Still in Georgetown

We've had a fun time here, but nothing really of note to take pictures of.  Lots of "sundowners" and dinners with old friends, meeting new friends.  On 2 separate days we've been boat-bound by high winds.  Today is one of those.  Yesterday we spent most of the day in a weather seminar by Chris Parker, the offical Caribbean Weather Guru.  It was a good seminar, very informative and entertaining.
Regatta starts tomorrow (Monday, March 1).  Should be fun!
Today's shell is one of my favorites, found on Rum Cay.  It's a King Helmet, about 8 inches long.  The shell has an highly polished coffee colored triangular body shield and upper lip, with white "teeth".  The king helmet always has 11 teeth. It lives in shallow eel grass and coral all the way to 8 fathoms.  Found in S.E. FL and the West Indies to Venezuela.

   

back in Georgetown

No pictures today, just a quick update.  We are back in Georgetown for a few days, maybe a week, based on the rapid cold fronts coming through every few days.  I'm trying to catch up today, multiplexing laundry, gas/diesel, water tanks, internet, provisions, etc, while luke is trying to fix our wayward chartplotter.  I'll send another e-mail later, in a couple of days.
Hope everyone is staying warm!!!

Conception Island, the Green Flash, the Southern Cross, & Shell 101

Conception Island is an uninhabited island, part of the Bahamas National Trust Land Sea Park system. On top of the protection that the Park system gives it, Conception is a little more difficult to reach than most islands in the Bahamas. There is only 1 anchorage and you can’t stay there if the winds are from the west or are strong. So, it limits the number of cruisers that make the effort to go. There were only 8 boats there during our visit.


We followed the yellow foam road (cruisers will use anything to mark a trail…) over the island to the southern beach.

The usual beautiful pristine beach, but note that wall on the far end.

Yes, you have to climb it to reach the further end of the beach. There is a rope that someone has left there for that purpose.

The beach beyond the rocks is small, with a little cave carved out.

Next day, we took our dinghy along with 2 fellow cruiser boats to the interior of the island. It’s basically a little mangrove area, with a natural channel that is cut into it by tidal current. The trick is to hit the entrance about an hour before high tide (so you’ll have enough water to get over the coral reef at the entrance). From there, you turn off the dinghy engine and let the current gently take you through the mangroves.

Once in, we found pockets of fish hiding in the edges of the mangrove roots.

With not so patient barracudas waiting just outside the edges of the mangrove roots.

Lots of sharks, too, mostly small 3 foot ones. There were at least 3 much larger ones that roamed the anchorage, waiting for fishing leftovers, I guess. Also in the shallow water were turtles. Slowly making their way just below the surface of the shallow water. That is, slowly until they raised their heads for air and spotted us. You can’t believe their speed – Luke estimated their getaways at around 20 knots. Like little torpedoes.

We had to be out of the grove shortly after high tide, again to get over the reefs at the entrance. So, we went along with friends Cathy & Don on a 5 mile dinghy ride (smooth water, comparitively) around to the Atlantic side of the island. This side has no land between it and England or Africa. It’s littered with trash like these remains of a boat. I was told it’s a Haitian fishing boat.

We walked for a couple of miles on the beach. See that cliff at the far right corner? That’s where our dinghies are...

We went over the brush covered hills to yet another beach.

We did beachcombing, of course. Here are Don and I looking for fishing floats. Turns out Luke is the one who found a new metal one!

The green flash!!! We definitely saw the full thing!!! About 18 cruisers were gathered on the beach for Sundowners and a bonfire. As the sun slowly set over the extremely clear western sky, the very tiny round end of the sun turned a definite bright green and then that green expanded for a second on both sides. The green flash! Most of us saw it and no, we were only on our first beers.

The island is low, and with no civilization, the night is very dark. By 2:30 a.m., the moon had set and the sky was black with more stars than I’ve ever seen. The best part is that the stars go all the way to the horizon – no mountains like at home or land masses to block them. It gave me the sudden feeling of the earth being round. Yeah, I know, sounds silly, but the blanket of stars seemed to just envelope and roll around the earth and horizon. THEN, Luke spotted the Southern Cross constellation! I don’t recognize anything much except the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt, but this was just as easy to see. It was just above the southern horizon, a cross or diamond of 4 stars, with the southern tip of the constellation almost touching the earth. What a great evening and night treat!!!

