Abaco’s, Passage Home and Summer 2021

Downwind sail from the Berries to Great Abaco. Note the old baggy sails.

Rounding the southern tip of Great Abaco, very shallow water near land, so pretty

We continued to enjoy great sailing in May. Fewer storms, lots of sunshine, and not too hot. The cold fronts that come off the USA east coast affect the Bahamas less frequently at this tome of year.

Our first stop in the Abaco’s at Little Harbor was brief, just a couple nights. We visited Pete’s Pub for a yummy outdoor lunch. Folks are still friendly from a distance. No reports of COVID here at this time.

We enjoyed a 17 mile sail to Matt Lowe’s Cay just north of Marsh Harbor. What a neat remote anchorage! One other boat anchored nearby late in the day. Although we did not snorkel it looked like it would be a nice place for that.

The next morning we raised anchor right after the morning radio net. We went to Marsh Harbor for supplies for us and our buddy boats. Maxwells is so well stocked, it’s the largest grocery we’ve seen since being in the USA. We sailed to Crab Cay, just past Green Turtle Cay to rendezvous with U’Jammin and Wild Iris and deliver their groceries.

Sad to say goodbye to Jeff and Marsha on U’Jammin, but happy to see their big smiles as they head out for a few nights sail to the south coast of the USA.

The weather report was not yet right to head straight for Beaufort, NC and beyond. The weather fronts were still affecting most of the east coast regularly and the temperatures were much lower than normal. So we stayed in Crab Cay/ Manjack Cay with Wild Iris, hiking, singing, cooking and eating.

Lone Star made a quick trip to Green Turtle Cay Club to checkout of the Bahamas. That was new this year due to COVID! We’ve never had to check out in the past. We purchased one spare can of diesel to spend the rest of our Bahamian dollars and donate the change.

Statistics for our third winter in the Bahamas:

1192 miles sailed, more than previous two years combined! (2019-852 miles, 2020-337 miles)
We visited the Abaco’s, Eleuthera, Exuma’s, Long Island, Jimentos and Ragged Islands, Great Exuma, Cat Island, Exuma’s again, Rose Island, Andros, the Berry Islands, and the Abaco’s again.
No problems filling out the Health Visa for each move between the island groups.

Passage North

When we finally chose a weather window, we began by beating and bouncing into a head sea for the first 12 hours or so. Alex was able to act as liaison between us and Wild Iris, so we could keep in touch once we were out of VHF range. We arrived about 5-6 hours behind our buddy boat.

First leg: Green Turtle Cay to Beaufort, NC in company with Wild Iris. We arrived at 7:30 AM on May 22. By 10:30 AM all 4 of us had appointments at CVS in Morehead City to get our first COVID vaccination. We celebrated with Mark and Lisa with lots more music and pizza. We enjoyed a nice walk around town and dinner served outside with friends, Len and Robin. Amazing and a bit daunting to see Americans socializing again. Many are vaccinated in this area. Three days later a weather window appeared to head north again.

Flying fish found on deck in the morning

495 nautical miles
81.5 hours
6.1 nm. average speed
3.5 hours motoring

Second leg: Beaufort, NC to Cape Henlopen or Lewis, Delaware; the southernmost point of Delaware Bay. Glad to be at anchor behind the breakwaters! Nasty weather front kept us in the cabin. Cold, windy, and rainy. Long underwear and many layers of clothing at the end of May! Changed back to flannel sheets, extra blankets and put the cabin heater on. Welcome to New England, where it is not yet summer.

Celebrating our arrival at Cape Henlopen

327 miles
57.75 hours
5.7 nm. average speed
21.5 hours motoring

Third leg: Cape Henlopen to our home port in Mystic, CT. Expected to motor for 24 hours. Very thankful it was a lot less than that!

228 miles
46.5 hours
4.9 nm. average speed
9.25 hours motoring

The storm has passed, time to finish this passage!

Summer 2021

We’ve had a very busy summer. Not a lot of time for sailing this year.

Our son, Alex married his lovely bride Jenna in July. Congratulations to the happy couple!!

A short break to sail Lone Star to Block Island during the week…

… and to Watch Hill to join friends from Shennecossett Yacht Club for the weekend.

Hands-on demonstration with Fire Department

We made time for a few daysails with friends and family. Found out Alex and Jenna’s dog Nani is quite comfortable as a sailing dog!

A week long visit with Mark and Lisa after they delivered a friends boat to Newport, RI to escape the heat in Deltaville, VA in early August. Thanks for more great times dear friends!

We toured Fort Trumbull and Fort Griswold

Then visited long time friends on Cape Cod for a few nights. Thanks Tim and Alex for the wonderful motorboat tour of Chatham harbor. I had no idea there were so many boats anchored there! Tom really enjoyed the small boat sailing too!

Anita’s sister Jane and husband Dave celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in Maine in August. Congratulations!!

And last, but not least boat projects! New Sails, and new below deck auto pilot. New running lights too. We purchased a few more items to take with us. There are always more projects waiting in the wings.

We followed this up with our second drive to New Hampshire to visit Tom’s Dad. More fun with small boat sailing and card games, or was it barricade? Fun times!

