pictures of georgetown

volley ball beach



bridge you go under to get to dingy dock

skate that hangs out at volley ball beach



sunset over georgetown from sand dollar anchorage



donna and elvis leaving for md in jan

shoes along the enchanted trail



the enchanted trail

once you were through the trail to the ocean



the ocean at low low tide and calm

from mayaguana to provo to ambergris to sand to luperon

we had a lovely trip from abrahams bay to provo. kirk saw a whale.   abrahams bay is a 5 mile long bay that has nothing between you and the ocean but a reef that you sometimes can seen and some times not.  another first.  whew they are stacking up.

the trip up sand born channel to get to south side marina in provo was another one of those eye ball killers.  i was on the bow.  to try and tell the difference between how close the coral heads are to the surface and those that are ok to go over plays eyeball games with your mind.  i did see a bunch of star fish, and i did guide us around some coral heads that were at the surface and we made into south side marina a ok.  

south side marina is a story in itself.  just a couple of key notes.  we went in on low tide.  at one point we saw 2'9" on the depth sounder.  we draw 4'3" with about an 18 inch difference of where the depth sounder is on the bottom of the boat to the surface of the water.  kirks face went white when readout went to 2'9" as we were in the "channel" to get to the marina.  the marina is under construction so they were dredging which made the color of the water milky aqua.  it was cut out of the side of the hill and the wall in the bathroom was the side of the hill.  cracked me up.  also, only one restroom and the shower had no hot water and a pull string in order to make the shower work.  all adds up to the character of the place of which i could go on and on.  after two nights we were booted out as we were in the way of the gas dock early in the am and on our way to ambergris.  this was another bank crossing which was beautiful as the waters are shallow, however is another eyeball killer and watch out for unmarked coral heads.  

ambergris  bay was beautiful water and provided shelter for the night.  our friends on one white tree were with us and Ross swam over with his grib files (has to do with weather).  he visited for a short time and then swam back to his boat.  we left early next morn off through more reefs and coral heads (our favorite thing now) to Big Sand Cay.   oh my  that was a beautiful place.  we were there just for the afternoon to rest before trekking out on a night sail to Luperon DR.

i could have stayed at Big Sand Cay for a few days and explored the island, painted etc, however the weather window called for us to leave.  we did see some dolphins playing there and so that was fun but then it was nap time.

we arrived in Luperon DR this morning after a hellish night of high winds, seas from the wrong direction, two cruise sips that were not lit up that crossed out path and added an hour or so of dodging them in high seas and thank God kirk is so smart as our dingy cable broke, but he had put an extra line around the davit and tied it to the eye hooks in the boat.  once again, he saved the day.  
the hysterical part is we were both so tired from last night that he got in the dingy and was going to untie his backup system when he realized that was the only lines holding the boat and he was standing in it!!!!  we spend about a half and hour with the commandant here on our boat and then on into town to go to 5 other government agencies and pay them their special fee.  what a fiasco.  



looking out from our anchorage atwoods




dolphins in great sand




great sand


more of great sand



coral heads crossing the sound

the water here in luperon is dirty.  so dirty that you cannot swim in it.  reminds me of home.  at any rate, i did not suffer through last night to not have pretty water so i hope we leave here soon.  the boat liberty is here.  we met them in georgetown.  great to see nancy and their kids chris and josh. dave is back in the states.  

pictures

sorry the pictures did not show up.  will try again

Donna

dlbenefiel@gmail.com 

or

dbenefiel@ruddermanagement.com

From atwood anchorage in the acklins islands to Abrahams bay in Mayaguana 2/19

 

Atwood was a small cove that had land on 3 sides and was protected from wind and waves on 3 sides, still it was freaky to look out and see nothing between  you and the ocean.  The water was pretty but not as much as rum cay.  We had dolphins visit us in the morning and they were fun to watch.  I think they were in there fishing.  We were escorted out by some of them which kirk thinks is good luck.  We had a halfway sail to mayaguana.  For some reason yet to be determined, we could not get the main sail up all the way so we sailed with one reef when we really could have used the full sail.  Still was nice to sail and not have the motors. Inspired by one white tree, kirk put out our fishing lines but did not catch anything but still another first.  It was finally calm and slow enough that we could have lines out.  Once again we reached a way point where we had to make a turn and down came the sails.  The seas varied from 3-4 to 6 feet or so.  Not bad and not continuous so that was a nice break.

 

As we approached Abrahams bay there were two boats anchored and it looked as if they were in the ocean.  Abrahams bay is about 5 miles long and has a reef that runs the entire way.  That is it.  So basically you pick your way through the reef and find a spot.  There were breakers on the high part of the reef, but none near where we went in so you have to trust your gps, charts and eyes.  We tracked our way in so we could see how to get out if we left in the dark.  The run from mayaguana to provo is about 48 miles way point to way point but then you have to traverse the banks which is a slow, one person on the bow or up the mast looking for rocks and coral heads.  The best time to do that is between 11 – 2 pm when the sun in overhead

 

Oh leave in the dark we did.  It was kinda spooky but we did it and so that is one more part of the learning curve.  One white tree is not leaving with us, they are low on fuel and are going to sail over tonight wind permitting and we will see them tomorrow.

 

We do have a troller behind us "lets dance" and they have radioed and asked if we see any whales to let them know.  Is nice to have a buddy boat when in the ocean.

 

Am looking forward to turks and caicos as I think we will have wifi and the blog will post and we will have communication.

Back to Georgetown 2/14, over to rum cay 2/17 and down to the acklins 2/18

 

Thank you Lisa for the very early 4 AM ride to the airport (Reagan National) to arrive in Georgetown on valentines day.  The view from the airplane was unbelievable seeing all the colors of the water over the banks.  It was fun to see the people in Georgetown.  Got a few more supplies.   We went for a walk over stocking island to take a look at the ocean and see what the seas looked like on Thursday.  It has been dubbed the enchanted trail as kirk was told one day when he hiked over with his guitar and played on the beach that the trail was enchanting.  It is a pretty cool trail.  When kirk told me about it being enchanting I started belting out "one enchanted evening ….." and around the bend here came another hiker.  I apologized that he had heard my lovely singing and we all chuckled.  We got the boat prepped for an early departure

 

 

  and Friday morning we left for Rum Cay.

 

We had a motor sail for part of the way but when we turned the point at santa maria point on long island we were dead into the wind and motored the second leg of the journey.  Was only about 50 miles so an easy day. Approaching Rum Cay the water colors were the most vibrant colors I have seen so far.  It definitely was the clearest anchorage we have been in.  you could see the anchor like it was a foot away when actually it was about 9 feet deep.  We went over to visit with Ross and Diane on "one white tree" a cat boat kirk met  also into the Lord of the Rings author, hence the name is also from a Tolkien book.  Ross and Diane both play the guitar and so it is a happy fit. They are lovely people from Canada.  I believe this is their second year cruising and were in the Chesapeake last summer.

 

 

Anywho, this morning as the sun was peaking over the horizon,  we headed out on a 80 mile trek across the ocean from Rum Cay to the Aklins Islands and anchored in atwood bay.   A lovely little deserted bay, tricky to get into as reefs on both sides but we made it and then gave some details to one white tree as they were behind us by an hour or so.  They caught a 48" mahi and were thrilled.  First fish besides barracuda that they caught.

 

Pictures are compliments of Kirk

 

 

 

 

bridge you go under to get into dingy dock at Georgetown

 

 

sunset over Georgetown from sand dollar anchorage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

shoes lining the enchanted trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

once you are through the trail, view of the ocean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the ocean at low low tide on a very calm day