I’m going to start trying a little Shell 101 with this blog. I’ll show you some of the shells we’ve found, plus a bit about them. The first is the largest shell we’ve found (except some conchs), a Trumpet Triton, sometimes call a Corn of Abundance. This tattered one is about 10 inches long. They can get as long as 18 inches. Found in S.E. FL, the West Indies, and Venezuela, the shell is usually brown with the dark spiral whorls. Note the dark brown “teeth” around the opening. They live under rocky outcrops near shore to depths of 20 fathoms on soft sand.

And here is what a perfect specimen looks like…

Oct. 12, 1492...

Columbus, sailing the ocean blue, landed here, October 12, 1492 at approximately 2 AM. Several other Bahamian out islands claim first landing. In fact, historically,  the name San Salvador has been applied to other islands such as Cat island. The present San Salvador, however, is the only one where artifacts tied into Columbus' journey were found - according to historians.

After staying a day and a half to reprovision, he left for Rum Cay, also taking along 6 Luycan indians to prove to his Spanish sponsors that at he had found a new world and a new source of slaves... nice guy...

We, howevever, on Feb. 15, 2010, landed on a slightly different world

Here we are, sitting in the small harbor of the Riding Rock Marina, the only one in San Salvador. A few 100 yards off the harbor entrance, the water is a few 1000 ft deep, and depending on the wind, Atlantic swells get into the harbor. Our first location in the harbor was behind Faring, Ken and Heather's catamaran. The Latitudes pushed and pulled, straining her mooring lines, collapsing her fenders with the swell so much that we requested and moved to the four point docking arangement on the other side of the basin.

It's 35 miles from Rum Cay to San Salvador. Before we left Rum Cay, friends Cathy & Howie & we set out on a hunt to find NASCAR at Daytona on Sunday.  It took a couple of tries but the four of us ended up back at Kays for most of the race.  She was the only place in town that could get FOX.  Yeah, Kay!!!

The trip from Rum to San Salvador was not a bad trip, west into the Atlantic.  We saw ships this trip, as the Crooked Island Passage past San Salvador is busy with ship traffic.  This ocean going tug was pulling the largest barge we've ever seen. It's the size of a regular cargo ship.  It's actually a low cost, fewer safety regulations version of a container ship. That's one loooong tow line.

Yesterday we took a walk through town after arriving.  San Salvador is a more populated island than many we've seen lately, about 1100 people.  About 300 work at the Club Med here. In the 50's & 60's the island had both US Navy bases and a Coast Guard base.  They were a tremendous boom to the island. Now, the Navy base is a private enterprise and the Coast Guard base has been turned into the island high school.  Most of the folks now live on the protected leeward (away from the wind) side of the island.  There is one gas station on the island.  He has his "building" and 2 pumps.  Diesel is $4.50/gallon.

Next we found the Christopher Columbus museum.  This set of buildings was supposed to house artifacts, Luycan relics, etc.  Unfortunately, the buildings are empty and falling down.

We rented a car with Heather & Ken today and "did" the island--- one long road around the entire island.  Can't get lost (good thing!!)

We walked a deserted beach on the Atlantic side.  A lot of trash but sadly, no shells.  None.  They must get completely destroyed by the ocean before they hit the beach.  We did see this big guy - he seemed stunned to see us, uncertain of where to run to hide.  Very large, about 8 inches across.

Next, to the wonderful lighthouse.  This is one of 3 lighthouses in the Bahamas that are still manually run.  Amazing! 

                          

The gracefully tapered 72 foot high light house was built by the British in in 1887, complete with extra glass panes that have never been used.

It is a living technology history that appears to be virtually unhanged for the last 123 years!



We met with lighthouse keeper Lightfoot who gave us a great tour and explained that the turning mechanism that makes the light go around must be rewound every 2 hours during dark.  Great job, huh!  But it beats being a policeman in Nassau - that's what Lightfoot did before he was shot on the job.  He likes his last 22 years of being a lighthouse keeper a LOT better!

                                          

He's standing by two kerosene containers (top) that are pressurized from the manually pumped up air tanks beneath them to provide high pressure kerosene to the kerosene vapor burning mantle that is the light source. The mantle, seen atop the pipe like structure below, is about double the size of a Colemen Lantern mantle, needs to be replaced about one per week, and, with the help to the awsome Fresnel lense, generates enough light for a nineteen mile beam.

The lense is truely amazing. We've clambered through quite a few light houses in the past 2 years, but none have been as special as this.