New sails and a new stack pack for the main sail

Life is good with us. Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing!

Lone Star sails to Andros and the Berries

We were enjoying cruising in company to Rose Island near New Providence and Nassau. Sadly, in mid-April it was once again time to bid farewell and part ways with our buddy boats. They were starting to plan their departure from the Bahamas. We planned to stay another month.

U’Jammin and Wild Iris depart for the Abaco’s

While our friends enjoyed an overnight sail north we left the next morning sailing west for Andros Island. We enjoyed a mostly downwind sail across the north side of New Providence. So happy with our boats performance: 46.2 miles in 9 hours, despite having to motor for 3 hours midday when the wind died. We anchored in Morgan’s Bluff at the north end of Andros at 5 PM.

Steve and Janice on Steadfast invited us over for a delicious dinner made by Janice: fresh caught fish! She is a marvelous chef. We were also happy to meet up with Steve, another long range radio relay. Great to put a face with the voice we hear every morning and fun to get to know them a bit better.

The next morning the local Customs official gave us a ride to a small local grocery as we were out of fresh produce. They sure didn’t have much, but something is better than nothing. We purchased diesel at a reasonable price here too. The next day we hiked around to enjoy the uniqueness of the area.

Morgan’s Caves believed to have been used by the pirate captain himself

Sully gave us a guided tour to the Mennonite farm early on our last morning in Andros. I highly recommend other cruisers ask for Sully, he is not a taxi driver, just a friendly local that enjoys people. What a nice load of fresh produce!! Well worth the trip!

Bananas, melon, cabbages, green beans, tomatoes, eggplant, fresh picked strawberries, apples, oranges, white & sweet potatoes, onions, and kale

Carrots, broccoli, romaine, pears, farm fresh eggs, bell peppers, cucumbers, celery and scallions Yes, the refrigerator needs to be defrosted!!

Right after lunch we sailed the 16 miles to Chub Cay in the Berries. Regrettably, I took no photos here. However, we were here several years ago with Jenna & Alex on board.

Time to explore new places in the Berries! We sailed east and north up a shallow bay to anchor a mile or so from Cockroach Cay.

This was a secure and beautiful anchorage to hide from a north east blow. No waves for us in this harbor. We saw an occasional fisherman, but no other cruising boats here. We stayed for 3 nights, then motored 15 miles to Bonds Cay. Ironically, we were now a couple miles north east of Cockroach Cay and still received a good cell signal from Chub Cay.

… Sunset anchored at Bonds Cay, looking toward Cockroach Cay

After three more days of moderately high winds keeping us on board, we were starting to crave a walk on shore. No beaches at all on the west side of this long skinny island, just coral. We could see a small beach toward the north end. So we pulled up the anchor and motored a couple miles north and re-anchored.

After a mile plus dinghy ride we found a small beach

We walked back and forth a few times until it looked like a whole lot of people had landed on the beach. Haha, we haven’t seen a soul. However, there was a very large flock of people shy birds!

Heading back to the speck that is Lone Star

The next day we sailed 23 miles to Hawks Nest Bay. We only used the engine to set the anchor upon arrival. We were so pleased to see we were surrounded by beautiful beaches on three sides. Yeah! Let’s go for a walk!!

Looking for turtles in a nearby warm river

We enjoyed four days filled with beach walking and turtle spotting and dolphins in the bay. Then we saw an ideal weather window for a long day sail east then north to the Abaco’s. Lately, the northern islands have experienced stronger winds than we’ve had from three passing cold fronts. Perhaps we can catch up with our buddy boats again?

Exploring the Exuma Cays and National Park

Caption: Looking out to sea after entering the Exuma banks via Dotham Cut between Bitter Guana and Great Guana.

Considering there are fewer boats in the Bahamas due to COVID this season, we decided to spend more time exploring the northern Exuma islands and the Land and Sea park. We occasionally found it challenging to find safe anchorages to hide from pesky cold fronts coming off the US east coast. Life is good, we all need a challenge now and then. It keeps life interesting.

Sailing on these shallow banks is easy and fun with our 3.5 foot draft trimaran

A popular stop for cruisers, tourists and even locals is to visit the once wild pigs at Big Majors. Sailors of old dropped off breading pairs of pigs to fend for themselves on several Bahamian islands. These sailors planned to return for fresh meat as needed. They did the same with goats as we’ve witnessed in the Ragged Islands and perhaps with roosters and chickens as we hear them everywhere!

In current times, the pigs are well cared for by locals. Fed and watered twice a day and ample shade provided.

From Big Majors we went 13 miles south to Black Point for protection from south winds. Good opportunity to drop off the garbage and grab a few groceries. Early the next morning we headed around the corner to Little Harbor to get protection from north winds. We didn’t leave quite early enough. Left in fog, dropped the anchor while it was raining. No problem, the rain is warm. At least we had a quiet anchorage last night. Boats that anchored here yesterday had a bouncy night in waves. We spent 4 nights here. Met up with a group of 7 other boats from Georgetown and enjoyed a potluck and bocce ball game on the beach when the weather finally cleared.

