FEED ME, FEED ME . . .

That's what the wild pigs at Big Majors Spot at Sampson Cay (Exuma Cays, Bahamas) seem to be saying as they leave the beach and enter the water while you approach in your dinghy. And often, they do get fed by passing cruisers. We heard the browns ones bite, so we were too chicken to get out of our dinghy. They, on the other hand, have no fear, probably because the locals will hunt only one or two a year.

THE END OF THE WORLD ... ACCORDING TO OUR INSURANCE

Our insurance allows us to go to the Bahamas between November 1 and June 1, so we went nearly as far south as we could ... to Duncan Town, the only populated town in the Jumentos. We arrived on February 16, dropped anchor and then dinghied two miles to the south to a path by which we could cross to the ocean side. We have learned that if you want to find sea beans, you really should be on a beach on the ocean side, for that is where they are likely to wash ashore. Along with Jodi and John, we were accompanied by new friends, Conrad from It's About Time and Rich from Feral Cat. The trek to the ocean side rewarded us not only with more sea beans, but a lesson about salt ponds, as we had to cross a salt pond on our way to the ocean. From Rich we learned that a salt pond is created when a storm blows the seas inland and water is trapped. The water eventually evaporates, leaving flat areas of salt. The sea salt is then collected and sold. The salt pond we had to cross was mushy and heavy with pellets of salt. It looked like a lake of snow.

On our walk the next day into the town of Duncan Town, we saw another salt pond, and it was divided into rectangular plots by stones ... marking ownership.

The rest of Duncan Town, which has a population of less than 200, is clearly struggling economically. Nonetheless, there is a small grocery, a bone-fishing business and a school. And everyone we met along our walk greeted us with a friendliness that made us feel welcome. Debbie

PARADISE AT LAST!

All the natural forces finally came together on February 12 to give us the paradise that we always knew we would find in the Bahamas. At 6:30 a.m., we departed Long Island, Bahamas, with Jay Sea Dee (Jodi and John) and headed for the Jumento Cays. I was a bit apprehensive about going to the Jumentos, as the Jumentos are totally unpopulated except for one small town -- Duncan Town -- at the southern end of the Jumentos. We basically would have to be totally self-sufficient while there -- i.e., we were on our own!

What we found was that although almost all of these Cays are unpopulated, and we were told there would be no other boats here, the Jumentos have become more popular, and a few other cruisers are usually close by. We always found fellow cruisers in the same anchorage, some we already knew, and others we quickly became friendly with. This was worth the trip!

We arrived at the first cay, Flamingo Cay (i.e., paradise) at 2:30 p.m. I never knew that being in a remote area like this could be so enjoyable. A few boats were already anchored in front of one of the beaches and rather than crowd them, Charmed and Jay Sea Dee anchored off another beach just to the south. The day was sunny and warm, the water -- showing off in different hues of blue -- was crystal clear, and the beaches invited a lazy walk. The landscape of the Jumentos really is not so different from the Exumas, so I wondered what made this visit to Flamingo Cay so different and enjoyable for me. In part, it must be the weather. I am not a fan of the cold, and it was not only no longer cold, but it was also no longer too windy. For a long time I had been looking forward to jumping into the water and swimming and snorkeling, and with this warm weather and this clear, clean water, I could finally do it and really enjoy it. This calm, warm weather also makes longer dinghy explorations possible. It is also nice to be away from the sometimes constant chatter on the VHF radio. The VHF is really a cruiser's only means of communication in the Bahamas, so we generally have the VHF on and scanning the channels from dawn to dusk. In places like George Town and Long Island, it seems cruisers are always talking to each other about one thing or another, and so I welcomed the quiet we found in the Jumentos.

In any event, at the beach on Flamingo Cay, we found sea fans, beautiful shells, another sand dollar and even an old float from a fishing net. What treasures! Craig later dove under our boat (sitting in about 8 feet of water), and came back with more sea biscuits for Jodi and I. The boys then went spear fishing and all of us went snorkeling. It's amazing to be able to watch the varied and colorful fish, the living sea fans and other beautiful creatures in their own habitat.

Two days later we headed further south to Buna Vista Cay. Again, it was another beautiful day. On the way, John saw a small fishing boat and hailed it on the VHF. Fisherman Allan came back, and John asked him what he was catching. He had crawfish (which we know as lobster, but not like the Maine lobster we are more familiar with) and told John he would also be in Buna Vista Cay that night, so John asked him to stop by Jay Sea Dee. When we arrived at Buna Vista at 11 a.m., it was just us and Jay Sea Dee. Sea Star (Dan and Kathy) arrived shortly after us, and Jodi, Kathy and I went to the beach for a walk. As we walked south on the beach, we saw a small shark swimming north toward us and very close to shore. Kathy raised her camera for a shot, but that shark must have seen us at the same instant, because he turned left and sped away from us faster than I had ever seen anything swim. We also saw several live star fish in the water and within a few feet of shore. They were bright orange in color and probably at least eight inches in diameter. I have never seen star fish so big or so beautiful.


