Outer Reef

The Exumas, May 2-27

Wednesday, May 27

Marine Stadium anchorage, Miami Florida

We left the Bahamas at 7:30 AM. We are sorry to be leaving, but feel we must take advantage of this good weather window. Twice on our trip we have had to wait a week or more for good weather and we wanted to be out of the islands during hurricane season, which starts June 1.

The weather has been so flukey. The Bahamians assured us that the high winds were very unusual this year. It hasa been so windy that most days we haven't been able to sit comfortably out on the deck. Snorkeling and swimming were seriously curtailed.

As we approached Miami in late afternoon, strong thunderstorms kicked up. The radio alert said there was a lot of lightening, high winds, and hail. We adjusted our course more souothward and avoided the bad weather. We anchored at Marine Stadium anchorage again. It is protected and not crowded. We'll go to a marina tomorrow so thaqt we can check in with immigration.

We will miss the clear blue-green waters of the Bahamas, where we could see staqrfish on the bottom in dep water. We enjoyed meeting other cruisers along the way and had some good times with them all. We are sad to have left the islands, but are glad to be back home, even if it isn't Texas.

Tuesday, May 26

Cat Cay anchorage

We counted 11 boats going in our direction when we left Chub Cay for Cat Cay this morning, but one by one they peeled off to other destinations. The trip was long, 12 hours. We have been spoiled by the short trips between the Exuma cays. Today's trip was uneventful, thank goodness!

Monday, May 25

Chub Cay anchorage

We weathered another storm today as we crossed the Tongue of the Ocean, which is more than 6,000 feet deep where we were! (It is better not to think about that.) Winds blew hard and it rained. The strap on the dinghy came loose and it was banging about on the roof of the cabin. Larry had to go out in the weather to fix it or we could have lost another dinghy on this trip!

After it cleared off, we had a wonderful, relaxing evening at the Chub Cay anchorage. Aafter we went to bed, things changed. As the tide came in, we starated rolling. It was very uncomfortable. Larry had to go up to the pilot house to make sure the anchor was holding. The rolling lasted until 3 AM.

Sunday, May 24

Nassau Harbor anchorage

We experienced our first off-shore storm today. The worst part was the lightening. Thank goodness it didn't last long. It was stormy when we arrived at Nassau.

It is a bit sad to think we're on our way home.

Friday, May 22--Saturday, May 23

Norman's Cay anchorage

The trip to the anchorage near Skipjack Point at Normans Cay took four hours. We had following seas. It was rougher than we expected. A low weather system has settled over the islands and its been gray and stormy for several days.

We met Alchemy (Sue and John) for lunch at McDuff's, the only restaurant (or commercial enterprise) on the island. We had heard they had excellent hamburgers and $6 (!) beer. They were out of both because yesterday's stormy weather prevented the supply boat from coming. We had a good lunch anyway.

Dinghying back from the restaurant, we stopped for a short visit with Naked Lady, whom we met at Little Farmer's Cay.

The wind began blowing harder late Friday evening and it rained very hard, but there was no lightening, thank goodness.

Saturday it was rainy and stormy, so we never got off the boat.

Monday, May 18--Thursday, May 21

Exuma Park mooring (Warderick Wells)

CLICK ON "EXUMA PARK PHOTOS" LINK AT LEFT TO SEE PICTURES OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE.

Before we left this morning, we took a walk around Sampson Cay and went to the marina's grocery store. WE bought a handful of necessary items for a whopping $55!

As we were preparing to lift anchor, Michael and Jennifer fromn Counts Quarters, a 46' sailboat anchored next to us, came by for a short visit.

We had a rough ride to Warderick Wells and Exuma Park. Alchemy arrived shortly after we moored. We met John and Sue in Bimini and traveled with them to Nassau. They came over for a short visit. We had a good opportunity to catch up because it started raining and they were trapped!

Although we have already visited the park, we will stay here till the weather settles.