Bocce ball on the beach at Little Harbor, Great Guana

Wild Iris pulled in to the anchorage. After Cat Island they and UJAM’n had gone further south to Rudder Cut in the Exuma’s. UJAM’n leaped ahead of us to join cruising friends in the Land and Sea Park.

The next day we enjoyed a long walk to the blow hole and through the town at Black Point. Fresh cinnamon bread from the bakery! So good to stretch our legs.

So much fun to sing and make music while the sun goes down. Mark learned a couple new songs at Tom’s suggestion: Bimini and Sail Away from the Kingston Trio. We spent the next week sailing in company with Wild Iris. Next up we sailed north to Big Majors. This time we anchored on the southeast side closer to Thunderball Grotto.

Thunderball Grotto, zoom in to see boats

Tom went snorkeling in the grotto and cave with Mark and Lisa. Anita did laundry and read. She does not have a wetsuit yet, it’s on the list of things to purchase.

Next day we sailed to the west side of Pipe/Fowl Cay. Two things we want to see here: Rachel’s Bubble Bath at high tide, and some underwater caves at low tide. Mark and Lisa joined us on Lone Star and we motored 1.6 miles up to Compass Cay and immediately went to Rachel’s bath. We were a little past high tide so the bubbles weren’t very frothy, but we saw the leftover froth on the approach. Must be very impressive with an east wind and astronomical high tide. We had lunch together then went snorkeling at the caves.

A variety of fish seen in the aquarium in Exuma park

Next we sailed together to the Bahamas Land and Sea Park. We chose to anchor up a sandy river near Compass Cay. There are a couple neat things to see here. A crashed airplane in shallow water and an underwater aquarium. That same day we walked on a nice beach and up a bit of a hill to glimpse the ocean.

One day Anita invited Mark and Lisa over for a baking afternoon. Our oven is very good and will heat well over 400 degrees Fahrenheit. They made pizza, dinner rolls, and a cinnamon roll. We baked corn muffins and brownies.

We rejoined UJAM’n at Highborne Cay. Stayed in Fishing Bay on the northwest coast. East winds were predicted. A cold front came through with a one two punch 12 hours apart. We had no idea the first one would result in northwest winds immediately, it was rather bouncy after the strong thunderstorms blew through in the late evening. It was a sleepless night for our cruising friends as they were anchored near two mega yachts. One dragged in the high winds and fouled their own propellor with their tenders very long tow line. We all moved around the corner the next day for more protection.

Beach games with friends, our boats in the background

Added bonus: nice beach to play games on!

This cruising lifestyle is a lot of fun when we cruise in company and get to know other people. We all sailed north together. More about that in the next blog.

Cat Island by Land and Sea

Caption for above photo: Father Jerome’s Hermitage on the highest hill in the Bahamas on Cat Island

Tom ran the Georgetown Cruisers VHF radio net one last time the day we sailed to Cat Island in company with Ujam’n; a Hylas 49’ and Wild Iris.; a Swede 48’. We sailed fifty-one miles on a comfortable reach, heading north across the deep blue Atlantic ocean. Surprisingly, our boat speeds were very close. Ujam’n left first and managed to pull ahead a bit and anchored first. We didn’t know our TriStar 39’ cruising trimaran could compete with or nearly keep up with deep keeled longer monohulls.

Eight hours later we anchored in Old Bight with our buddy boats. Notice the amazing contrast of the deep blue ocean and the shallow turquoise banks as we approach the island in the picture above.

We often got together in the mornings to hike, afternoons to play beach games, or in the evening to sing songs and watch the sun go down. So much fun to travel in company with fellow cruisers.

After the easterly winds calmed down we moved over to New Bight.

We enjoyed a walk around town, to the bakery for fresh made coconut cinnamon raisin bread and pineapple tarts and then on to the Hermitage. Father Jerome was an architect and sculptor as well as a humanitarian and a Catholic priest. He designed and rebuilt several hurricane damaged churches in the Bahamas. He occupied this Hermitage circa 1940. Read more about him in the link provided above.

Morning hike to the Hermitage uphill tthrough the stations of the cross

The view was fabulous. I guess I should mention the doorways are quite short throughout this tiny home. I was wearing a visor and didn’t duck low enough upon entering the devotional area. I was thrown backwards on impact and fell on my backside. Had a nice dent in the top of my head for a few weeks and a few other aches and pains. All healed now. Please don’t wear a hat and be sure to duck when you visit this extra special place.

Tom and Jeff are engineers and Mark is a physicist. It didn’t take them long to work out the clever design of using the sloping land to collect rain water in an underground cistern and a hand pump to retrieve the water.

Natural water catchment, cistern and manual pump

The next day we rented a car together and drove south first. We found some ruins, so stopped to explore. Read more about this 18th century cotton plantation here.

After some twists and turns we managed to find Hawks Nest Creek. Good to know we probably would not find refuge here. Narrow creek and not a lot of deep water. Very strong current here as well.

We searched for restaurants on our way back north. Ironically we decided the best place was where we were anchored in New Bight. We all enjoyed delicious meals and a bit of shade.

We drove all the way north to Orange Creek then stopped in Arthur’s Town at this closed bar. Sadly this town still looks rather abandoned as it did during our visit last year.

