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Andante's Sailing Blog March 2014 BLOG Table of Contents |
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Back to February 2014 Ahead
to April 2014 |
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March 01, 2014 Saturday |
Lee Stocking to George Town |
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A nice bit
of sailing today on a broad reach. More than 6 knots
all day. Was able to sail through the cut into Elizabeth Harbour
and the five miles down to the San Dollar Beach Anchorage. Just some of the
300+ boats in the Harbour:
Ann chauffered me/us up to Chat and Chill for a beer, burger
and fries. As we left
Lee Stocking I overheard a VHF conversation regarding cruiser access to the
island. It seems that earlier in the season cruisers had a bonfire on the lab
property and burhed down a building. We saw what
was left. The consequence is that the owners now plan to close the island to
everyone. |
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March 02, 2014 Sunday |
George Town |
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Lounged on
the boat all day today. In the afternoon I walked on Stocking Island to see
if I could find CrabZilla. All that's left is a
much faded warning sign that one is about to encounter the most frightening
of all crustaceans.
A
frustrating day trying to update my web site. My HP computer only seems to
have about 1 - 1 1/2 hours of charge instead of the normal 3 hours. In
addition, because of the crowd in the harbour the
internet, whether via WiFi or cell hot spot, is
slower than molasses on a February day in 2014.
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March 03, 2014 Monday |
George Town |
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Today was
the first ever "Monument-al Madness Duathlon."
That is as in Monument Beach on Stocking Island. The map below shows the
three legs: run-swim-run. I finished third overall among the 19 competitors.
The winner had 15+ years on me. 2nd place, a woman, had 25+ years on me.
At the duathlon site I found a nesting dinghy like the one I
built with Christopher many years ago. Turned out Jamie (sea spirit) had
built his at nearly the same point in time. Last year I came across one of
these designs by Danny Greene, and now two this year.
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03/04/2014 Tuesday |
George Town |
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Spent a couple of hours in
Julius and Kristall's internet shop working on my
web site and checking into tax matters. Later went hiking to the south end of
Stocking Island again. The big boats in the picture are all over 75 feet.
Some of the visitors to
George Town renting run abouts don't pay much
attention to the tides. The one pictured below is hard aground. They'll be
there for a couple of hours.
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03/05/2014 Wednesday |
George Town |
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Right after the weather I
moved the boat over to Kidd Cove in anticipation of the coming nasty weather,
thus beating the George Town shuffle when everyone tries to do the same
thing. With Ann of Krazy Lady I rented a car to tour Geat
Exuma. We drove north to start. When we got up to Barre Terre we found Scott and Tina with their grandson
Julian (8yrs old). He is with them for the winter. Barre Terre is the sail boat building
center on Great Exuma. Here are a few examples.
The two shown below are now
retired.
These boats carry huge
sails so they need ample ballast. Below are lead ingots that are used for
that purpose.
The traditional racing
sloops are built without plans or loft diagrams. Also, they are entirely wood
and use local trees for the ribs and knees. A couple of examples are below.
From Barre
Terre we turned back south and stopped at a farm that Scott knows. On the way
to the farm Ann and I stopped to pick some sopadilla
fruit. I'll let you know how it tastes. It is unbelievable what the farm
owner has been able to do with ground that is largely rock. His plantation
grows tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, pumpkin, limes, and bananas. He is
fortunate in that he has a fresh water source on the property.
The next stop after the
farm was at the memorial to Pompey who led the slave revolt in the 1830s.
Zoom in and you can read the story.
The building below is a
relic from the 19th century when it served as the local jail, but what a view
overlooking Exuma Sound.
In the 18th and 19th
century there were working salt ponds on Little Exuma.
To guide the ships in to load the salt the locals erected a pillar on a hill
overlooking the salt ponds.
Scott watching grandson
Julian riding the cannon at the monument.
Julian trying to climb the
signal pillar.
In the neighborhood of the
salt monument are the ruins of a colonial era plantation. Although it was
called 'The Hermitage' it is not near the town of the same name. In fact, the
signage for the ruins refers to them as "The Tombs." The black lump
on what is left of the house is a termite nest! There are three tombs behind
the house all dating from the 1830s. We could find two of them, but could not
read any inscription; the third must be overgrown with weeds.
This is the last picture
from the trip, and is at the southern end of the road!
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March 06, 2014 Thursday |
George Town |
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Slow day. Updated the web site and worked on my tax
return. Also waiting for wind to
turn for the trip to Thompson Bay or some other part of the western side of
Long Island. |
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March 07, 2014 Friday |
George Town |
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Another slow day.
Did laundry and fetched water.
Even the mundane tasks of daily life turn into projects when you are
living on a boat. But I did take
a walk out to the Fish Fry, which is George Town’s answer to the dinner
shacks on Potter’s Cay in Nassau.