Looking up through the man sized access hole at the base of the lense, you can see two bulls eye lenses close together, on each side of the massive lense (about 6 ft tall). The whole lense is not symetrical, like all the others we've seen, but rather clam shaped, with the two bulls eye lenses on each side. As the lense turns, this produces a double beam, perceived as 2 quick flashes, from each side of the lense, ten seconds appart, identifying the beacon for ships at sea. 

The whole massive glass lense assembly floats on Mercury! This liquid metal provides a low friction bearing. Once in a while, the lense is jacked up, and the Mercury cleaned out. We asked about safety precautions -- "yes, of course ----".

The whole thing turns with a clockwork mechanism, driven by a weight that is pulled up to the base of the lense platform.

                             

As mentioned before, the windward side of the island has several desterted settlements.  After the salt pond business died out, folks moved to the more protected leeward side.  The windward side doesn't even have electrical poles.

On our way back towards the marina, we had a couple of bird sightings.  First, a flock of stilts, sitting in a salt pond.  We startled them  - they were beautiful in flight.

We were also able to finally identify the little hawk type birds that we've seen here and in Rum Cay - Kestrels.  Very small, cute, and certainly not afraid of us.  We see them everywhere.

Back to the leeward side and the offical site of Columbus' first landing.

It IS pretty amazing to realize that you are standing where he may have actually landed 500 years ago.  I never thought, in my American Histrory classes, that I'd ever be here.  I'm so lucky.

We've dropped off the car and retired back to the boat for the night.  Unless the weather forecast changes, we'll leave tomorrow (Wednesday) to return to Rum Cay. We will be only using that as a stopping place, not going into the marina, but anchoring out (i.e. -- no internet). Next for a couple of days would be Conception Island, an unpopulated island that has protected sea and wild life.  Then back to either Long Island or Georgetown for mostly water and to hopefully meet friends Dee & Dave from our travels last year.  Maybe  another boat we know, too, for a hopeful jaunt back down the Jumentos.  But...sailing plans are the most subject to change!

Exploring Rum Cay

We walked into town yesterday - a nice beach walk.  Take a look at this view from the government pier --- doesn't it just look like one of those ads about visiting paradise???

Here's the little shack welcoming you to Rum Cay - I love the slogan.

It's true, though.  This is one of the cleanest islands we've seen.  Almost no litter, no trash in the water, less garbage like broken stuff around the houses than we've seen elsewhere. They even have trash cans on the street.  Here is the little cemetery, all neatly raked.

The island itself seems more lush than some of the bleak ones, especially the Jumentos.  That bush that you can barely see in the picture, the one with the white spots --- that is  from the cotton plants that the loyalists tried when they were settled here.  Rum Cay actually used to grow pineapples and export them.

                                     

Back at the marina --- here is a shot of the docks at the small marina.

                         

The marina also maintains 4 little cottages for visitors.  Cute, huh?  For $10 per day per boat, you can take showers in them!!! (Yes, we did, once, to conserve our drinking water)

                           

The marina has an excellent wiew of the western horizon, for spectacular sunsets. The evening before this, we both actually saw the green flash - actually more like a green wink, instantly after the sun went under the clear horizon. We anticipated it might happen, as there was a lot of diffraction at the horizon - the sun looked like Packman with a littel skirt, as if sizzled into the see. And, indeed, the often discussed, rarely seen green blush flared briefly just after it went down.

                     

     

Next day, after lunch we took the dinghy and explored the beaches on the leeward side of the island (the side NOT against the Atlantic).  This picture gives you a good idea of the coral reefs in the water.  All of those dark spots are coral reefs and have to be gone around, even in the dinghy.  Lots of fish and beautiful coral.  Wish I had underwater pictures of them.

                                     

The dockmaster here, Rasti, is a Rastaman, see the link.  He claims to be of the one of the 12 tribes that DO drink, but are known as hard workers, honest men, and someone whose word you can always depend on.  He is also an artist, making candle holders out of brain coral.  He has some in art stores in Miami, but makes the items here and sells them very reasonably.  Here's the one I bought.

                                 

And here is Rasti.  That hair goes to his hips when let down. Says he hasn't cut it in 25 years. I thought it would be hot and oily, but actually it is light as a feather, feels like a soft roll of light cotton.  Funny, though, he also said that he hasn't cut the beard either - it just doesn't grow.

