There are a number of places that one can sail from to cross
the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas and our choice was the shortest run, which is
from Miami. Our destination to stage up
for the crossing was Biscayne Bay Yacht Club where our friends Pat and Ken keep
their boat and Cyndy and Doug drove down to join us for the crossing. On arriving to Biscayne Bay we really wanted to anchor beside the yacht
club (the slips are too shallow for the Q) so headed in … unfortunately to the
wrong club (we went to Coconut Grove Y.C.) where we almost hooked the keel on a
submerged cable. Once we established where
to go Kim tried every approach he could think of to anchor but each one ended
in a soft grounding in less than six feet of water. Finally our yacht club friends
came down to see if they could help out but alas no success. For a good part
of the afternoon Cyndy and Doug stood on shore watching helplessly as we went
in circles – what patience! All in all
we went aground five times that day and once had to ask a passing jet ski to
pull us out by heeling us over by pulling on a halyard. Unfortunately he did not know when to stop. Apparently Cyndy and Doug have
incriminating photos with the Q heeled at 45 degrees. At the end of the day, literally, we ended up on
a mooring can at a nearby marina. The next day a weather window opened up and our friends said
it was time to get going across the Gulf Stream to Bimini. The day started early with a 4:30am departure
(we’ll leave at daylight next year!) with Cyndy on the bow lighting the marks
through Biscayne Bay. We had a light
westerly helping us across the gulf stream with arrival in Bimini by 1:30p.m.
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| Sunrise over the gulf stream |
We enjoyed a few days in Bimini meeting their very welcoming
residents – a bit of culture shock after Coconut Grove though. Although far from ideal we had a weather
window to get us out of Bimini and on our way to Nassau. We left at first light and by 6:00 PM we were
half way across the Great Bahama Bank where we would anchor for the night. It
is a bit unusual anchoring out in the middle of nowhere with no land in sight
but one should not sail across the banks at night. With a 15 knot north east
wind our night of anchoring was a bit of a bronco ride. We awoke early, hoisted sails, and completed
our sail to the Berrys. Hoffman’s Cay was heavenly and what a way to start our
new lifestyle in paradise. This cay is
part of the Berry Island group and has beautiful beaches and a blue hole. Kim dove for his first conch and Cyndy and Kim spent considerable time
contemplating how to get the snail out of the shell. Once they did we made a delicious conch salad.
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| Our first Bahama sunset |
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| Cyndy and Doug loved the Bahamas so much they will bring Riparian down next winter. Behind them is a blue hole at Hoffman Cay |
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| Kim's first fresh caught conch salad...yumm |
Our next stop (thank goodness) was Nassau.
Because we left Miami so quickly, we didn’t
have time to finish our shopping, particularly for fresh foods, so it was great
to find the Fresh Market across from our marina.
It is much like a Whole Foods, so almost
everything you might want was available and at reasonable Bahamian prices.
Starbucks is also in the mall (Lynn and
Trevor, now you can come and visit!) and offers free Wifi with your purchase,
needless to say we all spent quality time there.
Cyndy and Doug walked all over Nassau while
Kim and Cathy dealt with boat details. We did manage to walk downtown so have a few
pictures.
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| Parliament Square (Queen Victoria statue is between the coloured rectangles) |
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| Yes, they really do stand in the box to direct traffic. |
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| Government House (Governor General's residence) with Christopher Columbus statue |
“It’s better in the Bahamas” is absolutely true; we discover
paradise on a daily basis. We enjoyed the Exuma area so much that we spent
February, March and part of April there.
This part of the Bahamas is not very populated and the communities that
exist are quite small. The people here are very laid back, gentle and
remind us of days gone by. They have
time to sit and chat or provide advice about fishing or enjoying the islands. The pace of our days has slowed considerably
and ‘tomorrow mon’ is our penchant.
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| Perfectly clear and turquoise water surrounds us every day in the Exumas |
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| The local dogs are especially laid back. ' Jet' lies in wait for a good scratch |
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| "Willy", a Black Point native provided a guided tour of his yard sculptures |
Early in February we
were boarded by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, five guys complete with one
uzi.
They were young, adorable, and
giggled as they sat in the cockpit shade as Cathy chatted with them about their
home and training – Kim took care of the official stuff below.
Even their military are delightful!
We were delighted to have Corinne and Calvin come down to
visit and share some of the great places we’ve discovered.
The ‘swimming pigs’ of Big Major’s Spot are
always a highlight. We separate our food scraps
from our dry garbage and either drop them over board when under way -
the fish eat the vegetables, sharks eat the protein and what’s left turns into
compost at the bottom of the ocean.
But
when we are at the Majors we keep our vegetable scraps to feed the pigs, some
wade out to your dinghy and there are a few that actually swim!
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| Feeding the pigs at Big Majors Cay |
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| These pigs have very poor eye sight so they just open up hope you hit their mouth |
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| Starfish are protected throughout the Bahamas so we made sure to return it to the sea |
There are countless cays to anchor at that provide ample
shelter from the prevailing easterlies but when the weekly cold fronts come in
from the US everyone hightails it to one of the few spots that have protection
from a day of west winds. A number of these protected anchorages are part of
the Land and Sea Park which offer some of the most beautiful and pristine places to stay. We loved this area so much that we spent a total of 18 days in the
park.
Snorkeling in the Exumas is world
class.
Often we have reefs and coral
heads very close to the boat and will snorkel every day.
We don’t own an underwater camera yet, so
there are no pictures, but most anything you find on a coral reef we’ve seen.
We sometimes meet sting rays while
snorkeling but they prefer the ocean bottom so swim underneath us
without concern on either of our parts.
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| Enjoying the surf coming in from the sound on the eastern shore of Cambridge Cay |
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| Looking south at Bell Rock from a lookout on Cambridge Cay |
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| A Southern Ray |
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| Lots of Southern Rays ! |
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| Ready for action! |
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| Never happier than when he is swimming with the fishes! |
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| Corinne sports the newest in fashion |
We found plenty of nurse sharks at Compass Cay Marina while
Cal was visiting, we occasionally meet these creatures while snorkelling.
They are bottom feeders and go about their
business on the bottom while we snorkel above.
There are 12 sharks that live at this cay because they are fed regularly
– with our compost for example.
The
grade six class from Rolleville on Great Exuma Island were on their graduation trip
and most had never seen a nurse shark.
We enjoyed seeing them become more comfortable with the sharks as their
visit went on.
We had the chance to slip
in and have a swim with the sharks but we passed this time…tomorrow mon.
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| Nurse sharks at Compass Cay marina |
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| The nurse sharks come up onto the dock to be fed |
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| Nurse shark skin feels a lot like sand paper |
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| Swimmin' with the sharks |
While Corinne was visiting we found Rachel’s bubble bath, a
spot where the ocean surf is pushed up over the rock and into a pond on the
other side of the rise. We went close to low tide so there wasn’t a lot of surf, but still had fun with our
friends Chrissy and Roger on Sanderling.
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| Rachel's Bubble bath (upper right) being fed from swells coming in from the sound |
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| Bubbles ! |
Breadfruit - tastes like potato, so does malanga and cassava (It's their version of 'tastes like chicken')
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