2010 Log
4/16 to 4/30/2010
This is the current period of our log for 2010. At the bottom of the page are links to this year's pass weeks; our earlier voyages are in Prior Voyages.
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Updated on 05/06/2010
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4/16/10 - Windy with light showers early deteriorating into a grey windy day with lines of shower passing through. Never got the heavy rinse we wanted but a lot of sand and salt was removed. For us it was a reading and movie day. We really can't complain as days like this have been few. 4/17/10 - I was up early to check e-mail and prepare for our departure. Very nice surprise, a friend, Pete, from my high school days sent an e-mail noting his brother had passed along our web site. About an hour into our crossing Ruth caught and released a 4' Barracuda. Nasty teeth! Some say they are not bad eating if smaller; I wouldn't eat one, a fish dinner isn't worth the risk of catching the reef disease ciguatera. We arrived at the Dotham Cut at 4pm, just as the tidal flow started flowing in smoothing the waves. Passing through the cut we followed the southern shoreline to Black Point Settlement and anchored in 9'. There is a restaurant with good pizza here so we joined Miles and Laureen for dinner there. 4/18/10 - It rained about 4am waking me with drops on my face; I got up and closed the two hatches we'd left open for ventilation. The weather continues to be unsettled. Yesterday's forecast has been totally revised indicating we should be in Staniel tomorrow and Cambridge the following night. We're trying to fit that in with doing the wash and having e-mail for Ruth tomorrow. Miles and Laureen headed in with their wash discovering that the laundry wasn't open on Sundays. Ruth was glad she'd been running late and didn't have our wash ready to go. We headed to Staniel Cay, stopping at Harvey Cay so Ruth could go beaching. We had to wait at anchor for low tide before she could go ashore (actually she tried to beach during high tide and found the water up to her waist on the beach). She went later and replenished her sand dollar inventory finding a 3 mil wet suit that appears not only to be nearly new but also her size... just like going shopping. From Harvey we went on to Staniel, anchoring in our favorite spot just inland of the moorings Ariel usually picks up. Miles and Laureen went into the yacht club for dinner while we enjoyed dinner theater on AA. 4/19/10 - Woke to a pleasant sunny day. The wind came up before dawn, but only to about 10 knots. We were unable to get a WIFI connection at Staniel so we headed north to Bell Island to sit out the coming frontal passage. Right now our only contact with the real world is SkyMate. At Bell we entered a channel charted at 6' finding it to actually be 24', go figure. We anchored in 10' of water in a spot surrounded by islands on all sides. Should be a nice place if the weather get really bad. We took our dinghies out for a little exploring. Bell Island is private so we visited some of the other Cays around us. Again the water is so clear that 20' looks like 2'. Miles and Laureen ran over to the aquarium to scope it out. Ruth and I returned to AA to conserve gasoline. We're running low as we'd planned on getting gas and diesel at Staniel, arriving to learn they'd run out and the next barge wouldn't arrive for 4 days. You're in the islands mon. 4/20/10 - The wind increased to 20+ knots and clocked from NW to N during the night turning our anchorage at Bell Island into a washing machine on agitate. Miles said Renee had to put cushions on the floor and sleep there. I don't think it got as rough as that where we were deeper in the cove. We motor sailed to Warderick Wells, arriving at 11:30a. We were pleased to find that both our boats had been assigned moorings in the North field. As we finished mooring we watch 4 very large rays circle our boat a couple of times before moving on. Ruth was working on a transaction and was disappointed to learn the material had been bought via a phone message just prior to her PO being e-mailed in. Bummer! We're officially headed north. Ariel will run back to the states over the next 4 - 5 days while we'll try to meet up with Our Way and cruise with them in the near Bahamas for a couple of weeks before heading back. We had Laureen & Miles over for dinner. This is likely where we'll separate until we meet up again in June. We will miss their company! 