhanced the colors of the water. With the wind forecast to be strong out of the SE all night we anchored in the southern part of the bay with a couple of other sailboats. It meant a mile dinghy ride to the resort at the north end but it proved to be a good choice.

We quickly grabbed our beach things and some clothes to change into for Happy Hour and dinner at the resort.  We found a vacant beach umbrella to sit under for an hour or so, then headed to the deck at the resort for drink specials of Bahama Mamas which went down quickly.  We went in for dinner and to our surprise saw our friends from Black Point and Georgetown, Tom and Ann, sitting at the bar.  We caught up briefly with them, then decided to all get a table for dinner. After dinner it was a long, dark, but uneventful, dinghy ride back to Juno. 

A old ruin, perhaps from 1800's

A typical house abandoned, most likely after irreparable damage from a hurricane

Relaxing after our short run

Headed to Calabash Bay

"Two Bahama Mamas and an order of conch fritters please"

Same friends, new island

March 29 - New acquaintenaces and another stunning beach

As we were finishing breakfast, a young woman from a nearby boat approached us in her dinghy.  Their boat had run out of propane and she asked us to boil some water so she could make hot coffee for the other crew member and skipper/owner of the boat, Ruffen. Ruffen is a European boat, and much to their dismay, they discovered that the European propane fittings are not compatible with those over here (at least the US and Bahamas) and so have been out of propane for quite a while, resorting to cold instant coffee and canned beans. We invited Isabella aboard while we waited for our kettle to come to the boil.  Sarah packed up three muffins she had just baked this morning so that Isabella could return with them and the hot water. We asked if they would like to join us for a hot dinner that night aboard Juno.  Isabella was quite sure she and the other would love to join us.

After Isabella set off, Sarah put together some sandwiches for lunch and we got ready to head to our next beach.  Today we were heading to Guana Cay Beach as it was supposedly the favorite beach on the entire island noted by one web author. It also had some protection from the easterly winds and seas by virtue of a cay and reef just offshore. This beach however was nearly 5 miles away from us.  We were wearing our best walking shoes and were prepared for a hefty hike down the Queen’s highway to the beach, but stuck out our thumbs hoping someone might take pity on two two hitch-hikers. Sarah suggested we each take a guess as to how long it would be before we would get a ride. Harry guessed six cars.  Sarah was more optimistic at four cars before a ride.  As it turned out the third car, well really a pickup truck stopped and offered us a ride. We told the driver where we here heading and he said to hop in the back and off we went. We got to the turn off for the beach expecting we’d walk the last 3/4 of mile, but our very kind driver kept going. Percy drove us all the way to the beach so we thanked him and left him with a little tip. Interestingly, our Guana Cay Beach had a second name as it also went by ‘Coconut Bay’. We were a little surprised to discover a sign which read "Coconut Bay with 24 luxury villas, coming soon".  Mind you, the Coconut Palm is not native to the Bahamas.  There were two "villas" complete, with some recently planted coconut trees, lots of torn up terrain and filled in wetlands, but just beyond was a beautiful beach and we had it all to ourselves as not a sole was in sight. Hopefully this beach will always retain its public access.

We snorkeled to the barrier cay, Guana Cay, where we found many lizards, an abandoned structure, a few Coconut Palms, complete with small solar powered lights for the night effect that the construction workers or new residents had intentionally placed on the cay. It is such a shame. Mostly though the small cay is unspoiled. After a short walk to a former lookout post at the top of the hill we headed back for a few more hours of beach time before our walk back to the Queen’s Highway. We did have to walk the 3/4 miles back to the Queens Highway but once there the very first car picked us up. Mark, the driver worked for the department of agriculture. He mostly worked to help locals learn how to create backyard gardens to grow food to help offset the escalating prices, and during the height of Covid in the Bahamas, scarcity of fresh food.

That evening Isabella, Johanna, and Emil from Ruffen joined us for dinner. The 21 year-old skipper and owner Emil had sailed Ruffen, a 32 foot monohull built in 1977, from Norway to the Canary Islands, across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and north to the Bahamas. They had many stories that ranged from the humorous to almost terrifying. An example of the latter was when they were coming into an anchorage without a working engine so they had to rely entirely on their sails, tacking slowly against a strong current, making almost no forward progress, then had to dodge several super yachts. He certainly earned our respect having only been sailing for 4 years or so, yet extrememly capable and resourceful.  In a few weeks they will be sailing for Bermuda then back to home which they all said they missed very much.