Tuesday, when we went to the park office, Michelle, the park manager, put sugar in Terry's palm and tiny yellow banana flots perched on her fingers to eat it. At one time, six birds were eating out of her hand. We met a couple from Austin on a neighboring boat. They live very near us. Another couple, Herb and Caroll aboard Utopia, invited us over for drinks. They were a lot of fun and the salmon patties Herb made were delicious.

Larry carved our sign for Boo Boo Hill. It is a long tradition for cruisers to leave mementos there. We hiked the Boo Boo Hill trail Wednesday morning. What a view! At the top, there were hundreds of signs left by boaters over the years. Most were on driftwood, a few were on coconuts and there was one on a rum bottle! We saw several from boats we knew. Boo Boo Hill is said to be haunted by souls who died in a shipwreck here and were never buried. The hill is named over the sounds the ghosts make.

Wednesday evening there was a Happy Hour gathering on the beach. Crews from five boats attended and, as always, it was a fun time.

Thursday it rained all day, so we decided to stay on the mooring. We'll probably leave on Friday.

Sunday, May 17

Sampson Cay Anchorage

It was a short 50-minute trip to Sampson Cay this morning. Paula and Barry aboard Sea Fox anchored there a few minutes earlier. We met them for the Sunday buffet at the marina. The marina is very nice, but with more of an American air about it. The rental cabins, which were very expensive, were surrounded by landscaped lawns with St Augustine grass! (The marina has huge watermakers!)

Saturday, May 16

Big Majors Spot anchorage

This morning we braved the winds and the waves and went to the beach. We were welcomed by pigs swimming out to meet us! We expected them, so we brought some old tortillas as a treat (?). When other boaters came, the pigs abandoned us in search of tasier goodies and we went to explore another small beach. Here we found three sunbathers speaking Italian who were not at all eager for us to come ashore. We explored quickly and left them.

The high winds continue. Weather has been very unusual this year, everyone tells us. The wind and waves have certainly interfered with our activities.

Tomorrow we will go to Sampson Cay.

Friday, May 15

Big Majors Spot anchorage

It took us only 30 minutes to move from the mooring ball to Big Majors Spot, a popular protected anchorage. There were about 20 bots already anchored there when we arrived, included several 100-130 foot yachts. The wind is blowing worse than ever and it may get stormy tonight. We stayed on the boat all day. It was blowing too hard to sit outside on the deck or to go ashore to the beach.

Thursday, May 14

Staniel Cay mooring ball

We had a delicious lunch at Club Thunderball today and met a nice couple from Oregon who are cruising on a trimaran, which they keep in Florida. They also have a boat at their home in the northwest! Imagine maintaining two boats!

The wind is really blowing (AGAIN) today and stormy weather is predicted.

Wednesday, May 13

Staniel Cay mooring ball

The trip to Staniel Cay was short and pleasant. We easily picked up a mooring ball near Club Thurderball for $20 a night. This cay is famous for Thunderball Cave, where the movies "Thunderball" and "Splash" were filmed. The inside of the cave is like a small grotto with a large opening at the top where the sun shines through.

We dinghied to the marina's dock and explored the island in search of ice cream without success. At the marina, men were cleaning fish and throwing the guts in the water, which attracted about 10 nurse sharks and several sting rays. We were careful not to fall in the water when we were boarding the dinghy.

There were many big yachts here and not a lot of cruisers. Staniel Cay is considered the "yachting center" of the Exumas and we understand why.

High winds and seas may keep us here longer than we want to stay.

Tuesday, May 12

Little Farmers Cay mooring ball

When we went up to Ocean Cabin to pay for the mooring ball, we met Tony and Mia, who had just arrived on their sailboar Aquarius. They are from Houston! It is always great to meet cruising Texans. They are on their way to Trinidad.

We have changed our itinerary and abandoned our plan to continue to George Town. High winds and waves on Exuma sound will prevent our going south for at least three or four days, and we could be stuck there waiting for weather to return. We don't want to be in the out islands during hurricane season, which starts June 1.

