This winter’s voyage began later than we’d hoped largely due
to uncooperative weather fronts.
We were privileged to be able to dock at Ed and Mary Stoners in Tavernier. We were next to their guest trailer dubbed "the train" and had a couple fun evenings playing the steel drum, complete with Ed's great vocal renditions.
We are currently anchored on the west end of
Providence Island taking advantage of some unprotected wifi. Last year after checking in with immigration at Bimini we
cruised down the Berry Islands to Nassau and then the Exumas. This year we opted for the quicker
route to the Exumas and warmer weather. We have done the first three legs on the map.
Once again the boat has seen some changes.
Our new ZAR dinghy is about 50 pounds lighter than the old
one, a good weight loss for the stern. The locker up front which houses the fuel
container and anchor is another great home built project by Tom.
A cover spanning the hardtop to the solar panels was added to provide some protection from rain and excessive sun.
Another addition is an inflatable kayak that
will make for nice paddling at anchorages.
Jan. 10 - ready to go
Staged at Angelfish Creek for the crossing to Bimini, it was a beautiful sunset. I’d like to take credit for this picture, but it
came from another boat, Empty Pocket.
Names of boats continue to amuse me and we have been traveling with good ones: Empty Pocket, Endangered Species, Tookish (a Lord of the Rings group), and Poerava (Polynesian for Black Pearl). Dinghies are not often named, but Empty Pocket has the perfect one - Pocket Lint!
Jan. 11-13
We crossed from Angelfish Creek (near Key Largo) to Bimini where we
docked and were able to clear immigration and customs next morning. Last year
we spent a day here seeing the sights (see last year's blog for pictures) but this year’s short weather window made
it necessary to leave immediately. It's a 74 mile run from Bimini to Chub Cay so we left at 4:30am on a decently calm, warm morning for our first travel in the dark. The helm is on
auto and all we need to do is steer a track line.
Thirteen hours later we arrived just before dusk and dropped
anchor at Frazer’s Hog Cay.
During the day a little black-throated blue warbler took a rest on the boat.
Jan. 14-17
After one breezy day at Frazer's we got our next window to make a short 35 nautical mile crossing to West End on Providence Island. As we sailed farther out in the ocean, the winds strengthened and the swells off the beam increased. It was a fast and rolling ride in up to 22 knot winds. We made it across in 4 1/2 hours, the fastest time and the roughest conditions I think we've ever had. But no one got sea sick and nothing broke, so all is well!
And here we sit while the wind blows. It's a good anchorage though and there is a nice beach and a national park nearby. The neighborhood appears to be quite upscale with some beautiful large homes. Also across the way is a large building (the one on the hilltop) that my Pocket Earth App says is the Lyford Cay International School.
This is a fully accredited International Baccalaureate School for Junior
PreKindergarten through 12th grade. It was begun in 1962 as a school
for children of employees of a Canadian entrepreneur. Since then it has grown
from 9 students and 2 teachers to 350 students from 31 different countries
around the world. Amazingly 35% of the enrollment is native Bahamian. The school
includes a six lane 25-meter competitive swimming pool.
We dinghies over to the shore and walked down the beach into Clifton Heritage National Park. The park is 156 acres and they transport visitors in Nassau to the park where they can play on the beach, snorkel to several underwater sculptures or take guided nature and history tours. There are remnants of the colonial period and slave settlements as well as evidence of the original inhabitants, the Lucayans.
What we saw of the park on this walk indicates they've had better seasons. This use to be a tour bus.
The beach had some picnic tables and some hearty folks were in the 73-degree water.
There was also a typical little bar with a friendly Bahamian barkeep.
So, here we sit waiting for weather until probably Friday. We keep busy with little projects during the day, yoga in the morning, and baking - a delicious loaf of sour dough bread and brownies which we'll share with Empty Pocket later today.
