Exuma Land and Sea Park- January 2-January 9, 2009

The Exuma Land and Sea Park- January 2- January 9, 2009

Sea Star’s first anchorage in the Exuma Cays was Allen’s Harbor, between Allen’s Cay and Leaf Cay (where the iguana feeding took place), off Highborne Cay. I covered that stop in my New Years travel log entry.

Leaving Allen’s Harbor Dan and I decided to head for the Exuma Land and Sea Park whose purpose is, “safe haven and replenishment area for wildlife native to the Bahamas and to educate the public in saving this beautiful environment for future generations.” The Park is 22 miles long and extends 4 nm out from either side of the 15 large islands and a few smaller ones, including approximately 176 acres of naturally kept area. The Park does not allow taking of any wildlife, including fish, conch, lobster, shells, crab, or corals, and is monitored by the warden and volunteers, patrolling the borders of the park daily, and extracting fines for poaching, so we are warned.

 Conveniently for our sailboat, the Land and Sea Park provides mooring balls for yachts of all sizes, and buoys at dive and snorkel spots for the encouraged exploration, and well marked trails for hiking. The L+S Park allows and encourages boaters to reserve a mooring one day ahead of arrival at the Warderick Wells Cay which fills quickly, by calling ahead to the warden’s wife, a patient, pleasant and knowledgeable woman, on VHF channel 09, which we did, planning to arrive at Warderick Wells on January 3. Within the Park there are no facilities such as one might find at a marina; no restaurants, no way to dispose of garbage or purchase necessities such as food or fuel, so a boater must plan accordingly.

Sea star anchored off  beautiful Shroud Cay after sailing the 18 or so nm from Allen’s, using our jib alone on the Bahama Banks. The first night we arrived in park territory was cloudy with a little rain, so we waited until morning to explore the extensive mangrove creek area of Shroud, using our dinghy at high tide. In the narrow, winding, shallow creek we observed a Whistling Duck and many fish under the dinghy as we slowly motored along to avoid grounding. The clarity of the water with some sea grasses or sand under us as we moved along, was astounding. You just could not tell the depth available, always thinking you were shallow, but usually the dinghy motor had plenty of room.

We travelled through the creek, until, at its dead end, a brilliant blue ocean beach on Exuma Sound came into view just over the sand rise. We walked the beach admiring the intense and varied blues and greens of the accessible and warm waters contrasted with the whiteness of the sand -trying to ignore the mounds of colored plastic bottles, jerry cans, fish nets, shoes, and other flotsam washed up onto the beach at high tide.

We arrived back at Sea Star by 11:00AM from our exploring so we would have time to continue on to Warderick Wells and take our reserved mooring by mid-afternoon. We had a leisurely three hour sail to the Park headquarters, contacted the warden’s wife again, reminded her of our length and draft, and were one of eleven yachts that had arrived or were continuing their stay in what is called the North Mooring Field. (some boats request or are sent to the South Field, and a few larger yachts moor off of a site called Emerald Rock.) All afternoon, one by one boats, power or sail arrived and the mooring fields filled completely. Out by Emerald Rock were two one hundred foot yachts with their fishing boat size dinghies and all the toys; motorized scooters for underwater, personal water craft, extra center console inflateables, wind sailboards- you name it- but they can’t use the motorized in the Park.

Each morning at exactly 8:00AM, the warden’s wife, Judy, reads the weather report based on information from NOAA about the Gulf Stream crossing from Florida, from Nassau, and from a Virtual Buoy from within the Park. The report was very complete and appreciated by all the boats for our safety and future planning.

Sea Star stayed in Warderick long enough to do what boaters’ do there for $20 a day; snorkel the reefs that were on the protected side of the banks, walk or hike the cay on mapped trails and visit and discuss travel, weather and plans for moving on with other boaters at the park always feeling secure on the solid and well kept mooring balls. Sea Star crew snorkeled Judy’s Reef, Long Island and other coral patches with Jamie on Windsong, who had arrived from Staniel Cay on that Saturday in a nasty squall, viewing multiple and varied fish life, rays, huge grouper, schools of Jacks, and other species I will have fun identifying from our new Reef Identification set of books purchased at the Park, as well as corals and plants in vivid, greens, purples and yellows; unbleached corals in obviously wonderful health.

