First Day at Exuma Park

We had a great sail from Black Point to Wardrick Wells on the Banks.  I think this sail was what everyone dreams of or thinks that we have been doing while cruising.   I can honestly say that this was our first sail in turquoise water.   The water color was stunning.   We had good winds from the right direction, the seas were calm and I was able to go below and make lunch etc.   What a treat to be able to get out of the sun and be productive.  Our sail was about 5 hours and it was fun.   There were other boats out on the bank and it kinda reminded us of the Chesapeake seeing all the sails up.  (Minus the water color)

Exuma Park

One of the sand bar views

The sand was like powder.  Doesn't this look like snow?   It was so white

Sunset the first night

Ainulindale sitting between two sand bars.   It was so cool.

I walked the sand bars and had a blast.   Not sure what this was but I saw quite a few and decided it was interesting enough to take a pic.  Actually I took a bunch.

Sand bars with a rock ledge.   All this was under water when we arrived.

I love the patterns the waves make in the sand

Check out the  different water colors.   They show the depth differences.

Kirk was resting in the dingy (actually he was checking the anchor) after he came to pick me up while i was still "exploring"  I had so much fun.

Kirk could not resist and joined me.

Some little critter made these tracks and then reburied I guess.

Never did figure out what these were or how they got there.   They were like little sand castles that would crumble if you touched them.   On our second day, we did not take a camera but went to a different bar that came out from an island and saw tons of conch and olives and sand dollars and on and on.   These sand bars were some kind of cool.   We were so lucky to be there on a new moon.

Black Point and Staniel Cay

We left George Town and headed north in the sound.  We entered the banks at Dolthum Cut.  We headed south and anchored in Black Point a beautiful sandy anchorage.   The water was about 7 to 12 feet, crystal clear and such a beautiful sight.   I took this picture the next morning.

We moved north to Big Majors known for the famous swimming pigs.   Here we are on the beach and  Kirk is feeding the piglets.  The were pretty cute.

This is one of the pigs swimming.   They were huge!   Not so cute.  Look at the size of the snout!

This one came on shore and snooted the piglets out of the way to find the food Kirk had dropped.   Squealing occurred.   No way I would want to swim with those big pigs.  We watched these pigs interact with people all day as we were anchored right in front of their beach.   It was hysterical.  The tourist boats would come in and the pigs would come out of the brush and start swimming to the tourist boats.   At one point we saw a cruiser dingy having pigs trying to climb in, one on each side.  Made for an interesting day of beach watching.

We went over to Staniel Cay and rented a golf cart and rode around the island.   We did find a nice beach, rode over a funky bridge, found the airport.   Really not much to do or see but was a fun excursion to get off the boat.   We got fuel at the dock at Staniel Cay and that was quite an experience as the dock is fifteen feet up from your boat and you have to climb a ladder to get to the pier and then go to the bar to pay.   It was a long fuel ordeal.   We checked out the Thunderball grotto but did not go in for a snorkel as we saw people go in and come out in 5 minutes.  

The flowers were pretty

We ended up going back to Black Point cause the anchorage was so nice and we could get the laundry done.   We had dinner ashore with a  bunch of cruisers and that was a fun night!

A Week Or So In George Town

We had a good time in George Town hanging out with our friends Ryan and Diana on sv Ryana.  On our last night there we went to dinner at St Francis.

We went for a walk on Sand Dollar Beach

Some one put this rather large land crab on the bench

Some of the walk was through water

Bizzillions of tiny shells

Some of the hike was through paths

Kirk ahead of me where the path opened to the beach

Diana and me after dinner

The directional sign in front of the Chat and Chill

Although the weather that held us in Georgetown was not conducive to doing anything on the water we had a good time.  We hiked to the ocean side of stocking island and walked the beach with Ryan, Diana and Stanley (their dog).   One day it was so rough we took Ainulindale across the channel to the market in George Town.  Diana went with us as we all needed groceries.   We still got soaked on the short dingy ride from the market to the boat.  We never did make it in for laundry.  We are hoping to meet up again with Ryana in the Abacos.

