Errol Flynn Marina and Port Antonio 2nd week April 16-25

Errol Flynn Marina and Port Antonio 2nd week April 16-25, 2009

There are many things to see and do in Port Antonio Errol Flynn Marina. A boater could just sit on board watch the shore and listen to the happenings around the harbor as we do for hours each day. The marina is an isolated place-a gated entrance out to the road.

There are few Jamaicans in the marina itself who do not work there. We hired some of the men to wash, wax and shine the stainless on our boat and they did a great job. It would have been hard to say no, as they are very persistent in their offering and willing to bargain. We hired Hulk and Presley for the wash and wax and Donovan for the stainless. They were professional and entertaining, both. We learned to wash our hull with vinegar before waxing to eliminate the white chalky film that was on it and -they sold us our new reggae CD’s! These guys are entrepreneurs and inventive when it comes to making a few dollars and always seem to be in a good mood with cheery “Hello, M’ Lady” or Hello, Captain.”

Right next to the marina is a small harbor area for the police boats, the worst offenders when it comes to waking (rocking) boats tied at the dock. Behind them is a sparsely treed park with benches and colorful flowers. The park has gazebos where men or families congregate to stay out of the sun after work and toward evening. At breakfast at a two story building right outside the gate, Dan and I were seated overlooking the park. There was a Rastafarian man all dressed in black clothing, barefoot and hair wrapped into a two foot tall turban, straddling a branch of one of the bigger trees and apparently sound asleep, not stirring as hoards of chattering people passed ten feet from him!

Right now, day time, there is reggae music pounding from shore, possibly from the high school that seems to be having a function today. I keep hearing “and there are going---going –going, ah yes, they run!” It could be a track meet or something like that or perhaps a land crab race. I can’t tell from here. Another boater heard music from shore and went to investigate. He saw a parade with the high school band and dancing girls and discovered to his surprise the parade was a funereal procession. Different cultures are fun to explore!

One of those cultural differences is the the use of ganja. There are colorful characters here in Porti and the smell of ganja is present in many alleyways and street corners, shops and entertainment spots as you walk past. Though technically illegal, it is said that if you are not selling it and you pay the cops….
Our boat is on a mooring and behind us is a sandspit that starts in some mangrove trees. There is a Rastaman who said he was forty-seven, a man with long dread locks, who apparently lives in those mangroves and visits the boats to chat each day. He sold us some mangos and told us “goodbye, I will go now and have a J and meditate.” He appears to be a peaceful man but the young men in town apparently give him a hard time. He says the bad ones have killed some of his dogs, and they keep stealing the boards he gets to make himself a proper house. He paddles around the bay areas, even going fishing on his long, narrow bamboo raft. His oars are split bamboo sticks. I read that the Rastas are in tune with their natural surroundings. I feel sorry that this man lives in the open as the rain we have been having lately is torrential. It has raised the water level and the ground is soggy for a long time after the rain. At times it has rained so hard I had to bail out the dinghy with the pump three times in one day! The weather never seems to bother him when he comes around. He was standing at our boat when the Swift US vessel left for sea. (see below) His response, “Goodbye to you, war monger. If no America, no war, right?”

There is music playing mostly all the time in the town of Port Antonio- Porti for short. All night on the weekend there was such loud music I was unable to sleep. Of course we assumed it had to be from a huge and popular nightclub. We found out the sounds were from a one room bar and pool hall on the second floor of a building with the speakers turned toward the anchorage bay-and everybody is just going to live with it because it’s “no problem, mon.” The marina operators listen to the cruiser complaints but they really can’t do anything, and the cruisers move on anyway.

Last night a coast guard vessel left its two week berth at another part of the harbor. The First Mate was a young man from Jamestown, RI and when he saw the homeport on Sea Star he stopped and invited us for a tour of the HSV 2 SWIFT, a 160 foot aluminum catamaran Navy vessel. The tour was informative and the ship space-age! Apparently the motion of the ship underway in large seas is not the most comfortable to these highly experienced seamen. They have nicknamed it the “Vomit Comet” for obvious reasons. The chart plotter and navigation equipment were interesting. The ship doesn’t have a wheel to steer it. I guess it’s like a video game using three toggle switches and lots of computer assist. This is a swift vessel; it can cruise at 46kn! It has guns mounted forward and stern but says Swift wouldn’t have to use them, she is so fast. The crew were about to change after a 90 day rotation and were heading north last Friday.

A few days ago a Transcaribe rally from various islands arrived at Errol Flynn and the marina was a full as it has ever been. The rally brought in 20 sailboats; some cats and some monohulls. The marina operators and owner Dale and manager George were quite excited to entertain all these boaters and hope the Errol Flynn Marina is becoming a destination. There were two nights of special events livening up the marina area. Most of the rally boats have left for Cuba or other islands east, like the ABC’s- Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

Cruisers need stuff so we venture into town regularly. We are lucky it is so close that walking is easy. It’s always an adventure to go to town. An important fact from the daily newspaper is that the police have reduced crime by 56% in Port Antonio. We want to travel in the country a bit and visit the Blue Mountains so we went into town in search of a roadmap to plan a trip. Where do you get a map? Maybe a book store-“Yeah mon, deas a book store up them steps but they ain’t open no mo, deas downstairs now.” Ok, so we look for the bookstore downstairs at the far end of the market street. To get there we walk on sidewalks and down into the gutters and around poles supporting upper floors of buildings and through the ladies hawking their vegetables and fruits and around the guys selling videos, cell phones and whatever to find the store really has closed, but there is another one back at the other end of town at the pharmacy. That now required a trek back through all the previously mentioned and then, “No, suh we don’t got no maps here, try the shell station down over there.” Finally, Dan did find a map at the Shell station, and a good one, too. It only took about two hours.

