February 16, 2010.

We probably won't have internet again until well after the 19th so.......Happy Birthday Randall.

The last front to come through also brought with it prolonged winds from the southwest. There's not a whole lot of places to hide from any type of westerly winds here in the Jumentos. While listening to the VHF I was able to count 29 boats and pinpoint their locations.

There are 2 “decent” places to hid and another 2 marginal places. Most of the boats were in or headed to Double Breasted Cay. So Far Niente, Savage Son and us on the Veranda opted to try some place we’ve never been before.

There's a cut from the banks side to the ocean between Hog Cay and Ragged Island that looked as if it would do the trick. Its open to the east but there were no easterlies in the forecast. From the west the entrance is a winding shallow affair between even shallower sand banks that will knock down any wave action headed our way, or at least that’s the theory.

Once inside the cut we found a sandy patch on the grass covered sea floor and dropped the hook and settled in for the 2 day event. A couple of boats dragged as the wind swung around through the west but everything worked out okay.

On Sunday morning all 9 boats in the anchorage headed out for the 2 mile trip up to Middle Pen Bay on Hog Cay. We were soon joined by an additional 11 boats that came down from Double Breasted Cay. The reason for the get together was that Maxine, who runs the grocery store on Hog Cay, holds a Valentines Day lunch every year.

Just after noon a half dozen locals brought Maxine and her food out to the beach where we had a grand time eating and drinking.



Maxine brought a cooked turkey, a bigass ham and the largest bowl of peas and rice that I had ever seen. All the cruisers all brought a dish to supplement the meal with a heavy emphasis on desserts (thank God). It was a huge turnout, especially down here with about 50 people in attendance.

The next morning the forecast once again turned to shit. So after a 2 hour walk on the beach there was a mass exodus as everyone headed out in search of a more protected anchorage. We had a great sail back down to Southside Bay at the southern tip of Ragged Island where we’ll most likely be hunkered down until Thursday or maybe even Friday.

Usually down here in the Jumentos we get a cold front once every 2 or 3 weeks. This year its been much worse with this being our fourth front in 11 days. I guess that this is just an extension of the horrible weather that’s been dumping snow all over the continental United States. Even though we’ve been having some crappy weather I guess it could be a lot worse.

February 10, 2010.

We need a bit of help from whoever can provide it. I need you to grab a weatherman and sacrifice him to the gods. This death doesn’t need to be cruel or prolonged but it has to be symbolic. If you can't bring yourself to kill him at least give him a "light and variable" ass whipping. Thanks.

We had a vicious front come through last weekend, another is here now (Wednesday) and the worst of the bunch is forecast for this Friday night. So we’re alternating our time between shelling, hunting and hiding like bitches from an angry pimp.

The weather in between the fronts has been nothing short of fabulous. After the last front we went snorkeling on a small reef right next to us in the anchorage. I found close to a dozen lobster tucked in amongst the coral. Most were smaller than legal but I did pick through the bunch and was able to take 4. Bob on Savage Son succeeded in finding and shooting the first lobster of his career.

After lunch we headed out to the reefs to the east of us along the ocean side. In a first for me; I found my first legitimate lobster hole. I always hear stories of Bahamanian lobstermen finding a spot where they just pull one bug after another out of a “lobster hole”. I was swimming along a plain flat bottom with no structure what-so-ever in sight when I came across a small hole with a deep ledge running the entire circumference. There were antenna poking out from every angle. I counted 6 lobster that I could plainly see. I shot 3 as quickly as I could while 2 escaped under the ledge and the sixth fellow was a little small.

In just a few hours we boated 7 nice sized lobster making 11 for the day. With so many lobster in hand we went from boat to boat making sure that everybody in the anchorage was having lobster for dinner. Since we’ve been here on the south side of Ragged Island we’ve taken 17 lobster and an 8 pound White Margate in the 2 days we’ve been able to get in the water. I’ve also been chased from the water by a Bull shark with horrible interpersonal skills.

On the last day of the last front was the Super Bowl. The only place with a television is on the north end of the island. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be walking the 1 ½ miles up the island to the Bonefish Lodge to watch the game. The walk there wasn’t so daunting, it was to be the walk home late at night in the pitch dark after a few adult beverages that might be scary. There were 5 boats anchored in the bay near us so we all headed in to town together. Businesses here on the island can be more than a little sketchy. The day before the game the proprietor of the lodge was still trying to troubleshoot the video feed for the television. The TV might be fixed, he “thought” that there might be some finger foods and he would try to get some beer in.

