Marsh Harbour April 4 2007

Yes, Dana and Larry Darien arrived in Marsh Harbour as expected on March 16 with a dramatic sailing experience. After a harried trip through Denver's airport having to pack and repack bags that were too heavy and rushing to make their flight, the Marsh Harbour flight was its usual hour late arriving at 8:20 p.m. as the skies were breaking loose with thunder and lightning. We dinghied four heavy bags and people to our nearby--thankfully--boat. A squall came through at about 1:30 a.m. sending all hands on deck for a couple of tense hours. The rain was pouring; the wind was blowing; Captain Mike was trying to take up some anchor rode when the anchor broke loose. However, being the good sailor he is, Mike was able to sail the boat slowly until he could get the anchor down again expertly avoiding the nearby boats in the crowded anchorage. My expensive foulies paid off handsomely in the cold chill early morning rainstorm. (This is a little thick--m.)

Unfortunately, the weather remained rather chilly and somewhat windy so none of us got to snorkel as much as we would have liked. However, we found some excellent restaurants and bars and did some fine sailing. Great Guana Cay, the home of Nippers beach bar, was the site of a Sunday pig roast. Then we sailed through the Whale to Green Turtle Cay where we remained several days because of the weather. Black Sound's settlement, New Plymouth, was a small but enjoyable town with friendly people. In White Sound, the Jolly Roger Bistro was our favorite place. Larry and Mike found a huge lobster in one of the snorkeling adventures, but he was not about to be caught. Hope Town, home of the famous lighthouse, was great fun--expecially the good times at Cap'n Jack's and Harbor's Edge restaurants/bars. We met friends of our next visitors, Pete and Amy. Pete runs the Cruisers' Web on Sundays and Mondays, something we enjoy greatly every morning at 8:15 a.m. Larry fished faithfully and caught a beautiful little squirrel fish not once, but three times at Matt Lowe's Cay. Of course, we threw him back. Wild nights of games of Wizard and Phase Ten kept us going. We were sad when the 31st came and still no really good snorkeling. We bid adieu to our good friends till the next time. (Of course, the days have been perfect since!!!) Mike even caught a fish yesterday albeit very small as we sailed to Treasure Cay to hide out during a westerly cold front.

Royal Island, Spanish Wells, Harbor Island—March 3-11

It was a long trip from Governor’s Harbor to Royal Island. We knew there was little wind and we would have to motor-sail, but we thought it was worth it. Fortunately, we left early, about 7:30 a.m. and arrived at a tricky cut, Current Cut, just around slack tide, 1:30 p.m. This was important because we needed to get through this narrow cut before the tide changed as it’s very strong. Mike skillfully maneuvered us through the cut at just the right moment—phew! We arrived at the charming anchorage of Royal Island around 3 p.m. Royal Island has recently been bought by a private company to be developed into a resort. Cruisers are not permitted on land, although they can anchor there. It’s an especially good anchorage because boats are protected from the wind in all directions, an unusual much-sought after situation. While there, four boats from Nova Scotia joined us along with several others. The Canadian group was a lot of fun and invited us for fresh seafood chowder on Saturday night. Jan, on Te Amore, had gone out with 15-year-old Carley, who was sailing with her parents, to harvest lobsters and fish with their spear guns. On their return, several fruitful hours later, we offered our frozen catch from a few days earlier, but Jan wanted only her freshest seafood for the chowder. Instead we brought hors d’oeuvres. With ten of us in the cockpit of their 47 foot ketch, there were a lot of mouths to feed. Jan and her husband Cameron have been sailing for a number of years. They served on the Ship of Hope in Africa, having to pay for the privilege of doing so, working with Africans in need of medical care. Jan and Cam also play large African drums which they played in the anchorage but also will use in Marsh Harbour with a Rake-and-Scrape band there. Rake-and-scrape is a kind of Bahamian music made from raw materials such as a saw, a board, etc. Apparently it’s pretty good. I haven’t heard it yet, but I hope to soon.