It seems by searching and asking around we can get some basic things we need. We are trying for hamburger tomorrow. That should be an adventure. Today Maggie is in dire need of kitty litter so off we went on the same trek as before after getting directions to the “pet store.” That sounded promising, and we did find the narrow kinda hole in the wall store where the sign said “Farm chicks and ducks.” We peered in at a single file line where the clerk behind the counter is told what is needed and she gets the items. “We ain’t got some. Tomorrow. De guy he go Kingston and I call him. Yeah, we get shavings, dey look like dis.” She held up a bag of birdfood. So what were we to do? We haven’t a clue what will show up tomorrow, but I hope Maggie likes it.

There are some clothing stores, grocery stores, pharmacies and bulk liquor stores where you bring in your own bottle to fill or you can walk out with a case of soda. I went into a fabric store today. A cruiser I met is returning to the states for her daughter’s wedding in May and needed a dress. She tried the clothing shops but was not inspired. The stores seemed like mini Walmarts to her and she was getting worried that her daughter would be upset with how tackily her mother dressed at her wedding! While walking on the market street she saw a sign Charm’s Dressmaking. Under a staircase in a tiny shop she found a seamstress named Charm and Charm made her a simple sheath dress -in one day from fabric she selected-for under $15.00. It was cute! I decided to have a few tops made from light weight material because all my clothing is too hot. Charm took me to the fabric store and for the equivalent of $6.00 I selected the material for two tops and a cotton dress. I will have them on Wednesday, she says.

As we learn what is available in the town, we do a lot of walking to explore historic areas and see the views from the highest hills. We have visited an island once owned by Errol Flynn and later turned into an exclusive resort- but the buildings are now closed and decaying though the foliage is lush with wonderful shades of green, especially after a tropical downpour of which we have had a few.
Walking to the Titchfield High School above the bay we find it was built right on and within Fort George, built by the British. The old cannon were there and still pointed at the narrow bay entrance.

Above the market in town about a mile up a narrow one lane road there was again a closed hotel/resort with a 360 degree view of the lovely entrance bays to the Port. That road was great for bird watching as the steep ravines covered in tall trees entwined with vines, ferns and umbrella sized pacas and ivies were lower than the road we walked up so we could look down into the canapy.

Sea Star, Windsong and Tregoning crews are all having similar experiences here in Port Antonio. We get together about once a day to go out to eat or walk or share our stories or the latest information although we have met many other travelers going south or east from here. We took a fun rafting trip on the Rio Grande together and are planning a trip into the mountains. More on these in my next writing.

Here are a few pics!

errol flynn

Great Inagua, Bahama to Jamaica April 11-15, 2009

Great Inagua, Bahama to Jamaica April 11-15, 2009
Four boats, including Sea Star arrived at Port Antonio through the Windward Passage leaving Great Inagua about 2:00PM and arriving in Port Antonio the early morning of Easter Monday, a legal holiday in Jamaica, under quite calm conditions. We had traveled within sight of each other; a very nice sail under a moonlit sky for the first hours of our 47 hour trip. For another 8 hours or so we had less than 6 knots of wind and were traveling very slowly. Finally, one of our flotilla, Navy Blue, suggested maybe we should GET there, so we turned on our engines and traveled at about 5 knots. Having had favorable current of about .5 knot the current opposed us toward Jamaica, but the seas were calm-perhaps a four foot rolling swell- very easy. Our AIS system had informed us of as many as nine ships traveling along our route, but because of the traffic separation scheme none of them were a threat to us, well, maybe the one that came close to Windsong was a bit scary. Another bloat of our flotilla, Tregoning, saw a marlin swimming around their boat! Sea Star was the only boat of the four who had its own private raincloud for awhile. Thankfully, the rain washed away some of the trip salt.
Beautiful and majestic were the inadequate words that came to mind when the Blue Mountains and the coast of Jamaica appeared in front of us on the horizon, and a few hours later the mountains appeared lush, green and tree covered as we passed Navy Island and Errol Flynn, the 1930’s actor’s old estate. After the low, sandy islands of the Bahamas Jamaica was a delight to approach and our excitement grew as we skirted the West Harbor and then motored to the East Harbor where Errol Flynn Port Antonio Marina was located.
At the end of our travel we looked forward to resting in Port Antonio. The marina was full and we took a mooring in the mooring field. We understood we couldn’t get off the boat until we had cleared in. I just wanted to sleep. We thought, “It’s a holiday, so no one will want us to check in today.” We were wrong. The Quarantine officer was basically waiting for our little flotilla. To go ashore to the marina required lowering the dinghy, putting on the motor and ferrying the official to examine the boat . He checked the boat for produce, meat and contraband then quickly allowed us to take down the Q flag while waiting for Immigration and Customs. The charge was $25.00US. No problem, mon- you’re in Jamaica!
So here we sit after a full week now. The warm sunshine wakes you in the morning and the reggae beat reverberates from the nearby shore throughout the night and into the wee hours. There is friendly service and amenities at Errol Flynn and a wonderful restaurant with lovely frozen drinks on the property. The US and Jamaican Coast Guards have been practicing maneuvers this week from the nearby dock.
We have ventured out into the town of Port Antonio for site seeing walks and marketing. Excellent fruits and vegetables, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, peppers, bananas, plantains, apples that had not been so readily available throughout the Bahamas are available as well as many fruits and vegetables that we have never encountered. At a local breakfast spot Dan and I had stewed chicken,(yes, for a typical Jamaican breakfast,) with sides of steamed yellow yam, bammy (a bread made from cassava), a corn meal dumpling called festival, and another tuber I can’t recall the name of.
Our first outing into Port Antonioa was to the ATM for Jamaican “Jays” and to scout for jerk chicken. As we arrived at the square a young, street hustler introduced himself and stuck like glue to the new gringos. He just took over, leading us around-to the bank, the jerk chicken on the street (just happened to be his uncle’s street stand)-chicken cooked with wood in a half of a 50 gallon oil drum and served in tinfoil with hotsauce poured onto the already spiced meat. Ok! This is going to be a wonderful town for eats! We ambled back to the marina and began to figure out what we had been letting slide on our boats. I needed to do wash, clean the fridge and freezer and basically make the boat look like a home again.
The next day we again choose to have a meal out. We were greeted at the square entrance by the same hustler who had seen us coming from wherever he was hanging out. He knew we had two vegetarians in our group and he led us to a wooden building containing Mr. Dickson’s wonderful vegetarian restaurant. Inside it was tiny but a very popular place with the Rastafarian population, many of whom are vegetarians. Customers selected what appealed to them from the cases and ate upstairs where there was a nice breeze. We tried various dishes such as hot Jamaican Patty, curried tofu, fritters, fried yellow yam- we loved everything we tried- and topped it off with a homemade ginger soda drink that was very potent. We will surely go back during our stay in Jamaica, which will probably be until mid May.
Hopefully you can see the pics and watch the sunset on passage!