So we all headed in carrying our own snacks, liquor, laptops to check our mail (and to update the blog) before the game and even our garbage since we would be walking past the islands dump. As soon as we got rid of our garbage a pick-up truck happened along and picked all 9 of us up and drove us to the lodge.

It was too rough for the boaters anchored on the north side of the island to dingy into town so the lodge owner headed out in one of his fishing boats and crammed 17 people onboard and brought them in for the party. There ended up being about 40 people there, both cruisers and locals alike enjoying the game, the food and each others company.

The lodge owner was able to round up 5 cases of beer so instead of drinking what we brought most folks bought drinks from him. His wife cooked for hours and sent out one tray after another of conch fritters, lobster chunks, fish and chicken wings. His wife told me that beers were 3 dollars apiece and we would all just run tabs and settle up at the end of the evening.

So the lodge owner has picked up and will return everybody home to the north anchorage in his own boat. He’s arranged for a truck to take all of us others home to the southern anchorage at the end of the evening. His wife has slaved away in the kitchen feeding dozens of people and they’ve served us 5 cases of frosty cold beer. When we went to settle up with the man he told us it was his gift to the community and to the cruisers as well. I can’t begin to explain how poor the people of this island are and the hardships they endure and yet they’re willing to make a gift of this evening to us. There were about 15 cruising boats represented so we passed a hat and everybody happily threw in 20 bucks that was pressed into the lodge owners wifes hand. The locals here really are something special, it really couldn’t have been a nicer evening.

Until the next evening or course when we went over to Far Niente to celebrate Jays birthday. I thought Jay looked especially festive in his lobster horns party hat.

February 4, 2010.

We’ve got the worst weather of the season headed our way. Cold fronts typically careen off the continent of North America and down through the Bahamas. They lose much of their destructive force as they head south through the islands.

Its not uncommon to hear weather forecasts that predict winds around 30 knots or more in the Abacos, 20 knots in the Exumas and 10 to 15 knots down through the Jumentos with each passing front.

This front promises to be a bit different. We’re supposed to have winds in the 15 knot range from out of the south as the front approaches. When the front arrives the wind will build to 20 knots from the southwest and then west. As the front passes we’re promised winds over 20 knots with squalls in the 30 to 40 knot range.

There’s no anchorage in the area that offers protection for the duration of the event so we’ve got to decide from which direction we’d like our asses kicked. The other option would be to hide in amongst several cays and move from place to place as the wind shifts around. I don’t want to chance having the wind shift in the middle of the night forcing us to consider moving. So we’re opting for a “controlled” ass kicking.

So we spent the morning hunting with the crews of Far Niente and Savage Son. We all were home at our boats, each with a lobster before 1130. We had the hooks up and were headed south to the bottom end of Ragged Island. We’ll be exposed to the south but with good sand and plenty of room to deploy chain we should be okay. Especially when the squalls come through bringing their higher winds. We’re tucked up just north of Wilson Point so we have a bit of protection from the west.

With the setting sun as a reference you can see that we are tucked in just enough to get ourselves some westerly protection. If you look at the map we found drawn on the wall at the local all age school; we’re down at the southern end of Ragged Island near the basketball. (The school here has just 9 students from K through 8th grades.)

February 3, 2010.

One of the new boats that joined us in the anchorage yesterday was the sailing vessel Savage Son. They’re from the same marina in Texas that Jay & Di on Far Niente are from. They had their boat trucked from Texas to Saint Augustine this December and headed out for the Bahamas.

They’ve been pretty much barreling along in an effort to meet up with Far Niente. They’re both experienced scuba divers but have never spearfished. Evidently the Far Niente’s have been spreading rumors about us being the great white hunters. The Savage Son’s asked if they could go along with us to learn about spearfishing in the Bahamas.

The wind was cranking a bit so after lunch we traveled the short distance to the next bay south of our anchorage. There have been a lot of cruisers through the area so its been pretty much picked over. I wasn’t expecting any real hunting but I thought it would be a good day for drift diving and just getting wet.