Harry with a white-knuckle grip in Percy's pickup

Lovely Guana Cay Beach lagoon

Snorkel view headed out to the barrier cay

The picture says enough (ugh. plastics!!)

 

Three dinner guests thankful for a hot meal aboard Juno

March 28 - The Rock and Tons of Haitian Plastics

We headed to the shore in the morning with Rock Beach in our sights. The beach was a couple of miles walking but we needed the exercise after our leisurely sail yesterday. We stopped in the local tourist office which had extremely helpful and friendly workers who gave us suggestions for Bahamian restaurants and other beaches to consider. Most required a car which we might rent another day, but for now we took a nearby road east. When we saw "the rock" we knew why this was the tell-tale land mark for which the beach was named.

We headed immediately to the rock, parts of which looked like they would collapse in a strong storm, but it has survived so far, so on we went to climb up on it.  The beach also had a small barrier reef which created two swimming pool like lagoons at low tide. We went for a swim then headed back to the beach to relax.

There was, sadly, lots of the typical plastic debris on the beach. One piece of plastic pipe however had been bent over in to an arch. This gave Harry an idea.  Influenced by his childhood TV watching of Gilligan's Island, he found some more useful pieces of plastic tubing, some bamboo (for the full Gilligan's effect) and pieces of plastic twine.  Before long he had completed a frame and tied our beach towels to it, creating a handy shelter from the sun.  He also later upgraded it to include a bench seat. 

We later wandered down the beach where the rocks created one of the pools. To our great dismay we kept finding tons and tons of small plastic bags floating in the water and washed up in the weeds at the high tide water mark on the beach. They were all very similar, many had no identifying marks. We collected many of them along with other larger pieces of rigid plastic and relocated the plastic trash above the high tide mark. There we found a few plastic pouches that were still marked with Port of Prince, Haiti. They had been single serve plastic pouches of water!  On our last trip we heard that the plastic was mostly attributable to Haiti but now we had our own first had evidence.

After walking the beach and enjoying the water and a little leisurely reading, we packed up and walked back to the dinghy, and from there back to Juno for dinner and bed.

"The Rock" and Harry's Gilligan inspired sun shade

March 27 - Off to Long Island

Long Island Bahamas (not New York), especially Calabash Bay is one of the places top on our list from our first trip to return to this time.  The winds were to be out of the north and northeast for a few days which might be great for Calabash due to swells wrapping around but Thompson's Bay offers great protection. The forecast was for the wind to go more east than southeast so we would sail to Calibash later in the week.  Going to Thompson's Bay would also give us a chance to try a different route than we took last time. In fact the last trip the wind died after an hour or so requiring us to motor across. Not this time!  The forecast was for  perfect northerly to north-north-west winds of 12-15 knots.  We listened to the morning cruisers net and heard several other boats announcing the too were leaving for Long Island.

After hauling up the anchor, we left the main down and unrolled the genoa for a glorious sail from the south of George Town to Thompson's Bay.  After leaving Elizabeth Harbour we were in deep enough water for Harry to put out the fishing lure. Despite Sarah's feeling that we could hook a fish, there were no bites before Harry needed to pull in the lure as we were approaching more shallow waters where the most likely fish to be caught would be Barracuda.  Fine for some, but we wanted to avoid it.

We set the auto pilot to our next waypoint and settled in for a perfect sailing day - 10-15 knots of wind a little bit from behind us, full sun, 78 degrees, and the azure to cyan blue water we never tire of.  Sarah set to work on her silver palm basket project while Harry worked on an update to a new anchor bridle he made while in George Town.  Sometimes the water depths were only 10 feet but the charts were very reassuring that it would not be less than that.  A few more waypoints, including crossing the Tropic of Cancer,  and six hours after leaving George Town we put the anchor down in Thompson's Bay, Long Island just in time for Rum O'Clock and dinner.

10-15 feet of water depth for miles provides stunning colors

March 26: What’s in a Boat Name? Sand Dollar Beach Stocking Island

Each morning on the cruisers net we hear voices from the many nearby boats, each of which identifies themselves by their boat name. So today we wanted to share some of the more interesting boat names we’ve heard. Many involve puns and nautical terms while others are more dreamy or aspirational. 