Jamaica

Conception Island, Rum Cay, Samana Island, Bahamas March 28-April 6, 2009

No- we're not in Jamaca yet, Mon..

We are on the way by way of three more Bahama islands. Our next stop is Inagua where we will check out of Bahamas- then the "Windward Passage" to Port Antonio, Jamaca. We are anchored with two other boats at a beautiful island called Samana. We walked on the island today and met two local men who shave the bark off a tree that grows here called Cass that is then sent to Italy to make a liquor called Compare for a living. They soak the bark in salt water, beat it off the stalk in chunks, dry it in the tropical sun and stuff it into huge bags. We see a 16ft. skiff on the beach in front of the wooden fishing shacks that are shared by locals when they are on the island. The wooden shacks are built right over the limestone rock ruins left by Loyalists and later plantation owners in the early 1900's.

Our trip over to this island, Samana, after Conception Island and Rum Cay was 70 nm and took us a long day at 5kn. We started at 4:00pm and arrived at 11:00am, motor sailing in light winds. There was a 6ft swell and some wind chop, even though there was not enough wind to sail. Makes you wonder how the locals managed to arrive in a 16 foot skiff. They said they had prepared to be on this island for a three month time. The island is uninhabited, so no supplies are available. The closest island to this one is 20 nm away! We are going to talk to them some more tonight just to be friendly.

It's hot here in the southern Bahamas. We try to keep cool in the water, but the second you come out you're hot again. Barracuda and at least one ?shark visited us when we were snorkeling and we felt chased out of the water. I will get more used to the "wildlife" as we spend time in its domain. We wish Steve and Tom, our two sons, could come and spear us some fish.

On the way from George Town around Cape Santa Maria at Long Island to Conception Island, Dan landed a nice dolphin fish, not an easy task from a heeling sailboat. It was beautiful; brilliant yellow and green, and I have to admit, very tasty. We shared it with another cruiser who is traveling with us to Jamaca on the Morgan 41ft., Tregoning, with Alison and Randall aboard. Conception proved to be a beautiful island with an interesting inland mangrove creek where we dinghied and watched hawksbill turtles scooting in the shallow, emerald colored water. Sea Star stayed at Conception where other cruisers dove a recommended wall, and we snorkeled, hiked and visited on other boats for two nights and then moved on to Rum Cay.

Rum was an 18 nm motor sail from Conception, to a reef strewn anchorage in front of a lovely white sand beach. The wind became light at Conception and continued light at Rum which improved the access to snorkel spots. It took some doing to weave our way in through the coral heads and reef to the beach where the protection was better and would prevent some of the swell from rolling us. We spent two fun filled days snorkeling with Tregoning. We have been somewhat disappointed at the variety of fish we see when snorkeling. Some reef fish seem to be missing, such as Angel Fish and even Sargent Majors. The Lion Fish I wrote about earlier seem to be on many reefs, so we wonder if they are eating the young. Some patches of corals are just lovely; alive and colorful, and some stately Elkhorn. We haven't seen an abundance of any fish and few lobsters or crabs. This does not mean they are not there, but that we haven't seen them at mid day when we are most likely to snorkel. Dan can dive down to look into the caverns and limestone formations. He will tell me when he sees something-like when he told me he saw a 14 ft. shark at Samana! He later reduced the size, but he and the shark-we don't know what kind- were very surprised to see each other. The shark just swam away and we returned to the dinghy.

After two nights at Rum Cay, Jamie on Windsong rejoined us after dealing with receiving a package in George Town after our scheduled departure. He had to wait there until it arrived two days later than expected, then sail to catch up with us at Rum Cay.

Our three boats moved to the other side of Rum Cay where there is a very well kept marina and terrific restaurant where we were served conch fritters, and cracked conch or chicken dinners. I enjoyed a night out of the kitchen, (whoops-galley), before our planned departure at 4:00PM for Samana, which was expected to take through the night, arriving in good light to see the fringing reefs and squirm into the anchorage. As we left the shallow anchorage in front of the marina, we tried to follow what seemed to be marker bouys and Sea Star actually went up onto a coral head and had to back off. The scraping noise was quite noticeable so we checked our bilges carefully for any sign of a leak for the next few hours and seem to be ok.

We did arrive as planned, but met with some scary navigation anyway as we began to plan our approach into the Propeller Cay anchorage. There was ocean swell and a west setting current as we arrived. It was also close to low tide. Tregoning was the first boat and Randall and Allison looked at the entrance. It seemed narrow but Allison went on the bow and they slowly began their approach following the path around the coral. Sea Star was right behind them as they negotiated the tricky entrance. They touched on a coral head and Randall yelled to us on the VHF-I've touched. ABORT! Abort!

