Enjoying The Bahamas

After waiting out some heavy thunderstorms in West End at Old Bahama Bay Marina and Resort we left Thursday March 6 and headed over Little Bahama Bank to Mangrove Cay. It had rained in the morning so we waited for that thunderstorm to pass as well before departing. We had a beautiful days passage with lots of sunshine and calm seas. The water is so crystal clear you feel as though you can reach out and touch the inhabitants on the bottom. We could see starfish and urchins from the deck. The bank as we entered was shallow and I stood as sentry and look out on the bow looking for coral heads that might be of danger to us. Fortunately we didn't come across any. We traveled with Pete and Dee aboard s/v Windlass, they have a larger boat and therefore go faster than we do but they stayed behind us until Mangrove Cay, where we parted. We were concerned we would not make the next cay before dark and didn't wish to go into anchor without the aid of the sun to see the coral heads. The weather turned during the evening and the wind picked up as did the waves. In the morning we hauled anchor before sunrise, I see a pattern forming here, and continued on to Spanish Cay. We kept in radio contact with Windlass and arrived a few hours after them to Spanish Cay Marina and Resort. The picture is us secure at the dock. The weather continued to build for an interesting ride that made us glad to be finished with the days trip.















We spent two nights at this private Island waiting out the gale force winds and thunderstorms that we coming with the cold front moving in. When it hit we were very glad to be secure at a dock. Riding a gale out at anchor is not enjoyable it is rough enough at a dock. This particular harbor has a rock retaining wall but the surge still is considerable. We were on the inside and had more protection than some of the boats, we were glad for that. This picture is of one of the resort accommodations for tourists visiting Spanish Cay by plane. The beach is littered because of the North wind pushing large waves up on the shore. The Island is privately owned and has it's own airstrip. During the Summer months it gets busy here in the Bahamas, Winter is off season. Wealthy people from Florida come here to escape the heat and humidity of Summer. They bring their fishing boats and rent cottages and have their private planes fly them in and out. It's nothing for them to have a bill of $20,000 per month. We didn't even hook to water they charge 40 cents per gallon, we made our own.














Sunday afternoon we cast our dock lines and sailed to Manjack Cay pronounced Monjack or Nunjack. It is the next cay about 10 miles away. The winds were still strong about 15 to 20 knots depending if we were open to the ocean or protected by the cays. It was pleasant to be able to sail without the assistance of the engine. Our destination was a short one and no worries of the sun setting before we arrived. It was a liberated feeling as we sailed along. We had cocktail hour on our boat with Dee and Pete and spent a good night at anchor.

The picture is of the next morning as the four of us explored up the waterways within the mangroves, Pete and Dee leading the way. The Island has about three houses on it and they are very cruiser friendly folks that have wi-fi and leave it open for the sailors at anchor to use. Larry and I signed up for Skype and have made a few calls back to the US though the computer at 2 cents per minute. If the person we are calling also has Skype which is free we can talk over the computer for free. The clarity is quite good and it is nice to hear voices from home.















It's Tuesday and Dee and Pete have lifted anchor to go to Marsh Harbor to meet friends flying in to spend a week with them. We will meet up again somewhere out here.

This picture is of one of the many starfish we see in the water. The picture turned out quite clear. We took it yesterday as we explored along one of the beaches.
















This picture is of one of the two wrecks along the shore. We plan to snorkel there when the weather clears and warms up. We are planning to go to shore this morning for some hiking and sunning at the beach on the ocean side but are waiting for the sun to come out and the rain to go away. As I'm finishing this blog entry the sun is finally braking through the clouds. The same thing happened yesterday.