Here’s a sampling from the nautical themed boats: Ketch 22, Nauti-Nauti, Plane Nauti (Captain was formerly a pilot), Fantasea, Seaventure, Mer Sea, Azur, Drifting Coconuts, and two favorites - Sandy Bottoms and Passing Wind.  In the fantasy category there was Puff, Magic Dragon, Mermaid Lounge, Believe, Dream On, Imagine and a second boat also named Imagine (they had to add “from Maine” or “yellow stack pack” to be distinguished from the other). 

Travel related names were also popular including boats named Happy Trails, Miss Adventure, Going to the Sun, Treasures Await, Galaxy, Planet Mars, North Star, and Orion. Animals are quite popular too including names such as Sparkle Fish, Fido, Salty Paws, Puffin Quest, Dragon Fly, Raven, Endangered Species, Moose Tracks and since catamarans are very popular, we heard Cat’s Meow, Great Catsby, and My Cat. While one young boy went by the name of Tiger Shark. 

As to the day, it was overcast with winds out of the north at 12 knots and it rained last night as a front came through. Harry spent the morning working wonders with his line making a new snubber to bear the force on the boat while at anchor so that this force isn’t born by the windlass. We also pulled out items from the aft cabin to get some fresh air as some were getting moldy and Sarah hand washed our laundry. Around 3:30 pm, we went ashore and hiked to the southern part of Stocking Island where we found surf breaking on the eastern shore and a tranquil sandy beach on the western shore. We apologized to Pete and Liz on ‘Manitou’ (from Traverse City Michigan) for anchoring too close to them for their comfort ( they moved forward this morning) and found they had a son who went to U of M. The clouds only started to lift around sunset giving us one of the better sunsets of our trip which we enjoyed as we ate dinner in the cockpit at 7:45 pm. A low key day.

Surf breaking on Stocking Island

A rest during our walk around the end of the island

A sunset with the masthead lights starting to show

 

March 21-25: Georgetown, Exuma- Adult Daycare, Our Dinghy Drifts Away, Reprovisioning

We spent the better part of Monday March 21 sailing one long port tack from Rudder Cut to Georgetown. Winds were supposed to be NE at 15-20 but they seemed more easterly (thus closer hauled) so we had a reefed main and jib. We arrived about 5 pm after having left Rudder Cut at 11:00 am and anchored off Monument Beach off stocking island just before some rain showers arrived. Tom and Anne Taylor on Alchemist called out to us in the anchorage so we invited them for sundowners on Juno tomorrow.

Sarah passing time en route

The highlights of Tuesday and Wednesday included the cruisers net broadcast each morning at 8 am as well as daily volleyball at 2 pm and miscellaneous social events at Chat-n-Chill - the central beach hangout for the approximately 180 boats anchored off Stocking Island. The cruisers net is like the local news here, where all boats can announce their arrivals, departures, boating parts or other misc. items needed (bartering or good will is the only currency here), and social events of which there is usually several each day.  Tuesday Sarah responded to a request from Harriet from Imagine (Sunday River, ME) looking for help with her knitting pattern and in meeting Harriet, learned she had lived in Winchester, MA 30 yrs ago on Jefferson St and knew two acquaintances of ours.  

Thursday began with water aerobics from 9:30-10:30 followed by lunch and then a “dinghy adrift” call on the radio caught our attention. Fortunately we heard this call for of the approximately 150 boats on anchor, the drifting dinghy turned out to be ours!

 The "parking lot" at the beach

 

What else would you expect at Volleyball Beach?

Sarah (l) and Harriet (r) learn how to weave palm fronds from Sharon

As mentioned yesterday, we had a nice cocktail on Juno with Anne and Tom Taylor (Alchemyst) on Wed. night before the sunset around 7 pm. Wednesday we collected rocks and left “Juno” on Monument Beach before collecting silver palm fronds on our way up to the top of the hill where the monument is located. Once atop, we looked out and saw ocean on all sides of us and quite possibly, our “Juno” rock formation we had left in 2019 as well as the 2022 ”Juno”. The palm fronds were to later be used by Sarah in learning basket weaving with Sharon from a houseboat who hailed from the North Channel in Canada whilst Harry listened a group of cruisers for the best way to use the approaching cold front to get south (e.g. the Caribbean and beyond). Harry came away with the conclusion that it is easiest to get to the Caribbean (SE of Georgetown) by starting further north of Georgetown given that the northerlies that come through eventually die out giving way to strong easterly winds (which make it hard to sail SE) and a current pushing you northward that you always are fighting. Sarah learned by word of mouth that one circumnavigator (Nauti Nauti) has concluded that there is no where in the world more beautiful to sail than right here in the Bahamas. We are grateful to be here and most definitely agree. 