Dan quickly turned to Port and using full engine and bow thruster, turned us around and miraculously got us back out to the deeper water. Tregoning bumped off and continued on in to the anchorage without any more problems. They quickly dropped the anchor and took down their dinghy to come back out and guide us in and around the coral that they hit. After a few passes with a hand held depth sounder they figured out the route to take us in. Windsong with less draft was first to follow the dinghy in, then Sea Star and we all were safely out of the coral and in the anchorage, exhausted from our night of travel, but safe. The anchorage was blue meaning sandy bottom. We couldn't wait to get into the water- well, we needed to check the holding on the anchors. We then dove to look under the boats for any damage. We were both scratched on the hull but no serious damage is evident.

We will leave Samana on Wednesday for Great Inagua.

Pictures are somewhat out of sequence

Leaving Bahamas

Back to George Town March 20-29, 2009

After our wonderful visit with Tom and Anina, Dan and I decided it was time to get serious about moving on South. After a great deal of thought we have decided on Port Antonio, Jamaca, as our next major stop.

Our plan was to leave Black Point, Exuma, revisit Farmer's Cay on the way and return to George Town, (remember the cruiser Mecca?) to re-provision and begin to look for the weather window needed to move south, planning daylight travel, when possible. We had read the guidebooks and despite some inconvenience we wanted to visit a few really out of the way places- as we had in the Jumento chain. We loved the solitude and scenery and especially the underwater world available there. This time we hoped that we could visit more places where the expectation was for great snorkeling, (or diving if you prefer that.)

Conception Island, located about 35 miles east of George Town is a nature preserve area and an island with a reputation for excellent snorkeling. Dan had been watching the weather to see when we could sail there for some time, and also Rum Cay, another 18 miles southeast from Conception, and on our way south.


When we arrived in George Town after a sloppy motor sail we had lots to accomplish before we could go out again to where ever we were to go. First our 120 day immigration permits were about to expire, meaning we had to leave the Bahamas before a certain date or extend the Visas. We needed fuel for Sea Star and the dinghy, we needed internet access for bill payment and taxes, food, I had just about hit bottom on the items stocked from the huge Florida shopping trip in November. We needed laundry done and various odds and ends on the boat required attention.

Some things are "Better in the Bahamas" but businesses have a hard time with supplies. We heard by radio that the one place to purchase fuel in George Town by the standard method of pumping fuel directly into the boat tank- was out of diesel and would be for "awile." We have learned not to wait for vague promises. Each day as we began our two mile round trip into Victoria Harbor from the Monument anchorage, we joined plenty of other cruisers bundled up in foul weather gear and carrying four or more five gallon jerry jugs for water and diesel. We feel lucky to have a watermaker on board, especially when we see the other couples hauling it to their boats- and it is not free.

The jobs could have been made a bit easier by less wind! The first day we bounced in with spray covering the dinghy and us in 20 knot winds and choppy seas. We decided that was enough and we wouldn't put ourselves through that again. The next day to fill up our diesel jugs for the second time, we decided to drive the big boat into the harbor and anchor closer, temporarily. With our two jugs and two borrowed ones, we made three trips to the one gas station where there was diesel, lugging the empties out- the full back to the closer harbor, to the bouncing Sea Star -still by bouncing dinghy, and it was blowing like stink- then pouring the fuel into the fuel tank while it sloshed from the containers. That chore finished, we dinghied back to town and visited Immigration and they courteously extended our Visas.

It was too rough to stay overnight near the town, so we returned to the anchorage. We couldn't help feeling sorry for the boats tied up at the marina near town. Sailboat or power yacht they could not purchase fuel, and they were pounding on the dock and bouncing worse than we were- and paying for the privilege! We had a well deserved Happy Hour that night with the Island Packet 440 who loaned us their jugs on the boat, Wind Whisperer. It was an exhausting day moving the boat, filling the fuel tank and then returning to a safer anchorage, BUT we had our fuel and met some new people, so all was well.

The following day was still very windy and choppy. Our friend, Jamie, on Windsong, a C & C 30' sailboat, was heading to town to do some of his chores and we tied our dinghy on the back and moved closer to town with him. We still had and adventurous dinghy ride ahead of us but this time it was to do our laundry, purchase propane for cooking, and go to the internet building. Well, one out of three is not too bad. A business called J and K Enterprises provides a wooden building and a plug-in for your own computer, but the internet was not working that day. The man who sells propane was sick and in the hospital so nobody knew when the tanks could be filled again. The laundry was washed and almost dried by the time I wanted to go back to the boat. The dryer wouldn't stop spinning while I caught the flying clothing. It may be spinning still! It took a black construction bag, brought from MA, to get the laundry back semi-dry.

No- I'm not done yet!

The next day we needed to "provision" and do some other errands. That means to buy food at one of two markets in George Town; the Exuma Market and the Shop Rite. On the out islands there may be small markets, but rarely with the items needed by full time cruisers. Many prices are more than those paid in the states by about a half, and of lesser quality. The produce has to be brought in by mailboat from Nassau. I don't know how the typical Bahamians afford to eat. We filled the dinghy with cat litter, cases of tonic water, soda, a case of oil, some liquor and lots of filled canvas boat bags while searching for things on my grocery hope list. We did quite well at the Market and then we drove back out to the anchorage with the supplies protected somewhat by the big plastic bag. We hauled them aboard and as I put things away I noticed we did not have this, that etc. Recheck the list and back to town we bounced, taking air like at a rodeo- to the other market and filled the dinghy again, then back to the first market because they had some things that I passed by before.

Yes!! Another chore completed!