We were there on a Saturday night and the weather had been settled, so the park provided a space on the beach (next to a sperm whale skeleton display) and a bonfire for a gathering for any who wished to get together. Soon many, ten or more, dinghies lined the sandy beach and cruisers appeared with their Happy Hour – Sun Downer provisions and something to share. This was a fun time to see what others had done for the day and meet new people. Weather is always a discussion issue for cruisers and always has to be on your mind. We were experiencing warm and settled weather, BUT when was the next cold front going to arrive?

We heard the next front might arrive by the next Wednesday, so we made the decision to move on to explore other parts of the park before that time. After one more day at Warderick, our next stop was at Cambridge Cays, about a four hour sail and motor over some tricky Bank coral head areas and where depth for the keel was an issue if we traveled at a low tide.

 We made it into the mooring field and when we had time to look around this area from which I write now, it is even lovelier than what we had seen before in the Park. It certainly makes us wish we were sharing it with friends and family as well as the straightforward and outgoing, welcoming and friendly cruising boaters in temporary residence. The snorkeling is exquisite and varied and just enough of a challenge to keep the adrenaline up when the denizens of the sea appear in the corner of your vision.

 One really exciting creature we saw was a Lion Fish; a beautiful creature, softly colored in grays and light pink having appendages extending in a circle from its middle area but a somewhat dangerous reef fish that has venomous spiny fins and is not native to the area, and so it is a problem on the reef. (see Lionfish http://www.seeker.com/poisonous-lionfish-may-invade-mediterranean-1873177497.html Caribbean to read about the problem- quite interesting) We were told the Park may trap these fish to study them by DNA testing. The barracuda (only two I saw) may be quite large and curious, but because the area is closed to fishing, the groupers and other game fish are growing to a large and heavy size and are great to see through the caverns in the rocks and coral. The Trigger Fish, Angels and colorful reef fish delight us with their scooting and chasing antics. Sorry, I still can’t send pictures as I have no internet service. Our pictures only show land or islands anyway, well, only one cool fish, a trunkfish, and a Peregrine Falcon we saw when hiking.

Exumas L+S Park

Allen Harbor and New Year's Eve December 30-31, 2008

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Dan and I celebrated New Years with another cruising couple we had met when anchored at Allen Harbor. They also were sailing an Island Packet, making a natural conversation starter when we approached their boat in our dinghy. We had conversation, snacks and drinks together to welcome the New Year, but as boaters do, we were in bed late, around 10:30PM! And recall that we hadn’t slept the night before.

The weather changed; it became windier and again the current switched and we could feel the surge coming in from the Atlantic Cuts we had sheltered in the harbor against. The dinghy was banging the hull and the boat was straining at the anchor. Then it became even windier and the wind shifted and so did the boats-all the boats in the anchorage were suddenly on the move somehow. You couldn’t tell which boats you had gone to bed with around your boat.

 There were rocks on the shore line and shallow spots to be careful of but there was poor visibility. A few boats apparently dragged anchor. Others had to pull up anchor to avoid the loose boats, and then could not easily re-anchor, not knowing where you would be safe, if anywhere. Some people just motored their boats around in the dark, windy night shining a flashlight to see where other boats were. Again this was NEW YEAR’S EVE. At least on Sea Star the Captain was not in the best shape, although competent to assess the situation and get us through the night to –again 3:00AM when the wind and current again aligned, boats re-anchored one at a time and we finally went to bed. Our Spade anchor with 100 feet of chain and 40 foot snubber line, held fast. Happy New Year to all!

Royal Island, Eluthera December 30, 2008

Eluthera did not see very much of Sea Star. We motor sailed or sailed, averaging 6.5 to 7 knots the 56 miles in the company of another boat, a Defever trawler, and stopped at an anchorage we read quite a bit about in our guidebooks; Royal Island in the North part of Eluthera. The anchorage was accessible and seemed to have the needed depth and protection from the winds for our boats, and so we entered the harbor just as the afternoon was over. As both boats were anchoring I heard the Captain on the other boat say, “They’ve raped the place!”