 

Leaving our mark at the base of Monument Beach

 

On the way to the monument for a view

 

View from atop monument. Can you spot "Juno"?

On the ocean side of Stocking Island

 

March 20: We Take a Closer Look Snorkeling at Rudder Cut Cay

This morning’s snorkeling and cave swim was a treat in that we saw three sting rays. The first sting ray was well camouflaged in the sandy bottom. Harry happened to see his eyes that stuck up above the sand, but the rest of the ray was barely discernible save for the tip of it’s tail. It was motionless, perhaps sleeping? Moments later, we watched as another ray swam past, gliding down to the sandy bottom, then it shivered it’s body creating a cloud of stirred up sand which soon settled on top of the ray, hiding it from predators save for its two eyes sticking up above the sand. 

Often we find some of the most interesting things underwater are those things that we see when we stop and focus on a small area or snorkel in the shallows (less than 3 feet deep). Oftentimes it is not the large or the colorful fish that we find most interesting ( although there are plenty of these), but instead it is the small creatures that catch our interest. For example, the Christmas Tree Worm is usually only about 1-2 inches, but they stand true to their name for they look just like a Christmas tree and apparently can live for 40 years. Check them out at https://reefguide.org/carib/spirobranchusgiganteus.html.   Another interesting invertebrate we see is the horse shoe worm that flutters in the current then will quickly retract its feathery fronds completely into a tube if you stir the water.  See them at https://reefguide.org/carib/horseshoeworm.html.

Today we saw a small elongated fish only about six inches long by one  inch wide, but it was perfectly camouflaged against the dappled cream and brown sandy bottom and easily could have been missed if we hadn’t been swimming so slowly. We also find that many fish are very aware of our presence. I like to stop and watch them as they swim at an angle such that they can get a better look at us floating on the surface overhead. The butterfly https://reefguide.org/carib/pixhtml/spotfinbutter2.html  and angelfish particularly do this. A trumpet fish https://reefguide.org/carib/pixhtml/trumpet8.html  was spotted by Sarah today.

The corals and sea fans also attract our attention. Here’s an image of a gold brain coral https://reefguide.org/carib/symmetricalbrain.html and a lavender sea fan which is a coral https://www.rutgerson.se/product/pressure-absorbing-slide/.

 We really felt like we were swimming on the inside of an aquarium tank today. Rudder Cut is a favorite, and we closed the day by meeting neighboring boats in the shallows for “sundowners”. Technically the Cay is privately owned (David Copperfield) so we remained in the shallow waters while socializing.

New friends staying "off" the private beach

March 19 - Bahama Rage and a Mahi!

Rage is the term given to the sea conditions in the Bahamas when a strong current that is flowing out through a narrow cut between islands meets large swells coming from the ocean. These opposing forces can cause lumbering ocean swells to pile up into steep breaking waves that if not avoided could capsize a small boat or cause a larger boat to lose control. At best, in a boat the size of Juno, it is uncomfortable, especially going out, as the bow rises up and down and pounds through the steep waves. That being said, rage is relatively easy to avoid. If the wind is going to be above 12 mph from the east, check the tide table and be sure that when you want to enter or exit a cut that the current will be flooding, that is coming onto the Bahama Bank from the ocean, in the same direction as the swells from the wind. Even with larger swells (up to a certain point) as long as the current is going in the same direction, one can transit the cut without concern.

The tricky bit is that the tides are set by the moon and don't always align with when you want to exit a cut. For us today, the timing wasn't too bad. High tide was forecast to be at 9AM to go out on the Exuma Sound. At this point the current should be slack or very little. After 9AM, the high water on the bank would be flowing eastward towards the incoming swell. Even an hour later the current shouldn't be running so swiftly to make much of a difference. After that point all of the cuts along the Exumas could be "raging" most of the day given the forecast of 15-20 knots of wind and the "ebbing" current predicted to last until low tide at 4P. 

We thought we had until 10 and ended up using every bit of this. The thing is that the tide tables are an estimate based on the moon and the sun and lots of other averages. When we arrived at Dotham Cut at 10AM we were a bit surprised to see the size of the waves.  The largest were probably 4 feet but very short, meaning that we would take a bit of a pounding going out.  We got through the cut and were able to get out of the worst of it pretty quickly. Another boat we watched come out after us looked like they had a bit of a rough go of it.