Days ran together at anchor. We met with a group of boaters who were like-minded about moving on south and decided to go together to Conception and Rum Cay, then if possible Samana- an island in contention for where Columbus might have first landed in "Hispaniola", and on to Great Inagua. Another day we listened to a fellow cruiser give tips on fishing and show gear he uses for Wahoo, Mahi mahi, and Tuna. That reminded us to install our fishing rod holder and large reel, and think about how in the world we could fish from a moving sailboat without falling off. We really haven't solved the issue.

We changed the engine oil, hiked a bit, ate lunch at St. Francis Resort and shopped for a new bathing suit for Dan with no success. Seems it flew off the life lines while in the process of drying. Luckily he had an old one on board. We went to town one more time for a barbecue to support the town police department-yummy! Steak, peas and rice, mac and cheese, and a small ear of corn. It was well worth the $10.00 and the trip.

On March 29th the weather improved and we left George Town and sailed to Conception Island.

Return to Central Exumas March 5-16, 2009

UPDATE: 03/30/2009--pictures added:




Return to Central Exumas March 5-16, 2009
Yeah visitors!
Dan and I planned our trip back from the Jumentos in plenty of time to be at Staniel Cay for the expected arrival of our son, Tom, and his wife, Anina by Flamingo Air to visit us on our boat, Sea Star. Our return was with the two boats we spent time in the Jumentos with- Passport and Windsong, using what is called the “old Mailboat route”. This route shortened the trip, kept us on the shallow Banks, avoiding entering the Atlantic in somewhat windy conditions with a significant swell. The other Island Packets that had sailed with us to the Jumentos had returned via this route a few days previous with no major issues crossing the coral heads and shallow spots and we hoped we could, too. We sailed from Flamingo Cay anchorage past Coakley Cay to Rocky Point, some 40 miles, where we spent a quiet evening on the banks under a starry sky. The following day we continued on another 40 miles to Black Point Settlement where we checked Adderly’s Market for necessary provisions, then went on to Staniel Cay to meet the plane at 2:30PM.
The plane was a little later than scheduled but all was well as soon as Anina, who is terrified of flying, was on solid ground. Tom and Dan dinghied the bags to Sea Star and Anina and I waited for the second trip. It was a glorious and sunny day. Soon the two of them were swimming in crystal clear water behind the boat and forgetting the New England weather. It was Christmas for us as we had not returned home or celebrated that holiday with our family, and Tom’s suitcase contained lots of goodies: my new computer, a wifi antenna, a soft weight belt and ten pounds of diving weights for Dan, new sunglasses for me and a great little machine by Cannon that prints pictures directly from a card or computer. We gave Anina and Tom tee shirts from the George Town regatta and a rum punch to begin their decompression from their business-world lives in Boston, MA.
As we dinghied ashore to explore, we couldn’t help but see the many nurse sharks and rays in the water under where the Bahamian fishermen clean their catch. With four of us in the dinghy, Anina was quite uncomfortable at their closeness, especially to where she had just enjoyed a swim.
After dinner at Thunderball Club, we made a plan for the next day to sail the 30 miles to Shroud Cay and begin exploration of the Exuma Land and Sea Park there. The Bahamians have reserved the underwater and some of the Cays for nature preservation. In the Park visitors may hike, swim, snorkel and look freely, but no fishing, conching, lobstering or shelling are allowed. We arrived in time to dinghy the creek and visit the ocean beaches at Shroud Cay. To explore the narrow, winding mangrove creek you need a high or rising tide. We went at rising tide- but we enjoyed our adventure especially when we ran aground. We delegated Tom to get out and haul us through the soft white sand in the dinghy until we arrived at the shore.
Dan and I had visited some Cays in the Exumas, but they are so lovely we didn’t mind going back and showing them to Anina and Tom. One of the places we recalled having a great time visiting was Warderick Wells. The colors of the waters and the quality of the corals there are spectacular and we felt Anina and Tom would really enjoy them. Also, Tom could take some great photos, his hobby. So the next day we sailed the few miles toward Warderick Wells, where we had made the required reservation for a mooring ball. There was time for a swim and a climb up Boo Hoo Hill, and excellent snorkeling at Ranger’s Garden and Judy’s Reef, as well as a cruiser beach get together in our two day stop. Tom had snorkeled when our family had visited Panama ten years ago, but snorkeling was quite new to Anina. She looked adorable in her new wetsuit and hot pink fins and mask. Soon she was swimming with the fishes and I might add, the largest lobsters I had ever seen.(remember, this is a protected Park)
These “kids” lucked out weatherwise! Exumas had perfect warm, sunny, breezy weather for their entire trip. The next day brought an easy 18 mile sail to Cambridge Cay, another of the Cays in the ELSP. By now we all were dying to get in some more snorkeling while it was warm and calm and we visited Tom’s Elkhorn Reef, Rocky Dundas, Aquarium and Airplane snorkels, as well as around the rocks near our boat. Dan and I had wanted to visit Compass Cay about two miles from Cambridge, so we enlisted Jamie to drive one dinghy and we all zoomed and pounded over the surging waters by the Atlantic cuts.
On the knowledgeable recommendation of the Park volunteers on the catamaran, Movin’ On on Compass we were to have lunch at the marina, and visit a place called Rachel’s Bubblebath. Rachel’s proved to be a hit with all of us! Rachel’s is a natural limestone rock grotto located at the point where the Sound and the Ocean meet. The warm water was indeed a mass of frothy bubbles and deep enough to swim in while allowing the current, rushing, splashing and spraying across the rocks from the waters of the Ocean, to smash over and around us as we were the only group there.. Jamie of Windsong got close enough to the jagged rocks to tie a 50 foot rope where we could hold on for dear life as the current tried to send us under the water or back downstream! Wearing fins and goggles, we played there for about an hour, then went to our promised lunch at the well kept marina.
Our next stop, which was to be our last on the visit with Anina and Tom, was to Black Point Settlement. We had a great dinner of conch and fish at Lorraine’s. Dan mentioned that the very same airplane that our guests were to depart on from Staniel Cay also stopped for passengers at Black Point. Flamingo Air was very agreeable when Tom called to change their departure stop and a woman named Ester who works for Flamingo Air, even stopped at the dock and picked Tom and Anina and their luggage up in her truck and drove them to the airport a few miles away. They were on the road waiting to be picked up at 8:45AM and in the air by 9:00AM- no waiting and no security check at that point. then zoom! On to Nassau for them and George Town for us.
Changing the tickets instead of sailing back to Staniel Cay allowed us to relax and again eat at a local business. We had pizza at DeShamin Restaurant- they have great pizza and friendly service. We explored the Settlement, meeting the artist who has created a driftwood sculpture plaza at his home called the Garden of Eden and hearing him describe the shapes of his exhibits. As he spoke he helped the visitor see what he could see in the beautiful driftwood pieces that he had gathered. Some remind an observer of animals, birds and human forms. He also showed us some of the local plants and trees.