It seems that the other cruisers had been to this anchorage a few years previous and it had been lovely, and cruiser friendly, allowing visitors to the island at will. Their daughter, a runner, had run around on the limestone roads and the family had visited the ruins of a fabulous spread out home with out buildings and beautiful terraced gardens built at the beginning of the nineteenth century. What we found in 2008 were signs that read “keep out” and “”private property”. The island had been sold and development had begun. There were huge earth moving machines that had torn out the native foliage to open up the Atlantic view or the view to Eluthera Sound.

 There were new dirt roads where no roads had been and the access to the ruins of the home had been removed. We did manage to scramble out of the dinghy onto some rocks and visit what was left of the old site; the terraces were gone and the building was obviously to be torn down with orange x’s marring the stone walls. The rumor is that the building is on hold because of the United States impact on the economy. The impact on cruisers will be felt because the Royal Island anchorage was used by boats traveling out of Abaco to Eluthera and the Exumas or when the migration north begins again back to the Abaco and returning to Florida and northern destinations in May or June to escape hurricanes.

Our decision after Royal Island was to continue south to the Exhuma Islands as the weather allowed. The next day we continued on south to Allen Harbor, Exhumas.

Little Harbor -last stop in the Abacos December 19-29, 2008

Royal Island Harbor, Eluthera- December 31, 2008
Hello Again,

I caught up with the places we visited over two weeks ago in my last entry, but not the dates, so now I’ll try to be more current. I think we may have internet tomorrow, so I will attempt to post.

After exploring the island of Hope Town we headed back the 8 miles or so to Marsh Harbor for the Christmas boat parade, and to again stock up the boat for our next passage, taking us out of the sheltered Sea of Abaco and into the open Atlantic the 60 miles to Eluthera. After loading up groceries both at Hope Town and Marsh and visiting with some boat friends back in Marsh we decided to go to the farthest south harbor and anchor until the time and weather were right to move on south out of the Abaco Islands and to Eluthera and the Exuma Islands. We were again traveling with Jamie on Windsong and he was having a friend fly into Nassau on the Wednesday before Christmas. We arrived in Little Harbor in the Abaco by motor and motor sail in rocky seas on Saturday, Dec. 20, took a mooring and made our calls home on satellite phone as the gang was gathered in Longmeadow MA on Sunday.

 After the phone call home we were feeling isolated and out of touch. I realized my Christmas wishes to my family would be meager or even missing. Our spirits rose again as we took our first snorkel outside Little Harbor entrance. We saw and followed a turtle, and saw some small corals. It wasn’t the warmest water, and we didn’t stay in too long.

Sunday, Dan downloaded Grib wind and wave files from a Ham radio program, as that is our main way of checking the weather forecasts and found that Monday would be a reasonable wind and wave day for Jamie to travel to go to Nassau since he needed to be there Wednesday, but not for us to go south.

I was actually happy about that because I do like to stay at the new places a bit and explore, and Little Harbor was very special. We met Dave, a resident of Little Harbor and he told us that the residents of Little Harbor get together for a pot luck dinner at Christmas at the local (only) bar and restaurant, Pete’s Pub, and always invited the boats and cruisers in the harbor. Yeah! Christmas was looking up even if the weather was looking mighty scary again with cold front after cold front expected. Kind of the tail end of the wonderful weather you up North were experiencing.

We arrived in Little Harbor in surf swell with considerable roll. Working our way into the harbor through the swell, knowing that the depth was barely enough for our 5 foot draft caused some anxious moments. Upon entering the harbor we picked up a mooring and immediately noticed the welcoming dock and open air thached roof restaurant in front of us. Down went the dighy from its spot on the arch of the stern, and on went the outboard kept on a mount on the life-lines and in we motor to sample the fare we had heard would be delicious. Pete's Pub did not disappoint-not once in the eight days we were in the harbor. The fish dinners were excellent. Fresh and spicy or spiced just right!

