Feb. 23 Judy who owns the northern half of Little Majors island now has a wonderful young American caretaker named Gage Parrot. We invited him, with a visiting friend, for dinner. His father was a good, life long, sailor and fellow CCA member. He also owned a salvage company that he eventually sold to an other bigger one before he died last year. All this to lead up to our evening entertainment! Gage spent last summer in Italy working on the salvage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that hit a rock off of an island in western Italy. He had plans of the operation and lots of photos of his time there. He is in charge of local logistics for the salvage so he had to drive all over Italy to the various companies involved. It was a very interesting evening to say the least!
Feb. 24 Our friend Marcy Porter joined us on Windermere. It was her first trip to the Exumas and we were pleased to be able to show her our little part of the world. For the next several days, we took her around in the dinghy, had cocktails on Exodus, and let her try swimming in Thunderball Grotto.
Feb. 26 There was a storm coming in a few days and John felt we should move between the Majors (islands) so we gave Marcy a thrill and took her through the small cut by Fowl Cay. This cut we have done before but the wind had piped up, the current was running with us, and it is a narrow cut. After you go through, there is a curve that makes a 90 degree turn to the right. The current took us and made the stern fish tail a bit in the curve but John steered her well and we made it. Then we anchored in a pretty good spot and it held, which is not always the case. because the bottom is hard sand over soft. It is hard to get the anchor to go through the hard and to hold in the softer stuff. Next, it was Exodus’s turn to try the cut. I took John over in our dinghy and put him on board Exodus. They had never done the cut and Arnie, 80 years old, needed some help. I waited around in the dinghy and watched the process which was nerve wracking as the current was stronger. John offered advice and support and they made it too and anchored near to us.
Feb. 28 This was double bunking day. Our friend, Robin, arrived in the afternoon and Marcy wasn’t leaving till the next morning. They had met each other in Mystic so they were fine with sharing a bathroom. We all wrapped up in warm clothes and went to Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a good dinner.
March 1 After Marcy left, our friends Rosemary and Buzz on Steadfast arrived and invited us for dinner. Another couple, Jeff and Karen who were on One Love, joined us for a jolly dinner.
March 2 Late in the morning, it started to rain and the wind picked up. At this moment, our friends on Steadfast decided to move to the marina at Compass Cay, and go through the cut (for the first time). They asked John to lead them through in the dinghy. He got soaking wet but was glad to help friends. As the day progressed, so did the wind increase. The tidal current runs through the cut between the islands and we all swing 180 degrees with it twice a day. That night, with the wind blowing down the cut at 25 knots, and the current coming up the cut, some of us didn’t turn all the way around. Boats were facing all different directions depending on how much “undercarriage” they had. We have three keels so we are very governed by current and less by wind. Several of the boats got too close to each other and had to move and re anchor in the dark. John stayed up for a while to watch what was happening but Robin and I went right to sleep. Our anchor had been holding well since Tuesday and continued to do his work!
March 3 What do you do when it is too cold out to swim or go to the beach? Have a Sunday luncheon. I made some good hearty soup and we invited Exodus and Jeff and Karen to join us. Everyone brought something and we had a warm and cozy afternoon.
March 4-6 The weather continued to be cold for the Bahamas. Every day, Robin would emerge from her room in one glorious bathing suit after another with matching cover up only to return to change into my extra sweats and a sweater! We did manage to have a fun time but not in the water. Luckily Robin had not seen the sights in our area s she made a good tourist. Every day the wind was coming from a different direction so we had to figure out where we could go to play. Sometimes it was a small beach away from the wind and sometimes a long lunch at Taste & Sea with a short walk on Staniel afterwards. One day it was a dinghy ride to Pipe Creek with lunch at Sampson Cay and some shopping. Our friends from Steadfast were also there by chance so we joined them.
March 7 We had a slow relaxing morning while Robin packed. Then, we loaded up the dinghy and went to lunch at SCYC before Robin left in the pm. Later, when the tide was high, John drove the boat back through the Fowl Cay cut so we could anchor in Big Majors Spot for the night. Gage came by so we could give him our tomato plants and to have a good by drink. Faring happened by too and they were very interested to meet Gage. They are both engineers and were able to talk the same language with Gage about the salvage project.
March 8 Time to get underway and head for Miami. We were leaving earlier than usual but we had a generator that needed fixing in the States. This leg of the trip took us up the Exuma chain as far a Highborne Cay where we anchored off the small marina and resort for the night. Our friends, Jeff and Karen, were anchored just north of us so we conspired with them to go to dinner. The restaurant, Xumas, was open air and quiet with a great view of the sunset. The food and service were superb! The company as well. It was so nice to not see mac and cheese, conch, and fried grouper on the menu.
March 9 This was a long day 79 nms to Chub Cay which is north and west of New Providence island where Nassau is located. The weather was fine and the shallow water on the Exuma bank a beautiful color of turquoise. The water north of Nassau is deep and dark blue and there were swells but well spaced which helped our ride. We anchored in our usual spot just off the channel and had dinner.
March 10 After breakfast, we raised the anchor and headed for the NW Channel and the Bahamas bank. Along the way, We passed a small sailboat that John recognized from Big Majors with a New Zealander single handing her. He was headed overnight to Ft. Lauderdale. Of course the cameras came out (we both had the same kind of camera!) and we took pictures of each other. After the last hurricane rolled through, there wasn't much left of the NW Channel light pole (see photo). Our trip went well till about 30 miles from Miami when we hit the main part of the Gulf Stream. The wind was at 15-20kts from the east blowing us towards Miami but the current was north so the seas were 4-6 and we rolled. Both of us stayed up and listened to show tunes and passed the time. It was slow going because of the current against us so it took longer. Around 4 am, we came in the Government Cut, followed by two cruise ships, and turned left to a new anchorage we had checked out beforehand in the fall by dinghy. Our anchor was slowly dragging but then held so we were able to go to sleep till morning.
March 11 We had to go to our next anchorage at high tide which was 10 am so we got up and raised the anchor only to find out it was hooked on a big cable! luckily, we were able to slip it off by tipping the anchor. Now we knew why we held so well! We only had to wait for one bridge to open and then we were able to go along the north side of the Venetian causeway to our usual anchorage of the Sunset Marina. We will be here until we can get the generator fixed and decide what our next step is going to be.