Marsha, Jeff, Tom, Anita and Lisa (Mark took the picture)

We ended our tour with a stop at the New Bight grocery for fresh food and supplies. Now that we’d seen the whole island, we all elected to sail back to the Exuma’s the next day as it was another great day to sail. Our buddy boats chose to go a bit further south to Rudder Cut. We chose to go back to Black Point and continue north from there.

Sailing through the cut at Black Point, Great Guana, Exuma

Although parting ways now, we definitely plan to cruise in company again soon.

Next blog will be about sailing slowly north up the beautiful islands of the Exuma Chain.

Great Exuma revisited

After our trip south to the Ragged Islands we returned to the Georgetown area in mid-February, for lots more fun in this beautiful cruiser friendly area. Tom jumped right back into helping out with the morning local VHF cruisers net and Anita volunteered in the choir at Beach Church.

Elizabeth harbor has at least a dozen good anchorages to choose from. We like to spend 3-5 days in a location, then move on to another. They all have different things to offer. We’ll take this opportunity to expand on a few.

Kidds Cove is the anchorage closest to Georgetown and dinghy access to Lake Victoria where shops, laundry and restaurants and entertainment abound. The anchorage is often bouncy due to a lot of boat traffic. We plan our trips here around the weather and tides. Calm seas and a slack current make for a much more pleasant trip into town for provisions.

Goat Cay is a quiet picture perfect anchorage with swimming, snorkeling and a gorgeous beach. Plus an easy walk to propane refills, a pharmacy with groceries, and a hardware store. It’s a longer walk to our favorite butcher shop and grocery, but doable from here as well. The bay is open to the north but offers great shelter otherwise. A shallow area near the bay entrance keeps deep draft boats out.

Monument Beach is directly across the harbor from Goat Cay and offers numerous trails across Stocking Island to the ocean side beach or up to the monument. There are also several gathering spots for cruisers with fire pits and make shift tables and benches.

Trail leading to the Monument and anchorage at south Monument

Monument salt pillar, informed sailors of old they could harvest salt on this island

Chat n Chill or Volleyball Beach is our next favorite beach on Stocking Island. The former is a business and has a bar/restaurant and gift shop on this area of the island. We enjoyed their Sunday pig roast for the first time this year. Fantastic place to meet up with cruisers every afternoon. A place to enjoy chatting with new and old friends, music jam sessions, volleyball, card games, dominoes, basket weaving, sailing topic lectures, or a walk on the beach. Oh, and beach church on Sundays is held here.

Jam session on Volleyball Beach

Sand Dollar Beach is one of my favorite anchorages, though it can be a bit bouncy in a south breeze. East winds are perfect here. Beautiful long beaches to walk on and several trails that cross to the ocean side of the island. An artist trail decorated by cruisers is a favorite. There are several gathering spots on the beaches of this anchorage as well.

Jeff (Ujam’n) adding a stone on the Artist walk

Artist walk with crew from Wild Iris and Ujam’n

The ocean side of Sand Dollar

We had one strong Norther where we hid out in our favorite anchorage behind Crab Cay in Red Shanks. We had great all around wind protection and only a small group of nautical neighbors. The island is deserted.

Houseboat Puff hosted a farewell pot luck one evening. We have really enjoyed our time getting to know these people. Until we meet again dear friends on Puff, Margaret Lee, Local Knowledge, and Maranatha. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in this welcoming cruising area until mid-March.

It was exciting to cross to Cat Island with two boats we had begun to hang out with: Wild Iris and Ujam’n. Stay tuned for more on that trip in the next blog.

Long Island and the Ragged Islands

Featured Picture Caption: Setting sail at sunrise from Long Island Bahamas

In our opinion, 2021 is the perfect year to travel farther afield in the Bahamas. The number of boats here this year is greatly reduced. It’s easy to find a peaceful anchorage either alone or with one or two other boats. Maintaining physical distance is very easy to do when traveling slowly by boat. The Bahamian government has added a few regulations to keep their residents and visitors safe. We find filling out the domestic travel visa takes less than three minutes and approval via email has been almost instantaneous. We are grateful for the privilege to sail and explore more of these beautiful islands as we escape the cold winter in New England for the third year in a row.

A glimpse of Thompson Bay and a few more cruisers

On Monday, January 18 we left Georgetown, on Great Exuma and motor-sailed to Long Island. We expected more than 10 knots of wind, but it did not materialize.

Salt Pond Long Island; heading back to the dinghy dock

There were only 8 other boats in this large protected harbor. We had a couple very windy days here and eventually went ashore for a walk and to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables before sailing south to the remote and mostly uninhabited southern Bahamian islands known as the Jumentos Cays and Ragged Islands.

On Thursday, January 21 we were ready to head south towards the Ragged Islands; on the tails of a cold front of course. We love a good downwind sail! We left anchor under sail power alone at 6:45AM. We sailed 56.7 nautical miles in 11 hours, arriving at Flamingo Cay in the southern Jumento Cays just before sunset. We were all alone in this normally popular anchorage. No internet here, so a nice quiet night of reading on board.

