Lucaya to Highborne Cay, Exumas

This will be a fairly long blog. I’ve kept a draft blog as we travel, since we don’t have internet for several days, with no real idea of when we’ll get it back. So, we’ll start on Saturday, Feb. 7, and go from there. If you don't want to read through all of this, at least look about 1/2 way down at the picture of the manatees :-)
We left the “big city” of Lucaya early, 6:30-ish, on Saturday morning. This is the last of the high rises for a while.

This is early morning, just leaving the Lucaya inlet. It looks calm, doesn’t it?

It wasn’t…. this was one of the worst sails we’ve had. The wind picked up, started out 10-15 kts apparent – all sails up, (for the sailors, close reach) then 15 to 20 – think about reefing, then into 20-25 –reef the main, then occasionally 25 – 30 - reef the main some more. Waves were higher than we’d like, the ocean swells were rolling, and we’re into them at about 45 degrees. There was not any danger, just a miserable 10 hour sail (yes, we could at least sail - 7 to 8 kts at times), with the boat heeled over 20-30 degrees the whole time. No one liked it. We got the occasional “wash down” with salt water – kinda like going through a salt water car wash for a second – glad to have a complete enclosure around the cockpit. We were happy to get to the Berry Islands, to Bullocks Harbor at Great Harbor Cay.

We anchored in the most beautiful water, aqua green and clear. We can see the bottom of the ocean, 12 feet below, from our cockpit. It was really strange to watch the anchor actually hit the bottom and then watch the chain payout for 100 feet. Just before dark, a fishing boat arrived.

We are anchored just outside of the government dock at the settlement of Bullocks Harbor. The harbor entrance to the marina is on the other side of our anchorage.
After recuperating for a day and just enjoying the beautiful scenery, we decided to take the day Monday and explore. First, we got the dinghy down –our first dingy ride in the Bahamas! Yes, that’s Luke decked out in his sun hat!

The shore here is interesting, definitely coral. It’s cut out from the tidal range.

We’re off to a beautiful beach, the only one in the area. We HAD to go explore it. It was an easy dinghy ride over to the shallow waters of the beach. Our own paradise ---- no footprints on this little bit of tropical heaven but our own!

I did some shelling, loving my trudge in the warm water. Here are my 2 favorite shells, a perfect conch and a larger, broken one that shows the inside of the shell.

Luke explored the island and found a great place to sit and be a Beach Mon.

After our beach combing, we went over to the marina area, where 2 boats that are loosely traveling with us are staying. I love the little welcome sign. And look at that entrance --- it’s very narrow 80 ft wide, 8 ft deep. OK for us, but definitely one of the more narrow entrances we’ve ever had.

The marina is cute with a few small condos, brightly painted slips, and one motor yacht that’s so darn large we have no idea how it got into the marina, much less into her slip…. And how’s she going to get out? That’s going to be some tricky maneuvering.
We had a nice time in Bullocks Harbor. Town is about 2 miles away, so we decided to take the walk. We got as far as the condos and a nice guy from FL picked us up, took us to the local grocery store, and back to the marina. Prices aren’t awful, but are sort of “convenience store” priced. No fresh veggies, though, except bananas and potatoes. And no bread. BUT --- the caretaker at the marina has a wife who bakes bread to sell to the tourists. We’ve got a couple of wheat loaves on order, to be picked up fresh on Wednesday. (he came through! yum!)
After our town adventure, we visited with our friends Deb & Laurence plus the folks from another boat, Craig and Jane. All Canadians… eh?

On Tuesday, I discovered the little problem of bringing in fresh seashells. I put a group of the smallest ones in a bowl behind our settee. In the morning, I discovered something that looked vaguely like snail tracks on the sofa…. Yulp, one little guy was missing. We found him on the window curtain. He’s back in the ocean now.

Tuesday afternoon we met Deb and Laurence and Jane and Craig (and their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson) back on the beach. It was beautiful – shorts!!! We did lots of beach combing, sunning, and just enjoying ourselves in the warm weather and beautiful beach.

We saw the most wonderful starfish – he was at least 12 inches across, probably more.

