The Bataan Death March, or Sir Galahad saves the day?

We stopped at Little Farmers Cay for a few days on our way north.  We had lunch at the Farmers Cay Yacht Club, and we were the only customers.  The owner, Roosevelt Nixon, sat with us and told us the history of the Cay and its inhabitants.  It was like we were at Melvin’s…  Like Melvin, Roosevelt is garrulous and informative.  His great grandfather was a loyalist who left the newly formed United States, for Georgetown in the Exumas, still in the hands of Great Britain.    They attempted to farm cotton, but due to the lack of soil, failed at that.  Apparently four of the Loyalists married four slave sisters when Britain abolished slavery( including his grandfather), and the four couples moved to Little Farmers Cay, which has a protected harbor, and it became one of the largest towns in the Exumas north of Georgetown.   However, as tourism came to Staniel Cay, it became the source of employment and many younger people left Little Farmers, but civic pride is clearly evident in the 90 current residents.  Roosevelt retired after living on Nassau and returned to Little Farmers to build the yacht club on his family’s land, and is trying to bring tourism dollars to Little Farmers.  Roosevelt is the type of citizen who can makes thing happen, and things bode well for Little Farmers Cay.   What does any of this have to do with Bataan you ask?   Well, Roosevelt mentioned he owned a stretch of Guana Cay across the harbor, and there was a trail over to a secluded beach on the Atlantic side full of shells.  Alexis could hardly sleep thinking about the shelling opportunities that awaited.  The trail was several miles long over a hill, and was somewhat hard core.  There were only three markers, a shoe on a bush, a flip flop on a bush, and a crab trap float.  Well we made it to the Atlantic, and Alexis shelled to her heart’s content.  Ten minutes of shelling is my max, so I headed back to the bay side to explore the beach and some abandoned cabins there.  About an hour later I received a Mayday call on the VHF.  Alexis was lost and trapped in a thicket somewhere on the island.  She missed the flip flop.   Naturally the entire boating community listened to her pleas, and me calmly asking her to describe where she was.  By the coconut tree she said.  Well there are several.  In any event her knight in shining armor rescued her, and all ended well, except for several cuts and scrapes from the dam thicket she wandered into, but knights don’t complain or boast about their chivalrous acts…..

Yacht club.

The path.

Despite what Bill says, the savant strikes again!

Kicking Atlantic.

Georgetown to Cave Cay.

After leaving Georgetown, we stopped at Emerald Bay Marina, off the Atlantic on Great Exuma Island.  We needed water, and a laundry stop, so tried it out.  Emerald Bay is a first class marina, with floating docks and connected to a Sandal’s Resort.  Its only drawback is that its entrance is directly on the Atlantic, and if there is a east wind, the entrance can be tricky.  We had a west wind, so no problem.  Come to find out if you want to dine at Sandal’s there is a $70 “resort fee” to enter the place.  We opted for the restaurant at Grand Isle Villas, and were well rewarded.  Grand Isle lets marina guests in without a fee, so we blew it on a good bottle of wine!  Grand Isle has villas for sale, and is quite nice, and the name of course drew us. 

With one day of calm weather predicted (once the wind goes east over 15 knots, leaving Emerald Bay is not an option), we left the next day and anchored behind Lee Stocking Island.  Lee Stocking is home to an abandoned college research center.  The funding ran out, and the researchers left the buildings and docks as is.  Sort of weird to see a fairly large facility, with no one home.  The anchorage was perfect and we settled in for some heavy east winds.  We planned to stay a week, as the Atlantic route north would be too rough and the “inside “route is for shoal draft vessels only.  Well, after one night, the generator acted up.  It would start, then immediately trip the DC circuit breaker.  With no generator, we cannot charge the batteries, without running the engines for long periods of time at idle which is not healthy for them.  So, we took the inside route to Cave Cay Marina, which has shore power.  Thank goodness for the Explorer Charts, as the GPS was totally off.  With skill, luck and a few hair-raising moments, we made it to Cave Cay.  We had to “jump” a sand bar at the infamous Pimblico Cays, but that is a story for Alexis to tell…

Cave Cay is just plain hard to explain.  A nice gentleman (older than me) from Texas bought the island 20 years or so ago, and stared dredging a basin surrounded by solid rock  His son tells me they dredged 10 years.  They then put in first class floating docks, and started building guest houses.  The guest houses still are not finished, and are in varying degrees of completeness.  There is nothing but a few homes for the owner and workers here.  There is a laundry room, with four washers and no dryers??  I met the owner, who has built a rather large airstrip for his plane, and he is very likable.  His story should be a book.  So with no facilities few boats come here except in bad weather.  We are the only boat here (except for the owner’s boats).  There are some great areas to explore on the island, and snorkel opportunities via the dinghy.  It has been a good time to be tied up without a generator, as the wind has been howling from the east.  Also, I had my worst headache attack since the trip began, so good to be snug. 