Video: Arriving at Flamingo Cay at sunset

The weather was great for sailing. We sailed off anchor again and kept heading south toward Hog Cay, just north of Ragged Island. Ragged Island is the only inhabited island in this beautiful chain of islands,

Raising anchor the second day, sailing to Hog Cay

Hog Cay is a cruisers meeting place. There is a large pavilion on shore and several fire pits. There are lots of chairs and tables and a beautiful view. Cruisers generally gather around 4:30 pm to swap sea stories and watch the sunset. Bring your own beverages. The cell tower on nearby Ragged Island means internet is available.

Sundowners at the Hog Cay Yacht Club *photo courtesy of Carol Hall Burchfield*

One morning we joined a few friends for a hike across the island. There are many wild goats on most of the islands around here. The goats must be afraid of people or they hide real well in the shrubbery. I did not get a picture of them.

Video: Our destination; windward side of Hog Cay

Harvesting floats that washed up on the beach

On one of the beaches we found intact floats that must have fallen off a fishing boat. Tom and Russ untangled them and brought them back to the yacht club for reuse.

Circling back to our anchorage after our hike

We came back on a different path north of our anchorage. Nice three and a half mile hike. There are so many paths, many maintained by the goats, teehee. On another day, Tom and I took a different path and had to come back the same way as we could not find the ocean side entrance to the paths we had used before.

Walking to town on Ragged Island from Southside Bay, cell tower on right

We sailed to Southside Bay on Ragged Island and anchored there for a deep cold front that hit the whole east coast. One day we decided to walk to Duncan Town. There are supposedly about 50 residents on Ragged. We only saw about 8. We had no luck visiting the grocery. No one was around that afternoon. When the east winds returned we sailed north to Raccoon Cay. Beautiful sail in fairly calm seas most of the time. The below chart plotter picture shows five other boats heading north as well.

Video: Sailing to Raccoon Cay

Another storm was reaching down and this one had a couple of days with a west component to the wind. There are very few harbors in the Raggeds with shelter from west winds. We sought shelter a day early in Low Water Harbor on the south end of Buena Vista Cay and paid the price with a rolly anchorage for the first night. However, we picked a very good spot. By morning other boats were seeking shelter there too. We managed to fit eight boats in with no problem. We celebrated the end of the storm with a small bonfire on the beach.

During this storm the Ragged Island cell tower stopped working on Saturday evening and didn’t get repaired until Tuesday morning. A couple boats that were working remotely had to sail north in the strong winds to reach another working cell tower before their Monday morning work meetings. So glad we are not on a schedule.

Appreciating another day of life afloat with a snack on our aft deck. We did see the green flash as the sun set into the blue water this day. Disappointed we couldn’t capture it with a picture.

We sailed back down to Hog Cay from Buena Vista. A couple of highlights were an ice cream social and a potluck that featured delicious ribs crisped up on an open fire with a few other cruisers that have been in the area for more than a couple of weeks, similar to us. Note: COVID-19 has not made an appearance on nearby Ragged Island. We certainly hope that continues to be the case.

Two beautiful days of sailing to return to Georgetown

We utilized some beautiful southeasterly winds to sail north up the chain of islands. We stopped at Water Cay on Valentine’s Day and grilled some delicious strip steak paired with parsley potatoes and carrots and topped off with mint chip gelato. The next day we enjoyed a smooth sail on the beautiful banks and through Hog Cay Cut before high tide and into Kidds Cove in Georgetown in the early afternoon.

Video: Approaching Hog Cay Cut

We sailed nearly 300 miles in the past month. The last two days were absolutely gorgeous reaching sails.

Our route to Long Island and the Raggeds

As we reflect on our recent travels we are so thankful for our health and floating home, and the freedom to travel among the beautiful Bahama islands safely despite the global pandemic. We hope you also find joy in your lives.

Baby it’s cold up there. 70’s where we are.

It’s mid- February and the U.S. is in another cold snap. Stay warm and connected friends.

Eleuthera with cruising friends

Above Caption: Gorgeous mirror image on a calm morning in Rock Sound, Eleuthera

We elected to make a long passage from the Abacos to Eleuthera on the tails of a cold front. We raised anchor before sunrise and lowered it after sunset. A very pleasant 67 mile, 11 hours sail with the wind at our backs most of the way. We elected to press on through Current Cut as we thought the current would be slack or with us. Little did we know, that particular current should be calculated using 1.5 hours after Nausau high tide, not Eleuthera west coast. So we had a 3 knot current against us. Thankfully, the rip current is only for a very short distance and it is a deep channel. However, the current did slow us down so we had to choose a closer anchorage to be able to stop before it was completely dark. Rotten Bay near Little Bogue settlement on Eleuthera was a peaceful anchorage with good holding, a cell tower and not much else.

Tom has really enjoyed connecting with family members almost nightly playing card games on Trickstercards.com on the iPad. Fun way to keep in touch with three generations of the Kintz family. The internet makes life better during a pandemic and isolation.

The next morning we sailed about 5 miles to Glass Window, our original destination. We did not turn on the engine, rather honed our skills sailing while raising then lowering and setting the anchor. Glass window with a view to the Atlantic ocean is a bridge on a narrow strip of the island. Long ago there was a natural rock arch at this location. We’ve heard sunrise through the window is quite a view. Unfortunately, this time of year the sun rises well to the south of the window. We met up with cruising friends on a power boat here and really enjoyed exploring this and the remaining Eleuthera harbors with them. Much more fun to share the experience!