Of course, just 5 minutes after getting into the water I ran across a 4 pound lobster hiding under a ledge. I hope they don’t think that it’s always this easy. During the swim I harvested another smaller lobster and a decent sized Triggerfish. All in all it ended up being another very nice day in the water and I think the Savage Sons came away with a reasonable appreciation for spearfishing in the Bahamas. Tomorrow is supposed to be very benign day and I’m predicting a kill or two in Bob & Bevs future.

February 2, 2010.

Yesterday my back was feeling a bit better so we decided to head out for some hunting. We ended up taking another pair of lobsters and a 5 pound White Margate. While we were cleaning the fish and lobster we were beset by several large rays that came to snack on our cleaning scraps.

This morning we attempted to go out hunting again and it soon became a comedy of errors. We took the dinghy 2 miles north to the cut between Raccoon and Buena Vista Cays. As soon as we arrived we realized that I forgot to grab my weight belt. Crap. I usually wear a weight belt with 12 pounds of lead on it to counteract the buoyancy of my wetsuit. Without the belt I have to expend an enormous amount of energy to get to the bottom thus seriously limiting the amount of time I can spend at the bottom.

In an effort to make something out of nothing I spent 20 minutes diving a series of ledges that we knew were in the area. After spending 20 fruitless minutes I surfaced and found that Christy was in the dinghy and unable to get it started. Shit. The current was taking her out the cut and she dropped the anchor while I put it in gear and swam hard to get to her.

Once aboard the dink I got the engine started while she retrieved the hook. The dinghy didn’t want to run at low RPM’s so we blasted back down to the Veranda. We were back within an hour after leaving but decided to call it a day. Some days, you’re just not supposed to be out on the water.

I changed the plugs and cleaned the fuel filter on the dinghies engine which resolved the problem. As we ate lunch we heard that our friends on Far Niente were a few miles away and headed to our anchorage. It was great to see them again and they even brought us vegetables. We love those guys.

At beach cocktails in the evening we had a great time with the crews of 8 boats that all joined us in the anchorage today.

January 30, 2010.

Happy Birthday Colin.

The weather did indeed go to hell for a bit, but the anchorage was comfortable enough to be able to launch the dinghy and go into shore to do some hiking.

I pulled a muscle in my back so I had to lay low for a couple of days. Christy was able to get off the boat and go beach combing with our friends on Kokomo. They found a beach that was nothing short of a jackpot and maybe had not been explored yet this year. Christy found 15 Hamburger Beans and a gorgeous Triton Trumpet in perfect condition. I kinda just laid around the boat and read for 2 days.

My back was feeling a bit better and the weather was supposed to clock around and die tomorrow so I thought we’d try to get outta there today. I wanted to head back up to Raccoon Cay and do some diving on the ocean side on Sunday.

The spasms in my back had stopped although I still felt pretty sore and weak. I’ve been raising the anchor by hand since we left Annapolis, as the windlass barely spins. It was a bitch to do with my back hurting but I wanted to get outta there so we raised the mainsail, slowly hauled up the hook and sailed out of the anchorage.

The trip was a little less than 10 miles and went quickly in the 20 knots of breeze. Once at Raccoon we started the engine dropped sails and dropped the hook, yeah we were the only boat in the anchorage.

I’m sore as hell right now after dealing with the anchor and the genoa in 20 knots of wind but I feel much looser so I think there’s a pretty good chance we’ll be hunting tomorrow.

January 27, 2010.

Guess who? That’s right, the Verandas. Guess where? Right again, Hog Cay in the Jumentos. We spent several days hunting, hiking and sunning while at Raccoon Cay. For 2 of those days we were the only boat there. It was a notch above fabulous.

On our last evening there we had a local resident stop in for a bit just before sunset. An 8 or 9 foot Hammerhead shark. It’s the first one we’ve seen while in the Bahamas. They can be extremely dangerous and it was a little disconcerting to see him here.

Raccoon Cay is about 3 miles long so imagine our surprise when we woke one morning to see 3 boats headed our way. I mean EXACTLY our way. The island is over 5000 yards long but they all deemed it necessary to anchor within 70 yards of us. Put on your clothes honey, its time to get on outta here.

We were thinking of heading outta there anyway, but I just couldn’t believe that with all the room they had, they thought they should snuggle right up to us. Our next stop was to be Double Breasted Cay. There was less than 5 knots of breeze but the trip was less than 5 miles so we sailed off the anchor and headed south.