Finally getting Juno under sail and headed south, Sarah kept prodding Harry to try fishing. Harry has had his lures out many times since departing in October without a bite.  Also sailing upwind, which was in store for today, is not supposed to be the best of fishing conditions.  Despite this, and to keep a happy ship, Harry deployed his rig which consists of a 150' of 150 lbs test line with a shock cord and a cedar plug lure. He uses a clothes pin clipped to the shade covering the cockpit to hold the line up. If we see the cloths pin comes unclipped, we know a fish has at least bitten, or in most cases a big clump of weeds has been snagged by the lure.  Within about five minutes, Sarah called out that the clothes pin was off. Sure enough something bigger than a clump of weeds was on the hook.  Harry struggled to bring the fish in at first but before too long we got a glimpse of it and could see it was a beautiful Mahi-Mahi.  The fish fought hard but as it tired, Harry was able to bring it in. Eventually we got it into the cockpit. Harry gave it a dose of gin to stun it and put it out of its misery before cutting some very nice fillets.  What he couldn't get off went back into the ocean for some scavenger to enjoy. After anchoring at Rudder Cay, we cooked up a portion of our fresh catch with lemon and a little garlic- so delicious.

A tide chart showing the end of our window to exit the cut

Getting out the cut before the rage gets worse

Turning out of the current and steep seas to get out of the worst 

of the rage building waves (black dotted line)

 

Harry’s catch of the day

Mahi grilled

Mahi tacos

March 18 - We Can’t Seem to Leave Black Point (White Point day trip)

The several days we spent at Black Point have been fun.  Between the needed social interactions and discovering a new beach, our unplanned stop turned out to be very memorable.  So the plan for today was to move further south to visit a favorite beach from our last trip called White Point. It is only about 6 miles from Black Point to White Point so we also were thinking of making White Point a lunch stop, then continuing to Oven Rock for the night where there is a cool cave that you can swim or even snorkel in.  The winds were southeast which tends to create the same annoying waves we experienced the other night in Black Point that rock the boat from side to side. If we found the surge to be annoying at White Point or Oven Rock, both of which have anchorages more exposed to the SE than Black Point, our plan was to then return to Black Point for the night.

We had nice sail to White Point. It was upwind but the wind was only blowing 12-15. We kept it simple and just used the genoa (sail on the front of the boat) which rolls in and out easily.  Harry took the opportunity to check the rig tension while underway and decided to tighten it up a bit. After a couple of tacks to do this Sarah sailed us up under White Point, trying to get out of the rolling surge waves, enticed by a catamaran that looked quite comfortable. Unfortunately Juno’s draft (depth of the keel into the water) was more than the catamaran’s so we couldn’t get as far in as they had.  We tried twice to set the anchor where we were but there wasn’t enough sand for the anchor to bite into.  So, we moved further away from shore and ultimately found a nice sandy spot for the anchor, albeit out further in the rolly waves.  For this lunch stop that wasn’t a problem and we could even use a surge bridle if we decided to stay overnight.

We hadn’t had much of breakfast, so Sarah put together lunch which we enjoyed before we headed to the beach.  We grabbed our books, towels and beach umbrella, and took the dinghy to shore.  The beach was as wonderful as we remembered, with one difference.  A super yacht had already deployed 12 chairs with canopies, a volley ball net, two jet skis, and a large inflatable water trampoline.  There were no guests to be seen so fortunately, other than the compound look, it really wasn’t disruptive.We chose a quieter spot further up the beach and settled in under the umbrella.  After reading for a bit, we walked to the top of a hill that gave a great view to the south. From that vantage point we could tell that Oven Rock was probably too exposed and not be a good idea for tonight.  We returned to our “compound” for some swimming and snorkeling before deciding that the growing clouds might bring a rain shower.  A shower here or there isn’t so bad, but we had left all the hatches and windows on Juno open so we loaded up the dinghy and returned to Juno.

With showers coming, and that the waves looking like it might be a bit rolly if we stayed for the  night, we decided to go to plan B (or maybe C) and head back to Black Point with the intention of leaving the next morning to sail to Rudder Cay.  On the sail back a shower did overtake us but we welcomed the free fresh water rinse for us and Juno.  Upon arriving at Black Point there was beach party with more dancing the same Rake and Scrape band we enjoyed previous nights. Sarah put together a favorite veggy chili and after dinner we made our way to the beach where we caught the tail end of Lorraine’s Café beach party.  We met some new couples and got to see Gina and Jeffery on Meriweather that we had just met a few days ago. 

