Staniel Cay and Sampson Cay again

Staniels Cay Pirate Trap beach
June 7, 2009

June 3-5, 2009

     We fueled up at the Farmer's Cay Yacht Club and exited Farmer's Cay cut which had high standing waves and a very brisk current.  Once clear of that we proceeded to Dotham Cut back to the Bank inside and to Staniel Cay.  We stayed at Staniel Cay for several day exploring its beaches.  We did find a better grocery store on the South Staniel Cay.  It had much better

produce that the two smaller stores near the Yacht Club.  When the fishermen were cleaning up their catch that evening, we saw many sharks and a ray waiting to eat the leftovers.  We rented

a golf cart for a day and further explored both N and S Staniel Cay. the beaches on the Sound side had reefs offshore. I had a delicious Conch burger at the Yacht Club.   We ate dinner there one night, too.   I had rack of lamb and Charlie had cornish hens; both were delicious. We met several couples vacationing there.  One was from Indianapolis, Decatur township.  the other was from Texas.  We also went to the Cafe Thunderball Friday Bar-B-Q and met several Germans, a Canadian and a transplanted German now living in Norway.  They were on a Moorings charter with a captain out of Marsh Harbor in the Abacos but exploring the Exumas.  We traded book

recommendations.  Charlie took their picture but he cannot download his pictures onto my computer and his is nonfunctioning at present.  We found two unusual beaches on Staniel Cay.  One is called Pirate's trap beach near Cafe Thunderball and another at the southern entrance to an inlet on the sound side of the cay called Jessie's Kitchen area.  During our stay at Staniel Cay thunderstorms were scattered but prevalent daily causing us to close up the boat and then open it up repeatedly. June 5 is the Bahamas Labor Day.  Unfortunately rain at Staniel Cay dampened the festivities somewhat.  There was a Regatta in Long Cay to which many in Exuma go to see.    

June 6-7, 2009

      We left Staniel Cay and went north to Sampson Cay again.  the marina was full!  So we had to anchor out not far from the marina.  We went to shore to do laundry, get on the internet and to attend their Saturday Beach Bar-B-Q.  The interior beach at Sampson is beautiful.  It almost drys to sand at low tide.  We met several interesting couples while there.  Two were on their way to Georgetown.  They were from Ft. Lauderdale and Stuart, FL

 cruising in large motor cruisers.  Another couple is from Dallas and on a 66 ft. motor cruiser in the marina.   One of the nicest things about cruising is the people you meet along the way.  They always seem to enrich the experience.     We are again ashore amid storms.  We came to buy some groceries of which they have a small but very good selection here.  If it clears up we will probably go exploring nearby beaches via dinghy. 

     We will leave here tomorrow and go further north.  We haven't made up our mind just where we will land tomorrow.     

June     

Saying goodbye to G'town and traveling North

June 2, 2009

May 29-31, 2009

    We continued to further explore Georgetown and Stocking IS.  We took the dinghy to the Peace and Plenty Beach club on Stocking IS.   It was very attractive place which could accommodate large crowds during high season.  It also had some trails one of which led to

the ocean side of Stocking IS where we found som

e reefs just offshore during low tide.  It also had wide sandy beaches and some lagoons.  We spent several afternoons exploring these pristine beaches on the ocean side of Stocking IS.  

The Exuma Docking Services  still had no diesel but we went over to fill our water tanks.  Saturday we invited the couple on the boat anchored near us for cocktails.  They are Brits who bought a Benateau 50 in Tortolla and are taking it back to the states.  On 

On Sunday we went to the weekly Chat and Chill Pig Roast where 

boaters and the locals all gather for a feast. Chat and Chill has three volleyball courts.  I can imagine that during the busy season, all three are full.  They also have a totem pole of city/cay signs showing distances to various destinatons. Someone had put up Charleston, SC.  

June 1, 2009:

     We left Georgetown and Stocking IS early monday morning heading north to Little Farmer's Cay.  there was very little wind and we were only making about 3 knots. they the rain began so we took down the sails and motored the rest of the way. Just as we arrived at Lttle Farmer's Cay, the rain stopped.  We picked up a mooring ball between Little farmer's C

ay and Great Guana Cay.  We went into the little harbor to pay at Ocean Cabin where we were entertained by the owner Terry Bain and friend Samuel. Terry is a descendent from one of the original families here. We discussed world problems and philosophy for an hour or more.  He made me his Ocean Cabin speciality drink which was a blue as the water here in the Exumas. Amazingly I guessed the 5 ingredients he used correctly.  It was delicious: made of coconut rum, rum, pineapple, grapefruit juice and blue curacao.  Terry is a character as his sign on the Ocean Cabin Restaurant reflects.  When the wind picked up we hurried back to the boat.

