April 2, 2010
Staniel Cay, Exumas
Bahamas

Well.....there's alot to tell....in such little time!
We arrived in Staniel Cay last evening after a glorious sail from Cat Cay....leaving about 0630 in the AM! 


The last I wrote....we were still in the Dominican Republic...sitting in a little restaurant/cafe and getting WIFI.  We lifted anchor around 0900......after Jim cleared our departure with the commandante after about 1 1/2 hours that morning.  In the DR....when you check out, you have to leave NOW!  They also want you to check in and out with them anytime you move your boat from one anchorage to the other....which we did.  But...there was a French couple that seemed to not understand the importance the DR puts on their rules and they may still be detained there trying to figure it all out!!!!
It was a beautiful sail....we knew we'd be sailing for three days or so, so we started our three hour watches right away.  We motorsailed until we were off the NE point of the DR ....and finally found some wind around 1800, 8-13K.  We ran out of wind again about midnight and had to motor thru the night.  We were back to sailing again by 0830 and caught a huge fish!!!  This is our biggest fish yet....so we measured it at 50"....a mahi mahi!  We ended up with three 1 Gallon Ziplocs of fillets from this beautiful fish.....still some in the freezer!  The remainder of the sail was great, except we were taking the swell and waves on the beam in pretty light winds, so we were rocking and rolling ALOT!  We were able to use the wind vane for steering and it worked beautifully....Monitor.  Really saves on the battery use during the long offshore trips.

Our destination was Great Inagua and we found the most beautiful anchorage here, anchored about 1300 on Thursday, 3/11/2010.  We hadn't heard of many people going to Great Inagua, so we didn't know what to expect.  On the back of our DR chart by Wavy Line, there is a small anchorage noted at Lantern Head Harbour on the SE corner of Great Inagua.  We entered thru the opening in the reefs that protect the anchorage.....and anchored in white sand, about 9' depth.....close enough to snorkel to a big coral head filled with fish and lobster!    We were the only boat there.  The following day we moved around to Matthew Town to clear Customs.  When we arrived at the government dock, by dinghy, there was a Haitian boat, filled with crew, loading old refrigerators onto their wooden sloop.  They left the harbour later that day, under sail, and headed to Haiti!  Just amazing....no electronics and hand steering!!
The check in with Customs was a breeze, very friendly Bahamian people.....once again.  When we got off the dinghy at the dock, the Immigration official was standing there and told us the woman waiting in the car would take us to Customs.  So....we hopped into this AC filled car and enjoyed a 4 minute ride to the airport!  We walked back toward the dock after checking in and another fellow stopped and gave us a ride to the grocery store!  When would this ever happen in the US?????? 
So....the following day we went back to Lantern Head Harbour to hang for a few days.  We went snorkeling and beachcombing....with great success!  Jim speared a huge lobster and we had 3 1/2 meals from that!!!  Not such a bad life out here, huh?  I also found a zillion sea beans and fishing floats on the beach.....and some unusual shells.  Again....the only boat in the anchorage the entire
time! 
On Tuesday we motorsailed in light wind around Great Inagua to the NW anchorage in Alfred Sound.  Another beautiful anchorage protected by a reef on the North end of the island.  The only problem is that it's really a rocky bottom and it took us 5 times to get the anchor to set......but we finally found some sand! St. Patrick's Day was the following day, so I hung out our Celtic flag for a few days!   We went walking on the beach on St. Paddy's Day....before I had my "green" beer.....and it was like a freakin' nature tour!!!    We saw a huge flock of pink flamingos!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Then I saw a huge hole in the sand....bigger than any crab hole I'd ever seen....and I saw something move inside of it.  So....I kept moving on....quickly.  On the walk back....I saw something fly away from the hole.....and saw a cute little owl perched on a limb nearby!  Then.....the other burrowing owl popped her head out of the nest in the beach and looked at me!!!  They were soooo cute!  Just when we thought the nature tour was over....a couple of oyster catchers came by and walked along the beach.  Great day!  My green beer ended up being a Presidente (from the DR) in a green bottle!!!
On Thursday....we left Alfred Sound and Great Inagua!  One of my most favorite islands so far!!!!  We sailed to Hogsty Reef....about 40 nm North of Great Inagua.  This is kind of a motu in the Atlantic.  A big circular reef/sandy beaches with a deep entrance on the West side.  There are two large wrecks here on the East side  .....kinda eerie, really.  We anchored in about 19', sandy bottom, but the wind and waves over the reef made it a bumpy anchorage.  But it was worth it to spend a day at a motu!!!!  We were able to walk the little beach/island, but it was a bit chilly to snorkel  .....plus there was a HUGE barracuda hovering under the boat.  I'd just shake my foot in the water and he'd appear!!!!!
The roll and waves got soooo bad the next evening that we knew we wouldn't be able to sleep, so we decided to leave the anchorage and head to Acklins Island.  It wasn't bad leaving the anchorage at night even though it was nearly a new moon.....but we had our "bread crumbs" to follow on the GPS from when we entered the anchorage....so we just followed those back out.  Had a great sail in about 15K and anchored in Sugar Bay on Acklins Island.....about another 40 miles....on 3/20/2010, Saturday. 
On Sunday we had a great sail over to Clarence Town on Long Island....passing a couple of freakin' freighters pretty close by!!!  In fact we were sooo close to the one from Monrovia that someone came out of the pilothouse and waved to us!!!  These are the first boats we've seen since leaving the DR!!!!  Not much traffic where we'd been!
                                                 
