Catching up

Windy weather forecast, we left Black Point and headed north to the safety of a small, secure anchorage area, Pipe Creek.  Beautiful.

The nearby island is private, owned by a sheik of some sort.  Talk about a compound!  Besides the mansion, there are several smaller buildings, yachts, 3 huge wind turbines, and beautiful landscaping.

With the winds mostly blocked, it was an ideal afternoon to run off to the leeward side of the island (the protected side from the wind) and have lunch at the Pipe Creek Yacht Club.

Built by cruisers from marine junk, it’s just a spot on the beach.  We did take our picnic lunches there and then posed for the obligatory picture.  Actually, Luke was supposed to be in this picture…he set the camera on a rock (that’s why we’re all looking down) and then thought it set the timer for  10 seconds.  Guess that part didn’t work…

Lead by “I know the way Mr. Win”, we tromped across the island towards the windward side (yes, you guessed it --- the windy side).   No one quite guessed how deep the mud was across a small “dry” creek.  This is NOT the deepest part of the mud by any means!  We were well above our ankles. The unsettling thoughts were "what am I really stepping on?" and "what do I do if it moves!!!!"

But we made it!  The rough Exuma Sound.

Beach treasures!

Luke found a small “hamburger” sea bean.  The sea beans are seeds from trees in Africa.  They cross the Atlantic, landing on the eastward facing shores.  The sea beans are rare enough – this large one is a “heart”.  But the small “hamburgers” are even more rare.  The center is supposed to be a hamburger in a bun.

Marion spotted this Passion Flower on our walk back.

Back at the boat, Smokey is just much more content to sit on the stern of the boat and contemplate the moving water.  She does love to watch it flow, especially if there are fish or moving bits of grasses in the water.  Didn’t think I’d get through a blog post without at least one picture of her, did you??!!

On Sunday we took the dinghies over to Sampson Cay Resort.  They bill themselves as a luxury resort, and it is very nice.  Well maintained, beautiful trails (we forgot the camera…). The dockage is expensive and generally used by the very large motor yachts. They also have GROCERIES.  This year has been strange, changing all of my well thought out schedule for grocery stores.  So, we took advantage of the small grocery section.  Actually, it satisfied all of my immediate requirements and most prices were typically Bahamian,  i.e. twice the US. But I was stunned at 3 of my purchases --- a 2 pound jar of spaghetti sauce   $18 (the liter of mango rum that I bought was the same price!).  A quart of half and half -- $10.  And those little $1 boxes of spaghetti noodles? $4  But I bought them anyway, plus a case of beer $65 (that’s standard).  Gas?  $6.20/gal

On Monday night we invited 4 other boats over for dinner…10 folks total.  It was fun.  Made a big pot of spaghetti, everyone brought something else, and we had a grand time.

On Tuesday we made a 30 minute dinghy ride to the “champagne pool”.  This water is in a protected area, shallow bank on one side and the ocean on the other side of a rocky wall.  The water sprays over the wall at high tide, creating a bubbling effect in the pool on the shallow side.

Of course, we had to trudge through more shallow mangrove waters to get there. At least these were sand and clear water, not mud.

I thought about getting in, but stopped short of the 15 foot deep pool.  So, I'm a wuss.  I love water but don't necessarily need to get into it...

Luke braved the somewhat “refreshing” water and enjoyed it.  That little blue snorkel in the mid/lower right is Luke's.

The water on the Exuma sound side was rough.

After our swim, we took the dinghies over to Compass Cay for burgers and fish sandwiches.

The owner of the island, Tucker, has his pet nurse sharks that wander the waters at the dock.  They are joined by a school of bonefish.

If you “go swimming with the sharks” you earn your tee shirt, proclaiming your bravery.  I tried…I really did.  But the damned sharks just stayed under the dock, in the shade (see that dark blob?).  The water was over my head, so I didn’t really want to waste getting all wet and not even swim with the sharks.

We hiked across the narrow island, past the chicken and rooster coop.

The Exuma Sound side was pretty; nice beach.

Marion and Greg's dinghy went AWOL last night, but fortunately (and very luck!) Luke and Greg located her this morning, about 2 miles from our anchorage, no worse for wear.
The incessant winds have finally begun to die down so we moved from our little secure anchorage in Pipe's Creek back to Staniel Cay, where we can buy internet!  En route we stopped by Sampson Cay again,  this time to fill the diesel, top off our dinghy gas, fill with water, and buy ice.  All the necessities of cruising.  The plan is to run across the Exuma Sound to Cat Island tomorrow based on the currently promised forecast of low winds in the right direction.  We shall see what tomorrow morning's forecast is!