We were doing between .5 and 1.2 knots as we VERY slowly sailed along. We’ve had a Barracuda living under the boat and we just happened to look back and there he was ghosting along staying in Veranda’s shadow. He probably didn’t even realize that we were moving. I can just hear him explaining to his toothy friends “I dunno, I passed out in Raccoon and woke up in Double Breasted”

We spent a couple of nights at Double Breasted catching up with some of our friends. We went hunting a couple of times and were rewarded with 4 lobsters one day and a lobster and a pair of Hogfish the next day.

We had to leave Double Breasted because of a front headed our way. We could have gone back to Raccoon and been safe but the promise of internet lured us south to Hog Cay.

Hog Cay is about 60 miles from Cuba. At this latitude we’re actually about 60 miles further south than Havana, Cuba. The anchorage here is shallow with high cliffs to the north and east, there’s also good protection about ¾ of a mile to the south. The nearest settlement is Duncan Town, about 3.5 miles away by dinghy. About a mile and a half of that trip is through unprotected waters and should only be done on a calm day. Unless of course, you’re the type of person who enjoys getting their ass kicked. The next nearest settlement is back on Long Island, about a hundred miles behind us. So this is about as out in the sticks as you can get.

We dropped the hook at about 1000 hours after the 8 mile trip down from Double Breasted Cay. The weather was supposed to deteriorate as the day went on with the world going to shit by tomorrow morning. The blow was supposed to be from the north through east for about 60 hours. So we’d be well protected, but there would be no chance to take the dinghy ride into town unless we did it before the weather hit. We’ll try and beat the weather for $400 Alex.

As other boats arrived from points north we all seemed to have the same plan. As soon as the anchor was set we dropped the dink and headed out for town. The heat was oppressive and there was not a hint of breeze, henceforth known as “the calm before the storm”.

We ran down along the west side of Hog, out across the open water and down the mile long mangrove lined channel into town. This channel is so shallow that nothing but small outboard boats can get into the towns protected harbor. When the mailboat shows up they anchor offshore and everything has to be ferried in via small open boats.

The town’s “grocer” was away in Nassau so we went down and knocked on her niece’s door. The niece has a key and opened up for us and the 3 other couples that made the trek into town. The 2 room grocery store is smaller than my Mothers kitchen. These people depend on fishing, goat hunting and what little supplements that arrive on the mailboat for survival.

Once we arrived, we found out that the internet has been periodically unavailable for the last 2 weeks. Fortunately for us as soon as we sat down at the open air internet patio it came back on. We were able to read our Email and post some replies before it vanished once again. We were sweating like crazy while we attempted to reconnect. Several of us commented on the wispy cool breeze that blew through every now and then offering some relief. Ut oh. A little breeze inland usually means alotta breeze offshore, the wind was building, we had to get outta there.

We walked back to the dinghies with our friends from Don’t Look Back. They had a little problem with their dinghy engine just as they were getting into town. It would only run at a high idle so they could only plod along at 6 knots instead of the 15 knots or better that most dinghies prefer to travel. We didn’t know what was wrong with it, and the weather was definitely building so we couldn’t take the time to try and figure it out. We stuck with them to make sure it didn’t crap out all together and made sure that they get home safely.


It was eerie calm as we followed the Don’t Look Backs dink out the mile long shallow channel. As soon as we hit the open water we found that the wind was already above 15 knots and pushing a nasty chop right at us. Crap. They were relegated to plodding along with one wave after another driving spray into their dink. Been there, done that, got the wet tee shirt to prove it. We opted to blast ahead riding over the tops of the waves. It was a very rough ride but at least we were dry. About ¾ of the way across the open section there was a tiny cay about 30 feet in diameter. We pulled right up into its lee to hide from the wind and waves. We watched the Don’t Look Backs make progress towards the anchorage. As they caught up to us we blasted back out ahead and home to the boat. By the time we got to the Veranda they came around the corner and finally made it home albeit drenched to the bone.

January 21, 2010.

So, what do we do all day while here in the Jumentos? Our favorite activity is spearfishing. We’ve been here in the Jumentos for less than 10 days and have already pulled 19 lobster and 20 various edible fish aboard. We’ve shared fish and lobster with our friends, and the freezer and fridge are both still full. We’ve had to take days off from fishing and do “other” stuff.