More of Long Island on to George Town

Flying Fish Marina, Long Island

Pretty little planter on the road into the marina

Roads to Clarence Town

Both Kirk and I thought this road was great.  Loved the palm trees lining the road.

and the conch shells around the palm trees

Big story with this pic.  This is one of the huge (maybe 50 - 60 feet) fishing boats in the marina.  The size of these fishing reels on the rods was unreal.   They are about 3 times as big as the ones we use.  The first day we were there Kirk took a walk around the dock and he came back to our boat and said, "I know why we do not catch any fish.   We do not have enough fishing rods out. "  We laughed and then he talked about how big the reels were.  So the night before we are leaving, we moved the boat to the gas dock which was very near these fishing boats.   Just so happened that they had gone out fishing and caught wahoo.  They gave the fish to Marvin at the marina who in turn gave us two big pieces. While Marvin was cleaning the fish, he told me it was about a 60 pound wahoo.   He was tossing the not used parts into the water and there was a huge (10 ft) black tipped shark in the water with tarpon all snapping for the fish parts.  Wow.   I just missed him filleting the whole fish cause we were retying the boat.  It was the most delicious fish I have ever had.   So the morning we left I asked the guys on this boat if I could take their picture and asked them if they ever take charters out.   They said no they just fish for fun.   Oh man is that some expensive fun.  They told me they were going to Plana Cays, did i know where that is, that day which is 90 miles south east.   I said yes I had passed Plana Cays two sails ago.  It was a very good stay in Clarence Town, Long Island.

Back in George Town, Great Exuma, Bahamas

The first morning in George Town was spectacular.   Calm clean water.

Our anchor chain

Calm morning

Our buried anchor at the end of the line!!!

Tiny starfish in the middle of pic

Ryana, our friends boat, a Lagoon 400

Morning guitar with the sun coming up.

Turks and Caicos to Long Island

We left before dawn so we got to watch the sun rise as we once again sailed across the ocean.   This sun rise was behind us as we were heading west to Turks and Caicos.

I was watching for coral heads.  Kirk took this pic  duh!  I did not know he took it till I downloaded my pics.

Turks and Caicos at Southside Marina.  

After crossing the banks and dodging coral heads (which looks like dark masses in the beautiful sea) we picked our way into the marina through 2 reefs and multiple coral heads.

Southside Marina bathroom.  I wrote about this in the blog on our way down but this time I took pics. One bathroom for all to share.  It is cut out of the side of the hill.

This is looking into the entrance to the bathroom.  Notice the wall on the right is the side of the hill.

Looking into the bathroom.  Notice the one wall is the side of the hill.   The hysterical part of all of this is that the shower has one temperature (non hot water) and you have to reach up above your head and pull down on the knob to make the water run.  (the chain was missing)  You can also note that there is no ceiling.  Just the lattice board.  

While we were there, we met some fantastic people.   Jorge was rebuilding his V drive and it was a project that most of the people in the marina joined in to help.  Either one or another was going back to their boat to look something up on line, print out a diagram or getting a tool.   It was a great way to get to know fellow cruisers.  It was also very rewarding when it all went back together and worked.

One of the mornings there we walked up the hill from the marina.  Still the same ole rock blasted away, this time to make a road.

The views were great once we got up the hill.   The colors in the T and C banks are unbelievable.

 We stayed till the weather window opened and then started our long trek to the Bahamas.   We anchored the first night behind a reef in Abraham Bay, Mayaguana.   We would start a track on our way in and in the morning in the dark we would follow our track out of the anchorage.  We then went to Atwood Harbor in the Acklins Islands.   It was most beautiful.   Was quite rolly when we left in the dark that morning.  I was so glad we were on a catamaran.   Even the big power boats were having a problem with the swell breaking on their sterns.  We headed to Long Island when the starboard engine would not charge.   So we continued on with just the port engine and the sails.  Not knowing what was wrong we called Flying Fish Marina in Clarence Town, Long Island to reserve a slip so we would have stability to check it out.   That was one of the best moves we made.   It was a great little marina.   Kirk (Mr. Fixit) figured out it was a shorted wire to the alternator and fixed the engine so were were good to go.

This is a little restaurant at the marina called Outer Edge Grill.  Please note the bright green building behind it is NOT PART of the restaurant.   It was a fun place.  We had a great time exploring the "town".

Kirk took this pic.   Great isn't it?  

This is the main road.  The building in the background is a church.

As we walked along, we came to this intersection.   Kirk thought this pic was great cause from our view point the sign says turn left here and is pointed right, however if you were on the other road, it made sense.   We walked all around town and out of town to the value food store which was smaller than a 7-11 at home.  The man there was very nice.   We also visited the straw ladies shop where there were hand made goods.  People waved to us and made us feel welcome.   It was a great stop and  if I ever get back here I would like to visit this Island again.

On to Big Sand Cay

After our early morn departure from the DR we arrived at Big Sand Cay around 4 pm, set the anchor and settled for the night.  

This is what our approach looked like.   Not much to shelter you from the ocean, but better than nothing and it was spectacular water.

So great to see the bottom after being in such deep water all day.  Really a beautiful place.  Is a true deserted island.

The south end of the island.

The beach in front of us.

Check out the sky color and don't miss the moon!

We left at o dark thirty to head across the ocean to arrive at the Turks and Caicos Banks with bright sun so we could see to get across the shallow banks.  The moon had set when we left and the stars were unbelievable.