4/21/10 - Sunny with light winds. After the past few weeks of 10-20 knot winds this seems unnatural. We headed for Alan Cay at 9am, sailing east to clear the park boundaries so we could fish. The fishing was exciting even though we again came up empty handed. We had a strike immediately then no action for an hour. Our starboard reel started screaming as line ran out. I set the hook, no joy. I let out more line resulting in a series of strikes. We could watch the fish lunge after the lure time after time without actually taking the hook. Then it got quiet for a couple of minutes before the port reel starting singing. Whatever was on that hook was big. Based on the fins we think it was a large yellow fin tuna. As the end of the line neared we set the drag as hard as it would go, stopping the line. As Ruth started fighting the fish the line sagged, another leader and lure gone. At Alan Cay we watched the crew of a large private yacht bring a tender to the beach, set up two umbrellas, beach chairs, towels and a cooler. The tender went back and picked up about 10 guests while two of the crew used grapes to lure the iguanas to the far end of the beach, away from the chairs. While the guests played two security guys kept watch. The crew served drinks and snacks (do they call them snacks? Probably not.) While the guests were on the beach their tender came over to AA. We were anchored just off the beach so I was expecting a security warning but the mate just wanted to visit some real cruisers. Interesting chap from South Africa with a couple of sail circumnavigations under his belt coupled with many miles on yachts (78,000 miles in the last two years). His dream is to do exactly what we are doing. For now he's crewing and saving for a catamaran. When the group was done they were whisked off to their 165' yacht while crew cleaned up behind them. While they sleep tonight the yacht will take them to Atlantis. It's a tough life but someone has to do it. Fortunately for the marine industries and crews some are still doing it. 4/22/10 - We beat from Alan Cay to Nassau today in beautiful weather. By 2:30pm we were fueled and in a slip at Harbor Club. Enroute we heard Our Way calling the Harbor club so we contacted them. They were headed to Atlantis for the night. Wild, we have been looking for them the past two days. They will hook up with Ariel tonight and with us tomorrow or the day after. Our plan is to cruise with them for a couple of weeks as we head back to the States. No joy fishing today; not even a nibble. Did get confirmation that Cruising World is buying portions of the article I submitted so I'll have another magazine in my quiver. Kewl! Ruth did the wash then we cleaned the boat for photos for Southwinds Magazine and provisioned for the next couple of weeks with John & Nell. 4/23/10 - Another sunny day in paradise. We bought some more lures to feed to the fishes and food for our pantry. Our Way is at Atlantis so we decided to stay another night at Harbor Club so we'd have air condition (it's good to exercise that system a couple of times a year). We spent part of the afternoon removing the monofilament leader from the new lures and replacing it with wire (the denizens of deep down here have razor teeth). Later we walked over to the shopping mall and found Domino's... pizza for dinner. We also found a video shop with $2.00 DVDs. While there we bought Avatar for $6.00, watching it over pizza. What a film! 4/24/10 - Cool and breezy. Ariel is probably on the Bahamas Bank enroute to Fort Pierce. We're going to fish our way to Royal Island. Enroute we got a SkyMate e-mail from Miles noting they were in Ft Pierce after covering 223 NM in 27.5 hrs. That's 8kts average for an overnight trip. When Miles leaves he leaves. Now they need to repair or replace their second transmission before Miles and Bradd deliver the boat to Annapolis. If he heads north any faster they may see snow ;-> We had a great 7 knot sail to Royal Island in the company of Our Way. Neither boat caught any fish though. 4/25/10 - Woke up rocking and rolling in 20+ knot winds. Ruth had coffee in the cockpit in the company of two dolphins, mom and a baby. Don, the captain/owner of a sport-fisherman named Warrior from Pierre SD heard us lamenting the lack of Mahi Mahi and called John asking him to visit. When he did they provided beautiful fillets for both our boats. Very nice! Ruth and I stopped over to talk with Don and learn his secret. He gave us a lure and lots of good advice. We visited Royal Island learning that the project is like a volcano; alive but rumbling beneath the surface until the economy improves. Their 5 year plan includes initiating construction of residences within a year. In 5-7 years the island will be a wealthy community with a 200 slip marina. Back on our boats we gathered on Our Way for an excellent Mahi Mahi dinner and an opportunity to get to know Steinar and Wenche better. 4/26/10 - Windy, rainy morning with 24 knot winds and waves forecast for today. We elected to stay at Royal Island though we moved to the south end of the bay to avoid the swell coming through the entrance. A series of thunderstorms and squalls came through all day. Ruth recorded 38 knot winds at one point. S/V Nonlinear (a former Oshkosh couple) found themselves aground in falling tide when the wind changed 180 degrees and they swung into shallow water. Bummer! When high tide arrived mid afternoon they motored free and re-anchored. 