If I had money, I could get use to this.

The Marina at Emerald Bay at Great Exuma Island has had its problems. It is open again and is offering some very attractive rates for cruisers. At a $1.50 per foot it is very comparable to rates on most of the east coast and much cheaper than “high end” marinas which this most definitely is.

The approach is straight forward, deep enough and is marked, a rarity in the Bahamas. The docks are floating and have plenty of fairway space. There is some surge. The facilities are first rate. I could stay in the shower all day. Plenty of hot water. A first class laundry (complimentary), billiard room and lounge with TV are also offered.

Not much else is available at this part of the island though. You can walk to the shopping center nearby. There’s a bank, grocery store, Mailbox Etc. and of course a liquor store.

One of our neighbors is “Hush” a Palmer Johnson PJ120 Sports Yacht.

Allegedly owned by the Alinghi Group, it is a beautiful high tech yacht that looks fast in it’s slip.

We’ll stay here a couple of days and then we’re promised settled, “normal” Bahamas weather. At that time we’ll head to Long Island for Easter and the Easter Monday Regatta.

We have found our new “most favorite place”.

A call over the vhf to “Ocean Cabin” was made before we left Black Point. Ocean Cabin is the restaurant / bar at Little Farmers that also has moorings in the protected area of the harbor. The lady at Ocean Cabin also has the friendliest voice and that means a lot. She said “no problem” (which can mean lots of things in Bahamian) but this time meant “no problem”. We arrived several hours later and picked up a mooring. As we made our approach around the south side of the island we called in on the radio. Terry answered and guided us into our mooring. At one point he broke in to say, “apply a little more power and steer to port, the ebbing tide is pulling you towards the shoal”. OK where is this guy? It was if he was standing next to me. Ocean Cabin doesn’t have a view to the mooring field. Turns out he was working on the highest point on Big Farmers Cay and could see us clearly. This is the view from his vantage point.

A quick trip in the dinghy and we were in town. It was going to be Happy Hour at Ocean Cabin tonight and like Terry says, “it’s good to be happy”.

It didn’t take very long before we fell in love with this little island of about 55 residents. We met Trina, Ali and Brenda at the corner store, which Trina operates. Ali has the liquor store behind Trina’s and Brenda operates Brenda’s Kitchen, which is adjacent to the store. Later Trina’s seven-year old son Dario joined the group and he and his friends played with Goliath. We bought some farm fresh Bahamian eggs and Brenda promised she would have some Bahamian mac and cheese for me tomorrow.

At Ocean Cabin, complimentary conch fritters were served along with half price rum punches. A lot of cruisers showed up and we had a wonderful time. Ernestine (the friendly voice) and Terry, her husband, run the place and they won’t let anyone have a bad time.

We stayed for dinner and it was fabulous!

Mary’s lobster dinner

Terry getting ready to lead us in singing the Little Farmers Cay song

The next day we toured the island. It took about thirty minutes, had a mac and cheese lunch at Brenda’s and then went over to Big Farmers to see the house Terry was working on.

Terry and the gang. The view was unreal. A 360-degree panorama of Exuma Sound, Little Farmers and the Exuma Bank.

We are reluctantly leaving in the morning but we will definitely be back to visit and spend more time at that friendly little island smiling in the turquoise sea. *

* The line, ”smiling in the turquoise sea” is from a song about Little Farmers Cay written by Diane Parker. I will add the lyrics at a later date.

Always a favorite stop of ours, Black Point is just a couple hours south of the Staniel Cay area. Staniel (Big Majors) is kind of too populated and upscale for us and we find Black Point is just right. It also has the best laundromat in the Exumas. It was laundry time.

Sorry, we gotta get a shot in of us anchored in really pretty water.

First stop was Lorraine’s Café where we got some much-needed Internet and some food. I delivered dictionaries for the school to Lorraine. The dictionaries were from the Rotary Club that Ken on the m/v Barbara is a member of. They couldn’t make it to the Bahamas this year so we volunteered to delivery them for them.

The beach is one of Goliath’s favorite places and he got to run until he could hardly make it back to the boat.

The Exuma Sound side is one of our favorites.

The sand ripples were pretty cool.

Black Point is an even worse place to be in westerlies so after two nights we were heading to Little Farmers Cay for some protection from the West wind that was forecast.