Good news!  While I was out, Alexis did internet research (yes, the marina has Wi-Fi!) and found out that a bad fuel pump will sometimes trip the DC breaker on Kohler generators.  Well I have recovered, and changed the fuel pump with my spare, and viola, it works!    If we could not get the generator working, we would have to go back to Nassau, as that is the only place in this area with parts and service yards.  If it still works tomorrow, we will head north to Staniel Cay to meet Stan and family in a week and a half.  We are really excited to see them.  Missing the grandkids has been hard to cope with this long.   Thanks for all the comments, and it is hard to describe the natural beauty of these islands!  

Rainbow marking the way out of Georgetown.

Lee Stocking Island.

Click on this pic to see why this is Tug and Barge Cay.

At anchor-Lee Stocking Island.

Infamous Pimblico Cays

The shell savant strikes again!

Alexis wanders for miles, so her bag must go with her.  Contents-sunscreen, water, snacks, shell bags and a handheld vhf.

Cave Cay Marina.

Cave Cay beach.

Stats

Per request, here are stats as of Feb. 16, 2014.

Nautical miles traveled-609.

• ·         Sarasota to Palm Beach-202 NM.
• ·         Palm Beach to Miami Beach-103.
• ·         Miami Beach to Bimini-46.
• ·         Bimini to Berry Islands-87.
• ·         Berry Islands to Nassau-25.
• ·         Nassau to Highbourne Cay, Exumas-44.
• ·         Highbourne to Wardrick Wells-27.
• ·         Wardrick Wells to Compass Cay-13.
• ·         Compass Cay to Staniel Cay-10.
• ·         Staniel to Black Point-8.
• ·         Black Point to Little Farmers Cay-8.
• ·         Little Farmers to George Town-36 (via Exuma Sound).

Diesel used-610 gallons.

Gen set hours-130 (mainly to keep batteries charged. While at anchor I need to run it at least six hours a day to keep up with the refrigerator and freezer.  If I do this again I will add more battery capacity, and possibly a windmill charger).

Days at anchor-22.

Days at marinas-23.

Mechanical issues:

• ·         Port raw water pump crapped out.  Used spare, should have had two spares.
• ·         Anchor light quit working-had to borrow a ladder-and cleaned contacts, changed bulbs and all is well.  Need collapsible ladder on board to service mast head items.  A fellow boater lent me his. 
• ·         Holding tank duckbills were inverted and tanks would not empty.  There are no pump out facilities in the Bahamas, so this was a pressing issue.  Alexis and I changed the duckbills with spares on board-a truly crappy job.  Simple green and Odo Ban are both must have items on board.
• ·         Dingy steering cable bent-Alexis brought replacement from Houma.
• ·         Starboard starter quit working.  I took it apart and cleaned it, and amazingly it is working.  Should have brought a spare starter. 
• ·         I changed the oil and filters and engine zincs with spares I brought with me. 
• ·         I did not bring spare zincs for the hull, but should have.  They go twice as fast here, I guess due to the salty water and current.  Stan will bring replacements in a few weeks when he visits.
• ·         I hard wired a small GPS in the dingy, Alexis brought from Houma.  It is not unusual to travel 10 miles in the dink, and some people become temporarily misplaced.  I had my I Pad which works great with the Navionics App, but it is not waterproof. 

Water has not been an issue; I just have to pay for it.  We hold 250 gallons which lasts about eight days with Alexis and me.  With Stanwood on board, it lasted two days…  It ranges from .35-.50 cents a gallon at the marinas, and has been good quality.  We filter it before going in the tanks, and have a drinking water filter at the kitchen sink.  Bottle water is also available, but expensive.  Many boats have water makers on board, which I would consider if coming here a lot.  Water is free in the States, so not a real issue there. 

The dinghy has been my most valuable possession.  It is a 12’ Rigid Boat with a 40 Yamaha.  From snorkeling, beachcombing, exploring, grocery shopping, and going to dinner, it is a workhorse.  I am really glad we invested it the larger dinghy and Freedom Lift.  They have made life much easier here. 

Communications-the VHF is the primary tool for local issues, from booking a slip at a marina, making reservations for dinner, hailing a land cab or water taxi, etc.  Baltelco has decent cell coverage, but Verizon will not work.  AT&T does, but is expensive.  I purchased an international plan, and my first month’s bill was $800 (that includes data charges for the office e mail).  Many people buy a Baltelco phone here, and use it, which is cheaper.  I also have a sat phone, but have needed it rarely.  Wi Fi is crap. A booster helps, some.   That’s it for now!

