Friday, March 30, 2012



Mar. 17 Larry and Leslie departed on the mornig flight, which of course was late. We did chores and enjoyed getting the boat back.

Mar. 18-20 It was back to normal on the anchorage. We watched the comings and goings of different boats, went swimming,watched movies that Faring had lent us, and palyed cards with Judy on Little Majors. Our friend, Joann, on Walkabout had broken her outboard engine mount so we lent her our little electric engine while hers was being fixed.

Mar. 21 Finally, it was mailboat day and fresh food would be available at the stores. Joann came with us to Staniel and we had lunch at the yacht club together while we waited for the food to be unloaded. Then we took the dinghy over to the cove by the general store and sat in the shade with some other cruisers waiting for quite a while. I had talked to the owner of the store, Vivian, and suggested we use deli numbers to keep the crowd from rushing the store and she liked the idea. As cruisers arrived, I handed them a number. When the food was all unloaded and put out, we let only a few people in at a time. Everyone liked the system so that made me happy.

Mar. 22 Judy wanted us to see her guest house and play cards again so we made some sandwiches and went over there in the dinghy. The guest house was very nicely laid out and decorated with great views around three sides. We ate our sandiwches and had fun playing biriba for several hours.

Mar. 23 John and I took Joann in to Staniel to pick up her repaired outboard motor and pick up a few groceries. On our way back to the anchorage, we saw Semezana coming “home” to their anchoring place right behind us. They invited us over for tunafish sandwiches and asked us if we wanted to take them to Conception island since they had never seen it. It took us a few moments to check the weather and and other logistice like food storage and we said yes! Faring decided to come along too so we had a jolly group for this expedition.

Mar. 24 After getting the food transfered and our guests aboard (including Fred the dog), we headed south on the inside of the chain down to Cave Cay. Just nearby to the Cay, we ran aground and had to back up using the Z drive but it worked. We inched our way down to the Cave Cay marina entrance. Faring was inside getting fuel. We wanted to show the totally protected marina to Semezana and were able to just get in after touching once. Now it was time to leave again and we tried twice but it was no use. It was low tide and too shallow. Plan B take a slip and spend the night. Faring took one too and we had the place to ourselves. The owner was very friendly and happy to have us. He told us about a wonderful shelling beach at the end of his runway so we all walked with the dogs down the whole length and went for a swim and found some good shells. The owner had also told us to pick some of his tomatoes on the way back and we did so. Dinner was on the aft deck of Windermere. Plan B worked out well.


Our first breakfast of the trip

Mar. 25 Faring left early and we followed just about an hour later. When they got out into the sea, they realized going to conception was not going to work so they called us on the radio and Plan C was devised. We both went to the Lee Stocking island area and anchored for the night. It wasn’t far so we were there by mid  morning. After lunch, John took Suzie, Faring, Fred,  and me to several beaches to look for shells and swim. On two of them, we found iguanas. That night, We had Faring on board again for dinner and a rousing game of dominos.

Mar. 26 The wind had shifted to the west and we were able to head over to Cat Island in calm seas. This became plan D. Faring sailed near us along the way. We both anchored in the big main anchorage in town but the wind was still quite blustery and the seas choppy. Faring came over for dinner and we all played dominos.

Mar. 27 The wind had gone down overnight and we all loaded up in Ken’s dinghy and went ashore to hike up to the famous Hermitage. This group of stone buildings were built by one monk as his retreat spot. He built a small chapel with bell tower, kitchen and dining area, and sleeping quarters. Everything is to scale and looks much larger from the town at sea level. These buildings are situated on the highest point to the Bahamas, about 206ft. After hiking down, we got a taxi to take us to a nearby resort called Fernandez Bay. We all fell in love with the resort and its setting on a pretty beach lined bay. The bar was on the“honor system” and lunch it the high ceiling thatched roof dining area was tasty. After lunch, we took the same taxi back and picked up some homemade bread on the way. We decided to move the boats up to the anchorage off of the resort which only took about an hour. As soon as we anchored, Suzie and I swam ashore and walked along the beautiful beach picking up shells. John snorkeled in and found some treasures along the way too. Dinner was simple as we were still full from lunch and we watched a movie.


Wendy in the Hermitag


Faring, Semezana, and Windermere at the Hermitage

Wendy and Heather resting after a big lunch at Fernandez Bay

Mar. 28 The big descision was whether to go to Conception or home and the consensis was to go home, Plan E. The wind was going to be strong for the day and it would have been uncomfortable to go there. We made french toast with the homemade cinnamon swirl bread and had Faring over for a farewell breakfast. Then we upanchored and headed out to deeper water and to the Exumas. Sam put his fishing rod in the water and , sure enough, caught a tuna just as we got into deeper water. There was much excitement and picture taking. The first fish to be caught on Windermere by a human! Sam cut the fish up into steaks and we had some for dinner and it was delicious. We decided to anchor off the iguana beach where it was still peaceful before reentering “civilization”.





the happy fisherman with his catch

cutting tuna steaks on the swim platform

Suzie and Sam "cutting a rug"
Mar. 29 It was a beautiful calm day and Suzie and I went on deck to watch the tropic birds flying and squaking overhead. After breakfast, we reved up the engine and headed back to Big Majors. someone was in “our parking space” but there was space just behind them. Suzie and I went to the beach to give Fred, the dog, a run. I made the mistake of calling him to me from the other end of the beach. He ran full steam right into me knocking me down! As I went down, my knee bent more than it likes and twisted. For the rest of the day, I was not a happy camper. Drugs and ice are good.

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