4/27/10 - The rain stayed with us all night. The forecast said it would stop at 6am and it did. By 7:30 it was sunny though we could still see the rain heading away from us. We hoisted anchor and headed for Great Abaco in 20 knots of wind and 4-6' seas. The sailing was great, 6.5 to 7.5 knots on a tight beat. After 23 nm we started seeing the impact of the island northwest of us as the seas flattened to 3'. Our Way hooked a dolphin (Mahi Mahi) but lost it trying to board it. Ruth caught a 10 lb Skipjack Tuna. We filleted it into about 1.5 lb pieces. The meat looks like beef. Our next step will be to cook a little and figure out if we like it. Our 63 mile jaunt was completed by 7pm as we anchored above Sandy Cay for the night. 4/28/10 - Windy, 10 - 15 knots, but warm and sunny. Our anchorage was a little bumpy last night but not objectionable. I think we needed to get further from the inlet. Our Way has a plugged head and a broken recoil on their outboard so we elected to go to Marsh Harbor for service and parts. Steinar and John were able to clear the pipe but John wants to replace it anyway given the age of the hose. The women went shopping while the men worked on Our Way. Ruth returned with her bounty to show me... she was most excited by two highly recommend baits she found. Enroute to Marsh Harbor we cut a few thin fillets from the Tuna. Ruth seasoned them as if they were beef and I grilled them. They were delicious! This fish is definitely a keeper. 4/29/10 - A quiet morning in March harbor. We had WIFI so we published and caught up on 80 e-mails; most of which were irrelevant. At 12 Our Way came by, finished with their business at the Moorings. We hauled anchor and headed for Hope Town. The water at Hope Town is skinny. We anchored a half mile offshore while Our Way went into the harbor and grounded... ooops. $40 and 45 minutes later Our Way was free but they we stuck in the harbor until mid tide. We elected to stay where we were and dinghy in as the water had dropped too far for us to enter the harbor. The village was a treat - small houses, narrow streets, cute, great beaches. While we remained anchored offshore, Our Way moored in the harbor waiting for high tide tomorrow so they can get out. We grilled the last of our Mahi-Mahi gift for dinner. It was delicious. Unfortunately Ruth didn't fill our freezer this trip. We were using the right gear, just didn't encounter a school. 4/30/10 - Overcast morning, looks like it wants to rain. Our Way's crew wants to visit the Loyalist Museum in Hope Town so we stayed at anchor to wait for them. At noon the sun came out and so did Our Way. We hoisted anchor, set our sails and headed for Orchid Bay, Great Guana Island. At Orchid we took a mooring and went in to Nippers... walking the beach, watching nubile dancers in very scant bikinis, and having dinner. Also at Orchid we met the power boat Queen Ann's Revenge, a looper whose postings we'd followed.
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Wreck of a wooden boat on Harvey Cay
Yawl towing a Bahaman racing boat to Georgetown for the Nationals.
The wetsuit on the right is Ruth's latest beach find
Ruth liked this rugged outcropping by Bell Island
Highest point at Bell Island cut
Sand dollar on your basic beach bench
Dinghies on the sand spit at Cambridge Cay (Bell)
The iguana tour boat from Nassau arrives
The idiot in the blue suit if feeding a wild iguana from his mouth
Yacht crew setting up beach
Time to bait the iguanas to the other end of the beach
The guests arrive by tender
Enjoying their private little piece of paradise
AA, Our Way and Warrior in the north end of the Royal Island anchorage
Ruth (with her new love Cocoa), Barry, John, Neil, Wenche (Venka), and Steinar HØST from Norway
Where'd the water go?
Ruth's Skipjack Tuna
Golf carts are the most prevalent transportation
Hope Town light house, the most photographed in the Bahamas
Ruth exploring the Atlantic beach of Hope Town Raft report Virtually daily we hear the same report from the Key West USCG: Pon-pon, pon-pon, pon-pon. There has been a report of a raft, possibly over loaded, in the Florida Straits. Please report all sightings to the United States Coast Guard. It makes one wonder who is sighting these rafts that they can't either assist them or report their position. Who's left in Cuba or is this a political ploy, trying to bug Castro? Speaking of Coast Guard radio we can pick up Key West, Miami and Jacksonville in Nassau. We can also hear SeaTow, TowBoat US and NOAA.
Ruth has never found a beach she didn't like... this is the Atlantic side of Great Guana
and what's not to like about this beach
Nipper's on Great Guana features music, bars, two pools, food and a great view. |
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View our prior 2010 Logs
| Boca Raton, 1/1 to 1/15/10 | Key West, 1/16 to 1/31/10 |
| Miami, 2/1 to 2/15/10 | Miami, 2/16 to 2/28/10 |
| Boca to Exumas, 3/1 to 3/15 | Warderick Wells - Georgetown, 3/16 to 3/31 |
| Far Exumas, 4/1 to 4/15 | |
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