View of anchorage on hike over Glass Window

Hiking over the Window, view of Atlantic

The contrast of water colors from the ocean and bank side are dramatic. After our hike and lunch, we motored over to Hatchet Bay as there was almost no wind. This bay is completely enclosed and therefore offers great protection from bad weather. We had good weather while here. However, we’re so glad we stopped and now know what a treasure this stop provides.

Hatchet Bay, beautiful dinghy dock between boats

In the morning, we all went ashore for our daily exercise and to explore the settlement. We were greeted by a helpful local entrepreneur offering many services to visiting yachts: laundry, trash disposal, take-out restaurant, guided tours, etc. Friendly place!

The following day we enjoyed a 3 hour, 17 mile easy reaching sail to Governor’s Harbor. We only used the engine to get through the narrow cut at Hatchet and to set the anchor.

After lunch we joined our friends for a walk around town. Ed remembered where the Bakery was and they were well stocked. We bought a loaf of coconut bread and one with cinnamon and raisins, plus two pastries: a cinnamon bun and a coconut tart. All were sinfully delicious! We still have half of the cinnamon raisin bread in the freezer and it keeps well!

We’ve noticed that many of the towns on Eleuthera are clean and neat. They have nice landscaping and this time of year prolific Christmas decorations.

The next day we made a short stop at the Pineapple Cays to visit a farm other cruisers told us about. The four of us hiked a mile to the farm and were rewarded with lots of fairly priced fresh produce. Spinach, lettuce, cabbage, scallions, mini sweet bananas, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, eggs, etc. We brought our trolley so no one needed to carry the heavy bags on the walk back.

Quick stop at Pineapple Cay’s to visit the farm

We enjoyed a fresh salad for lunch then continued sailing on to Tarpum Bay for the night. Anita has enjoyed swapping recipes with our son, Alex, then downloading them into the Paprika App so she can make notes and swap ingredients as needed. We recently swapped these two: Egg roll in a bowl (yum) and crustless chicken pot pie made with any cream soup, lots of veggies and leftover grilled chicken, Anita adds hot sauce. Alex spread mixed cornbread on top as he wanted a crust!

Just our two boats anchored in Tarpum Bay

Our hike around this settlement was more like a scenic walking tour. I later found out Castle MacMillan is available for rent (pre/post pandemic).

As there was no wind, we motored 13 miles to Rock Sound. It was very hot, Ed and Marge stopped at a reef, but didn’t end up swimming. The water is getting colder already due to lack of sunlight on these short days. After lunch we took another walking tour together to the 600 foot deep land-locked Ocean Hole and settlement.

Lots of big colorful fish in the Ocean Hole

A young boy fishing on the dinghy dock told us these fish are not good to eat as the water is brackish or part fresh water and mostly seawater. The next day our friends left very early for the Exuma Cays as it was a beautiful day for motoring. We stayed to do some chores and wait for wind to sail to the Cays.

The above shot was taken after we completed laundry. This was the first time since Beaufort, NC several weeks ago and we had three big loads. Tom had to hang from the dinghy dock and drop into the dinghy that wanted to scoot under the dock due to the wind and low tide. My hero! I rewarded him with a favorite, flat bread Pizza.

Playful dolphins surround us and a neighboring boat

One afternoon we kept hearing splashes even from inside the cabin. Upon investigation we discovered we were surrounded by playful and probably hungry dolphin. We were able to change our call with son, Alex to a video call so he could see them jumping around too!

We ended up staying in Rock Sound for five peaceful yet productive days. Tom took the opportunity to catch up on paperwork We moved across the harbor for our last day as Northwest winds were predicted with a cold front. We planned to leave before sunrise on the tails of that front for a sleigh ride to the Exuma Cays. More on that next time!

2020 Stats and Cruising the Exuma’s

Picture Caption: Arriving in the Exuma Cays, Black Point on Great Guana Cay

Counting our blessings to be living this life

We’ll start the new year by comparing 2020 stats with 2019. As expected COVID had an impact on our cruising lifestyle; mainly fewer miles traveled due to lockdowns.

2020 / 2019
17 / 18 nights at sea
223 / 251 nights at anchor 117 / 60 nights on our own mooring
3 / 3 nights at a dock 5 / 33 hauled out on land, still on board
3114 / 3507 nautical miles traveled
5 / 8 states in the USA 2 Countries: Bahamas and USA

Sailing from Rock Sound Eleuthera, deep blue sea

On December 19, we left Eleuthera on the tails of a blustery cold front. Winds were 18-25 MPH. Lone Star and crew enjoyed sailing on a broad reach for Black Point on Guana Cay in the Exuma’s. We sailed nearly sixty miles in under 8 hours. The highlight was surfing down a couple steep waves when we entered the cut to the Exuma Banks then entered tranquil waters. It was a fun and sporty sail; shorter than we predicted. That’s always nice!

We took a four mile walk on shore the next day all the way to the North end of Great Guana Cay.