Our compound at White Point

 

A short hike up for a better view

From the top

Sarah, always on the hunt for pretty shells,
but ominous clouds in the background

March 17: A Hidden Gem: Little Bay on Great Guana

 The winds were SE - not a great direction for sailing southeast, so we decided to stay put in Black Point another day. We set off just before noon with a picnic lunch and walked about 1.5 miles south along King’s highway until the road is no longer paved and there is no development to be seen, and ended up at Little Bay for the afternoon. With about 60 boats in the anchorage at Black Point, we didn’t expect to find the beach at Little Bay completely deserted. It remained this way for the four hours we remained there. The beach was nice and shallow and the waters were crystal clear and warm. To our surprise, there was a loveseat for two situated under the casuarina trees where we lounged in comfort for the afternoon. We were so pleased to have discovered this hidden gem as we had missed it on our last trip in 2019.  We remain hopeful we find it a private development on our next trip.

A perfect beach to relax on

More "gin clear" water

 

March 16: A Business Day on Anchor at Black Point

 The winds were strong today out of the SE at about 20 knots so we devoted today to getting some business done. Harry worked diligently on assembling photos for the blog while Sarah defrosted our freezer that had frosted up in only 8 days, and hand washed some laundry. After lunch we did manage a walk through the settlement as far as the power station fueled by diesel generators. We also had had a problem with algae growing in one of our 5 gallon Jerry cans of water so we dumped the bad water out, shocked the Jerry can with some bleach, and and refilled the Jerry can with free water from the island’s reverse osmosis distribution system found at a spicket on the back side of a building by the government docks. Arriving at he dinghy dock, and young boy, Henry, was checking out the fish with his friends and offered his assistance handling our dingy lines.  He was very enthusiastic but he also remained distracted as he pointed out and named the various fish that were swimming by.

We passed on the first half of the social at Lorraine’s Café ($60 pp dinner) but we went to Lorraine’s Café after eating dinner aboard Juno to listen to the Rake-n-scrape band once again. 

Hand washing laundry in the galley sink

Young Henry helping us tie up

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Where the fresh (Reverse Osmosis) water comes from on many of the islands

 

March 15: Iguanas at Bitter Guana and Rake-n-Scrape at Lorraine’s Café Black Point

 We sailed upwind in a SE breeze with just a jib arriving at the north end of Bitter Guana Cay about two hours later covering the 3 miles as the crow flies distance between the cays, and still in close proximity to Staniel Cay. There greeting us in the bright sun were incredible white sandstone cliffs thrusting skyward with a Sandy beach dotted with 2-foot long iguanas below. This is a favorite and scenic stop so we packed a picnic lunch and headed ashore. Views westward from atop the cliff are impressive as you can see beautiful blue waters in every direction. We fed the iguanas our celery tops and kale stalks (learning later one is not to do as they iguanas are protected), swam in the gin clear waters, and enjoyed a picnic. New this year was a raised platform on the beach where we sat free of harassment form the iguanas (they have a keen sense of smell for food). Around 3 pm, we moved Jono about a mile south and did more of the same at Gaulin Cay South before dropping anchor for the night at Black Point on Great Guana Cay.

We hurried ashore to Lorraine’s café as we had heard on the radio earlier today that the Seven Seas Cruising Association was having a social function at 5 pm. At least one of us (Sarah) was longing for some social interaction with non-spousal individuals so a social opportunity sounded good. We found about 50 people had gathered for drinks outside at the social spot - Lorraine’s Café, and around 7 pm, the band started playing rake-n-scrape. Rake-n-Scrape is traditional Bahamian music played using a saw and a metal comb and with the steel drums, provides a unique percussive sound. We enjoyed meeting fellow cruisers including couples from Newburyport, MA, Sacramento, CA, Chicago, and New Jersey. Turns out that Lorraine has three more days of social events planned at her café for the cruisers so we may stick around Black Point a little longer.

Juno arrives at Bitter Guana

Part of the welcoming committee

Stunning cliffs at Bitter Guana

 

Sarah goes for a quick float before we continue on

 

James, a Rake and Scrap master