                               

Today, Friday, we took the dinghy to the other side of the island, the western side.  A little more rugged than before, but beautiful.  Again, a pinball game getting between the coral reefs.  That dot on the shore (in the middle) is out dinghy.

                     

Tonight the local restaurant is having a cruisers potluck.  The cruisers all bring food, she provides a couple of Bahamian dishes, and we buy our beer/wine/sodas from here.  Not a bad arrangement.  We've seen it before, especially in the outer islands.

Saturday morning, 5a.m.ish, a large cold front comes through, bringing high winds (35 knots sustained) and gusts to 50.  A little rain, mostly wind.  That's why we and the other 8 boats are here in the marina.  It'll be a good day to get things done in the boat (like cleaning!)

Rum Cay

Latitude 23deg37.12min N; Longtitude 74deg51.50 W
Eastward to Rum Cay! http://www.rumcay.net/  (don't believe everything you read, like the new runway or many of the restaurants...just read this for the history).
We knew Heather & Ken would be going there too, but it turned out that 8 boats traveled the 45 miles from Georgetown to Rum Cay on Monday. We had 5 to 10 kts of wind, close hauled to too close, motor sailing all the way at 7 to 7.5 kts. We passed the northern tip of Long Island, Cape Santa Maria, with the monument commemorating the landfall of Christopher Colombus, and into the adverse Antillies current, about .75 kts against us for the next 25 miles.

We are not any further south than Georgetown,but definitely further east . The waters from GT to Rum are the Atlantic Ocean – 5000+ feet deep. We made it in 8 hours. On our approach to Rum, we saw the most magnificent Atlantic swells, stately and 12-13 seconds appart. Sitting in the cockpit, we would occasionally loose the horizon to a wave crest. The water near shore is shallow, therefore that nice light aqua blue. The waves, however, are still pretty significant on the shore. Here is a picture of the light blue waves, rolling along the long shoreline of Rum Cay. Wish we had a video to show you – it was impressive!

The entrance to the tiny marina is lined with coral heads on both sides, plus shallow water. To help the sailors, the dock master Rastie goes out in his little boat and guides each sailboat into the harbor. It was very reassuring.

The marina is small – 9 boats, and it’s full. Cute and colorful, though. I’ll get some pictures tomorrow.  Here's the webpage http://www.rumcaymarina.com/

Lots of sharks in the marina waters - bull heads, sand sharks, and nurse sharks.  They like the scraps from the one fishing boat here.  You do NOT want to fall into the water here...

Its several miles across the island, so we rented a golf cart with Heather & Ken for the day. First discovery, a cartoon-like machine beside a building. Looks like a one man sub…

Downtown ---- only 80 folks or so on the island.

There is a church, of course, very well kept up and colorful.

The Loyalists got this far, too. The island boasts several ruins.  I think I know why they left --- the no-see'ums here are horrible.  Never seen them so bad.  They are vicious.

We took the golf cart down the semi paved road, onto a dirt road, about the width of the golf cart.

This lead to the other side of the island (about 5 miles) and the beautiful Atlantic. There are coral reefs outside off the shore, with waves constantly breaking on them.

At one end of the beach, the Atlantic swells really pound some large rocks.

Walking the mile long beach with Heather and Ken, and their doggies

We’re lovin’ it. Getting bronzed despite the sunscreen and definitely loving the warm sunny days.

After our long beach walk, we took the cart to the abandoned efforts to build a luxury condominium complex on the island. It didn’t get far, but it did get far enough for the developer to destroy a big chunk of the island. Of course, they just left it with no efforts to do anything about the damage.  This disgusting ad/webpage is still in the guidebooks and on the web.  Talk about advertising fraud!  http://www.rumcay.com/

Back down little deserted dirt roads, and the golf cart decided to stop, a mile from "civilization". Fortunately, Ken and Luke were able to get it started again (tired starter solenoid). That’s Ken’s dog Bantam helping out.

We came back to play dominos at the bar with Heather,Ken, Nancy, and Richard, waiting for dinner. Played dominos lately? It’s more challenging that you think – and a lot of fun!  But Luke always wins... always... He's VERY good at the game!

I got the great feed back from a reader, Carmen, who did research on our German patented, French directional float.  She says "the German directional float was patented in 1962 by Beon Le Roger Francois Marie. They describe it as a float for a fishing net. I tried to look up the other one you found but could not find anything. It looks like a woman invented the other one and was a geologist."  Wow - thanks, Carmen!!!