June 2, 2009

    We further explored Little Farmer's Cay.  We visited the Farmer's Cay Yacht Club, which is quite nice.  It is run by the Nixon's who have been married for 50 years an d he is one of the original families who settle here.  We plan to get fuel from there tomorrow before we leave.  We walked around several of the beaches, both sandy and rocky, and saw their airstrip.  We ordered conch chowder and cracked conch at Ocean Cabin.  Terry had to crack and tenderize the conch but it was delicious and quite tender.  The chowder was good too with lots of conch in it as well.   We may explore the Great Guana Cay beach later this afternoon

and may have dinner at the Yacht Club.  We feel we are helping their economy which is dire need of help.   

Basking in the Georgetown Sun

"Lake" Victoria
May 28, 2009

May 26, 2009: We took the dinghy inside Lake Victoria through the narrow opening which only dinghies can access, docking by the Exuma Market.  I made arrangements for us to receive a shipment of mail later in the week.   We explored the rest of Georgetown and  we walked completely around Lake Victoria which is really a pond. I found two laundries 

and we found varying prices of ice from $3.00-4.50 for 10 lbs. We also found a second grocery store about the same size as Exuma Market.  There were several internet places but the best bargain was for $5/day in a green shack.  It also advertised computer repairs and other office services.  There was also a Straw Market

selling hats, T-shirts and trinkets. We had leisurely lunch at the Peace and Plenty Hotel after our walk, but a rainstorm kept there for a while. The conch chowder was excellent;  the Pina Coladas were great again. Marilyn and I "dressed " for dinner.  We had steak, salad and a nice bottle of Pinot Noir wine.  The sunset was beautiful as was the lightning far away. 

May 27, 2009:  We had rain overnight and awoke to it this morning.  It just didn't seem to want to stop.  Finally about 1100 we pulled up the anchor in the rain and moved over in from of the Peace and Plenty Hotel so we would not have as long a dinghy ride to get Marilyn and her luggage to shore to catch her plane.  The rain finally stopped and the sun was coming out as we got marilyn to shore.  We ate lunch again at the Peace and Plenty, saw Marilyn to her cab and on her way to the airport.  We walked around a bit more checking out where we had to go to get diesel for the boat.  The "marina" , used loosely in this case, did not even currently have any diesel.  They hope to have a shipment arrive this weekend.  If not, we have enough to get back to Staniel Cay or Sampson Cay if necessary.   Then it was back to the boat for cocktails and dinner. 

     

May 28, 2009: No rain overnight and sunny skies today.  I did all our laundry today.  Then we went back to the boat, changed to swim suits and went across the harbor to the"Chat and Chill" which is on the beach at Stocking IS.  We ate burgers under the palm trees, waded in the beautiful blue waters and relaxed, visiting with others there "chilling out".  We were basking in the sun and shade of Elizabeth Harbor/ Georgetown and Stocking IS.   

I want to apologize for some of the errors in my postings. When I  "publish" the post, the blogger sometimes splits words in the middle and leaves partially blank lines.  While we are out of the country, I don't have unlimited MB of internet use to continually correct my postings. Please bear with us.    

Georgetown Finally

May 26, 2009

May 23, 2009:

     We awoke to lightning and hard rain so we delayed our departure from Staniel Cay until mid morning after it had cleared off some. It only took us an hour and a half to arrive at Black Point settlement.  After anchoring and eating some lunch, we ventured ashore to explore.  There

was a lot of activity on the government dock which also holds the dinghy dock. Several boats seemed to be preparing for Saturday afternoon races. We went looking for a grocery store run by Mrs. Adderly. We found one but she had no lettuce.  She told us of another store, J & J,  down the road which we got bad directions for from another  2 women ( must have been tourists),so we never found it. We stopped in at Loraine's Cafe to make reservations for the night. whatever anyone needs when visiting Black Point Settlement, you can get from Loraine. She seems to be the hub of this settlement.  She offers free internet  and has 4-5 computers to use, but asks for a donation to pay for the electricity used.  We found the police station with a separate building for the jail.  The school with its  basketball court included several buildings.  The library was next door.   We passed several other restaurants and bars , but nothing seemed to be open. All the activity was down at the dock where a delivery ship came in.  The proceeded to load two pickup trucks onto it.  Women were selling beer and conch fritters at the dock and a teenage boy was acting as DJ.  A group of boys were trying to play baseball on the street using a tennis ball.  We obtained some ice and went back to the boat where we sat in our cockpit to watch the three sailboats race.  Black Point has a huge regatta in August and these sailors are very serious about their sailing.  It was exciting to see them hike out on long boards.   We went back in to have dinner at Loraine's.  I had a delicious lobster; Marilyn had Mahi-Mahi and Charlie had grouper. Even though it was a small place, they also had wine and mixed drinks.  After our dinner, the other bars seemed to be open though we didn't see many customers, but the locals were hanging around.  Back at the boat we took the engine off the dinghy and stowed the dinghy topside.