After listening to our weather guru, Chris Parker, which we do faithfully every morning at 6:30 a.m.—one of cruel twists of fate not allowing us to sleep in now that we’re retired—we could see that we had a few days at least before the weather would permit a crossing from Eleuthera to the Abacos, so we decided to take the hour trip to Spanish Wells, pick up a mooring and explore. On Monday, we did just that having the good fortune to park next to our “old” friends, Margie and Ron Rogers on Amarige. Spanish Wells was settled by the Eleuthera Adventurers, English Puritans seeking religious freedom. They shipwrecked nearby in 1648 and founded this charming, quaint town. It is a very clean town with brightly painted cottages. It is much larger than the other towns we’ve visited so far with about 1500 residents. Most of the boys leave school at age 14 to become lobster fishermen, earning very good salaries.

We joined our friends, Margie and Ron, Tuesday for a ferry trip to nearby Harbour Island, a posh resort known for its pink sand. What an enjoyable change of pace. Harbour Island is very picturesque with many upscale shops and restaurants—truly a tourist haven. We walked the pink sand on the Atlantic Ocean past several expensive-looking beach homes and lodgings. The one-hour ferry trip gave us views of the sparkling turquoise water from its top deck. After walking the entire island for six hours, we were ready to return to our quiet mooring. Because the weather was still less than encouraging, we stayed a few more days in Spanish Wells. On Friday, we moved back to Royal Island in hopes that the weather would soon change. By Sunday, it looked like the weather window we’d been eyeballing for Tuesday, was dissipating, that maybe we should try for Monday in marginal, but not unacceptable conditions.

Sunday morning brought in an influx of sailboats with similar thoughts. One group mentioned that if we could go ashore, we could have a get-together that evening. However, since that wasn’t viable, everyone ended up on our boat for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres—about 20 people. Everyone in the cruising community seems to really enjoy meeting other cruisers—we’re no exception.

The following morning, knowing that the wind was blowing about 20 knots and the seas would be 6 feet 8 seconds apart, about 6 of us took off at 7 a.m. for the Abacos. We’re glad we did, even though it was a bit of a rough ride. The weather window was closing down with no good future opportunity in sight. Our friends the Dariens are due here Friday, so we are ready to meet them.

Eleuthera

The following morning we sailed on to Arthur’s Town at the end of Cat Island to jump off to Eleuthera the following day. We covered 60 miles on Wednesday anchoring at Rock Sound at 5 p.m. The day started out as a pretty good day, but at 2:30 it became squally with lots of wind and choppy seas. We were glad when we got anchored.

Rock Sound is one of our favorite places. The people were very warm and welcoming. As we walked along the road looking for a restaurant, a group of schoolgirls outside for recess, waved and yelled, "Welcome to the Bahamas! We hope you like it here." Later on, we were invited by a new bunch of cruisers to join them for dinner at Rosie’s, a beach bar on the Atlantic side of the island. Rosie’s son would come by van to pick us all up at 2; then we would comb the beach and wait for dinner to be prepared for us by 5 pm. It worked very well. Even Rosie’s dog, Teddy, who faithfully guarded the front door, welcomed guests. The meal was a typical Bahamian meal: cracked conch, deep-fried grouper and lobster, barbecued chicken, cole slaw, peas and rice, and potato salad. The only missing item was macaroni and cheese, a staple we’ve found wherever we eat. We did not order any of this; Rosie just prepares the meal for a flat price of $15 each and serves it family style. (Incidentally, Bahamian dollars and American dollars are used interchangeably.)

We haven’t talked much about the Bahamian food we’ve had, but one of our favorites is conch salad, a dish similar to ceviche only with conch instead of fish along with very hot little peppers and chopped tomato bathed in the juice of a lime and an orange. Very tasty, but very hard for us to prepare because we have yet to find a conch nor even begin to remove it from the shell, quite a feat we’ve been told.