Back at the boat later, Craig and I put on our snorkeling masks and swam over to Jay Sea Dee and back. We were in only 8 feet of, again, crystal clear water, so we could see everything. I think there was a star fish every 30 feet -- really a spectacular find. After our swim, we dinghied over to Jay Sea Dee for dinner. For Valentine's Day, the boys cooked us a fabulous dinner and even did the dishes after!

While there, fisherman Allan came by with his fishing partner Randy.

Allan and Randy had already cleaned their catch and the lobster tails were ready for sale. Charmed and Jay Sea Dee each purchased 8 of these freshly caught lobster tails for $20. We were back to Jay Sea Dee the next night for a lobster dinner!! John did a great job grilling the lobster tails, and even I enjoyed one!

LONG ISLAND, BAHAMAS

From George Town, we participated in a 41-boat sailing regatta to Long Island. Although the winds were somewhat fickle for most of the day, it was a great sailing day and we certainly had fun in our first regatta. We arrived on February 4 and spent the first two days anchored in Thompson Bay, involved in regatta sponsored events. We moved to Salt Pond after several boats returned to George Town. From there, we and friends Jodi and John from Jay Sea Dee and Jenny and Charlie from Lady rented two cars to tour the island. Typically, our mode of transportation is by foot, which, of course, limits our exploration and also can hamper our ability to get any real sense of the community we are visiting. Having a car for the better part of two days gave us a wonderful opportunity to really see this beautiful island. We highly recommend it. Long Island is about 80 miles long with about 4,000 residents. As has so far been our experience in the Bahamas, most everyone we met was friendly and welcoming. Everyone waves, whether on foot or in a car. But this is also an island with its share of struggles. For example, fresh water is not plentiful and so the residents must purchase it at a premium. In fact, everything here is expensive. A typical power bill for a small house for one month can exceed $250, and the price of food is about twice what we pay in the United States. There are no mansions, no Wal-Marts and no fast food. You will find grocery and liquor stores, marine supply and hardware stores, bakeries, restaurants and stores that sell locally made baskets and the like as well as other such treasures, and these businesses are locally owned, much as I imagine they were in the small-town America of yesteryear. In the photos in the slide show you will see some businesses and some homes. Two words about the slide show: There are a lot of photos and many of the photos of the building were taken as we drove by and so some are a bit off. It is a colorful community. On our two-day car trip we visited the Columbus monument at the northern end of the island, the Blue Hole (although we did not stop to snorkel or dive), the Long Island Library, Museum and Community Centre, churches and lots of stores, many of these depicted in the slide show. We dined at Long Island Breeze, Club Thompson Bay, Parrots of the Caribbean, Coco's and Ounce's Hot Spot. We recommend them all. At Long Island Breeze, a new and more modern establishment, you can bring your computer and access the internet and do laundry while you dine at the restaurant or lounge around the bayside pool. Mike at Long Island Breeze does the cruisers a great favor by conducting the cruisers' net every morning at 8:00 on VHF channel 18, providing an update on national news and weather and information about local businesses, and giving cruisers an opportunity to ask about the island (like how we get our propane tanks filled). When you dine at the other restaurants, which seem more "local", it is like eating at home, where the food is always good and you always feel comfortable. All-in-all, we are happy to have met some of the fine people of Long Island, and we thank them all for their hospitality.

THERE IS A LOT OF TRASH IN OUR OCEANS!

On a visit to Thompson Bay in Long Island, Bahamas, for $5.00, Tryphena, proprietor of Club Thompson Bay, will take you to a "secret beach" to look for shells and sea beans. Eighteen of us piled into Tryphena's pick-up truck, an adventure in itself. I had heard much about finding sea beans in the Bahamas and had not yet had the opportunity to go sea bean hunting, so I was excited about the outing. The ride was about three miles, half of it down a bumpy dirt road that finally ended high above a beach on the east coast of Long Island. The sight overlooking the beach was breathtaking. The water was multiple shades of blue, it was a windy day, and the waves were breaking over the rocks. Once I saw the beach, however, I was taken aback and disappointed to see the mounds of trash that had come in with the tides. Ultimately, I was not surprised that I did not find one special shell nor one sea bean, as my heart was simply not into looking through the trash-laden beach. Several others did find some hamburger and heart sea beans as well as some beautiful and unusual shells. I know many cruisers take time to clean the beaches, but we had not come prepared to do that. Even if we had, I think we would have found ourselves overwhelmed. What a shame to find that our beaches are subject to ruin by our uncontrolled trash. And what a contrast to the experience I had walking along pristine Sand Dollar Beach!