Stormy weather.

The nasty weather associated with the cold front hit last night, and put on quite the light show.  We were fine nestled in our protected anchorage, but it is a frigid 75 degrees today!   We plan to have Valentine’s Day dinner at the St Francis Inn http://www.stfrancisresort.com/  tomorrow night, and then head toward Cave Cay.  We will take the back route and explore small cays and be out of touch for about a week, before reaching Cave Cay unless our water runs out, or the dirty laundry swamps us.   Life is good!

The approaching weather.  We are the small boat symbol in the lower right corner.  

Georgetown pics.

Exuma Mart's dinghy dock. The open space on the right is for those filling cans of water to bring back to the boat.  Since there is no marina, this is about the only source. Lake Victoria in the background.

The super market!

The only entrance to Lake Victoria, and the dinghy dock.  It can get interesting!

Job opportunity?

Yes, Georgetown has shopping benches of shame...

Georgetown

The big front that blew through Houma is on its way here, so we took advantage of two calm days and are now at anchor in Elisabeth Harbor adjacent to Georgetown. This is the southern most point of our voyage, and we are just shy of the Tropic of Cancer.  Georgetown is a cruising mecca, and there are about 1000 boats anchored around the harbor.  There are organized volleyball, bridge, poker, etc games and the daily news is broadcast on the VHF at 8:00 each morning.  There are no real marinas, so the dinghy is the primary mode of transportation, and they are everywhere!  In order to get here, one must take the Atlantic, so we will be trapped here to at least Saturday, when the winds should calm down.  We took the dinghy to town this morning, and there is a real grocery store, with things like milk, fruit and other goodies. We stocked up!  The adjacent landmass is Stocking Island, and St Francis Hotel is located there.  We signed up for their Valentine Dinner, and hopefully Alexis does not get wet on the dinghy ride there!  She had one of their strawberry daiquiris yesterday afternoon, and does not remember the dinghy ride back...  We are off to shop some more, as Alexis has been deprived of proper shopping for a while!

Al last, fresh fish!

Monument Beach, one of the harbor anchorages.

Click on this pic, and try to count the boats.  This is only one of many anchorages in Elisabeth Harbor.  

My pics

Stanwood and Janet.

Cambridge Cay anchorage.

Our snapper dinner in the making!  Note the size of their "crawfish".

These guys really want to be fed!

So do these iguanas.  There are several beaches with these rare iguanas, and they pester you for food also.

Janet's pics

The dink, repaired and loaded down.

Doesn't he look good in spandex?

Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  We are the tiny boat at the dock...

Motley bridge crew.

Hooking up to a mooring ball is always a tricky affair.  If things go wrong, it is always the deckhand's fault....

Tres chic, as usual!

Jabba takes the beach.

Company has gone home!

Stanwood and Janet flew home yesterday, after a great stay with us, if I dare say so myself.  The week was a whirlwind.  We spent two nights in Staniel after they flew in with Roland, on his six seater piper.  No confirmation numbers, but Roland was prompt and met them at Nassau as promised.  Alexis took advantage of that, and flew in with Stanwood and Janet.  We watched the Super Bowl at the Staniel Yacht Club, complete with a great dinner.  We then took a mooring ball in the park at Cambridge Cay for two nights, and did some fabulous snorkeling.  Then two nights at Compass Cay Marina, where Stanwood bought a snapper, which I cooked and had Chris and Herb O’Neil over for dinner.  Stanwood knew Herb’s father who was an attorney in Galliano, LA many years ago.  We petted the sharks, hiked and snorkeled Compass Cay with them and saw the sights.  We are now back at Staniel and have the supposed Wi-Fi here.  For $25 you sign up, and have it on and off as it deems fit.  No real rhyme or reason to it, but it is painstakingly slow when it is available.  Tomorrow we head south, and will be out of touch for a while.  Our next marina stop will be at Cave Cay, and hopefully we can post from there.  Thanks to all who have sent notes about Alexis’ father.  He is doing well right now, and her parents are house sitting for us.  I must say the Exumas are as great as advertised, and the natural beauty is unsurpassed.  The only challenge is lack of provisions, and no communication at times (which isn't all bad!). While Alexis was back home, I forgot to put the dinghy motor down when docking single handed at Staniel.  I whacked the motor and bent the steering ram, which had to be replaced.  Alexis bought one at Dagate’s in Houma, and “Chubby” the local mechanic here put it in for me.  No way I could have gotten a replacement ram here, and the dinghy is our primary mode of transportation, so that worked out well.

All is well, and I will try to download pics next.