Back To The States

Our last night in the Bahamas we anchored on the Little Bahama Bank, north of Memory Rock and on the edge of Florida Straight.  In spite of rigorous weather forecasting and sea state analysis, we had no way of knowing about a 2-3 foot southwesterly swell coming off the straight and onto the area where we were anchored.  With nowhere to go, we rocked and rolled through a sleepless night until first light, when we were outta there.  Here's Peter surveying how the waves rearranged our furniture.

The next day we had a smooth passage to Ft. Pierce. Got fuel and stayed the night at Ron and Shelley's house. We are all amateur radio operators.  Peter and Ron talked about Ron's antenna tower, shown in the background.

Peter took this picture early one morning in Georgia. He said it was beautiful. I slept thru it.

Sunday June 12th  we arrived in Savannah GA in time to get some bread and milk, then off to the Winesett's for a wonderful early Father's Day feast. Lisa and Kathryn were up from FL for a birthday party on Saturday. My little grandbaby had turned into a wonderful todler in two and a half months since I saw her last. She loves frogs so she gave me one for Mother's Day. 

Kathryn loves to read and she always asks Pop to listen.

Larry and Papa Winesett built a new deck. Kathryn loves to sit on the steps going into the house. 

We just left Southport NC this morning after a wonderful visit with Miffi and Charlie.

  We hope to be home on the 22nd, weather permitting.

Heading Home

From Green Turtle we island-hopped northwest, preparing ourselves to cross to Ft. Pierce when the weather is right.  We anchored near Manjack Cay and walked long trails through dense woods to the beaches.  Next day, after a brief stop at Coopers Town for milk and bread, we anchored at nearby Powell Cay where we found lots of large shells in good condition.  Here are some miscellaneous photos from Manjack and Powell.  Don't forget, you can enlarge any of the pictures by clicking on them.

We keep trying to show you the fabulous colors in the waters, but they don't appear as brilliant here as they do in person.

This is a small shark passing by.

This feisty tulip stuck his tongue (or something) out at us.  We let him live.  It's tempting to keep live ones for their perfect shells, but we don't do it, and we don't buy shells from dealers for the same reason.

 From Powell we made a 40-mile run to Grand Cay, passing "Center of the World Rock" -- really!  Grand Cay is actually a miniature archipelago of rocky islands which form a little harbor, and there's a small fishing village.  We spent two nights at "Rosie's Place," a good marina and restaurant, where we enjoyed a fine dinner of fish and lobster.  Rosie is sort of a local godfather; it is said that nothing happens in this region without his blessing.  We walked around town, bought some fresh-baked banana bread; everyone here is very friendly.  Nancy is getting her grandbaby fix...



We surprised this guy, caught red-handed raiding the garbage.

Part of the harbour  (that's how they spell it down here; British, you know).

 The Bahamas offer many contrasts.  It's common to see large, well-kept houses adjacent to shacks.  Often the best buildings are the government centers and the churches.

Some new houses along the waterfront.

This is pretty much the end of this trip, except for the getting home part. We'll anchor out on the Little Bahama Bank someplace when the wind is right, positioned to cross the Gulf Stream the next day.  We'll check in at Ft. Pierce and then put in long days up the ICW.  Should be home by June twentysomething.  We've had a great time...definitely the best trip we've ever done on our own boat.

Green Turtle

We travelled the short distance from Treasure Cay through the Whale Cay Passage in flat calm weather.  The Whale can be very dangerous in rough weather, but not today.  We anchored behind Noname Cay adjacent to Green Turtle's "Sand Dollar Beach" and gathered good shells for two days.  Here's a typical view of the waters from the bridge; this is what we see every day while underway.

Dawn at Noname Cay.

 From Noname we went to Black Sound in Green Turtle Cay for a night.  The entance channel is marked with "day marks for dummies" -- the color always tells which side of a mark to pass, but these guys throw in arrows just in case.

 Views of Black Sound

 New Plymouth is the village on Green Turtle.  The houses are all painted in tropical pastels.  This is a pretty town, very well kept.