Nice dock in a cove, north end of Great Guana Cay

The next day we motored down the gorgeous Exuma Banks to Cave Cay.

Great motoring day!

We had hoped to spend some time exploring these beautiful Exuma Cays. However, the water is cold for swimming this time of year and the Christmas winds are predicted to kick up. After spending a night with 3 other boats at Cave Cay we decided that we are close enough to make it to our favorite secret secure anchorage in Georgetown. So off we went for a quick offshore run straight to Conch Cay Cut and the multitude of beautiful anchorages and beaches. Gorgeous reaching sail in 10-15 knots of wind in company with other boats we’ve met a few times. There were fewer than 20 cruisers in the Georgetown area anchorages when we arrived on December 22.

We spent 12 windy days as the only boat anchored here!

We loved going on afternoon walks on nearby Crab Cay and occasionally met other cruisers doing the same thing. Sure missed sharing this harbor with Little Sister, Sunset Trader, Miles and Pegu Club as we did last year.

Sharing the path to the old Loyalist plantation

Here are a couple of video’s of the ocean beach and a jungle like hike back to Sanddollar Beach from the ocean in the afternoon.

Ahh waves and wind, no better sound to a sailor

Hiking the trails

Tom restarted the local cruisers VHF morning net just before the New Year. It’s a short net, with fewer boats here. However, it’s good to hear there are other cruisers in the vicinity willing to lend a helping hand when needed.

Standing in the shade can be a wonderful thing

We continued working on boat projects. Tom has replaced old rusty plastic coated wire lifelines with Spectra and soft shackles. Anita repaired the jib sail cover; replacing a worn zipper, removing sun-rotted velcro and restitching most of it. She also made a seat cover for the dinghy and some small ditty bags. So many more sewing projects waiting in the wings.

A late afternoon walk to Flip Flop beach

We were able to attend the first Beach Church of the season with only 14 physically distant mask wearing cruisers. So good to meet with people in small groups. No new cases of the flu here in some time.

We love this life! We’re so happy to be sailing and enjoying nature and are very glad to be staying in warm weather. Sailing south for the winter suits us. The boat count had reached 71 by the time we left the Georgetown area.

We sail to Long Island and the Ragged Islands next in search of warmer water and weather.

Post Dorian/COVID cruise in the Abacos

Picture Caption: northeast beach on Elbow Cay

This is our first trip back to this archipelago since Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Abacos in September 2018. We are heartened to see progress toward rebuilding. Bahamians are strong resilient people who love their beautiful islands. Cruising in COVID times means fewer and/or shorter trips ashore. Wearing masks, frequent hand washing and keeping our distance from our friendly fellow man.

We heard Marsh Harbor is focusing on rebuilding the Commercial district away from the harbor. The Mud, an area with a shanty town that was completely washed away, is fenced off and the marsh is reclaiming the land. Many of the shanty town residents perished in the storm, but the number will never be known.

Perhaps the owners of these boats have not yet returned to the island? Population in this area is still very low.

We started out using T-Mobile and the BTC cell towers. It was very difficult to download email never mind load a webpage with 3G service. On Black Friday, Aliv cell service had a sale; we purchased a chip with a fantastic plan! $90 for 250GB a month; double there normal 125GB. Time to back up the computers and other devices. Service is LTE/4g fast now too.

Amazing to see that rebar reinforced concrete buildings were no match for the power of the ocean during a monster hurricane. After 3 days we were ready to move on and explore other islands in the Abacos.

Green Turtle Cay Club and Marina is completely rebuilt and operational. So beautiful and welcoming. This is a port of entry and we saw a few cruising boats come and go here.

We rented a golf cart to drive (on the left side of the road) to the Settlement to get our 5-day COVID-19 nasal antigen test at the clinic.

Tom called his Dad and we ended up taking him with us on our golf cart tour of the island.

After our tour and second confirmation that we do not have COVID, we celebrated with lunch on the deck at GTC Club restaurant. Lone Star is centered in the below picture, hidden behind the nice new docks.

Outdoor lunch at the Green Turtle Cay Club

We were itching for a good sail. The 20 knot north-northwest wind normally means do NOT head through Whale Cay cut. We sailed northeast through the cut at slack current with 4-6 foot seas with no problem. The wind was at our backs the rest of the way to Hope Town. Excellent sail, 27 miles in just over 4 hours.

Made it through Whale Cay Cut on a windy day

Hope Town is on the north end of Elbow Cay. We anchored outside the harbor in 5 feet of water. We took a long walk on shore and found this boat tossed high up on a hill by Dorian, a long ways from the water. The leaning mast and rigging hung over the road.

The creek is to the right of this picture

Busy workers renovating the Primary school

Hope Town is recovering and we saw lots of new roofs and renovated homes. There is a lot more work to do in the village. Again the local population has not yet returned.

Vernon’s grocery was open and we purchased our first Bahamian Mac & Cheese of the season. Dense and baked like lasagne, this one had some hot peppers and was very delicious. We purchased some fresh produce as well.

After 3 days we motor-sailed south to Little Harbor. There is a very secure inner harbor here, but we elected to anchor outside as the wind was light. A client/friend of Tom’s came out for a dinghy drift visit in the evening bearing gifts of wine and hats. That means they stayed in their boat tied behind ours, rather than coming aboard. It’s what we do in COVID times. Bruce & Trish graciously shared information about the Abacos and places to see.

