Back in Rock Sound

We had a great time in the northern Exumas but it was time to head back to Rock Sound to prepare for Julie & Chia to arrive.  Chia’s real name is Robbie but if you know him you understand the nickname.  He has the hair!  We went to the airport and in true fashion the plane was late….. not as late as with Pete & Jane, but about a half hour which really isn’t too bad.  They opted for a pick up by dinghy and at least the weather was cooperative.  We loaded them & their stuff in the dink and in true Bahamian fashion Rob handed out Kalik’s (local beer) all around.  After dropping their stuff on the boat we dinked in to 4Points for a cocktail.  After a wonderful dinner of ribs with Roger’s Rub by Rob it was an early night after all their traveling.

The next day was a bit breezy but we opted for a sail anyway.  Did I mention that Chia likes to fish?  Well he does and he dove on a few small reefs as we sailed but there really wasn’t much there.  The wind piped up and when we arrived at our destination – Ten Bay – it was far to rough to think about spending the night there.  Ten Bay is wide open to the west and while the winds are usually only west with the passage of a front, they were westerly at that time.  Wanting to keep our guests comfortable we opted to head up to Governors Harbour.  Unfortunately, the swells did a wrap around Cupid Cay and made it very rough!  No joke!  It was so rough that they had to have the leeboards up on the settees that they were sleeping on!  Leeboards for you non-boaters are what they sound like.  You raise them on the side of the settee (bed) to keep you from falling out!  This was definitely not in the brochure we sent Julie!  This was probably the worst night onboard that we have ever had in the Bahamas.  Suffice it to say no one had much sleep!

The next morning it was back to Rock Sound.  Chia put out the fishing lines and in short order had a nice mackerel on!  Now this is no fish tale… it really happened!  As he got the fish to the boat – Rob was standing by with the glass bucket.  As Chia pulled the fish up – it came over the rail, spit the hook and landed IN THE BUCKET!  If I had not seen it I would not have believed it! 

After listening to the weather forecast we decided that it was not going to work to sail the island so we did the next best thing – rented a car.

The first stop was Ten Bay where we had not been able to stop earlier.  There were lots of butterflies and Chia in true hunter/gatherer fashion found and cracked some coconuts!  I later used some of the meat for a coconut pie & it was delicious!  We traveled on and went to the places we had planned to go by boat such as Governors Harbour, Hatchet Bay, Gregory Town and then on to Harbour Island.  One great thing was that I saw my friend the stone crab fisherman at Hatchet Bay & he remembered me!  I asked about crab & he said 6pm so we made that stop on the way back!

On the way to Harbour Island we stopped at the Glass Window.  This was a natural bridge where erosion had eaten through the rock leaving what appeared to be a large window from the water.  I believe it was in the 1970’s that a storm washed away the road that had been built along with the people who were there.  The roadway has been rebuilt as it is the only north – south road but it is now only a manmade structure, however it is still impressive!

To get to Harbour Island you park your car & take a water taxi across with the locals who are often on their way to work for one of the many resorts with their “pink sand beaches”.  We had a good time while there and one of the highlights was meeting Asa the veggie man.  It was late and getting dark on our way back to the boat.  Driving in the Bahamas is interesting in the daylight (they drive on the left) but can be downright scary at night as streetlights are few are far between!  To top it off we passed a large dump fire that was so smoky you could barely see the road.

The next day we went to Leon Levy Natural Plant Preserve.  I wrote about that when Pete & Jane were here but here are a couple of new photos.

As we had never been south of Rock Sound by car we decided on an explore.  We went to Lighthouse Point which was described in the pamphlet as a leisurely 1 mile drive after then pavement ends.   They lied!  It was a long way but absolutely beautiful.  The only footprints were ours!  Of course we made a few wrong turns on our way and found our way to “Princess Cay”  where the cruise ships dock with yet another “authentic Bahamian village”.  Of course since there was no ship that day the “village” was locked up tight but we did meet some of the local fishermen and made some new friends!  While still looking for the road to the lighthouse we came across the remains of a church.  Shortly after that we finally found the beach.