BUT OF COURSE!

What else would you expect to find on Sand Dollar Beach in George Town, Exumas, but sand dollars! This is one I found on a beautiful walk along the beach with my friends Jenny from Lady and Jodi from Jay Sea Dee. I also found this sea biscuit! The tide was low so we were able to wade far out into the water to look for sea life. We saw several live sand dollars and live star fish as well. The water was clear and the sand was fine and soft. All-in-all, this is a lovely and peaceful beach to spend an afternoon!

FUN ON THE BEACH, GEORGE TOWN, EXUMAS

NEW LOOK FOR MULTIPLE PHOTOS/SLIDE SHOWS

We have found that having multiple slide shows slows the opening of our site. So we are trying something new with our photos. We have added a section called "PHOTOGRAPHS" that will provide a link to our slide shows. Our old slide shows will remain on the site in their current presentation, but new slide shows will appear under PHOTOGRAPHS.

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE . . .

. . . but not a drop to drink.

Fresh water on Charmed has rarely been an issue. We carry 260
gallons. In the states we made sure we could take on some diesel fuel
every week or so, and we would take on water at the same time. A sort
of tit for tat. We have never needed to conserve water, though we
probably should have just for the good of it. Now we are conserving.
First, water is not free here in the Bahamas. Second, availability is
a much different issue. Until now we have still easily been able to
dock Charmed and take on water and fuel. But today we decided to haul
water in the dinghy twenty gallons at a time to top the tank, just in
case we depart for points south where water will not be available, and
in case we cannot easily get to the one marina here in George Town,
Exuma Docking Services. Exuma Docking Services is a fair marina, but
they have no diesel fuel, and staying a night on the edge of the open
bay is not worth $2.00 per foot. We don't know what their position
would be if we wanted to just stop for sixty or eighty gallons of
water.

BLACK POINT TO GEORGE TOWN

We live by the weather.

Last Sunday we had hoped to depart Black Point and get half way to
George Town. Then Monday would also be a short voyage. The winds
were forecast to strenghten over the next several days, we predicted
Monday would be a roughish ride, and we thought that if we didn't make
George Town Monday we would be stopped wherever we were for many days.
The voyage from Black Point to George Town would be best if we could
sail in Exuma Sound, on the ocean or out side. The maybe last twenty
miles to George Town must be done in the Sound.

At 0900 Sunday we stuck our noses out Dothan Cut, and found seas
breaking across the whole cut, from rock side to rock side. We had
planned our departure so our arrival at the next cut was slack,
knowing we would have fewer options if that cut was rough. We decided
against departing Dothan Cut for the Sound and sailed the inside, the
Exuma Bank, as far as we could reasonably go, before it all gets too
shallow. We made Cave Cay.

At 0700 Monday we departed Cave Cay Cut for the Sound for the final
leg to George Town. The cut was medium rough. The Sound was medium
rough. It would have been great if we had made better mileage the day
before.

George Town is home to many hundred locals. There are two hundred
foreign boats here. There are two grocery stores. More liquor
stores. Two gas stations. One marina. Two laundries. One laundry
looks fair. The other laundry looks rough. We haven't fully
acclimated to George Town yet. Every morning we listen to Radio Free
George Town and imagine we will be in the know soon!

WARDERICK TO CAMBRIDGE TO STANIEL TO BLACK POINT

We just landed at Black Point after an uneventful voyage from Staniel
Cay. There is a great laundry here so while Debbie is drying, I am
blogging . . . .

The last few days have been an Island Packet vous with Jay Sea Dee,
Plan Sea, Morning Wind, and others nearby. Highlights include a
snorkeling marathon at Cambridge, guided by John of Jay Sea Dee.
First the Dundas Rocks, which are caves you swim into. Then the south
beach of Cambridge Cay. Then the Sea Aquarium north of Cambridge.
Then to the sunken airplane north of Cambridge. Five dinghies
schooled together for miles, zipping from one great sea floor to
another. We are happy to have a Yamaha 15! You can't do what we did
without having a dinghy that will easily take you five miles around a
loop.

Leaving Cambridge Cay was exciting. We dinghied to the cut that we
had to negotiate, to inspect, and all looked fine. By the time we got
the big boats, Jay Sea Dee, Lady, and Charmed, to the cut, conditions
had worsened. Seas were bumpy and bows were repeatedly buried for a
stretch of about 300 yards.