We moved to Bluff House at White Sound on the other end of Green Turtle for a few days waiting for the winds to die down before heading home.  Bluff House is like a good stateside yacht club.

This is a view from Bluff House across the anchorage to New Plymouth.

Nancy looking for shells and stuff at the beach below the bluff.  She found several large sea urchin shells.

She also found some mystery objects.  These large blobs of slime appear to ooze out of holes in the sand.  Anyone know what they are?  (Laura B. says they're egg casings.)

She found an injured sea star too.

We don't know what these are.

About once a week Bluff House they serve a Bahamian buffet:  fish, lobster, chicken and ribs with peas & rice, corn bread, etc. 

Sometimes a Junkanoo band shows up.  (Junkanoo: think island mardi gras.)  All instruments (except the police whistle) are percussive, and very loud.  The players march slowly in tiny half-steps to a persistent island rhythm that gets into your bones.

These bass drums are made from big cardboard barrels that are used to ship certain kinds of dry goods.

 We don't know what the costumes signify.  Some items appear store-bought, others home-made.

More From the Abacos

From Little Harbor we continued northwestward in the Sea of Abaco, stopping at Hopetown, Man of War, Great Guana Cay and Treasure Cay.  This region is much more developed than the Exumas.  In general, the houses are nicer and better kept, the restaurants are nicer, and there's more available in the stores.  Here's Hopetown harbor and its famous lighthouse.  This light still uses a kerosene flame magnified through a multi-faceted Fresnel lens.  Its beam is visible 20 miles out at sea.

Man of War Cay has a long tradition of boat building.  If you're looking for a birthday present for Peter, here's an idea....

Anchorage off Man

 of War Cay

We found a bunch of sea biscuit shells in 9' of water. 

This sand dollar was alive, so we put him back.

Nancy picked up a few live sea stars; we put them back too.

Great Guana Cay has a small settlement, a beach five miles long, lots of new vacation houses and the infamous Nippers, where we had lunch before looking for shells.  Wonder who their decorator is?

From Great Guana we enjoyed a nice 9-mile ride to Treasure Cay in beautiful weather.  Treasure Cay is an American-style beach resort. 

We hung out on the beach and took a long walk looking for sand dollars.  Nancy did more of the walking, Peter did more of the hangin' out.  The sand here is like powdered sugar.

 

Spanish Wells to the Abacos

 From Allens Cay we enjoyed a 50-mile boat ride to Spanish Wells in perfect weather and calm seas.  Spanish Wells is a fishing town adjacent to the north end of Eleuthera.  While in the area, we also took a commercial ferry through the reefs to Dunmore Town on Harbour Island.  This is the working waterfront at Spanish Wells.

The ferry arriving at Spanish Wells.

Harbour Island has several beach resorts for vacationers, but there's also an active fishing industry.  These fellows are cleaning conch (well, two of them are....).

Most of the villages have a government building,with post office, social services, and sometimes a clinic.  This is the government center at Dunmore Town, Harbour Island.

Southerners will recognize the local grocery....sort of.

Harbour Island has pink sand beaches (if you look closely, in just the right light).  Nancy scooped up jugs of it for use in shell projects.

From Spanish Wells we endured an uncomfortable 50-mile crossing to Little Harbour in the Abacos.  Leaving the Eleuthera Banks we went from water depths of 10-15 feet to 10-15,000 feet.  Seas came from every direction and the winds were higher than forecast.  About 40 miles out we encountered heavy rain with nearby lightning strikes, but not much wind.  The rain was welcome, washed all the salt off the boat.

Little Harbour is home to the world-famous Johnson Foundry, where they pour bronze art works in the traditional lost-wax method.  We were able to witness a pour.

They make the bronze out of scrap metals, with some glass thrown in, heated to more than 2000 degrees.  Sometimes they get slight burns even through their heat-resistant clothing.

 Here is Pete Johnson, son of the original artist, pouring the molten bronze into molds.

We had lunch at the equally world-famous Pete's Pub.  Peter said the mahi sandwich was the best he's ever had.  Here's Pete's Pub.  The floors are sand.