Nassau to Black Point and return: men only trip, Feb 15 - Mar 1
RMS here. Picked up Ian at the Nassau airport on February 15th, after having ditched the female crew member that morning. Got him settled aboard, complete with Transderm patch to combat the fierce motion at the Yacht Haven Marina. It worked. Next morning, a final trip ashore for a case of Kalik before departing. Tide was already running strong, and it took two attempts to clear the berth, and we left with a nasty gouge in the topsides from a nail sticking out of a pile. Wind was a little far ahead, so we motorsailed with the main up, winds 20-25 ESE, which meant that the boat was completely drenched by the time we arrived at Highbourne Cay. (White sand beach, walk, visited by ruddy turnstone bird doing the round of the anchored boats looking for snacks. He preferred potato sticks.)
From Highbourne to Norman's Cay next day, and anchored off yet another gorgeous white sand beach. Interesting exploration ashore of the ruined drug-smugglers' houses and other buildings, where millions of dollars worth of cocaine were transhipped in the 1980s. No signs of the reported bullet holes in houses from the DEA raids that eventually shut the operation down.
Highbourne to Shroud Cay, which has really cool mangrove swamps for exploring by dinghy, which we did, and kept running out of water since we were on a falling tide. You can get over to the other side of the island if you go on a rising tide.
Shroud Cay to Warderick Wells and the Exuma Land and Sea Park, where you have to book a mooring in advance because of its popularity. Paul and Denise found a beautiful anchorage off Emerald Rock, since all the moorings were full. The island is maintained by a park ranger and volunteers from the yachts, and has numerous hiking trails, and the famous BooBoo Hill, where cruisers leave mementos from their boats. Basically, it looks like a junk heap. We explored a couple of trails and fed the bananaquits.
Warderick Wells to Staniel Cay, outside in Exuma Sound. We were hoping to catch a fish once we cleared the park boundaries, since there's no fishing in the park. Also, no fish outside the park, as far as we could tell. Paul trailed a line and caught a small albacore and lost something else. Anchored off Thunderball Cay but the holding was bad, it was like anchoring in a parking lot. We shifted around to Staniel Cay Yacht Club (really a bar and marina) and found good holding there. Staniel Cay is an interesting community: three grocery stores - the Pink Store, the Blue Store, and the other store by the airport where you can take your dinghy right up to the store's dock. There was also a little kid roaring around on a minibike who did nothing but blast around town and honk and grin as he passed. Ian went snorkelling at Thunderball Cave and saw all sorts of fabulous fish up close, but no Sean Connery. Conch fritters and Kalik at the bar.
From Staniel, we shifted to Black Point, which is a pretty, non-touristy Bahamian community. Real friendly people, free water at the town taps, and Lorraine's Restaurant, where you can get the best coconut bread, baked by her mum. Also the best laundry that we've found anywhere in our travels. Spotless, everything works, and it's reasonably priced. Benches outside with a great view of the harbour. Best view from a laundermat that you'll ever find. Great grouper at Lorraine's for lunch. School kids were out in force since it was mid-term break - riding their bikes, jumping in the water, generally having a good time. Everybody stopped to chat. The ladies sat under the trees weaving straw, men too, with their cell phones beside them.
Sailed from Black Point straight back to Highbourne Cay, to avoid a front. Tried for a berth at Highbourne Cay Marina -- we were #6 on the list, and didn't hold much hope, but just as we altered course to go to Norman's, they called and said they had a berth. Highbourne for two days (waiting out the wind - SW 25-30 knots, then NW 25-30 knots). Highbourne has a great beach, excellent roads, funny signs, and a flock of birds that invaded the boat looking for handouts and leaving deposits. On Tuesday, Feb 28th, we headed back to Nassau for a crew change. Good sail, quartering wind, made good time under full sail, and promptly ran aground about 10 feet off the dock at the Nassau Harbour Club. Seems there's a shallow ridge there that the dockmaster knew about but didn't mention. We arrived at dead low tide, so we sat for an hour and a half and finally tied up at a slip on the other side with deeper water where we should have gone in the first place. No harm done, we had lunch, put on the sail covers and tidied up. Saw Ian off the next afternoon after we walked over to Atlantis in the morning and latched on to a guided tour and got a free tour of the entire aquarium and casino and learned all kinds of interesting facts. Paradise Island is so far removed from Nassau it might as well be on a different planet, even though it's just over the bridge. Sterilized for tourists - no garbage, traffic jams, bars on windows, smelly sewers, or otherwise typical features of a tropical city.
Sue returned on March 2nd, so it's back to the laundry and shopping reports. This connection is very bad and very slow, so watch for pictures at our next stop.