Staniel Cay was good for the Thunderball Club. Their specialty on
Friday night is grilled Ribs or Chicken, three dollar drinks from Pifi
during Happy Hour, and a pool table whose coin mechanism is broken.
Kathy of Morning Wind played pool for the first time in her life.
Jenny beat Charlie. Staniel Cay was also good for fuel and water, our
tanks are full again.

It looks like we may be off to Rudder Cay tomorrow, staging for a
Monday run to Georgetown. All of the recent sails have been very
short. The run to Georgetown will be a long half day in Exuma Sound.

IT'S JUST NOT RIGHT!

We had hoped to move out of Warderick Wells today, thinking the strong
cold front would reach and then pass us last night. Winds are still
up so we have decided to hang here one more day. Tomorrow we should
have bright and clear skies and lighter winds.

But what's not right is the temperature! Last night we had to get
blankets out. Debbie is back to wearing her flannel pants. We wonder
how to get some of our Bahamas Cruising Permit refunded. It's only
fair if we have to suffer unseasonable temperatures.

THERE IS THIS UNNAMED ISLET . . . .

We don't know how big a speck of land has to be to be called a Cay or
an Island, but within a mile of the mooring here is this little speck
of land. One side fronts the bay we are moored in. Another side
fronts a cut between the Exuma Bank and the Exuma Sound. Snorkeling
there was fun. Schools of fish could be watched in the cut. Nassau
grouper could be spotted around the ledges of the land and around the
coral near it. There were many different tropical fish. No live
lobster, but half of the shell of a dead one. The most interesting
fish on this snorkel tour were the lionfishes.

GENOA FURLING LINE

The good news, two solutions to our furling line issue are in play.
One fellow cruiser lies Georgetown anchorage and has line available
from a first stalled, then cancelled, project on their boat. We will
likely meet up with this cruiser in the next ten days to two weeks.
Another fellow cruiser lies Nassau and purchased line for us there.
We will likely slow our movement south in order for this cruiser to
catch us in some anchorage before Georgetown. In any event we should
have a new furling line, and then a spare before long.

The better news, the weather is allowing us to explore Warderick and
snorkel some. We will be off to Cambridge Cay tomorrow morning if the
cold front moves through tonight as forecast. Then it looks like four
or more days of lower winds, which would allow us to move or explore
the Sound or Bank side of the Exumas as we wish.

WARDERICK WELLS

Charmed is now hanging on Mooring 13 at Warderick Wells, 24 23.687N,
76 37.942W, the center of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. The Park
Ranger moved us this morning from Mooring 19, where she had put us
yesterday when we arrived. Mooring 19 is for boats up to ninety feet
long.

The path from Chub Key was through Nassau Harbor to Rose Island, then
to Highborne Cay, then to Warderick. Weather has been only fair, too
windy and not enough sun. It seems a string of cold fronts is coming
at us one right after another. The next front may keep us hunkered
down here until Wednesday because of high winds. But it is a
beautiful place to be hunkered down. Today we walked two miles over
Hutia Hill to see the surf of Exuma Sound pounding the Cay. We
returned by way of Boo Boo Hill. We will do the beaches and snorkel
over the next several days if we sit tight.

There have been two boat issues that have caused some grief. The
first, our EPIRB went off for a brief period last Thursday,
unbeknownst to us. Only after a fellow cruiser dinghied over this
morning did we know friends Carey and Hayden were wondering about us.
United States Air Force Search and Rescue had called Carey. We have
been in close and constant contact with numerous boats and marinas by
VHF. It still took several days to get a message to us to call home.
We may need to rethink putting a satellite phone on the boat. I guess
if the EPIRB had stayed on, and if position information had been
transmitted, a search for us would have been conducted. Once back in
the states the EPIRB is going back to ACR for testing. We cannot
explain why it went off. The Air Force did tell us, false firings
happen all the time.

The second issue, our genoa furling line parted! The line was less
than two years old. It parted midway between bow and stern when the
genoa was reefed to about a second reef point. It looks like it was a
clean break. There was little chafe if any where the line broke, or
anywhere along the line. When it broke seas were about three to five
feet. Winds were twenty-something knots, gusting to thirty. No
pounding or bad motion. Nothing about the conditions would normally
cause concern. It was easy enough once the line parted to furl the
sail from the tail that I could put my hands on while at the bow. So
at this point we have a used furling line, borrowed from Sailing
Vessel Lady. We will be able to use the genoa when reefing is not
anticipated. Hopefully we will be able to replace the genoa furling
line, and get a spare that would work for any of the furling lines,
once we get to Georgetown.