As we were anxious to work our way to Marsh Harbour, knowing there might be weather delays, we set out the next morning for the next town, Governor’s Harbour. Of course, we took an hour to visit the unusually well-stocked grocery and hardware store in Rock Sound. Unfortunately, the wind was very light, so we motor-sailed arriving around 3 p.m. A walk around the picturesque town with its Victorian houses—the first of that kind we’ve seen—confirmed our feelings about Rock Sound. The next morning we decided to keep moving and headed for Royal Island from which point we could jump over to the Abacos when the weather was right.

North to the Abacos—Cat Island

We left George Town on the Feb. 24^th having enjoyed spending time with a former computer fellow who enriched us greatly not only with his brilliance, but with lots of sailing computer programs and movies and receiving a much-treasured conch shell from another friend for use as a horn. It’s tradition in the Bahama anchorages to blow the conch horn at sunset. Every evening those who have them blow a deep resonant sound that takes a little practice to master. Mike’s getting pretty good by now.

We spent the next two days in a fancy new marina as the weather was predicted to be bad yet we still wanted to get a little north since we need to be in Marsh Harbor—some 160
miles away—by March 16. Although that sounds like a lot of time, with weather being a little iffy, one never knows that one can sail. We enjoyed the company of some new friends from Punta Gorda in Emerald Bay Marina. We also visited the Grand Isles Resort, included in the marina fee, for swimming in a luxurious setting. Although it was too windy to sail, the day at the pool was fabulous.

On Monday, February 26, we left for Cat Island, 30 miles across the Exuma Sound, very deep water. The sailing was wonderful, but we really enjoyed catching a huge, 50”, 30 pound, dorado (mahi-mahi). Mike worked for 1 ¾ hours landing that fish. At the very last moment, the rod and reel broke; Mike was able to pull the fish up into the boat flopping its heart out. But, alas! Not for long. We got 8 good sized fillets and some wonderful sashimi out of that fish. He was a beauty!! A bit of costly catch as well, since we now will have to get a new rod and reel.

We anchored at New Bight, a small town famous for The Hermitage, a miniature replica of a European Franciscan monastery built by hand by Father Jerome, known for the churches damaged by hurricanes he was sent to restore in the Bahamas. It is situated on the highest peak—207’ above sea level—in the Bahamas, Mount Alvernia. Father Jerome used hurricane-proof stonework with thick walls and barrel-vaulted roofs. Leading up to the Hermitage he also constructed the Stations of the Cross. We were very impressed at the hard work that must have gone into this building.

George Town Feb. 9-23,2007

George Town is quite the place for the cruising community. When we arrived, the number of boats in Elizabeth Harbour was 279. ( I’m using the British spellings as the Bahamas are British and spell their words as the British do.) Elizabeth Harbour is a long wide beautiful harbor with several main beaches: Hamburger Beach, Monument Beach, Volleyball Beach and Sand Dollar Beach. You can see the influence of the cruisers with these names. The hub of activity for the cruisers is on Volleyball Beach. Every morning at 8 a.m. on the VHF Radio, one of the cruisers broadcasts announcements for cruisers. Most people monitor this so that they know what’s happening. There are announcements as well from the George Town businesses. Currently the cruisers are preparing for the big cruising regatta to take place February 27 and 28. There will be a pirate contest, volleyball, tennis, golf and bridge tournaments plus assorted activities for the kids. Yes, the kids. There are many of them sailing with their families ranging from ages 5 to 18. The parents are home schooling their children and find that very rewarding—although apparently some of the teenagers do not!

There is a lot of dinghy activity here. Most people park their boats and use their dinghy to get back and forth to town, to others’ boats or to activities on the beaches. What is amazing to me is that most couples stand up in their dinghies for the 1-2 mile ride. Apparently it makes the dinghy more stable and allows more speed.

In the evening we often get together with new friends we’ve met for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres or an occasional dinner on board someone’s boat. Most of the cruisers are professionals—engineers, professors, etc. Some others we’ve met are carpenters, fish industry workers and one was a steeplejack. Most are very friendly.