There is always “reading” but as it is, we already read just about every evening. We both put away a couple of books a week. Oprah should be calling us for recommendations. We also spend a good bit of time enjoying the company of the crews from other boats. Then there’s beach combing…….

Yesterday we spent a day wandering the ocean side beaches on Raccoon Cay. The beaches along the banks side (western side) of all these cays are as pristine as they were a hundred years ago. The ocean side is a different story. The eastern beaches are completely covered with modern day flotsam and jetsam. Plastic of every size and shape is evident as far as the eye can see. The number of plastic and foam based shoes that wash ashore is truly mind boggling.

On most occasions it would be foolhardy to land your dink on the eastern shore of these cays. So exploring these eastern beaches is most often preceded by a trek across the cay. Sometimes there are trails and sometimes you have to hack your own. A lot of the cays have dried salt ponds in the interior of the cay. Finding and crossing the dried salt ponds makes crossing the cays much easier (if you don’t mind the goat shit). We took up a collection of washed up shoes and flip flops (called Lost Soles) and re-marked some of the trails on Raccoon Cay. They are put back each year by the cruisers so that you can find and follow the trails because they get “blowed away” during the hurricane season. But once on the beach, among the refuse of society, there is a treasure that is held dear by most cruisers…….

That’s right, sea beans. Sea beans are the seeds of several types of fauna common in Africa and or South America. A surprising number of these seeds are driven by the Gulf Stream and tides for thousands of miles before coming to rest along the shores of the Bahamas.

It’s not uncommon for a half dozen cruisers to be walking along the beach looking for beans.

There is also the benefit of fresh air, exercise and conversation, but the beans are the driving force. There are Purse Beans, Hamburger Beans (pronounced Hang ga ber on the Veranda), and Heart Beans for example, some are common while others are exceptionally rare. Amongst the rarest is the “Mary Bean” which by the way, we had never found, that is until this year. Christy has found 2 in the last week and is quite excited!

The beans are commonly polished and made into jewelry. Some of the cruisers we’ve met are incredibly talented and some of the pieces they’ve created are truly beautiful. It’s not unusual for a cruiser to show up at a social gathering wearing a new creation to be flocked upon by the other women admiring her new creation.

January 18, 2010.

We spent the day yesterday doing boat chores as a bit of a front came through. There was nothing spectacular on the schedule. We spent the day cobbling up some muffin tins and a few conch horns. In the afternoon I went over to a nearby boat that was having some drive train issues. I was able to fix their problem while Christy took the dogs to the beach for a little swimming. Besides that, I really don’t remember what we did, it was yesterday. Wait, what day is it?

As the front passed through we had a period of very benign winds from the west. The bright spot in a forecast like that is that we would be able to head out to the ocean side of the cay (the east side) and attempt to do some hunting.

We headed out around 1000 hours and within a few minutes I had boated a 3 pound lobster. I figured that it was going to be a banner day but it was almost 2 hours til I found another decent sized lobster to harvest. Along the way we saw several fish that I was able to stalk and attempt to shoot. Usually I’m pretty deadly, today, not so much. I screwed up every thing I tried to do. A huge ass snapper, a swing and a miss. I wounded a nice Hogfish only to have him slip from my spear and escape into a deep cave, never to be seen again. Crap.

Finally, I’d had enough of the ocean side and we headed back onto the banks. Even though we had 2 lobsters in the bucket it was with a sense of frustration that we dropped the hook for lunch amongst a half dozen coral heads. After a quick PB & J sandwich and some soda we once again slipped into the water.

What a difference a PB & J can make. After lunch, the next 4 patches we swam all had a single lobster hidden amongst the coral. We soon had 6 lobsters in the bucket and were ready to head for home. Christy spotted one more coral head a short distance away. What the hell, we might as well hit the entire area. I swam the entire periphery of the last head and dove on every conceivable lobster hiding place, to no avail. Satisfied that no lobsters inhabited that coral patch I headed for the dink. As I passed across the highest point of the coral patch there was a small opening and it was there that I saw it. It was just a 2 inch piece of “straightness”. “Straight” rarely happens in nature. A lobster’s antennas are one of the exceptions. I’ve been fooled before by the spine on a stingray but generally, straight, means lobster.