Jumentos February 9- March 1, 2009

Jumentos February 9- March 1, 2009
On February 9 Sea Star, Charmed, Jay Sea Dee and Windsong departed Salt Pond Long Island and headed by way of the Comer Channel, Driers Reef and Water Cay into the island chain known as the Ragged Islands or the Jumentos. The Jumentos came highly recommended by the guide books and other cruisers who regale how lovely, isolated and wild these islands are and what stocks of fish, lobster, and conch are available just for the snorkeling. Most cruisers who have been through even some of the islands have had wonderful experiences with the people who either live on the few inhabited islands or work in their waters, and here you do find the self-sufficient cruisers who repeatedly visit year after year.
To prepare for the Jumentos we filled the diesel tanks on the big boat, bought an extra five gallon jerry jug for dinghy gasoline and found what supplies we could during our stop in Long Island. Luckily we were in Long Island the day the mailboat come in; the weekly arrival of supplies to the stores. We had also put aboard what supplies we could find when in George Town, not having decided on our next stop after Long Island but knowing it would definitely be more isolated.
We left as early as we could see the water clearly, and had a pleasant sail southwest using the Comer Channel and Driers Reef waypoints over the Great Bahama Bank- the inside route as it is referred to on the Explorer Chart series. Our original plan was to stop and anchor at the first cay of the Jumentos having a safe anchorage, Water Cay. As we approached Water Cay it was early in the day, about two o’clock, and the decision was made to continue south to Flamingo Cay. Weather and winds are sometimes unpredictable and changing. While we had the opportunity and good wind we felt we could advance down the chain. Often, after the winter cold fronts go through winds are more favorable to push a boat northerly or to the east than to allow southern travel. We had come around 35 nm and continued on the 20 or so additional miles to a protected anchorage at tiny Flamingo Cay, an uninhabited island fringed with reef.
Dots of land, spaced quite far apart- some flat, some hilly or rocky is what the sailor observes following the Bank route along the cays. On the other side of the cays is the Atlantic Ocean. While the boat is in the lee of the cay as you pass, the water is relatively smooth and calmer than when traversing the open areas or “cuts” between the islands to the Atlantic. These spaces of incoming water can set up adverse current and waves called “rages” when the wind opposes the tides; one of the reasons that care needs to be taken to plan and time your trip for relatively calm winds and seas and consider the time of changing tide as you travel. Since the travel is many miles in a slow sailboat, sometimes it is hard to plan ahead. Our day was fine, with no more than three foot seas and wind keeping us moving at 7kn average, allowing us to save our precious diesel and enjoy the trip in warm and sunny weather.
Another problem keeping some cruisers out of the Jumentos is the cays all lie north and south with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Great Bahama Bank to the west. Rarely can a boat anchor safely off the Ocean to the east. Only the most settled conditions will allow that. Anchorages are located in coves off the west side of most cays with some north or south cay boundaries allowing space for a few boats to tuck in. There are few or no anchorages with protection of 360 degrees. Any north or west winds send cruisers scurrying for the few anchorages that will suit those conditions, and even then you find that surge through the cuts or over the Bank as it shallows by the shore will roll your boat uncomfortably and for hours, especially as the tide changes.
So, one would ask, “Why go there?” The answer lies in the pristine water, lapping turquoise blue over sand. Under that water available because of the water depth, lie reef systems along the cuts and in the shallow areas where snorkeling allows the boater to see the beauty and bounty still available on the reefs in this small area of the Bahamas. On Flamingo Cay Dan and I were able to gather our boat limit of six conch while snorkeling our first area. Another cruiser invited us to conch cleaning 101 on the sandy beach by our boats, where I learned the basics in the broiling sun. Conk the conch on the third spiral to make a hole, detach the conch from the shell, lift the animal out with forceps, gut, then remove the tough skin from the meat taking care to cut open and remove a black line of the intestines carefully. To prepare, cut thinly and pound the meat flat, bread and fry or make raw conch salad with lime juice, onion and pepper. YIKES! I was a total mess and burned to a crisp after trying just two. It is not easy! The fun part was watching the stingrays come close to shore and gobble up the remains as I threw guts back into the water.
Well- then entered my hero, Ramon. Ramon, a local fisherman, had been conching all day. He had cleaned 200 conch in the morning, and now in the afternoon he was back to clean the 200 more he had gathered (he is allowed to use air tanks as he works the reefs, which tourists are not) He conversed pleasantly while his knife worked by itself, seemingly effortlessly. He of course had been doing this for all his life he explained as he took our catch one at a time- pop- with a special hatchet, quick insert of a flat bladed dull knife, turn conch over and it falls into his hand, detached. One quick cut with sharp knife to remove the foot, siphon and guts. A pull to remove the tough skin, then one more quick cut and pull and DONE. Thanks, Ramon and to Foolin Around, the boat that showed me what had to be done to enjoy a simple sea snail meal.