Laurence discovered a crab stranded near a small tidal pool during low tide. This is one big crab, about 6-7 inches across. As soon as Laurence put him back into the tidal pool, he began pushing water out through his mouth, circulating water. Luke thinks it's a "Mitten" crab, an invasive species -- haven't found him in the local marine life guide books.

We all gathered at our boat for drinks and snacks until sundown.
Remember the fishing boat? There are 3 now out here now. They fish for anything; red snapper, lobster, conch, etc. A small boat of the fishermen came by our boat this afternoon, selling fresh conch. Well, we “bit” and bought 3 of them, but only after they offered to “get" the conch for us and “skin” it. They deftly knocked a hole in the conch shell, extracted the conch, skinned it (yuck) washed it, the skinner ate one stringy translucent thinghy from each conch as he was cleaning it, and gave us 3 cleaned conchs in a plastic bag. Much bigger than I anticipated. I took the shells, too, as they are beautiful. Not sure where I’ll put them, but that is tomorrow’s problem. Then I got cooking directions, including the most important step, “bruising” the conch. Basically, it’s like tenderizing chicken or meat with a hammer or beer bottle. Anyway, Craig brought over a book of conch recipes and I tried making a conch soup, sort of a vegetable soup with conch (think of vegetable soup with chicken in it….) Luke did the bruising - Luke’s reaction “interesting”. I don’t think we’re big conch fans…

Wednesday, Feb. 11, we moved Latitudes to the Great Harbour Marina for the night. Everybody got a good bath – Latitudes (still salt encrusted from our crossing), laundry, and us. We got together again with the other boaters for a dinner at Jane & Craig’s boat.

We finally saw manatees!!! A family lives at the marina. There’s mom and her baby.

There’s also a larger female, probably grandmom. The other boaters saw them before we moved to the marina. They said mom was nursing the baby, with her big flipper cuddling him up to her.
We left early the morning of Thursday, Feb. 12, to start making our way to New Providence Island, where Nassau is. We aren’t going to Nassau, but using the west side of the island as a stopping point for a night en route to the Exumas. We’ll have to make one more stop along the route to the Exumas. Here we are, leaving that narrow entrance from Great Harbor Cay Marina.

The cruise ships use the north end of the Berry Islands to give their passengers a opportunity to experience the “out islands”. Here’s the mother ship ….

And here is the “out island”, made up cute and colorful and full of little local shops.
Now, here is the REAL out island side of the Berries. We are anchored for the night in a little cut between White Cay and Devil Cay. Pristine beaches and beautiful blue water and no one else.

We dropped the dinghy, watching the bottom of the water 15 feet down, crystal clear. Look at this ! Finally! A bathing suit and straw hat and beach combing! We feel like we’ve finally made it to the tropics.

We also found fossils on the beach, embedded in the coral. Lots and lots of them. We were so excited, tried to knock one out for a souvenir, but couldn't, they are rock hard, as one would expect of fossils. They look like Trilobites, except for the "tri" part. THEN, we got a "reef creatures" book, and the darn things are live! They are Fuzzy Chitons. Not very fuzzy....

Friday, Feb 13, we left with intentions of stopping in New Providence Island, but the weather was so good, we decided to go as far as we could towards the Exumas. The Grand Banks of the Bahamas are here – this is water that is only 9- 12 feet deep for over 100 miles north and south, 50 miles east and west. It is also filled with coral formations, so you have to be sure to watch for changes in water color that would indicate coral. Some of the coral is quite big and would do major damage to the boat if we ran over it. Here’s Luke, on coral watch.

The area is so shallow that you can just drop your anchor when you’re ready to quit for the night. With the importance of visual navigation, no boats go out after dark. So --- we went for 9 ½ hours, finally stopping along the area where the White Banks and the Yellow Banks near each other. This was the best yet! The water is SO crystal clear and you can easily see the bottom below. We motored slowly, watching the bottom go by, seeing starfish, small coral reefs, and fish. Suddenly Luke spotted a porpoise. These guys are BIG, averaging 7-14 feet. He swam around for a while, and then came in front of the boat. He slowly swam along the side of the boat, in perfect view in the clear water, and watched us curiously as he swam by. He was beautiful.

