We did our last bits of shopping, laundry and errands in Georgetown on Tuesday. Wednesday morning everyone was up early and Beth and Sam made a run into Georgetown to collect our laundry and get a last refill of our water jugs. We have discovered a problem with the fix for the watermaker - the new pump can only be run for 15mins at a time. Allowing for the manufacturers safety margin and flushing of the system this means that we probably have about 15 to 20 mins of water production at a time which with our system equates to about 30 to 40 litres. Should be able to maintain our water levels with that. New pump is ordered and will be delivered to Scotts brother on the 19th Feb.
We departed the anchorage and motored south out of Elizabeth Harbour. The southern entrance has a number of reefs and isolated rocks strewn about. The charts have a route through but its still a anxious transit until you clear the islands and are in the ocean. At a place called Fowl Cay there was a catamaran up on the rocks. This had happened only a few days ago. A couple coming from the UK had crossed the Atlantic and were making for Elizabeth harbour. Their charts showed a route through but it was very dicey and they ended up on the reef. The boat is a right off but the people got off OK. Just makes you think though and reinforces a conservative approach to passage planning and sailing.
We were headed to a place called Conception Island but with our late departure we decided to anchor overnight in the lee of the tip of Long Island at a place called Cape Santa Maria. Had a great sail and the anchorage was beautiful. Another boat called Innamorata joined us and sailed with us the next day to Conception Island. We were in radio contact with them and they took some video and stills of us sailing which I will post at the next available opportunity to prove that we really are sailing and not shacked up on a beach somewhere posting stories . We anchored off Conception Island mid morning.
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| Dulcinea sailing with reefed main en route to Conception Island |
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| The beach at Conception Island |
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| Picture of our anchor chain at Conception. We are anchored in about 5m of water and this chain is lying on the seabed. You can also see the scour marks in the sand it is that clear |
Everytime we anchor we are astounded by the clarity and colour of the water. Just when you think it is as clear and blue as it can get we pull into another spot and its better. Conception Island is where some people think Columbus first landed (and not San Salvador). Its a pretty, small island and the anchorage was off a beautiful white sand beach in a large bay fringed at one end by coral reefs. There were about a four or five other boats there by the end of the day. Unfortunately the weather was still blowing so limited our snorkeling abilities. We went ashore and spent some time on the beach, had a play with the kids and did some snorkeling and then went back to the boat. We also caught up with Carol and Steve of Innamorata and got the photos they had taken.
One thing that you notice even on these outlying uninhabited islands is the trash that gets washed ashore and deposited at the high water mark. Unbelievable. It makes you wonder how the hell its ever going to be cleaned up and if its in these places there must be nowhere on the planet which is really untouched.
We left the next day for Rum cay which is about 20NM south east. There was no wind so we motored the whole way. Our fishing luck seems to have deserted us. We have had a few strikes but cannot deck the fish. The consolation was that we had a small pod of dolphins playing in our bow wave for 15 mins during the voyage. Its always special to see dolphins. Rum Cay is another small isloated island but there is a small community on the island. We anchored in a big wide sandy bay as close to the settlement as we dared in about 4m of water. Once anchored we did some school and then relaxed. Later in the day Innamorata joined us with one other boat in the anchorage.
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| Beth, Nic and Kids on bow looking at dolphins |
Scott was keen to make use of a favourable wind coming through later in the night and we agreed to leave the same day however as the departure time grew close we talked and wondered whether we were rushing through the last part of the Bahamas. It is tricky because we could get stuck in one place for over a week with unfavourable winds so you want to make the most of any good conditions but then that means sacrificing some time in each destination. Its a balancing act. Scott is always keen to move on so as not to get stuck. It is more so on this section or our cruise as we have some open stretches of water to navigate with few ports of refuge along the way. There was another weather window in a couple of days so we had a vote - yes thats right a vote - and we decided to stay until Sunday afternoon.
We made use of the day by doing school work in the morning and then later went ashore. The weather was not great but it was interesting going ashore. The settlement is very poor and consists of a few houses / shacks. There was a marina there but it had closed down due to hurricane damage. We ended up along the beach at a building where there were some locals hanging around. One of the buildings was called Kays and we went inside. The building was really just four walls on a sand floor. There was a small bar with a few bottles of alcohol and a fridge about a quarter full of beer. The walls were covered with ancient memorabilia and there were a few old tables and chairs. Remarkably we got a drink and then Kay said that she could rustle up some fish for dinner. We sat outside with some other boaters at a decrepit plastic table under a sun shade that had started off life as a satellite dish which been thatched many years ago and which had now lost most of its thatching. There really is a sense of decay about the settlements on these outlying islands and you wonder how people make a living. If they cannot get a tourist hub established it seems there is very little investment in the place. About an hour later Kay told us dinner was ready and we went back inside to see a table had been set with tablecloth and napkins and had a sensational dinner of fresh fish, vegetables and salad.
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| Alfresco at Kay's |
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| Kay's Restaurant - Rum Cay. Appearances can be deceptive |
Next day Scott, Sam, Calley and Beth went snorkeling on some nearby reef. The reef was good but much of it is covered in green algae which is an effect of global warming. There were lots of fish, many different colourful fan corals and some great formations. On the way back to the boat Scott and Sam saw a couple of turtles and then a reef shark. It came within a few feet of Sam who was not particularly phased. Scott saw it as it was swimming away and immediately freaked and got everyone back in the boat and returned to the safety of Dulcinea.
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| Rum Cay |
The wind was forecast N/NNE at about 20 to 25kts. We left at around 1400 and started sailing southeast. Once clear of the island the winds kicked in at full force and we were seeing gust to 33kts. We had reefed down the main and were only flying the staysail up front so we were ready for it. The seas built as well however and it was a pretty rough ride for most of the trip. It is the first time we have had the lee side deck awash due to the rolling This was Beth’s first real open water sail and she succumbed to sea sickness pretty bad. She spent most of the trip lying on the cockpit floor after throwing up everything she could. It was a bit of an ordeal for everyone but the boat handled the conditions well and apart from some eggs and books flying around down below we came through unscathed. We sailed through the night and arrived in Mayaguana Island around midday and dropped anchor in Start Bay much to Beths relief.
Mayaguana is one of the last Bahamian islands and we have stopped here to obtain some clearance papers for the Dominican Republic and to wait for the weather to abate. Next push will see us enroute for Luperon in the Domincan Republic.
A belated Gong Xi Fa Cai to all out there who celebrate it. Hope you had a good holiday.
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