RMS here. Picked up Ian at the Nassau airport on February 15th, after having ditched the female crew member that morning. Got him settled aboard, complete with Transderm patch to combat the fierce motion at the Yacht Haven Marina. It worked. Next morning, a final trip ashore for a case of Kalik before departing. Tide was already running strong, and it took two attempts to clear the berth, and we left with a nasty gouge in the topsides from a nail sticking out of a pile. Wind was a little far ahead, so we motorsailed with the main up, winds 20-25 ESE, which meant that the boat was completely drenched by the time we arrived at Highbourne Cay. (White sand beach, walk, visited by ruddy turnstone bird doing the round of the anchored boats looking for snacks. He preferred potato sticks.)
From Highbourne to Norman's Cay next day, and anchored off yet another gorgeous white sand beach. Interesting exploration ashore of the ruined drug-smugglers' houses and other buildings, where millions of dollars worth of cocaine were transhipped in the 1980s. No signs of the reported bullet holes in houses from the DEA raids that eventually shut the operation down.
Highbourne to Shroud Cay, which has really cool mangrove swamps for exploring by dinghy, which we did, and kept running out of water since we were on a falling tide. You can get over to the other side of the island if you go on a rising tide.
Shroud Cay to Warderick Wells and the Exuma Land and Sea Park, where you have to book a mooring in advance because of its popularity. Paul and Denise found a beautiful anchorage off Emerald Rock, since all the moorings were full. The island is maintained by a park ranger and volunteers from the yachts, and has numerous hiking trails, and the famous BooBoo Hill, where cruisers leave mementos from their boats. Basically, it looks like a junk heap. We explored a couple of trails and fed the bananaquits.
Warderick Wells to Staniel Cay, outside in Exuma Sound. We were hoping to catch a fish once we cleared the park boundaries, since there's no fishing in the park. Also, no fish outside the park, as far as we could tell. Paul trailed a line and caught a small albacore and lost something else. Anchored off Thunderball Cay but the holding was bad, it was like anchoring in a parking lot. We shifted around to Staniel Cay Yacht Club (really a bar and marina) and found good holding there. Staniel Cay is an interesting community: three grocery stores - the Pink Store, the Blue Store, and the other store by the airport where you can take your dinghy right up to the store's dock. There was also a little kid roaring around on a minibike who did nothing but blast around town and honk and grin as he passed. Ian went snorkelling at Thunderball Cave and saw all sorts of fabulous fish up close, but no Sean Connery. Conch fritters and Kalik at the bar.
From Staniel, we shifted to Black Point, which is a pretty, non-touristy Bahamian community. Real friendly people, free water at the town taps, and Lorraine's Restaurant, where you can get the best coconut bread, baked by her mum. Also the best laundry that we've found anywhere in our travels. Spotless, everything works, and it's reasonably priced. Benches outside with a great view of the harbour. Best view from a laundermat that you'll ever find. Great grouper at Lorraine's for lunch. School kids were out in force since it was mid-term break - riding their bikes, jumping in the water, generally having a good time. Everybody stopped to chat. The ladies sat under the trees weaving straw, men too, with their cell phones beside them.
Sailed from Black Point straight back to Highbourne Cay, to avoid a front. Tried for a berth at Highbourne Cay Marina -- we were #6 on the list, and didn't hold much hope, but just as we altered course to go to Norman's, they called and said they had a berth. Highbourne for two days (waiting out the wind - SW 25-30 knots, then NW 25-30 knots). Highbourne has a great beach, excellent roads, funny signs, and a flock of birds that invaded the boat looking for handouts and leaving deposits. On Tuesday, Feb 28th, we headed back to Nassau for a crew change. Good sail, quartering wind, made good time under full sail, and promptly ran aground about 10 feet off the dock at the Nassau Harbour Club. Seems there's a shallow ridge there that the dockmaster knew about but didn't mention. We arrived at dead low tide, so we sat for an hour and a half and finally tied up at a slip on the other side with deeper water where we should have gone in the first place. No harm done, we had lunch, put on the sail covers and tidied up. Saw Ian off the next afternoon after we walked over to Atlantis in the morning and latched on to a guided tour and got a free tour of the entire aquarium and casino and learned all kinds of interesting facts. Paradise Island is so far removed from Nassau it might as well be on a different planet, even though it's just over the bridge. Sterilized for tourists - no garbage, traffic jams, bars on windows, smelly sewers, or otherwise typical features of a tropical city.
Sue returned on March 2nd, so it's back to the laundry and shopping reports. This connection is very bad and very slow, so watch for pictures at our next stop.
posted by Susan at 9:43 AM
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