We had been told that Pete, a restauranteer and a world renowned artist, would close the restaurant and open it for a resident/ cruiser pot luck dinner for Christmas. We met a resident who encouraged us to plan to attend. There were a few boats in the harbor, not many, but we thought it could be something special to do at Christmas. What a wonderful day it turned out to be. The residents and the boaters all prepared something; turkey, ham, salads, vegetables and scrumptious desserts. We all ate and celebrated on a beautiful Abaco Beach on a hot Abaco afternoon. We toured the art gallery displaying the exquisite bronze sculpture of Randolph and gold work of Pete Johnson. The art works, available for sale on the island and the internet, are one of a kind and breathtakingly beautiful, showing the beauty of the Abaco through creative technique and artistic eye.

The day before New Years the weather window opened again and Sea Star, after a restful and welcoming stop at Little Harbor, was bound for the Island of Eluthera.

Man -O- War Cay and Hope Town -December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas to Everyone,
Actually, I’m writing this on New Year’s Eve. 2009 as a continuation from Dec. 24, 2008

Marsh Harbor, the cay I wrote about some earlier, had a Christmas celebration in their town. It reminded me of the Franklin County Fair but without rides. There were multiple booths of church women and men hawking dinners of rice and beans, chicken, conch fritters, Key Lime pie and all sorts of ribs and other goodies, as well as booths selling trinkets made or brought by people on the idea of a tag sale. The most fun was the entertainment. I have a quick movie clip of the fine stepping, dancing and marching of the Royal Bahamas Marching Band. They looked and sounded magnificent! Young, handsome men and a few women wearing starched, immaculate white cotton uniforms with forest green sashes with gold trim, were playing their band instruments, led by a serious male majorette. Many of the songs included drums and rhythmic marching in formation. In addition to the white uniform the drummers wore waist length cowls of fake animal skin, reminiscent of the African tribal leaders.
Another part of the Christmas at Marsh Harbor was the decorating of the boats in the harbor and a night parade of the carefully decorated entries. There were seven motor boats that may be fishing skiffs in the day, decked out with lit Christmas lights, making a fun evening with lots of cheering, yelling and clapping as they drove by our cruising yachts in the harbor.

But all of this happened a few days before Christmas.
We currently are unable to access the internet we were able to get in Marsh Harbor, so I’m writing this in hopes to send it soon.

My last post was from Great Guana Cay a few days ago. We stayed at Guana for two nights, sampling the restaurants and enjoying the beach walking on the Atlantic side with Windsong, from Windsor, Canada. We were snug in the Fisher’s Bay anchorage and by avoiding putting the anchor directly on grass, we were fine. After meeting with another boat at Orchard Bay Marina, we decided to move on to Man-O-War Cay. We were hoping to anchor, but both entries to Man-O-War are filled with moorings, leaving little or no anchorage. We took a mooring and went ashore for a walk through this pretty Cay. The Cay is small, and from the harbor we could walk the harbor road, containing the small boat yard and a few grocery stops, ice cream shop, and the Albury boat design and sales yards and sail shop/canvas store. Dan was really taken with the looks and quality of the small specialized fishing skiffs made at Man-O-War. We thought what great fishing boats, but what an incredible dinghy the 27 footer would make!

The people of the Cay take fastidious care of their property. The homes were cared for and neat with amazing flowers and shrubs. The greenery looks so unexpectedly healthy and lush with gardening seeming difficult to do on a small, relatively flat and sandy Cay of limestone rock having fresh water limitations. I was telling Dan that the broad leaved shrubs and plants were what Walmart sells to college students for their dorm rooms, only much bigger.

Our next one night stop was at Hope Town Harbor. Again the anchorage was filled with moorings, free anchoring not allowed, so we picked one up, got in the dinghy and explored the famous Hope Town lighthouse- a working lighthouse lit by kerosene. I read in our guidebook, only three kerosene lit light houses remain working; all others replaced by electric or other means. We climbed the 100 circular, winding steps and enjoyed a great view of the entire cay, its approaches and directions, from each level as we climbed. We were even able to crawl out onto a roof ledge and go around the house.