Sometimes you make really dumb decisions for really dumb reasons.

After two nights at anchor off Big Majors we thought, how bad could this little front and squall be? It didn’t sound all that bad, so we cancelled our reservation at Compass Cay Marina and decided to stay put. The anchor was firmly ensconced in the sand so why move.

The squalls were minor (we managed to catch three gallons of fresh water) and the surge not too bad so we were feeling pretty smug. We had saved $200! We were staying put … for now.

Big Majors is famous for Pig Beach. This year there were more pigs and a large litter of piglets. These pigs are pretty spoiled and have learned to swim out for handouts.

If you’re not careful they may even want to climb into your boat and drink your beer!

There were six boats that stuck out the weather anchored at Big Majors. In between blows we would meet on the beach and tell each other how smart we were to stay.

By the end of a week of getting bounced around we all decided that next time we might just go to one of many hidey holes to get out of the wind and waves. On the bright side had we gone to the marina we would have spent at least $700 or more holed up.

On our last day at Big Majors we snorkeled at Thunderball Grotto, made famous during the filming of the James Bond movie of the same name. It’s pretty cool. At low tide you swim in a shallow opening in the rock that then opens to a large room inside the rock.

This is the entrance and ironically the picture number is 007. Weird stuff, huh?

Looking up through the “skylights”.

We had bought a digital underwater camera and this would be the second time we had used it. It takes getting used to since I don’t have my glasses on and so can’t really see what I’m taking pictures of.

All stubbornness aside we were moving on. Finally!

In between fronts we sailed across the Tongue to Highborne Cay in the Exumas. It was a long day and we figured a night at anchor on the west side of Highborne shouldn’t be too bad. Boy, were we wrong. The wind picked up from the north around midnight and between the surge and the wind driven chop we bounced all night long. Luckily we went to bed by 1900 and got enough sleep before it got too rough.

The fishing has been very disappointing. Aside from the partial King Mackerel we caught prior to the stop at Berry Island Club we haven’t seen signs of anything. The water is rather cold (by Bahamas standards) and even the locals have said that fishing hasn’t been all that good.

The next morning we headed out to Exuma Land and Sea Park at Warderick Wells Cay. We picked up a mooring and stayed several days. We took the southern trails this time and the hiking was treacherous at times. The “wells” were everywhere along the way.

The trails lead from beach to hilltop then back to beach and then up again. The views were incredible.

That’s our boat, first on the right.

From Warderick Wells we hopped a short way down the chain to Cambridge Cay, another beautiful spot with gorgeous beaches.

We had arrived at Cambridge via the “safe” route which took us out Conch Cut and around the cay to the north and then in to the mooring field. We left through the narrow channel to the south. It looked hair-raising on the charts but wasn’t all that bad. Reading the water is part of the Bahamas experience. After departing we headed for Big Majors Spot near Staniel Cay.

We will stay two nights then head to Compass Cay to north for the next storm system.

Decisions, decisions, decisions … with the weather the way it’s been it can be a real challenge charting our next stop. We’ve been sitting at Frazier’s Hog Cay through two frontal passages. We like it here but it’s time to go … somewhere!

The weather is going to settle down for maybe a day and then blow again from the north and west. Let’s see, head to West Bay on New Providence Island then on to Norman’s. No can do, too much north and west in the wind forecast. Don’t really want to go to Nassau, too much city for us. We could do an overnight and go south in the Tongue of the Ocean to Decca Channel and over to Big Majors. Mary nixes the overnight. How about a run over to Andros and stop at Fresh Creek? That’s a possibility or maybe go due east and hide out at Royal Island in Eleuthra? We toss these around a half dozen times and at the last moment head to Andros.

The first half of the day was pretty calm, perfect fishing weather. Unfortunately there were no fish. No sign of anything. The started to pick up and we were able to sail for a while. This is our buddy boat “Fiscal Stray” sailing along.

Fresh Creek, which divides Coakley Town to the north from Andros Town to the south, is notorious for wicked current. We arrived around slack after low and crept through the reef opening, across the shallow bars and on into the harbor. We tied up at the only marina, Lighthouse Marina. They discourage anchoring because of the limited room, poor holding and currents.

Andros Town is home to Androsia Fabrics, a manufacturing and retail outlet of batik Bahamian apparel.