By now we were in need of a beer!  We had passed a place in the settlement of Green Castle that looked promising…. with a name like Club 9000 what else could it be??  It was definitely off the beaten path and not a tourist trap!  The locals were happy to see us and it was a shame that we had to leave but we had to return the car no later than 6pm.  What a grand time!

One more fish tale before I close.  As I said – Chia is a fishing fool!  He said that if we put out a line at dusk there was a good chance of a mutton snapper.  Yeah, right – the only thing bigger than a fingerling I had ever seen in Rock Sound proper was a small shark.  Well, the line is in the water and the 4 of us are topside eating dinner when we get a hit.  Daggone if it isn’t a mutton fish!  With a small shark in hot pursuit!  As they get the fish closer to the boat (on a 8 lb. test leader) the shark decides that is HIS dinner and proceeds to bite off the tail!  Rob scoops up the fish while Chia handles the line and since he was now missing his tail he stayed right in the bucket!  Did I mention that Chia could fish?????    That shark was NOT happy!

We had a blast with them & like Pete & Jane we hope they can come for longer next season!  It was sad to see them leave.  While we were at the airport they said you guys don’t need to wait for the plane to take off, so we went back to the dink.  While we had been inside the wind had come up and we got soaked on the way back to the boat.  There was yet another front arriving!

That’s all for now.  I’ll try to complete my catch up with the next posting.

Later!

Pipe Creek

After the 5F’s we knew it was time to take on fuel & water so off to Staniel Cay we went.  I have written about Staniel before but as a refresher, it is where movies such as Thunderball with Sean Connery and Splash with Daryl Hannah were filmed.  Unfortunately Club Thunderball closed a few years back but Staniel Cay Yacht Club is doing quite well!  We decided to try a new anchorage right off of the beach by the yacht club.  The first 4 photos were taken from the boat.

The seawall says “Welcome to Staniel Cay” and the cottages are to the left of that and are available through the yacht club.  Pretty cool bulkhead huh? We went to the grocery at Isles General and The Blue Store but the pick in's were rather slim!  There was a front on the way and the supply boat was in for repairs and as Mr. Adderly  in Black Point said – the boaters came in like a pack of vultures!  Oh well.  Off to Big Majors Spot to see the pigs we went!

It is funny how over the years we have watched the pigs go from cute little piglets to 300 – 400 lbs. where they swim out to the dinghies and try to climb in for food and then they seem to disappear!  I know the locals will cull out any that become too aggressive but I do wonder where all the pork comes from for those “fund raisers” that Staniel always has???   Just kidding.  But there are a few trashed dinghies on the beach that have been shredded by cloven hooves!

 

Since there was a strong cold front coming, in all the boats were looking for a place to hide that had all around protection.  We decided to try Pipe Creek – a place we had never been before.  After consulting the chart book we decided to head by Little Pipe Cay.

As you can see it’s beautiful and as you imagine – it’s private.  That seaplane was close!  The lighthouse actually works as well!  We think the property owners on Little Pipe Cay must maintain it.  While it is not very tall it is quite picturesque at night.  One day Rob & I decided to explore by dinghy all of the surrounding cays.  They are mostly private but the folks are still friendly.  There were 2 important things we forgot.  The first was we left the camera on the boat and the second was that we did not check the amount of fuel in the dink!  Whoops!  Of course we were several miles from the boat and bucking an incoming tide but Rob was making good headway.  After a bit a tender from one of the mega yachts come by and asked if Rob was just getting exercise or would we like a tow!  Who says all the really wealthy  are unsociable with us regular folks!  They were very nice & chatty and got us back to Hampshire Rose in about 20 minutes.  It would have been after dark if Rob had rowed. 

While we watched the rough water outside of Pipe Creek, we were very comfortably tucked in.