The next day we took the dinghy in and inspected moorings for rent and took a walk around the village. We stopped for a fresh lemonade at Pete’s Pub, very pleasantly surprised they were open on a Sunday morning.

This is the type of fish net Tom cut off our propellor in the Gulf Stream

Even though there was a windy day approaching we elected to move into the Bight of Old Robinson rather than Little Harbor. We wanted to leave for Eleuthera at first light and would not have a high enough tide to get over the sand bar at the entrance.

As soon as the cold front passed we joined the North winds to surf and sail southward to Eleuthera in search of warmer weather and turquoise seas. Stay tuned for that story next time.

Oh Lord, what a passage!

We left Beaufort, NC on Friday, November 20 just before noon. Superstitious sailors say never begin a passage on a Friday. There may be some merit to this! We started out with very light winds and expected we might need to motor for most of the first 24 hours.

Less than 11 hours into the passage we were slowly drifting north in the Gulf Stream; no wind and no engine. Around 10:30PM the engine suddenly slowed, then stopped. Tom could find nothing wrong in the engine room and the motor ran fine, though it stopped immediately when put in gear. Anita thought the steering was also sluggish. We learned in the morning a rugged fishing net was wrapped around the propellor and rudder. Tom donned a wet suit and used an air tank (left on deck) with a long hose. He tied a rope around his waist tied a knife to his wrist and gripped it as he lowered himself into the warm Gulf Stream water. Anita laid on the aft deck (alternately praying and crying) and watched the boat bash up and down 1-2 feet while Tom worked to cut away the net and ropes for about 35-40 minutes. Sorry no pictures or video of this harrowing experience, focused on praying for a successful outcome. Tom said his hand hurt for two days after; from gripping the propeller shaft so hard to hold himself in place.

Captain Tom to the rescue, he deserves a rest!

At 9:30AM we were once again under power motoring SE across the Gulf Stream. The wind was still less than 5 knots. Once across the stream we finally had a bit of sailing off the wind. By the next morning we had 4-6 foot seas from several directions and gusty winds in squalls. Thankfully, thunderstorms stayed distant. Tom experienced some heavy rain on his watch.

On Anita’s mid-day watch the weather changed dramatically from squalls in the distance to beautiful clear sunny skies.

The wind calmed enough that we turned on the engine to charge and make hot water for showers. Uh oh, the sea water cooling alarm won’t shut off. We drifted around a bit while Tom dove in the engine room and eventually pulled out the raw water pump and changed the okay looking impeller. It worked, but he’s not sure that was the problem. We both enjoyed some moonlit watches.

Moon was a bit more than half and waxing

The cold front that passed by us several days earlier was still blowing from the North. As seas had not subsided we elected to avoid Whale Cay Cut and chose wider northeast exposed Man of War Cut instead. To avoid a night time entry we hove-to overnight, drifting at 1-2 knots rather than actively sailing. The constant motion and dropping off the waves slowed, but never stopped. It was very hard to sleep or even rest. I kept thinking some people pay for amusement rides like this. Sorry to say, I was not amused. This is the third time we had to deliberately slow down; sure hope family members that are watching our track are not worried about us. Despite these pauses in our progress we made the passage in less than five days. We used the engine for 26 hours and were more or less adrift for nearly 24 hours. The last day and a half we sailed under jib alone due to a lot of wind and the need to slow down and arrive during daylight.

Followed small freighter into Man of War Cut

We arrived in Marsh Harbor before noon. There are at least 30 wrecked boats strewn about the harbor left by Catagony 5 hurricane Dorian more than two years ago. Some floating, some on shore. We hear lots of generators on shore which means power is not yet restored to all areas of the shoreline. The best cell service we could obtain via T-Mobile high speed international on BTC towers was 3G. There are no landline phones working here.

First we worked on completing our health visas. Thanks Kimberly for stepping in to help when we had no data service upon arrival. We eventually learned T-Mobile had a block on our account even though they sold us a high-rate International plan. The folks managing the Health Visa system were very helpful and friendly. We were originally denied because the lab report needed to be attached not a picture of the email saying we had a negative COVID test result. Phew, that’s a relief!

Government dock on left, floating wrecks

We tried all afternoon to locate Customs and Immigration. We were finally successful the next morning after calling Nassau. They told us to go to Government Dock. Customs officials confirmed they do NOT have a phone in their office trailer. We were processed by Immigration in the parking lot outside the Customs trailer.

Customs office on Government Dock in Marsh Harbor

A short walk into the commercial district after checking in showed us the Bahamians are hard at work restoring power and property in Marsh Harbor. Maxwell’s Market is huge and well stocked so food is readily available here.

Not all passages are easy. Cruisers like us do not like to sail with a schedule. We had to arrive within 5 days due to Bahamas COVID-19 protocols. Thank you Lord for answering my many prayers on this challenging passage from Beaufort, NC to the northern Bahamas. We have arrived safely and we are so thankful and happy to be wintering in the warm, beautiful and friendly Bahamas.

Next up cruising the Abacos.