Fresh Creek hosts a crab festival in June and Mary wandered a little too close to one of their monumental crabs.

Hank’s Place, across the bridge, became our favorite hangout with very reasonable prices for both food and drinks. It was home of the legendary “Hanky Panky” frozen rum punch.

Getting there was not too hard but after a few “Hanky Panky’s” crossing the bridge was a real treat,

I was a little afraid to try their hogfish …

I settled for the cracked conch which was probably the best I’ve had in the Bahamas.

It was very tender and sweet and the breading was very light and crisp. Served with traditional Bahamian sides which were, at top left, Mac and cheese, then peas and rice and finally right, potato salad. YUMMY!

The day before we left we walked the beach. A few shots for your enjoyment.

The lighthouse.

Small mangrove lagoon opposite the beach.

Our friends, Tod and Ann aboard “Fiscal Stray”, a Morris 37.

Mary’s friend Addi thought it was only fair that we add a silly picture of us shot by Tod and Ann, so here it is.

It was cold and since Mary shaved my head I wear my polar fleece hat to keep my head warm.

An effort is being made at BIC (Berry Island Club) to provide something much needed in the Bahamas and that is sanctuary for sailors who don’t want to spend a ton of money at a marina but want a safe place to weather the fronts that, at least this year, blow through much too frequently. We also don’t mind a nice place to have a few drinks and get some good food. BIC provides just such a place.

BIC had gotten a bad reputation in the past for questionable moorings. All nine (or ten) moorings are now new. The balls are attached to 5500 pound blocks of concrete with 3/8″ galvanized chain. New pennants of polypropylene are attached to the balls. Picking up the pennant is very easy as the poly floats but be aware that chafe is high on poly as well as it is nowhere as strong as nylon. As should be the case whenever a mooring is used, the system should be checked visually for chafe and deterioration of the system. We weathered winds to 45 mph on the moorings and never felt insecure. One boat came loose when a shackle pin (not seized) backed out. This would not have happened had it been inspected. Our pennant had some chafe (considerable for a new line) that had been caused by improper mooring technique. The loop in the pennant is not to be secured directly to the cleat on the boat. A line should be passed through the loop (better a double line) and this line attached to the cleats. This increases the scope of the system as well as protects the pennant from chafe. In very high winds an emergency pennant should be run directly to the ball.

Herbie, who manages BIC, is working real hard to make sure everyone is safe and has a great time. Fuel and gas is available as is r/o water. The club itself is very nice and the prices are very reasonable. The food is outstanding, the blackened grouper my favorite. Usual favorites such as chicken, fish, conch, shrimp, steak and lobster are on the menu. I had a conch salad that rated among the best I’ve had. No entree is over $18.00. Drinks are reasonable with $3 Kaliks. Because of the food, we ate ashore too many times.

We stayed five nights, weathering two blows. In the break between blows we dinghied out for some exploration.

A “looky” bucket is a required item in the clear waters of the Bahamas. You can check your anchor or mooring and look clearly at the stuff on the bottom. Here we look at a starfish in about 4′ of water.

After beaching the dinks, we strolled the sandy beach in a small cove not far from our moored boat. There were more star fish and other critters.

It must have been mating day for seas slugs as we saw many slugs and what we assumed were egg clusters. The next day when we were there they were all gone.

Be careful where you step! We saw this large sting ray buried in sand.

The big blow came Friday night. We set an emergency pennant to the mooring and watched as the black squall line headed our way. As the first line passed and darkness set in, Mary heard voices pass outside. I looked out to see a boat passing by. It had been moored but the shackle had come loose and they were unsuccessfully trying to set an anchor. I called Herbie on the VHF and told him what was going and set off in the dinghy to see if I could help. I convinced them to try another mooring and took a line from their boat over to Herbie’s skiff. The wind was blowing a steady 30 by now and it was hard to make way with the 10 horse outboard. I finally got the line over and they safely secured themselves to the new mooring. I headed back just before the next squall hit with gusts to 45 mph.

During this time we heard a distress call come in from a sailboat somewhere between Whale and Little Whale Cays, not all that far away. The sailboat (Wild Hare) was in fear of running aground. A cruise ship received their call and said they would relay their call to authorities as the ship could not get to where they were. That was the last we heard until the following morning. BASRA had asked Herbie to go check near their last reported position to see if he could find anything. He found nothing. This would be our first real acknowledgement of how alone we are.