Even though I was ready to climb into the dink with 6 lobsters onboard I decided to dive to the bottom and check it out. I pressed my mask into the small opening in the bottom and sure enough, lobster. Not just any lobster, but the biggest bug of the day.

All I could see were his 2 antenna and I was convinced that he was a biggy. After several dives I was able to find a small opening to catch a better glimpse of him. It was a crappy angle from the side and all I could see were several of his stout legs. I had to have that lobster. I kinda triangulated where his body should be based on the location of his legs and one antenna. The coral was so thick that I had to take a longer shot than I was comfortable with and I scored a solid body shot, but all I did was piss him off.

A Spiny Lobster has a pair of horns on his head just above his eyes that they will drive in to the top of their lair to prevent them from being pulled out of their den. This bastard did not want to come out of his den. Try as I might, I could not pry him from his home. I had my spear bent at a ridiculous angle but nothing I did brought this lobster any closer to our bucket.

After 45 minutes and several dozen dives, which involved the moving of several large rocks, the removal of several lobster legs and more than a little muscle, I was able to pry the little rat bastard from his hole. Resist all you want, tomorrow you are Lobster sRisotto.

We ended up retiring for the day with 7 lobsters and a pair of lovely Hogfish by 1400 hours. We gave 4 of the bugs away as we just don’t have any room in the fridge or freezer for them and then headed in to the beach to burn some garbage and meet with our friends for sundowners.

January 15, 2010.

We were the only boat anchored in Spanish Wells Bay on the west side of Raccoon Cay. That meant that we had plenty of privacy for some scantily clad sun bathing, so we did enjoy some of that, but the bulk of our day was once again spent in the water. The bay immediately to our south had 5 boats in it after several arrived today.

After 1 ½ hours in the morning and were able to take a small Hogfish, a lobster and a 9 ½ freaking pound Mutton Snapper. It was another lucky shot as the spear angled through his body and severed his spinal chord rendering him instantly cooperative. We ran across several Nurse sharks today. Nurse sharks are very docile unless provoked, so there was none of that.
It’s amazing to see these huge sharks just resting on the bottom as we approached individual coral heads. Usually, they meander away after a short time while leaving the coral for us to explore.

After a lunch of “fish sandwiches” we headed out once again and were rewarded with another lobster and three Margates. We had Margate for lunch today and I admit to having tunnel vision toward Margate’s this afternoon. The third Margate of the day was a 7 ½ pounder. Quite a glorious day in the water.

Once we were back to the boat we had to hustle to clean our catch before heading in to the beach to burn garbage and have sundowners with the crews of several boats that showed up today. We have a bit of a blow headed this way, so I’m sure all of us will be here for a few days. The bright side is that we’re in the Jumentos and fishing will be available in spite of the wind.

January 14, 2010.

Happy Birthday to my brother Mike!

After turning in at 2030 we both got a great night’s sleep. We were anxious to get the fishing season into full swing. The water is a little chilly at 76 degrees, but the lobsters aren’t going to jump in the boat by themselves, are they?

We spent about 6 hours in the water. We were able to take a pair of lobster, a Grouper and a 4 ½ pound Margate. There was an entire school of Margate doing circles around a small patch or coral. There were 4 or 5 big ones among the other smaller fish, plus a single 3 foot Barracuda on the coral as well. I tried to wait the Barracuda out, but an opportunity to shoot one of the larger Margates presented itself. As soon as I speared him he went into his death throws and the Barracuda immediately came for him. The fish was flailing all over, I was trying to keep him away from the Cuda’ whose interest was “peaked” to say the least. I pulled the Margate to the surface and waved Christy over. She came blasting up in the dink which drove the Barracuda off. I handed the Margate up to her and switched spears. The Barracuda was now on high alert and more than a bit curious so I had to leave that patch of coral behind without an attempt at another Margate. It was still a great day!

January 12, 2010.

The weather forecast turned out to be more like a wild guess in the dark. Christ, was he off. We were supposed to have 15 to 17 out of the north northeast for our trip to Flamingo Cay from Long Island. We had about 4 knots out of the northwest. As the day went on, our route gradually turned southward and the wind built a bit. With about 6 miles to go on our 55 mile day we were finally able to sail.