We stayed at Flamingo Cay a second day, hiked, drove the dinghy into the grotto cave and later in the day, snorkeled. This time I realized how much I still had to learn to be comfortable in that water environment. As I entered the water from the dinghy a three foot fish I thought was a shark went after me- or so it seemed. I jumped back in the dinghy, alarmed. Dan and I went in at the same time to find that my attacker was a remora and it sure liked the dinghy underside. A short time later we looked up and saw not the usual one or two, but a big stack of maybe thirty barracudas. There were small, skinny ones near the surface with more and larger underneath those, and still larger and fatter under those until again I swore I saw a shark at the very bottom-but Dan said it was grandpa barracuda, long, large and scary. Why they were all together there is a mystery. They didn’t bother with us.
I was swimming near a cut into the wilder Atlantic water on the other side of some rocks and entered the cut to go to the reef on the other side, I thought cautiously and slowly. Suddenly with a whoosh I was being pulled by the current and I knew I had to turn back through the cut, but couldn’t swim against it. Dan was able to hold on by his hands to a rock and offer me his fin to hold on to until I could get to the rock myself, then pull hard to get myself back through the cut and around to the backside of the rock slowly inching my way around. As soon as I was through I realized I was quite tired and went back to the dinghy- yes the remora was still there, quite a handsome fellow with green gill markings and a yellowish belly.
We had been expecting only a few boats at Flamingo. There may have been thirteen or fourteen boats who decided to go to the beach at sunset for a beach get-together on shore so we met more cruisers. One couple on a boat named Passport were planning to go on down the islands the same as we were, so Jay Sea Dee, Charmed, Windsong, Sea Star and Passport and more made our next stop at Buenavista Cay where good shelter from the higher velocity and north winds was available. We snorkeled without incident this time, hiked and beach combed and attended another cruiser social organized by Passport on the beach. A fire was made and we watched our paper rubbish burn, then returned to the boats for a rolly night.
Our next night was spent at Raccoon Cay where we walked the beaches and were introduced to “beaning”-collecting sea beans that floated in from trees in Brazil. There are heart beans, hamburger beans, monkey faces and the rare and infrequently found, Saint Anne’s bean that is small and has a cross on one side. With a stick you push aside the sea weed, plastics, driftwood and poke around at the highest tide line for hours to find some. Beans are easier to find than exceptional shells on these cays. Its addicting once you find one!
Our weather had been ok and we were beginning to realize we could make it to the “last stop before Cuba”- a place of 150 hardy Bahamians called Duncan Town down the chain past Hog Cay. We sailed to Hog Cay and anchored, where we met Scotch Mist and old friends of Passport on Windswept at yet another beach get together. The next day we dinghied the two bumpy miles into the mangrove creek leading to Duncan Town.
At Duncan Town we were lucky to ask Sheila to open the only restaurant in town for our lunch. Duncan Towners are the fishermen and conchers so we had a nice lunch. We walked up a hill and down another to see what the southernmost cay that was too shallow for our boats to visit was like and walked another road to where salt flats are still worked. We then returned to our boats, planning to move on the next morning.
From Hog Cay north where the cruisers have built a Yacht Club under rock overhang on the beach we moved to anchor a few beaches south where the north protection was better for a night, then we moved back to Buenavista’s west anchorage.
Yesterday we started back up through the Jumento chain. What a day of sailing! We put out all the sails in the moderate wind 15kn on the beam, and just flew the 5 hours to Flamingo Cay where we are waiting for yet another cold front to come and then go. When we passed Flamingo a few weeks ago, there were more than thirteen boats crowded in. When we arrived at Flamingo we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves the first boat into the gorgeous anchorage. We quickly set anchor in sand close to shore and jumped in the crystal clear water. We had been traveling with Windsong and Passport and we the only three boats there even at the end of the day. We got together for sundown and supper at Sea Star, Passport-Dave was from Newfoundland, gave us some Newfi music on the iPod and we watched the Captain Johnson movie Around Cape Horn. It was a special day! We got up this morning and all went snorkeling and had a great time. Tonight as I write this one fishing boat trailing four smaller motorboats has just arrived to Flamingo, and it is pouring rain. It’s wonderful because we have not had any fresh water wash on Sea Star since-well somewhere in the Abaco I think. We probably will not move tomorrow either, so it will be a sleep-in morning and I’ll have some reading time. It may be a day to bake bread as we didn’t buy enough home made in Duncan Town.