When the front was over we knew we had a few days left before we needed to head over to Eleuthera for our guests Julie & Chia.  What to do…. Well still no supply boat but we were fine so we decided to go to Bitter Guana Cay, most of us call it Iggy Beach as it is a park and the iguanas are protected.

After we left Bitter Guana it was back to Black Point to say goodbye to folks and get ready to cross Exuma Sound to Eleuthera.  Crossing Exuma Sound is like being in the Atlantic.  The water is very deep and we had hopes of catching fish but no luck.

Oh well, that’s it for now.  Next will be “Fun With Julie & Chia!”

Later,

Holly & Rob

The 5 F’s

This is a bit late in being posted but we have been having way too much fun to get around to it!

The First Friday in February Farmers cay Festival is what it sounds like.  In addition to a festival it i s the islands “Homecoming”  as well as a race for the Class C sloops. 

Islanders from far & near who have family on the island come home for the weekend.  The supply boat Captain C is chartered from Nassau to leave on Thursday night & the party for those onboard starts then.  You can hear the boat as it approaches Little Farmers on Friday morning and in addition to the passengers it brings many class c sloops from Nassau, Andros and other places for the regatta.

As we had spent some time in Black Point I decided that “Smashie” (a Black Point entry) would be the boat I would follow to post in the blog so here goes…..

The boats are stored on land when not racing and as boat ramps are few & far between in the out islands this is how they are launched – shear muscle!

Our friends on Salty Turtle were asked to tow Smashie from Black Point to Little Farmers and the had the captain onboard as their guest for the weekend too.

Friday morning dawned clear, bright & with a great breeze for racing.  Rob & I decided to head to the Farmers Cay Yacht Club for our usual 5F’s breakfast….. whole fried fish for Rob & sheep’s tongue souse with grits for me.  I know some of you are saying sheep’s tongue!!! Yuck!  Well I thought that too until a few years ago when I tried it & it is wonderful! 

Now the Yacht Club is where the Captain C docks and we watched as the sloops were unloaded.  Then it was time for some practice before the Friday heats were held.

Smashie was looking…. well, smashing!  There were a total of 14 boats and the completion was fierce.

They start at a mark with the anchor and sail down.  When the race is started the anchor & sail go up and off they go around the designated course.  The course usually goes through the anchorage and while that makes for fantastic pics, it has also made for some damaged cruising boats too!

What you see in the photo is indeed a board that crewmembers sit out on as ballast.  One of the rules is that you must come back with the same number (and people!) as you left with.

What fun!  At the end of Friday’s races “Smashie” was in the lead!  With that it was off to the settlement for us and a visit with Terry Bain at Ocean Cabin.

Ocean Cabin is an institution  on Little Farmers & Terry is a local legend.  Rumor has it that he once worked for our State Department but who knows.  All I know is that every time we have been to Little Farmers he has been kind & gracious.

Little Farmers has the distinction of being wholly Bahamian owned!  It is what they call “Generation Land”.  The property cannot be sold outright but is passed from one generation to the next.  That explanation is a bit simplistic but I am sure you all get the drift.  Now back to the races.

Saturday is the big & final race day and again the weather was wonderful!

I wasn’t kidding, all the racers go through the anchorage!  These were taken from our boat!

WAIT!  What happened?????

While we did not see it happen, Smashie lost his mast!  It broke about 6 feet up.    On Friday they had problems getting their sail down after the last heat.  On Saturday morning they went to our friends on Barefootin and fixed a halyard by climbing Bobby’s mast.  There must have been a stress crack on the boom because in the very last heat it came down.  From first place to out of the running.  It was a shame.

As you can see this event has become very popular with the cruising crowd.  There were over 130 cruising boats there this year!  A far cry from the 10 or so our first time to the event.   The weather that held all the boats in Florida for so long was one reason there were so many I’m sure.

One of the MP’s – Member of Parliament even came by helicopter! 

Well, that is enough about the 5F’s.  Till next time when we are off to see the pigs at Big Majors and a first ever visit to Little Pipe Cay complete with a seaplane and a working lighthouse!

Later, Holly & Rob