 

May 24, 2009:  

     Since we had a long trip to Georgetown, we were up at 0600 and underway by just after 0700.    We went into Exuma Sound through Dotham cut and headed for georget

own.  the wind was right on our nose so we had to tack across our courseline again. We also began to encounter scattered rain which became heavy rain off and on the rest of the day. We were very grateful for our cockpit surround even though we kept having to mop up where ran leaked through openings. Just as we were to enter Elizabeth Harbor, the rain went away and we had sunny skies for awhile.  We anchored on the shore of Stocking Island near the Peace and Plenty Beach Club just before 1800 (6p.m.).  We had dinner on the boat. 

May 25, 2009:

     We did not see the sea of boats at anchor in Elizabeth Harbor when we arrived and thought they must be around the corner, however, they are just not here. We turned on the VHF for the Cruiser's Net but it did not happen either.  We went across the harbor to the Georgetown side looking for the dinghy dock.  What we saw was a decrepit dock with timbers missing and no ladders to get out.    We ended up using the Peace and Plenty Hotel dock, going into their bar to buy a drink in payment for the use of their dock.  someone from Chicago who has a house 

payment for the use of their dock. house here helped dock us and welcome us.   They have a great Pina Colada and their bartender, "Dr. of Libations" was very friendly.  We continued our exploration to a nice gift shop across the street from Peace and 

Plenty, then  proceeded down the street to the Towne Cafe for lunch.  this was a very busy place with locals coming in for takeout.  Everything was in styrofoam.  We had some great Bar-B-Q ribs with peas and rice, slaw and another side. We found the Exuma Market grocery store, the biggest on the island and supposedly the best stocked grocery in the Exumas.  It was OK, but not nearly as nice as the Marsh Harbor one on the Abacos.  I don't know how they serve 3-400 boats and the locals during the winter!   We did buy groceries and ice.   The cruising guides say all boats have to check in with the harbormaster and I tried to do so.  I finally found his office which was locked and empty, so maybe this just applies during the "season". We took the groceries back to the boat, rested during the hot afternoon before going to explore

our nearby beach.  We picked up litter along the beach. We had lobster and Mahi-Mahi salad from the leftovers.  We enjoyed the beautiful starry night with a sliver of moon and the twinkling lights across the harbor of Gerogetown.  Summer lightning in the

distance added to our light show.   

Staniel Cay

May 22, 2009

May 21, 2009: We left Sampson Cay about 1p.m. in pouring rain which continued the whole journey and throughout the rest of the day and off and on most of the night. We arrived about 3p.m. but spent about an hour trying to find a good place to anchor. We were all drenched! It is not easy to dry out yourself, wet clothes, and the boat when it constantly rains. We anchored in an area which has strong current. About 7p.m. the anchor alarm kept going off so we pulled up our anchor, a CQR, and Charlie changed the anchor to a fortress which we had bought and had stored on the boat, and we anchored again in a slightly different spot. We were lucky that it wasn't raining during that hour. We then finally ate dinner. I kept checking the chartplotter tracking of our anchor. It was not the normal arc one usually sees but an erratic plot due to the strong effect of the current. However we successfully made it through the night with no more anchor alarm going off.

May 22, 2009: Most of the rain was gone and we had sunny skies most of the day. We went into The Staniel Cay Yacht Club dinghy dock and then went exploring for a grocery store. We had been told to go to the "Blue" store instead of the "Pink" store. We actually went to both and the "blue" store was better stocked which is not saying much as neither had much of what we needed. The small store at Sampson Cay Marina was almost better than either at Staniel Cay. We did stop at a Bread Shop, met Brenda the baker and bought some of her delicious smelling Bahamian bread. We bought some banana nut bread at one of the stores. We wandered around this part of Staniel Cay visiting a boutique near the Happy People Marina and restaurant and also an unopened art gallery housed in a purple one room structure with lilac trim. Back at the Yacht Club we tried their drinks. We visited the dive shop to research about the "Thunderball Grotto" used in the James Bond movie "Thunderball". The best time is at slack tide which today was between 12:30-1:30. So, back to the boat to get our fins and masks ready to go snorkel nearby. Charlie and Marilyn went first. Then Charlie and I traded places. The fish were beautiful as was some of the small corals we saw. The tide began to turn and the current became too strong for me so we returned to our big boat for lunch. Later in the afternoon we went around Big Major Spot to the "Pig Beach" where pigs come off the beach to eat food brought by dingy boaters. We only saw one pig which was sleeping. He finally woke up

and swam out to the dingy for food. We were told by others that there were 5 pigs earlier in the morning.