As the sun got lower, we had the shadow of Latitudes flying formation with us, on the bottom, 10- to 15 ft down – really cool.

Here we are at anchor – can you believe you’re looking through 12 ft of water? – at least 15 miles from the nearest land. This works only when it’s relatively calm – it was.

We were also treated to a gorgeous sunset.

On Saturday, Feb 14, we sailed the last 20 miles to the chain of islands called the Exumas. Our anchorage for the night was Allen Cay, best known for the iguanas who live there. No one else does….The cay is mostly short palm trees and undergrowth, with a couple of beach areas. This is where the iguanas hang out, waiting for the tourists. They certainly aren’t afraid of us. In fact, it was a little unnerving to step out of the dinghy and have a few of them rush towards me. No doubt they’ve been fed treats by the boaters. These are big boys, some at least 3 feet long.

This well fed rascal is resting like most of them do --- tummy on the warm sand.

Think this guy had enough of Luke taking his picture?

We took the dinghy over to another beach area (more iguanas…) and lots of live Queen Conchs in the water. I found this beautiful conch shell.

Then I turned it over….little eyes peeping at me...I may never eat conch again….

I can’t say enough about warm sun, water, and sand in mid-February.

Back to the boat, ready for another beautiful day in Paradise. Now, if there just weren’t another 16 boats beside us at this anchorage…. Oh well, I can’t complain!


We left Allen's Cay mid afternoon on Sunday, Feb. 15, and went the whopping 5 miles or so to Highbourne Cay. That's 3 miles straight away from the the cay to avoid coral heads, 5 miles down the banks, and 3 miles straight back into the Highborne Cay. We spent a quiet night at anchor, and then came into the Highborne Cay marina for Monday night, Feb. 16. The wind is supposed to kick up to about 25 knots during the night, plus we wanted to get internet and catch up. Everything costs here. The marina isn't outrageously expenive, just expensive. But, water is $0.50/gallon. Showers are $4 each, with an automatic 5 minute limit. Laundry is $10/load (no, no laundry here!). Trash (if you aren't staying at the marina) is $5 per bag, 2 bag maximum of $5, then $25/bag. Yes, $25. Electricity is $0.45/kilowatt (no, no electricity for us). Groceries are $1.85/apple, $6.50/loaf of bread, $2.90/pound of bananas, $9/box of cereal. It's a private island, so they've gotcha. Good thing we provisioned before we left FL. But we still need/want some fresh fruit and bread, so we'll have to drop a little here for some of that.
I'm not complaining ---- one final picture to end this very long blog.

That would be Luke -- about 77 degree water, but hey -- in this kind of setting -- have to do it!

we left West End!!!

Finally, after 8 days, the winds were right and we left West End. So did all of the other transient boats.... 4 of us headed south to Port Lucaya and 4 headed north to the Abacos. Wish we could have done both.

It was an uneventful sail (yes! sail! - beam reach and a bit forward, 15-20kts) for 5 hours. Arriving at Bell Channel, into Lucaya, we had our first lesson at reading the water. We were in 7 to 12 ft of water, and could see the bottom perfectly -- yellow for sand, darker, green for other stuff - grass or rocks or reefs.

After 8 days in a marina, we wanted to anchor. Luke found an "anchorage" in the little canals of Port Lucaya. We are tied up to the posts that were to be for a dock at a luxury house. Unfortunately, as tourism has dropped, so has the housing market. This is a huge lot, gated, fenced, with the dock started but not connected to land. It's just an overgrown weed lot now, with the fencing and gate falling down.

OH, while we were under way, we saw lots of flying fish! They are much too fast for us to get a picture, but check out the website! They fly in schools of 2 to a dozen. Really neat.

We plan to leave tomorrow, crack of dawn, SE to the Berry Islands, if the winds are as promised. In particular - into the Bullock Harbor of Great Harbor Cay. That's about half way between here and New Providence Island, which includes Nassau. Odds of internet there are low, so we may not blog for a while, as things become more remote as we go south.