We arrived at the 3 palms anchorage on Flamingo with Far Niente and Kokomo. 3 palms is actually a misnomer since one of the 3 palm trees “blowed away” since the anchorage was named. So now we will call it 2 palms.

The wind built to 15 knots and then slowly moved around to the northeast and died away. This left us a small swell rolling through the anchorage. It would have been doable until the wind decided to come back out of the north and build to 20 knots. We were all protected from the wind but the swell was vicious and wrapping around the headland to the north. This left us all rolling side to side for hours. I’m talking about rail to rail in the water. Shit was flying everywhere as we tried in vain to catch a few winks. FYI, no winks caught.

We had planned to stay at Flamingo for a few days but there was no way we were going to risk another night without sleep. So the next morning we were up and underway at first light. As soon as we cleared the anchorage the engine was off as we headed south. It was very rough for the first few hours but the wind and seas abated as the day went on. It ended up being a very lovely sail to Raccoon Cay.

January 10, 2010.

Everybody who knew that there were bats in the Bahamas….raise your hand. Yesterday, I wouldn’t have raised my hand.

We were settled into a secure anchorage with a 30 knot blow forecast to arrive tonight. Christy and I decided to watch a borrowed movie on our laptop. The movie had just started and we were getting comfortable in the glow of the computer screen when Christy cried out “What the F#%k was that?”. She scared the shit outta me because her exclamation was so sudden and so loud.

I had no idea what she was talking about. The movie had just started, all of a sudden she’s jumping around like a monkey with BenGay on its ass. Finally, in the glow of the computer screen I see a large insect flying across the ceiling of the cabin. Then I catch a second glimpse and realize that it’s not an insect, it’s a freaking bat fluttering around inside the boat. I’m trying to find the light switch and then I’m not sure if I should turn it on or not. It’s something like “red sky at night, bats fly towards the light?” I dunno, wtf? Should I eat one of the garlic cloves and rub some behind my ears, what?

The companionway hatch was closed but the board was out for ventilation and the little bastard flew right in but couldn’t seem to find his way back out. I thought they had radar. Christy was right below the hatch so she stood up and threw back the hatch and flopped down beside me again. After about 10 of the longest seconds ever the little bastard flew back outside. We quickly snapped the bug screen into place across the opening to make sure there wasn’t a return engagement. We hope the dogs will be alive in the morning…………..

January 9, 2010.

Hey all. The islands and cays of the Bahamas are composed of limestone. There’s really very little soil on the islands and what soil there they have is mostly used for agriculture; and there’s not a whole lot of agriculture goin’ on. This lack of soil becomes really apparent in 2 major areas. Burying & building.

We’ve been watching a backhoe literally scratch at the surface of a building lot now for 2 days. The poor machine shudders, squeals and shakes as the operator drags the bucket across the surface of the limestone over and over again. Talk about a slow tedious process and its gotta be hell on the machine.

When it comes to burying people here there’s no way to dig a grave in most places. They pound, drill and scratch out a shallow grave, deposit the departed and cover them up with some island concrete. It makes for an interesting cemetery.

Yesterday we went out and did a little fishing and were rewarded with a pair of nice Cuban Snappers. The visibility was fairly crappy and I didn’t see the school of fish until they were right on top of me. They startled me as much as I did them. It was a large school with several fish in the 20 pound range but once the element of surprise was gone I had to settle for what I could catch. Generally, smaller fish are stupid fish. You don’t get to be a 20 pounder by taking chances so the big ones fled at first sight. The smaller ones were a little more lax so I put a pair of them in the bucket, the biggest of which was 4 pounds.

Speaking of fish. Last night our friends on Sapphire and Fine Lion showed up.

They left Galliot Cut and took the deep water route directly here. It was a windless day so they had to motor the entire day but on the upside that left them with good enough speed to do some trolling in the deep water. As a result, between the 2 of them they were able to take 4 Mahi Mahi and a 20 pound Tuna. They’ll be eatin’ fish for a while.

We may be weathered in for a few days and then its off to the Jumentos. So it will be a while before we have any internet to do any updating. Take care.....

January 7, 2010.

First off, Happy Birthday Chris. Yeah, I know it’s the fifth but internet has been sketchy.

On Monday we were blessed by a lack of wind so we jumped in the dink for the 1 mile trip into town to battle with immigration. The trip across the harbor can be a pretty wet ride so since we “had’ to go into town today we considered ourselves very lucky to find ourselves with very little wind.