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March 08, 2014 Saturday |
George Town to Thompson Bay, Long Island |
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In a last minute decision Krazy
Lady and Andante decided they would participate in the cruisers’ race
down to Thompson Bay. The fleet departed Elizabeth Harbour
at 7 AM, but the official start was down at the Hog Cay Cut waypoint. It was a beautiful sailing day on beam
and broad reaches with the wind in the high teens. Krazy
Lady’s dinghy flipped before the start, but Ann got it back right side
up in time to start the race. In the evening a lot of the cruisers went into the fund
raiser for the local sailing club at Regatta Point. For pictures of the boats
see tomorrow’s entry. |
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March 09, 2014 Sunday |
Thompson Bay |
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Went snorkeling off Indian Hole Point with Krazy Lady.
No fish or lobster, but Ann found two conch. We asked Jennica
Ann for help getting out the animal and cleaning it. After letting JA mince the animal in a
failed effort I got them both out in jig time. At least JA knew how to clean them once
out of the shell. Ann and I made
enough conch salad for two meals each. The Bahamian sloops were out on the water off Island
Breeze in Salt Pond.
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March 10, 2014 Monday |
Thompson Bay |
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During the day I went snorkeling on the Atlantic side of
the island. Another day of being
skunked. If I had to depend on my
success as a hunter gatherer I would starve. The Regatta awards dinner was
this evening. Andante finished 3rd
in her class and Krazy Lady received a silver flag
for he seamanship skills in getting her dinghy
righted in the wind and rolling seas.
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March 11, 2014 Tuesday |
Thompson Bay |
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With Krazy Lady I hitch hiked
down to Dean’s Blue Hole. It took two rides to get down there and four to
get back in the afternoon. All of
our rides were with locals. Two
of them were in the back of pickup trucks. It was great fun to talk to the
locals. They were very curious
about what we were doing, and we were equally curious about their lives. Zoe was US by birth, Canadian by
citizenship, and Bahamian by marriage. Soon her kids will have to get US
passports, but the US does not make it easy: They have to get visas to travel
to the US in order to file for citizenship, but the is
a wrinkle that makes it hard for kids to get a visa! Eleanor and Victoria
were a hoot and wanted to know when we would take them fishing. |
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March 12, 2014 Wednesday |
Thompson Bay to George Town |
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Another beautiful reaching day, sailing more than 6 knots
for 30 nautical miles under the spinnaker. At the end of the day I anchored
at Kidd Cove to wait while the wind wound through the western half the
compass as another front approaches. |
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March 13, 2014 Thursday |
George Town |
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In the AM I took care of a couple of errands, including
renewing my iPad data plan. In the PM I moved over to Sand Dollar in
anticipation of the wind clocking around to the NNW to N to NE and E tonight
and tomorrow. |
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| March 18, 2014 Tuesday | George Town to Thompson Bay, Long Island | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17-20 knots apparent wind all day on close reach and close hauled point of sail. Should have reefed for an easier sail. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 19, 2014 Wednesday | Thompson Bay to Water Cay in the Jumentos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Today Andante, Krazy Lady, and Indian Summer departed Long Island for the Jumentos. About a third of the way through the Comer Channel Indian SUmmer developed an engine overheat problem. After some fussing and adding water to the coolant system they decided to turn back rather than risk bigger problems in the remote Jumento Cays. Had to motor all day due to lack of wind. There were three fishing boats in the harbour. Before the sun went down I walked up to the top of the hill overlooking the anchorage. |
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| March 20, 2014 Thursday | Water Cay to Flamingo Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The water colors are remarkable, even more clear than in the Exumas. Came across two fishing boats along the way and was able to smell them more than a mile out. Two fishing boats were anchored here at Flamingo Cay. They seem to be a collection point for the skiffs that spend the day running out to the lobster traps. In the afternoon there were two waterspouts north of the Cay. At Flamingo Cay there is a short cave into which one can take a dinghy, provided you watch your head. After exploring the cave we stopped at Lady Marie out of Spanish Wells to buy two lobster tails. George encouraged us to look him up when we get to Spanish Wells. Later I hiked around to the back side fo the cave to look in through the skylights. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 21, 2014 Friday | Flamingo to Hog Cay anchorage near Duncan Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Broad reach the first 3.5 miles, then beam reach for the next 35 miles, and close hauled for the last 5 miles. The anchorage is about four miles from Duncan Town. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 22, 2014 Saturday | Hog Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Took the Krazy Lady dinghy into Duncan Town about noon. Had lunch at Silveertail where ?? took care of Ann's water and fuel problems. The Silvertail is the gathering place for the few cruisers who make it down here since they have free internet access even when the BTC cell system is down, which has been the case for several days. Indeed, I couldn't get my iPad data plan active again until I got back to George Town on 04/07/2014. After lunch it was time for a walkabout around the island and its settlement. The old marble farm (aka cemetary) had graves as old as 1895. Older graves may exist, but the headstones are done with concrete which deteriorates rapidly in this environment. Outside the cemetary we chatted with the local policeman for awhile. Why is there a need for a policeman in a community of 60 people? Well, there are disputes and alcohol can be a problem. In addition there is the occasional Haitian refugee boat that lands here and kust be dealt with. Duncan Town is a very entrepreneurial place: Maxine, who owns the local store, has drying racks for conch behind her house. She explained that her customer base is mostly the Chinese who use the dried conch for chowder. This activity explains the huge conch shell middens lining the channel into town. The salt ponds are still actively used to make salt for commercial production. There is a formewr restaurant out on the southwest tip of Ragged Island, known as the Eagles Nest. Percy Wilson salvaged a crahed plane, raised it up off the gound and built a restaurant inside the structure. Unfortunately his house burned about 11 years ago and his family has been living in the restaurant while he gathers the money to rebuild; not much happens fast in the Bahamas. In addition to all the junk that he has salvaged from the beaches and around the island, Percy has two Haitian sloops on his beach. The larger one (about 40 feet) landed with 150 on board. The smaller one, closer to 35 feet, had 55 on board. There was a beach party in the evening. There are about a dozen boats here, a far cry from George Town. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 23, 2014 Sunday | Hog Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Snorkeling among the reefs in the cut between Hog Cay and Ragged Island in the AM with George from Seaquel. No fish and no lobster. In the PM I went back to the same location with the crews from Nancy Lu, Krazy Lady and Discovery. Again no luck. When I was concerned about the large barracuda that seemed to be stalking me I swam back to the rest of the crew. On my approach I thought I saw a shark fin slicing through the water. When I got back in the boat the others confirmed my siting and Ann said she had been face-to-face with the shark. No wind today. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 24, 2014 Monday | Hog Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No wind again today. Bernie from the trawler Countess Cosell took us over to the Atlantic side to one of his favorite fishing holes. Almost as soon as I was in the water I had an armful of Conch. After a short while I got a sizable lobster. Bernie took Ann over to a lobster but she couldn't get enough power in her spear to go through its shell. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 25, 2014 | Hog Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| While the wind was light from the north the north we hiked over to the Atlantic side where I got another lobster. Beforehand I put out a second anchor, my Danforth, in anticipation of the coming front. The front did materialize with higher winds and clocking W -> WNW -> SW -> NW with thunderstorms during the night. Remember this anchorage is entirely open to the west. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 26, 2014 | Hog Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The wind is still WNW, stronger, 14-16 knots, and veering less quickly than forecast. It was pretty uncomfortable and I spent the day on the boat since the anchorage was too rough to go ashore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 27, 2014 Thursday | Hog Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The wind has come around to the east, but it still very strong and making the anchorage rolly and choppy. So much so that I gain stayed on board all day. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 28, 2014 Friday | Hog Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Not feeling well today. The wind is east at 18-20 knots gusting 25. In spite of all I went for a hike on Hog Cay with Bernie and Ann. With the advent of electronic charts the Jumentos have been an increasingly popular cruising ground. Some wags now refer to it as George Town South: cut trails on the island, yoga on the bach in the AM and potlucks on the beach in the PM. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 29, 2014 Saturday | Hog Cay to Raccoon Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finally there is just the right amount of wind to move! It was a run and broad reach up to Raccoon, with just Andante and Krazy Lady in the anchorage. At the start of the sail the shackle fell out of the mainsheet block and tackle. Fortunately I found another that would fit and was on my way quickly enough. After entering the anchorage I dove on my anchor. Almost as soon as I was over the anchr a barracuda showed up. What is it with these guys? While here we visited the Salt Pond, ruins of a house and Pimlico Cay. Pimlico has many lobster and fish traps stored here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 30, 2014 Sunday | Raccoon Cay to Buena Vista Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Broad reach today. Anchored off Edward's farm/beach/shack. Hiked up to the cave in the bluff, down to Low Water Harbour, and to the Atlantic side. While walking on the beach some local fisherman bringing in the traps for the close of the season gave us three lobster. At the end of the day we moved the boats further off the beach into deeper sand in anticipation of the stronger winds piping up from the north. This made for an uncomfortable night. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2014 Monday | Buena Vista Cay to Hog Cay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| With the wind from the north there was no way to make our way back to Long Isalnd and/or George Town so we hightailed it back to Hog Cay where we could anchor behind some bluffs for a bit of protection from the N wind.. After arrival we hiked out to the Atlantic. Lobster for dinner. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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