Stillllll in West End....

We're stillllll here.... Maybe tomorrow we can get to Port Lucaya. It's looking good for a morning sail at the moment.

Since we couldn't go on Wednesday, we took the bus to the Lucaya National Trust Park. Now, taking the bus is not trivial. First, it has to arrive at the marina. A few days ago, we gave up when it was 2 hours late. He was relatively on time today, picking up all 10 passengers to add to his existing 4 for the aging 12 passenger Toyota Mini-Van bus, with flickering inside dome light. We were cozy. Dropped off most of them in Port Lucaya for a day of shopping and then the remaining 4 of us left for the Lucaya National Trust Park. We were all starved and were afraid there might not be a restaurant at the park, so the driver took us to McDonalds en route. Good thing .... it was a half hour ride and the park buildings consisted of this park office.

The park itself is divided into 2 walks, one of which leads to several small cave entrances. Here are Luke & I standing inside of one of them. The top water is fresh but the bottom water is salt. Bats use the cave ceiling in the spring and summer as a nursery for their young. Good thing it's winter....

We saw a bird that was new to us, a Red Legged Thrush. I wonder how he got his name---- Looks rather demonic, doesn't he?

Between the two walks, we stopped at the toilet. It's totally self-contained composting toilet. After use, you just put a scoop of wood shavings in the toilet and close the lid. I felt like a hamster, but I've gotta say, there is absolutely no smell and the toilet was very clean. We could learn from this!

The second walk, across the road, lead through a beautiful red mangrove forest.

The only creature we saw here was a tiny lizard, blending in perfectly with the brown twigs and grasses. Look carefully --

Our reward for this easy 10 minute walk was "the most beautiful beach on Grand Bahamas Island". I think they are right.

The water was warm (well, warmer than the air --- see that darn jacket!!). We waded out 20 yards onto several little sand bars. Lots of starfish, ones with 5 and ones with 6 arms (mutants?), were slowly creeping along the shallow water, leaving little trails. Lots of tiny fish, plus nice shells and some washed up black fan coral and purple fan coral. We had a great walk along the beach with our friends from Canada, Deb and Lawrence. They are also waiting for the winds to change so they can go to Port Lucaya too. By the way, the majority of cruisers we've met here are Canadian -- you can tell by the uplilting "eh?" and by their wearing shorts when it's in the 60s and windy.

The usual plovers were working the beach. These little guys weren't afraid of anything. I suspect they've been fed a few times by tourists.

Anyway, the visit was nice, although we ultimately spent 4 hours on the bus back & forth. The driver did stop to pick up other marina mates at the grocery store, so we took advantage of it and picked up a few items. This was a Winn-Dixie, and prices are pretty much similar to those at home. I think that will change as we get further away from mainstream Bahamas and the island closest to Florida.

Still at Old Bahamas Bay Marina

We had the best of intentions. The weather was checked, other boaters consulted, everything tucked away for travel, signed out of the marina, and all. We knew we had a marginal 1 day window to travel from here to Port Lucaya/Freeport (top left of the map).

The wind was relatively calm as we left the marina and headed out of the inlet. WHAM! The wind was higher than the predicted 10-15 kts on the nose -- not fun but manageable, and was in fact a steady 24 to 28 kts, the waves coming at us causing us to slam into them, and a forecast of higher wind later in the day. We weren't too excited about the prospect of 7 hours of that type of sail and poor Wickie was howling like a banshee from down below. I went down to comfort him, but had to go back up top to help Luke. Wickie came bounding up the steps like a wild kitten, wanting only the relative comfort of his humans (not very Wick-like...). We turned around, called the marina to tell them we were extending our stay, and made a bee line back into the marina. To our defense, the other 2 boats that left with us also turned around and are back here too.

It had been windy here yesterday - look a those palms! - but the forecast was a calmer day today. oh, well...

After helping our boat mates get safely into their docks, we made a run for the 9:00 bus into Port Lucaya. May as well get there one way or another... We tried to go into town via the bus on Saturday, but by 1:30 the noon bus hadn't shown up and we gave up to go do other things.