We continued along Big Major Spot finding another smaller beach to stop at and explore. We passed the Fowl Cay Resort and continued our circumnavigation

of Big Majors Spot. We cleaned up and went to the Cafe Thunderball for a dinner of Bar-B-Q ribs and chicken. We met many other sailors up there including a couple with a Tayana 42 with a center cockpit. They are on their way back to Tortola where they used to live. We also met a local author who lives in a house on the top

of the hill above the Cafe Thunderball. Marilyn and I both bought books from her. So ends our exciting busy day. The picture at the top is of the anchorage from Cafe Thunderball. Blue Horizon is the middle boat.

We plan to proceed 10 miles to Black Point Settlement on Great Guana Cay tomorrow and then to Georgetown the next day.

Exploring Warderick Wells and Sampson Cay

May 21, 2009

May 19, 2009:  Charlie and Marilyn snorkled  from the dinghy during slack tide for a short time.  They saw a green turtle and some tangs.  The water was rough or they would have gone further from the dinghy and seen more.  As usual, it was tough getting back into the dinghy.  We went back to the boat to change clothes for hiking.  We went on the BooBoo Hill trail.  They had identified many of the native plants and had informational signs all

 along the way.  We learned that there are three types on mangrove tree here:  white, black and red.  At the top of Boo Boo Hill, many boaters had left a sign with their boat names and dates they had been there. I am including a picture.  

The view from the top of the hill of the waters around the cay were beautiful.  We also hiked to see some of the blow holes along the east coast of Warderick Wells Cay.  At the time, they were not blowing water but air.  It was enough to blow off Marilyn's hat. The holes do not have to be very big.  storms were accumulating and we got back to the boat just before the deluge.  Charlie took a beautiful picture of the sunset.

     

May 20, 2009:   After checking out from Warderick Wells, we had a brisk sail to Sampson Cay. Since we were trying to go almost directly into the wind, we had to 

tack across the course line.  The winds were 15-10 so we made good time arriving about 3 in the afternoon (1500).  We opted to stay at the lovely marina here so we could plug in and do laundry. They also have a nice ( expensive) restaurant. Marilyn and I explored the lovely paths and beaches before dinner. We all had Bahamian lobster which was delicious.

May 21, 2009: We woke to rain clouds which soon began to drop rain on us.  Marilyn and I had decided to try to do laundry before we left, thinking it would take 2 hours but the Marina restaurant was using the washers and dryers, so we had to wait our turn.  Then the dryers were not very efficient so they have to be run twice for the T-shirts and sheets.  When we leave, we will go to Staniel Cay which is only six miles further south.  If the rain stops, we will try to do some grocery shopping and eat at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for dinner.    We will stay there for 2 nights which should allow us to explore and snorkle the Thunderball Grotto at slack tide tomorrow.          

Continuing southward in Exumas

May 18, 2009

Saturday, May 16, 2009, we had a short but delightful sail from Highborne Cay to Norman's Cay. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there going at or over 6 knots. We had started out almost at noon because we went into the Highborne Cay Marina for ice and water, etc. Once we got to Norman's Cay we called for dinner reservations at the Norman's Cay Beach Club or McDuffs. There were only three boats anchored off Norman's. We dighnied ashore for a delicious dinner among the locals. It was quite busy from construction crews doing some building on the Cay.

Sunday, May 17, 2009: We had another wonderful day of sailing in 15-20 knots of wind to Hawksbill Cay which is the upper border for the Exumas Land and Sea Park. After lunch we went ashore to explore. The sand here was very fine and off white almost more fine than sugar. I climbed up a hill to a pyramid made of loose stones. It gave me a beautiful view of most of this Cay. All of us climbed up over a smaller hill to see the inland pond caused by a creek from the Bahama Bank. There are some ruins of a Loyalist Plantation but we couldn't find them near where we were. We had dinner on the boat as the Cay is uninhabited. There have been scattered showers the last few days and we have been caught in a few.

Monday, May 18, 2009: We got an earlier start today as we sailed to Warderick Wells which is the headquarters for the Land and Sea Park. We picked up a mooring in the northern mooring field near the Park Rangers office. Just as we were leaving the Ranger's office to go back to the boat, the sky opened up and we were drenched by the time we arrived back at the boat by dighny. At least it cleaned some of the salt off the boat. We plan to go snorkling tomorrow and to do some of the hiking trails on this cay.

I may not be able to add as many pictures as we have been due to AT&T sending us a message that we are exceeding our usage of the computer aircard. We also won't be able to open those lovely attachments you all send us. We will have to share all the pictures when we return.