We have passed several cays that we planned to visit on the return trip from George Town. If weather were to delay us there, we would have to rush back and might miss these beautiful places altogether.

We have also heard that because the cruising "season" (winter) is over, George Town is not as much fun now. So that makes us feel a bit better about missing it. But, we are disappointed to have come this far south and miss George Town.

Tomorrow we will leave Little Farmers Cay. This has been our favorite spot so far. The people are so friendly and welcoming. We especially enjoyed meeting Chuck's friend, Terry Bain.

Monday, May 11

Little Farmers Cay mooring ball 

This afternoon we toured the island, which has about 55 residents. JR, the wood carver and high-pressure salesman, pointed out iteresting spots on his end of the island and invited us into his shop.

When we passed the school, which had dismissed for the day, a 10-year-old boy, Dion, walking down the street, greeted us and said with pride, "That's MY school," and when we said how nice it looked, he said, "You should see the INSIDE!" He invitd us to come back when classes are in session. We met the school's two teachers at the school benefit and at church. The school will have two graduates his year. They ranked in the top four percent of all students taking the SAT. Very impressive.

We met Barb and Jack from Searcher for drinks at the Farmers Cay Yacht Club. We had a great visit with the club's manager, Rooservelt Nixon, whose family founded (and owns) the island. We were saved from a long walk back to the dinghy when a couple we met in church gave us a lift in the back of their truck. It was a wonderful evening.

Sunday, May 10--Mother's Day

Little Farmers Cay mooring ball

What a great Mother's Day! we went to St. Mary's Baptist Church, the only church on Little Farmers Cay, where we wee welcomed by everyone and Terry got a white Mother's Day corsage. After the two-and-a-half hour service, which included a lot of singing, we were invited to join the congregation for lunch hosted by the school's head teacher and his wife. It was delicious and their hospitality was very generous. We were the only cruiser visitors and we sat at the table with the pastor and other church officials. A very memorable Mother's Day!

At 4 o'clock, we went for drinks aboard Searcher (Barb and Jack). Audrey and Rick from Naked Lady were there, too. We had a fun visit and then went to dinner at Ocean Cabin. We were the only customers. Everyone had grouper, except Terry, who had a huge lobster. Terry Bain served us his special island drink, which is blue and lethal.

We didn't leave any lights on the boat on and it was dark when we left the island. The moon wasn't up yet. The dock is five or so feet higher than the water, so climbing down to the dinghy is tricky. It was so dark that we couldn't see where we were going! Luckily, Larry spotted the boat and we made it safely home.

Saturday, May 9

Little Farmers Cay mooring ball

The seas were too high on Exuma Sound for us to leave today, so we moved around to the other side of the cay and picked up a mooring ball to stay for a while. We were going to stop here on the way back, so a prolonged visit here now is not a problem.

We were glad to see another cruising trawler, Searcher, moored here. Jack and Barbara are on their way home to Ft Lauderdale. The four of us went ashore to go to a barbecue benefiting the island's school. We had forgotten about island time and so, even though we were on time, we were early.

We went up to Ocean Cabin, a popular restaurant and bar, to wait for the benefit to start. We were looking forward to going there because its owner, island legend Terry Bain, became friends with Terry's son Chuck years ago when he spent some time here. Terry B's face just lit up when Terry G told him she was Chuck Orr's mom. An enthusiastic hug followed and Terry called for his wife, Ernestine. They both obviously loved Chuck and hold him in high esteem. Two pictures of Chuck are still pinned to the wall. It was a greaqt occasion.

At the benefit, we had a delicious lunch of ribs, peas/rice, slaw and potato salad, while listening to (loud) island music.

It was a very good day.