The bus was on time today and we had a nice 45 minute ride to Lucaya. Our friends Suzy and Bill were on the bus with us, meeting their boat in Lucaya. They aren't seasoned boaters and are prone to a little seasickness... their boat hosts had VERY correctly suggested that they meet them in Lucaya instead of sailing with them early this morning.

The market in Port Lucaya was great, the usual local craft type market.

Thankfully, my hair isn't long enough to braid with beads, so I was spared the hawking from the hair beading girls. I did enough damage anyway, with tacky souvenirs.

One purchase was a cute vase, made from recycled cardboard, with proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research. The vase is for dried or silk flowers. The colors are the same as the Bahamian flag --- gold for sand, blue for water, and black for the strength of the Bahamian people.

oh, wait.... did I say that is a vase? Well, it's actually a cute holder for a snacks, etc. Just put the bowl inside the top and poof! You've got a really great bowl.

Oh, wait again.... did I say "bowl"? oh, no, I meant "HAT"! A wide brimmed one that keeps the sun off my neck and fits perfectly :-)

Pretty cute, huh? I was suckered in....

Lucaya also has a casino, so Luke & I decided to squander an entire $5 there. Believe it or not, we (primarily Lucky Luke) turned that $5 into $15 at a quarter slot machine. We really wanted to fill up this casino coin cup with quarters, but couldn't quite do it. Luke did hit a 45 to 1 payoff once --- shame we were playing with quarters instead of $100 bills (yeah, right!)

Anyway, we took our winnings and played 2 rounds of roulette. Won the first, lost the second. Basically, we spend well over an hour of fun, got free drinks, and lost nothing in our time at the casino. Lucky Luke!!

The marina area there is pretty. I'm looking forward to spending a day there when the weather finally clears (probably Wed or Thurs). We got our first Bahamian rainbow there.

We've heard complains that tourism is down --- imagine that. We heard that a major huricane five years ago devastated Grand Bahama Island, nearly destroying two major hotels, which have not yet reopened. We've seen a number of houses along the coast that were apparently damaged and not rebuilt. The adjoining International Marketplace has suffered with many shops closed because the 2 hotels are closed. Look at the beach/pool of the big Westin Hotel/Casino complex. It's windy, but warm, and not a soul is in the pool, beach, or any of the beach chairs. I love those chairs sitting in the water at the edge of the pool. I'D like to be there!

It's raining nicely now. That's good, considering the amount of sea spray we got on poor Latitudes earlier today. It'll help wash her off. We'll do the rest tomorrow. The wind is blowing, but apparently not at the max of 36 knots we saw earlier this evening here in the protected marina cove. It's warm, about 75. Wick is stretched out in blissful sleep on the sofa, snoring in that high pitched, whining old cat snore. We're safe, sound, and will venture out again when the weather gurus say it's OK.

The Beautiful Bahamas

We are HERE! At West End, Grand Bahamas. I'll keep this chart (unless I find a better one) on each blog as we move. Right now we are at the top left corner. See Freeport? That is the middle town on the island the Grand Bahama. West End is at the (duh) far left tip of the island. Our plan is to go south to Freeport/Lucaya tomorrow, spend the night, and then go to the more desolate Berry Islands. They are the little chain beside the "W" of the words "New Providence".

We are enjoying our 4 days here, getting things done, making friends, and enjoying the warm weather. It was too windy yesterday to do much of anything outside, but today is beautiful. Just take a look at the blue green water. That's the pink customs house/shower/laundry across the marina water from us.

The plan is to gather with most of the rest of the marina boat folks tonight to watch the Super Bowl at the marina bar. 2 for 1 drinks! :-)

We learned that John Travolta owns the last condo by the water here at this small marina. This is sadly where his son died a month ago. Here's the condo - the yellow 2 story building.

You can see Latitudes here, foremost boat on the right, at the end of the dock. That's the Travolta condo behind us to the left, so you can see how small this marina really is.

We will almost certainly lose our internet capability when we leave tomorrow, so probabably no blog for a little while. Back as soon as we can!