We love Clarence Town.....we'd been there on our first cruise out...on Jim's boat, ESMERAL.  The people are so friendly and it's a beautiful anchorage....again protected by reefs and rocks.
                                
We were able to get some WIFI and do laundry at the Flying Fish Marina.  We picked up a few provisions from the local grocer and found some fruit and veges from the market there.  The mailboat came in the day before we left and it's a pretty active dock at that time!


We left Clarence Town on 3/25/2010, Thursday....and sailed to Conception Island.
                                                             
The last time we were in Conception was about 5 years ago and the reefs were teeming with fish and lobster!  In fact, we got the biggest lobster ever on that visit!  So....off we went snorkeling on the reefs just North of the anchorage......and it was sooooo sad to see just a few fish and ruined/nearly dead reefs.  We circled the "coral head" and got back in the dinghy and went back to the boat.  Amazing the difference in the reefs from those few years.  We walked the beach and were able to see over the huge reef system and didn't see any color or life there. 
We took the dinghy up a little mangrove river on the island and saw alot of little turtles and sharks!
                                  So....all hope is not lost!

We left Conception on Sunday, 3/28/2010, to sail to Cat Island.  We'd never been to Cat before, so another new experience!  What a great island!!!  We rode out a front there.....initially anchored in New Bight, then moved South to near Whale Creek, protected from the South winds that were up to 28K by then!!!  There was only one other boat that joined us in the move....the remainder of the boats anchored in New Bight rode it out and were bucking up and down all night and day!!!!  We had the wind on the South end, but no waves.....so I walked the beach and found some more beautiful oyster catchers walking along in front of me.  That evening....we had dinner and watched a movie....then decided to move back to the North end of the anchorage....about 5nm, to be protected from the wind as it was shifting to the WNW.  So.....off we went and anchored in about 8', sandy bottom and slept soundly.  The next day the wind clocked more to the North and we were able to move back to New Bight.  We met some great people here......the first real socializing we've done since Martinique!!!  A couple from NC on "SeaVeyor" invited us and two other couples over for "sundowners"....."Blue Blazes" and "Anastasia".  We went over two nights and had alot of laughs and a few drinks.  Really nice people that you meet briefly and hope to see again!  We all took a hike one day to Father Jerome's retirement home on the highest hill in the Bahamas.  We had lunch at a local restaurant....but only had burgers and fries....so I had a great meal of fries.....with a beer, Kalik, of course!
Jim and I walked to the local grocery store for a few supplies and were given a ride back to the dinghy dock by a woman in the store!  Once again.....when would this happen in the US?????
We said our good-byes on the last day of March and headed out for the Exumas yesterday, April Fool's Day! 
The winds were fluky at the outset of the trip.....but filled in and were light, so we were able to fly the cruising spinnaker!  Then it really filled in and became more Northerly....so we dropped the chute and put back up the main and jib.  Sailed close to the inlet and started the engine...after about 56 miles of sailing....entering the cut with the main up.  It was a great sail!
We anchored behind Thunderball Grotto at 1745 and watched a beautiful sunset over the Exuma Bank.
                                                                            
Happy Easter to all! 
Easter time is a time for eggs.....and a time for eggs is Easter Time!
Bye for now.....
Love, Ann