Tuesday 27 February 2018

A Bahamian Dream Day


Ah – this is definitely what it’s all about – and worth the rough ride earlier in the trip to get here!

We left Black Point this morning, and spent a little while turning circles in the calm bay, while my captain “swung” the compass. Lo and behold, that corrected our misbehaving chart plotter that had been reading upside down for most of the trip so far.

Then, a gorgeous 2-hour passage under full sail at 5 knots (mph approx.) with an 11 knot wind, took us to Little Farmer’s Cay. This was the first time in the whole trip that we managed to sail all the way from one point to another, and it was perfect!

This little 3.5 mile Cay is a tiny perfect Bahamian paradise. En route, we flagged down a fishing boat on its way in, and bought two lobster tails and two small tuna, which the fishermen filleted for us on the spot. Then, after lunch and a “Bahama Mama” (rum and juice) on board, we made our way to the town’s main dock, where we were welcomed by friendly greetings from everyone. Only 85 people live here, and they’re all related! I think they’re glad when strangers arrive, for a little variety J.

Right under the dock were such a variety of sea creatures it felt like we were in an aquarium! There were sea turtles, sting rays, a porcupine blowfish, many other varieties of small tropical fish, and we even saw a small shark under our boat as well.

Then we walked around the charming village, with its colourful pallet of little houses, two grocery stores (with no fresh food, unfortunately, as the mail boat hadn’t arrived yet), flowering bougainvillea everywhere and views of the ocean that seemed like they were painted there. The woodworker up the road showed us around his shop, and the women in front of the grocery shared some lobster they were snacking on with us. We had a great talk with the owner of Ocean Cabin – a funky restaurant full of Island memorabilia, and then dinghied back to our boat to watch the sun set and the almost full moon rise.


Freshly caught fish, asparagus and yams for dinner ended an amazing day …

















Monday 26 February 2018

Laundry Day in Black Point



The settlement at Black Point on Great Iguana Cay is a lovely, historic community with some of the friendliest people we’ve encountered in the Bahamas. It boasts two food stores, two restaurants and several popular bars, as well as gorgeous beaches and the best laundry facility in the Bahamas J.

I thought we were early birds when we dinghied our three loads of laundry over there at 8:30 this morning – but discovered that all 12 machines were already in use, and the laundry was filled with cruisers trading stories while they waited their turn.

No problem, though. Lorraine’s restaurant next store served us a great brunch, and we met up with some friends from our sailing club in Toronto, to help pass the waiting time – while Lorraine’s mother made us a fresh gluten-free bread for Jeff!

The day before, I took a walk to a near-by beach and spent a couple of hours watching parasail enthusiasts struggling to get their kites in the air in the now much calmer wind. One of them – a paragon of patience – spent over an hour waiting for the wind to catch his sail. I left before he gave up – so I’m not sure how much longer he persisted, and whether or not he ever actually managed to sail.

Tomorrow we’re off to Little Farmer’s Cay with clean clothes and linen, though not much food in the fridge – hope they have a grocery store there!

















Sunday 25 February 2018

A Lesson for Life – As the Tide Turns


For three days in a row, we have tried to get into the Thunderball Grotto before the tide turns – called “slack tide”. This makes it possible to snorkel the cave without the waves pushing against you and forcing all of the fish out of the grotto against the strong tidal current.

We kept miscalculating the moment – but a couple we met came by in their dinghy at 8:30 yesterday morning and said “go now”. “OK”, we agreed and quickly pulled on our wetsuits and snorkel gear, jumped into the dinghy and were off.

Sure enough, the tide was slack enough to allow us into the gorgeous grotto – with the amazing variety of fish still lit by the sun’s rays streaming through the open hole at the top – magical!

The lesson is – seize the moment – take the opportunity when it presents itself, without hesitation – it sure was worth it in this instance!

Now we’re in Black Point on a lazy Sunday – about to explore the beaches here. Then tomorrow, back to mundane tasks like laundry and grocery shopping – then on to Little Farmer’s Cay.

The pics below are last images from Staniel Cay before we left.






Friday 23 February 2018

A Typical Day on Staniel Cay


(written yesterday)

7:00 a.m. – rise with the sun to a blue-sky day, breakfast, etc. A brief visit from a passing sailor in his dinghy, asking if we want to trade DVD’s.

9:00 – Into our wet suits and snorkel gear for a swim in the Thunderball Grotto. Gorgeous reef and many varieties of fish in and around the entrance to the cave.

10:00 – back to the boat, bathe in the ocean, change into shorts and off in the dinghy to feed carrots to the swimming pigs who come right out to the boat for their handouts; then a dinghy cruise all around Big Major Spot through very large waves!

11:30 - back to Sea Change – Jeff lets me off to practice my choir music, and heads to the dock in the dink to refill our water tanks

12:30 p.m. – lunch in the cockpit and a rest

1:30 – boat work – Jeff removes the leaking solar ventilator destroyed by salt water; Marilyn waxes the fiberglass on the boat deck

3:30 – a break in the cockpit with “Bahama Mamas” (2 kinds of rum, 1 part each, orange and pineapple juice, two parts each– we skip the grenadine) ; blue cheese and crackers, garlic-stuffed olives

4:30 – 5:30 – both of us read and nap

5:30 – 7:00 – make and eat dinner – tonight: chicken marinated and poached in a citrus dressing, brown rice, stir-fried brussel sprouts and zucchini, three-bean salad

6:00 – pause in the above to blow our conch to celebrate the setting sun (a Bahamian sailor’s tradition)

7:00 – Jeff does dishes, I write this blog

7:30 – movie on Jeff’s computer - “The Visitor”

9:30 – ready for bed


It’s definitely better in the Bahamas J!