In any event, all is well, very, very well!

CHARMED FLYING BAHAMAS FLAG

It turns out we are one day later than planned clearing in at Chub
Cay. With little to no wind for crossing from No Name Harbor to Gun
Cay, and then onward over the Grand Bahama Bank, we anchored out twice
before coming into the Chub Cay Marina this morning. Sunday afternoon
we anchored right in the middle of the Bank, early enough for a
refreshing swim in daylight. It was eery anchoring in ten feet of
water with nothing on any horizon but Bahama blue water. However, it
was beautiful and still all night with the added advantage of the moon
being full. Monday afternoon we anchored outside of the marina
harbor. No sense checking into a relatively high priced marina right
before closing. The Chub Cay anchorage was fair to good. Good
swimming. Safe enough, but with a constant gentle roll. We came into
the marina this morning about 0900. We were cleared into the Bahamas
and swimming in the Infinity Pool by 1100.

The idea is that we will sit here for just one day. With winds
hopefully changing as forecast to northwest or north, we will be in
good position to make Nassau, or even Allan's Cay tomorrow. We do not
intend to get off the boat in Nassau. We might just anchor in the
harbor, or anchor off Athol Island. We are thinking we have some
upcoming weather that we are going to have to sit through before making the
Exumas.

Sailing Vessel Charmed

STAGED IN NO NAME HARBOR

We arrived in No Name Harbor yesterday after our friends, Eva and Ed from Makai, assured us there was plenty of room. Indeed, we are all quite comfortable here. Lady (Jenny and Charlie) is here as well and we are all leaving tomorrow for the Bahamas! Craig and I are ready!! It's a gorgeous day today and the weather window looks near perfect. We plan to check in at Chub Cay and meander down the Exumas to Georgetown, stopping as we please for as long as please along the way. We'll skip Nassau on the way south and consider stopping when we come back north. Also joining us on the trek over are new friends we just met here, Phil and Sarah on Spartina. It is going to be fun (and comforting!) to travel with others, especially since this is our first time over. Today we are doing last-minute (very, very minor) chores, visiting, walking and enjoying the park. We do not think we will have any cell communication while in the Bahamas. While our service provider, Verizon, promises we will (for a steep price, of course), we have heard from others that we will not have service. If that proves true, we'll turn our service off for a few months. In any event, we expect that our only communication will be via email and Skype. What an adventure!!

OFFSHORE TO MIAMI

Karen and Gary were able to join us for the offshore run from North Lake Worth to Miami Beach on January 4. They drove two cars from Stuart to Lake Worth, leaving one at the train station and one the Publix and came aboard at 6:30 a.m. We were anchor up at 6:45 a.m. It was a "Don't NOAA" day, with seas higher than predicted (but winds only slightly higher than predicted), so it was a bit rolly to start. As the day progressed, the seas calmed and overall it was a beautiful, sunny and fun day. We loved having Karen and Gary with us. I think we talked non-stop! We only had two exciting moments. First, four hours before we reached Miami Beach, the autopilot failed, so we had to hand steer. Craig took the helm first, but then Karen and Gary wanted to sail as well. You see them here confidently at the helm of Charmed. They were great, sailing like experts! Our next exciting event was going into the inlet at Miami Beach ... with four cruise ships coming out! Those ships are HUGE and sure make the inlet look SMALL. Craig did great, even bucking 2 knots of current. We were anchor down by 5:30 p.m., and Craig dinghied Karen and Gary to shore to meet with other friends for dinner and then catch the train back to Lake Worth to retrieve their cars and head for home. It was a lot of work for them, and we appreciated the effort so they could join us.

CHARMED GETS A FLYOVER!

On Saturday, January 3, as we motored down the ICW from Vero Beach to Lake Worth, our friend Jim (Wind Runner) gave us a flyover in his yellow Cessna 180 on his way to West Palm Beach. He said he looked at hundreds of boats before he found us! We loved it! Later, we anchored in North Lake Worth and Jim drove his rental car up to meet us and have dinner. All in all, it was wonderful day, with sunny skies and a visit from a good friend!

THE CYCLE OF LIFE

It was a wonderful holiday surprise when Gary Goforth called the other day. Gary is an old friend from school days. We were able to meet in Vero for a short reunion, a drink or two on Charmed and then dinner out. And Gary and wife Karen may be able to join us tomorrow for the sail from North Lake Worth to Mijami. (By the way, be careful when you contact your cruising friends. We stuck Karen with driving us to West Marine and Walmart for a few things.)