Friday, May 8

Little Farmers Cay anchorage

We had a nice trip to the anchorage at Little Farmers Cay. It always feels good to get underway again. We loved Exuma Park, but we want to get down to George Town. We plan to stop at several cays and sightsee going north on our way back home after George Town.

We anchored off the west side of Little Farmer's Cay near the airstrip. There are no other cruising boats anchored here.

Sunday, May 3--Thursday, May 7

North Mooring Field, Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, Warderick Wells

CLICK ON "EXUMA PARK PHOTOS" LINK AT LEFT TO SEE PICTURES OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE.

We arrived at the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park in the early afternoon. We had to make three passes to pick up the mooring ball, a tense situation because of the narrow channel and the other boats moored nearby. When we wee maneuvering to turn around, we didn't notice that Freedom (Roberta and John) and Sea Fox (Paula and Barry), whom we met in Bimini, were moored close by.

We had turned off the VHF radio, so we didn't hear them call us. We were surprised when they dinghied over to say hello. The six of us got together for dinner aboard Sea Fox and had a fun evening catching up.

We are moored in the North Mooring Field, one of the most popular anchorages in the Exuma chain. This is an incredibly beautiful place. The 176-square-mile park is a protected area that includes 15 large islands and many more tiny ones. The park provides a safe haven and replenishment area for wildlife native to the Bahamas.

Our neighbors on a catamaran flew a UT Longhorn flag. Other catamaran neighbors are from Australia and crossed the Atlantic on their boat.

The water pump is giving us problems again. Larry is adept at fixing things if he has the proper parts, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

We hiked the Causeway Trail to the rock bridge crossing Banshee Creek. The trail was rugged, almost entirely hard rocks and shaky coral. We decided not to attempt to cross the rock bridge because the rocks were unsteady.

Tuesday we took the dinghy and the look bucket out to see the reefs and sunken boat nearby. We saw several varieties of beautiful coral. The current is very strong here, so we have to time our outings for the slack time between tides.

Wednesday we had a picnic lunch on the beach. We're not supposed to feed the animals here, but a bird hopped on the table and took a bite of Terry's peanut butter sandwich.

From under the thatched roof of the picnic hut, we could see at least four different colors of water. Amazing. We hiked over to Banshee Creek, which was dry because the tide was low.

This place is so beautiful. There is no development other than the park facilities.

Saturday, May 2

Highborne Cay

The trip to Highborne Cay was a bit rougher than we expected, but not too uncomfortable. This is a private cay, so we didn't go ashore. There were about 10 boats anchored with us when, just before sundown, a 100+' yacht, the Cracker Bay, showed up and anchored very close to us. There was a crew of at least six and they served a fancy dinner on the aft deck. We had a great view of them and they had a great view of us! The aaroma of their steaks cooking made our tuna salad supper seem kind of puny.

Cat Cay. Our last view of the Bahamas5/27/09Cat Cay lighthouse5/27/09
A pig swims out to welcome us to the beach at Big Majors Spot.5/16/09
A seaplane takes off right next to us at the anchorage at Big Majors Spot5/16/09
The yacht Vava (over 100' long) anchored close to us at Big Majors Spot.5/16/09Outer Reef at Staniel Cay mooring ball.5/13/09Fishermen cleaning fish attracted nurse sharks and sting rays at Staniel Cay Yacht Cllub.5/13/09 St. Mary's Baptist Church on Little Farmers Cay, where we worshipped on Mother's Day.5/12/09Corene's Grocery Store, Little Farmers Cay.5/12/09Dock at Little Farmer's Cay5/12/09Bridge to Farmers Cay Yacht Club5/12/09All Grades School at Little Farmers Cay5/12/09Jack (Searcher) and Larry with JR, the wood sculptor, on Little Farmers Cay.5/12/09Welcome to Farmers Cay!5/12/09
Naked Lady leaves Little Farmers Cay5/12/09
Searcher leaving Little Farmers Cay5/12/09

The two Terrys. The one on the left iis a longtime friend of the son of the one on the right.
5/12/09