The Race February 4 and 5, 2009

The Race!- George Town, Exuma to Long Island- February 4 and 5, 2009
Weather, weather! Chris Parker’s weather forecast came on SSB 4.045mz at 6:30 AM while we were in Monument Beach Anchorage in George Town. During our short stay in George Town we had climbed the Monument path, walked the ocean path, played Bocci on the beach, had a cruiser’s beach party, listened to a Ham Radio seminar at the beach pavilion, visited St. Francis Resort for food and the Superbowl, filled the propane, checked the supermarkets, Exuma Market and the Shop Rite, eaten at Eddie’s, bought diesel in jerry jugs and put it in the fuel tanks---and so when the race committee came on the VHF and suggested that the race should be a day earlier than planned, we decided we could go!
George Town, a Bahamian town larger than some and the cruiser hang-out with four coves and two beaches where the many boats can anchor, is a place to meet, greet and reunite with other cruisers. We had been waiting, in a group of over two hundred anchored boats, to meet up with cruiser friends on Jay Sea Dee and Charmed, two other Island Packet Yachts, for a few weeks. Both boats came into the anchorage the day after Sea Star arrived. We all decided to enter the Regatta to Long Island. Dan felt our real competition in a race of extremely varied boats; monohulls of all kinds and sizes and catamarans, would be with the Island Packets, and there were five IPYs signed up. Charmed is an identical boat to Sea Star, there were an IPY 38’ and a 42’on the list and Jay Sea Dee a 48’ IPY. When the race date changed we three and Lady, a Catalina 47 and nineteen other boats with sailors from all over the world, but mostly US and Canada, many Canadians from all the provinces plus sailing folks from England, France and Germany decided we could be flexible and go on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at about a two hour notice instead of the planned Thursday, in hopes in my case, to avoid predicted eight foot seas at the cut into Exuma Sound near the start of the race- and not have a heart-pounding boat thumping wild ride.
The organizers informed participants that boats could start as early as they wished, we should just pass the motor yacht keeping the racers’ time and hail them when beginning the 34.6 mile course to Indian Point waypoint in the Long Island Salt Pond anchorage. The rules allowed the use of motor when moving between a waypoint called North Rocks and Middle Rocks for obvious reasons. The rules also included that since this is a fun cruiser’s race, boats were not to unload weight- just go as a cruiser with barbeque on the rail etc. and no poles, spinnakers, or screecher sails allowed.
Three of us, Charmed, Lady and Sea Star lined up at the designated marker about a half hour before most of the field. It seemed the right thing to do to avoid the crowd in the narrow channels, especially as the rules required rounding the waypoints. Then we started off with jib- at a whopping 4 knots! There was noo wind. As we progressed through the cut, the wind filled in from behind us at 10 to 15kn and we had a pleasant, then boisterous sail with up to 29 knots as we neared Long Island. As we sailed, Lady and two catamarans, Windsong and Zing passed Sea Star. We felt we had sailed our best race with full main and jib, then the staysail and main wing on wing on another leg, finally full sail again as we made the last waypoint, then struggled a bit to crank the sails in as we fairly flew past the time-keeper and into the anchorage. The trawler, Southern Estate, announced the time for Sea Star was 2hours, 50minutes and 10 seconds.
After the race, since we were actually a day early for the planned events at Long Island, a cruiser get together was held at sundown on the beach. The next day the weather for the 13 additional racers was even windier than when we crossed- the last of the racing boats were in the anchorage earlier in the day than we had been, and the wind was expected to stay up at 20-to 25 knots holding steady for days to come. No one was going to be able to return to George Town comfortably for a few days. Luckily , as I write this, we are in a great anchorage with protection from the Northeast, but some wind chop that keeps us on the boat.
The first cruiser event after the second group arrived was to meet at the lovely, curved Thompson Bay Beach and have a group photo with the 80 or so participants in the 2nd annual George Town to Long Island race. Siggy’s Dancer, one of the organizers, lined us up for the photo and it was like herding cats! Hopefully, I can get the photo from someone through email.
Of course to get to the beach and then the restaurant required fresh clothes to look decent, then a dinghy ride into the wind and salt spray considering the wind velocity and surge, a dinghy pull-up on the beach over the sharp rocks at low tide and an exit into the water to pull the dinghy up on the beach. Using our flashlights there was a hike along a conch shell lined path to a Bahamian buffet feast prepared at the Thompson Bay Club, an open-air room. While waiting for dinner, one cruiser had prepared a Trivia quiz of sailing information that helped to pass the time. Great food; fish, conch, Bahamian mac and cheese, peas and rice, barbecued ribs, chicken, a wonderful night- then lug the dinghy back into the water and slog on back to the boats.
The lovely lady who cooked and provided the food, Tryphena, invited a group of us to go beach comb her private beach the next day. Twelve or so cruisers appeared the next morning for the five mile trip on the back of her son’s pick-up to a most wonderful view of the ocean side of the narrow island and then to the dune above the sheltered beach as we wound our way to the drop off spot. Looking down we could see waves crashing against a cluster of rocks just off-shore. When we walked down to those rocks we saw the place Tryphena had called her spa- the water swirling between the sheltering rocks. She left us there for a few hours of private time to poke through mountains of yellow, stringy sea weed searching for treasure of choice, or to take a long walk along the curved beach where each rise enticed you to continue on.
Our second night was a cruiser prepared Potluck Awards dinner at the Island Breeze Resort. Mike and his business partner opened the resort especially for our party and at other times provided a friendly atmosphere and the needed amenities- dinghy dock, food, internet, and washer/dryer. The race results for the two days were calculated and the handicaps introduced into the times. We were sort of penalized for leaving a half hour earlier than others because the wind had been stronger for the later starters giving them better overall times! Gag and winning gifts were given, with each cruiser previously requested to bring a wrapped gift off of their boat, everyone could win something. Sea Star’s gift was a Christmas wrapped Nokia Cell Phone- didn’t work, no cord, who cares? Some gifts were useful but some were flotsam off the beaches, old loran, or used books or movies. The new Island Breeze Resort with its huge open-air deck over-looking the Bay and Salt Pond provided a perfect Bahamian setting to watch the sun go down and later dance to the Unstoppables- a local music group providing dance tunes with a Calypso beat. We danced and watched others dance until we needed to return to our boats. Everyone had a great time, returned to the boats wet and salty-and still the wind blew, and blew. In the next few days the boats slowly began to depart, some back to George Town, Exuma, some on to the Turks and Caicos Islands and others like Sea Star, Charmed, Jay Sea Dee and Windsong , decided that the “jewel of the Bahamas”, as Steven Pavlidis refers to these tiny cays in his guide book, On and Off the Beaten Track, the Jumento Cays south of Long Island were to be our next stop.