Sunday was a bit chilly and the wind was still blowing enough to keep the Tongue rough. We went ashore and talked to Herbie for a short while. He was working on the Internet network and he remarked about not getting much rest on his day off. Little did he know that his day was going to be packed with adventure.

After a nice long walk we returned to the boat. The VHF crackled, “Mayday … mayday, this is motor yacht Lysdo! We’re taking on water.” Fiscal Stray, our buddy boat, answered their call. After getting their position we plotted on our chart. They were only three miles away passing from Chub off Bird Cay. Briefly I could see them visually and on radar until they drifted behind Bird Cay. Tod on Fiscal Stray coordinated things on the radio while a local boat, Our Way, and Herbie raced to see what they could do to help. As it turns out the motor yacht was towing a 25′ center console fishing boat with dual 225 hp outboards, had an additional center console dinghy as well as life rafts. No one was really in danger but understandably they didn’t want to lose the $3 million dollar yacht. We listened as they tried to figure out where the water was coming in and tried unsuccessfully to tow it back to Chub Cay. It was distressing for us to listen as Chub Cay, who had so eagerly taken their money for a slip (very expensive place) were totally disinterested in helping out in any way.

They eventually abandoned ship, one person taking the dinghy, two crew going with Herbie and the owner, wife(?) and captain taking the 25′ boat. The 98′ six year old yacht slowly rolled and sank in over a thousand feet of water. As it sank the fenders and the hot tub floated to the surface. What a shame. It leaves many unanswered questions as to why it would sink.

The next morning as we prepared to leave for Andros we remarked to Herbie, that he really knew how to relax on his day off.

As it turned out, the next day was nice enough to leave and continue on our journey. We would be traveling with River Rat (Carl and Debi), Awesome Asset (Gordon and Lori) and My Destiny (Greg and Judy). The entourage headed out of the harbor at 1200 and set sail for North Rock then east towards Mackie Shoal and beyond.

As the day wore on the wind began to die and soon we were motoring along on dead calm seas.

Night fell and we continued on, choosing to stop between the NW Shoal route to Mackie and the route back towards Russell Beacon. The four of us gathered as a group about a mile and a half or more from either route. Freighters frequent these routes and we wanted to make sure we were out of the way. A slight surge rocked us to sleep. Responding to an early morning nature call I went on deck to check things out. Way off in the distance I could see lights. I switched on the instruments and AIS indicated it was a freighter heading for Nassau. He was a long way off and only doing 7.6 knots so I went back to bed. An hour or so later I could feel the vibration of the big props. I went outside again to see the freighter pass silently about a half a mile away. Time to get up anyway so we prepared things for getting underway and soon we all were headed for the Northwest Channel and the Tongue of the Ocean.

The wind began to pick up as we passed into the Tongue. Along with it came the seas. The ride to Frazier’s Hog became quite rough but it didn’t prevent us from fishing. As we approached Chub Cay the reel whined as the line peeled off. I set the hook and was pleased to feel a big fish on. No jumping indicated that it probably wasn’t a mahi and it didn’t sound like a tuna. Hoping for a wahoo I reeled and held the fish in check. It was giving me quite the fight when I felt the fight go away. I reeled furiously and could still feel weight on the line but no fight. I figured a shark had hit whatever I had and now hoped there was enough left for supper. I landed about 60% of a nice King Mackerel and it had been hit by a barracuda, a BIG barracuda! What remained was 32″ long and weighed about eight pounds. I got nine good steaks from it.

After traveling another five miles we turned towards the channel at Frazier’s Hog. The channel is marked with red and green buoys (A rarity in the Bahamas) and soon we were tied to nice new moorings (another rarity) at the Berry Island Club.

It was very difficult to let that mooring line go, but let go we must. We spent almost two months in Marathon. It was great seeing old friends again and making new ones. As we pulled away from our mooring and headed out the channel to leave we were sad we didn’t have more time but the Bahamas beckoned.

We chose to go outside the reef and follow it in deep water for two reasons. One, we wouldn’t have to worry about lobster trap floats and two, when we entered Molasses Reef at Rodriguez Key we would have a trail to follow out in the morning.