We walked a couple of blocks to the Immigration office. It turned out to be a spotless, very modern office. The officer at the window heard our tale of woe and gave us both a form to fill out. After turning the completed forms in to at the window she asked us to please be seated and await our interview with Mrs. Burroughs.

In a couple of minutes we were led to an inner office where we met with the head of immigration in Georgetown. Mrs. Burroughs was the picture of professionalism and a delight to deal with as well. She asked questions about our intentions and gathered her required information in a personable manner. We learned as much about her as she did about us and in 20 minutes we were out of there with our extended visas. This woman should be teaching a class at Immigration about dealing with the public, it was a very positive experience.

We had planned to leave for Long Island on Tuesday but the wind was up and the seas were huge. We never even left the boat and spent the day reading and looking forward to Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning we were on the fence about heading out. The wind was about 15 knots but promised to be straight over the stern for most of the day and the seas were still running in the 6 foot range. Thursdays forecast called for 2 foot seas but possibly not enough wind to sail in. So we’re goin’ on Wednesday.

We headed out with our friends Roland & Leta on Kokomo. We had the mainsail up and once clear of the harbor we set our course, killed the engine and rolled out the genoa.

That’s where the fun, or lack of, began. We had a bit more than 15 knots which was good but the sea was very confused with a rolling choppy 6 foot swell. We tied the main out with a preventer and it still wanted to backwind in the rolling sea. Setting the genoa proved impossible as well, as it just filled, flogged and the exploded full once again as the boat wallowed from side to side. I had to furl the genoa rather than take the chance of it being destroyed.

I ended up tying a preventer from the booms end all the way to the bow cleat. I pulled the boom out almost perpendicular to the boat and used another line to pull the booms end down towards the toerail.

Just under mainsail alone we were making between 5.5 and 7 knots as we surfed along. After just and hour or so the seas abated a bit but it was still 17 miles before we could unroll some of the genoa. Once again the new and improved (newly repaired) Boat Pole of Speed™ did wonders for us as we sailed the last 18 miles “wing and wing”.

Even though the first hour of the day was pretty miserable the day turned out to be a very nice day of sailing. We sailed into Thompson Bay in Long Island at about 1600 hours. As we hooked into the protected bay we were able to come onto port tack and sliced nicely into the harbor. As we approached our friends on Far Niente we furled the genoa and picked our spot under mainsail alone.

Once we were satisfied with our location Christy rounded us up. I had the anchor ready to drop and as the boat came to a halt dead on the breeze, I dropped the hook while Christy eased the mainsheet allowing the mainsail to flog. With no power in the sail to drive the boat forward we were blown back as I paid out chain. Once settled on the hook I dropped the sail while Christy started the engine just to make sure we had a good anchor set.


It’s beautiful here but we’ll be here through the weekend until yet another nasty front blows through. We don't have internet on the boat while here but we can dinghy into a resort called Long Island Breeze to do laundry and take care of internet at the same time.

January 3, 2010.

Welcome to 2010 everybody. We’re still here at Sand Dollar Beach and the anchorage is starting to fill in around us. We will be heading in to see the people at immigration on Monday in an effort to extend our visas. If you’ve been reading along than you must remember my whining about only getting our visas approved for 90 days. As it stands our visas will expire while we’re down in the Jumentos. For us to renew our visas at that time would mean us having to make the 150 mile trip back up here to Georgetown, smack dab in the middle of lobster season. Regardless of what happens at immigration we’ll be headed for long Island on the next available weather window as soon as that’s done.

The wind has been cranking here as several small fronts have come through. As a result the water is holding a lot of suspended sand so the visibility is pretty crappy. This area is hunted very heavily, combine that with the reduced visibility and it’s just not worth the effort. But that doesn’t mean we still don’t put in some effort. We were able to take a 3 pound lobster just this morning that ended up in a pot of lobster risotto.

We’ve spent a good bit of time hiking and shelling. The island here is interlaced with several really nice trails. You can make the transition from a sweltering inland trail to a trek on a seemingly air conditioned ridge along the ocean in a matter of a few paces.
We spent hours just wandering and exploring various nooks and crannies of the island.



We should be heading out to long Island on Wednesday. We "should" have internet while there, we'll see.