Heading into the wind all day prevented us from any sailing. We motored along pretty content in rather tame seas. Since it was Saturday there were many fisherman out and we dodged them all along the way. At one point we developed a rather high-pitched tone and noticed a slight decrease in speed. It sounded like an engine sound but I could not locate anything. Water temperature ok as was the oil pressure. I put the transmission in neutral and the sound went away. Hmmmm … I put it in reverse and got no sound. Back to forward and no more sound and we resumed normal speed. Nothing floated out behind the boat to indicate that we may have snagged something. Oh well, we continued on.

Around 1700 we made our way through the reef to the anchorage at Rodriguez Key. After dropping anchor we settled in for dinner and our last dose of high speed Internet. On Facebook, I noticed a boat we have corresponded with was anchored there too. What a coincidence. Shortly we were talking with Kathy on Seeker, an Oday 39. They were headed to Marathon. We were now having mixed feelings about leaving Marathon. Earlier that day we had talked by VHF with two other of our buddy boats heading to Marathon. Oh well. We were committed to make the crossing.

It’s hard to sleep before trips like these and getting up at 0400 doesn’t help. It was going to be a long day at almost 80 nautical miles (about 92 regular miles) and we needed lots of room for error to avoid making Bimini after dark. We left the anchorage at 0515 and crept out through the reef. Imagine driving in the dark with no lights, down a road you know is out there but have no clue where it is and in our case, how deep it is.

Well, if we trust our electronics and dead reckoning I guess we do know the way and the depth but it’s pretty nerve wracking non the less.

We cleared the reef just at twilight. We set course for Bimini and off we went. Seas were very manageable at 2 to 4 feet but as we approached the Gulf Stream they became easy 3 to 5’s and maybe a little more than that. The wind remained mostly from the east, which is ok for a crossing but not the best. We motor sailed close-hauled until we were about halfway across. The wind backed a bit to the northeast, which caused the seas to become “confused”. We pulled in the headsail and had to alter course a bit for a better ride.

Ships are always a concern in this area and we wouldn’t go long until we saw our first one. This past year we added an AIS (automatic information system) receiver that receives identification signals from all ships. We get ship size, type, speed, course, destination, radio call signs, etc. Very handy information to have. This first ship was on a very close course to intersecting with ours. That’s bad thing, so when he was three mile away I called him, by name, on the VHF. He actually answered!!! I asked if he could see me and said yes he could and then asked to my astonishment if I would like him to alter his course and if so, how. This is very unusual but I asked if he could pass us astern, he said he would and immediately altered his course. I thanked him profusely and we continued on our way. We would see six other freighters but none required a call.

As we approached Bimini, almost exactly on time we could see another ship in the distance. It was awfully close to Bimini. No AIS signal. This could only mean one thing, it was military and that generally means the US Coast Guard. Soon we could see a small red boat speeding our way. The guys inside were getting quite a ride. They were probably doing 30 plus mph in 3 to 5 foot waves. They soon caught up to us and requested some information, which we gladly gave them. Boat name, nationality, where’d we come from, that sort of thing. Just when we thought we were going to get away, the cutter must have told them to board us so they came back and two Coasties came aboard. They went below to check for bales of marijuana and gun caches but found only potatoes, onions and other debris that had come loose along the way and were scattered about the cabin. They wanted to do a safety check but were quickly call away by the cutter. Evidently they had an urgent matter elsewhere and within 15 minutes were over the horizon.

The approach into Bimini is nerve wracking. No markers just waypoints on the chartplotter if you’re lucky to have them which we did since we were here last year. Last year we approached in beautiful weather with the water colors telling the story of water depths. Not this year as the skies were overcast and it was getting late. We followed our marks and had no problems. We had made reservations at Weeches and Bluewater but got no answer to our VHF calls so we pulled up to the dock at Brown’s and let the current hold us as the east wind pushed us gently up to the dock. By all appearances we were professionals.

Too late to check in with Customs, we talked with other cruisers, had a delightful meal of Dinty Moore and went to bed. Life is good.

Today has been rainy and very windy and we are getting bounced around quite a bit. We’ve checked in and visited with our fellow cruisers. Turns out we are right next to Carl and Debi on River Rat who had dinner with us on our wedding anniversary in Vero Beach. Rain or shine you have to walk the beach, so we did.

Those aren’t water bottles, they are Portuguese Man o Wars. Not good weather to be an invertebrate!

Tomorrow will be nicer no doubt.