fetchinketch

Much of the central land and sea area of the Exuma chain of islands in the Bahamas is taken up by the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Although it has been here for a while, it seems to have gotten much better organization and funding in the last few years. When we stopped here in the park two years ago, we saw very little of the organization behind it. Now, it is much more aggressively operated.

The objective of the park is to be self-sufficient in funding. To that end, they have a set of fees for anchoring and use of mooring balls in the park. To both collect the fees, and enforce the “no-take” fishing regulations they have roaming patrol boats, and to add a bit of extra muscle to that, they have a Royal Bahama Defense Force patrol boat that is based in these waters.

To add a bit of extra “incentive” when they catch someone poaching in the park boundaries, they make a big public display of it. When we were back in Florida we heard news of them snagging a large American boat fishing inside the park. Fines start at $500, and they can confiscate your boat.

Overall to us based our contacts with the patrol boat, and the headquarters staff the operation seems very well run. Tonight, we are at a mooring ball in a small, well protected harbor just outside of the park headquarters. The mooring balls are very well maintained—some of the best I have seen anywhere. Fees are reasonable, $0.50/foot/night for anchoring in the park, and $40/night for the moorings. The park equipment and facilities seem well maintained, and the people are friendly and efficient.

AND…. it is a beautiful place.

We’ll post pictures where we are back in a place with an internet connection. For now, we are doing this with the satellite phone connection.

We’ll be here exploring for a day or two, and then run further south to Georgetown where we can catchup on email, internet necessities, and groceries.

We had a problem with one of our refrigerators… I happened to notice that it was too cold. A bit of troubleshooting determined that the internal switch had been bumped from “Fridge” to “Freezer” while it was being packed. When we put the switch back to where it belonged… nothing. No cooling. The “Fridge” half of the thermostat seems to have died. It works fine in freezer mode. Hmmm….

When it comes to mechanical things, I am not a big believer in coincidences, but this time, everything I do points to the fact that the thermostat just seems to have died at the same time and from an independent cause, as the switch to freezer mode. Hopefully we can get a replacement in Georgetown.

Yesterday was one of those rare days where all of the weather models got it wrong.. Forecast was for 10 to 13 knots, In the afternoon the actual was more like 20 to 35. It wasn’t a big deal for us, we had the foresight (OK, luck!) to have come into Highborne Cay Marine first thing in the morning before things get really exciting. The weather was the talk of the docks today.

Highborne is a small marina associated with a small, and very high end resort. They have a Seaplane dock and helipad. The only way to get here is a chartered aircraft or boat. The only things on the island are about 8 cottages, the marina and associated amenities for guests and staff.

Many of the boats here are quite large, greater than 100 feet.

Karen needed to check out the beach cabanas.

All of them…

In the “Old Days” one of the most important things an island could have was an easily accessible source of fresh water. An island with a spring was a draw for passing ships looking for fresh water, and sometimes a lair for pirates looking to relieve such ships of their valuables.

When we arrived here, the map of the resort indicated they had a spring on the southern end of the island, and we flagged it as one of the potential destinations for our daily walks.

Without really planning it, on our first stroll we came across the sign directing us to the spring. Actually, to “Da Spring” down the hill…

We followed the path down to the beach…

Where another sign made sure we’d find the way…

Karen is excited about following the next sign’s direction back into the woods…

Where we found….

The Spring!

What? You were expecting water?

We should be out of here tomorrow, with favorable winds (we hope!) for travel south. Our planned destination is Conception Cay. An uninhabited island that is part of the national park system.

We spent a couple nights in Spanish Wells, one of our favorite towns in the Bahamas. A settlement of about 1500 people very friendly people, it is dominated by the commercial lobster fishing fleet. Last time we were here was after the close of the lobster season so the entire fleet was at the dock. With several weeks to go cashing the tasty shellfish, this time the commercial docks are mostly empty.

I’d guess there are about 35 large boats fishing out of this harbor. Guessing that each of those has a crew of 4 to 6, that’s a rather large fraction of the local population out to sea at a time.

Since the local town is relatively prosperous, the markets tend to be well stocked. We loaded up on fresh veggies, and are back on the move south.

Today was a beautiful sail south along the west coast of Eleuthera. We made it halfway down the island, and anchored in Alabaster Bay. We dropped anchor just as the sun was setting. We turned on our flood light and watched the small fish gather in its glare as the moon rose and the night darkened. Life is good!

Right now our planning is looking at some rougher weather coming through over the weekend. We’ll be looking at finding a place to hide from it before we move on.

We are still struggling a bit to sort out our internet connection. Until we do pictures will have to wait!

We are anchored off the settlement of Sandy Point on the southern end of Great Abaco Island. We staged here a number of times last year, so it is a spot we are well familiar with. We are relaxing, and enjoying being out here in full cruising mode with no worries or schedule other than the weather dictates to us.

So far, everything on the boat has worked well. We have the last of a few troublesome instrumentation issues sorted out. We lack a reliable internet connection here, but such 21st century problems do not seem such a big deal out here.

Today had Karen spending time exploring the beach, while Bill puttered around the boat with some longer term projects and spending some time exploring by dinghy. The sun is now setting in the west, and between us and the horizon are the evening showers over the warm water of the Gulf Stream making a beautiful view.

Tomorrow is supposed to be calm and quiet. We are going to take the chance to do some fishing, then we will begin our path to the south, headed for Royal Harbor near Spanish Wells. Royal Harbor is a small bay, and one of the very few anchorages in this area with wind protection from all directions. We will sit there for the frontal passage which will be coming on Monday. We might asl put into the the harbor in Spanish Wells for a day or two.

Not all, but certainly most, of the days we were in Fort Lauderdale we were at some point during the day hot and uncomfortable.  We were 10 miles inland at the boat yard, so there were no cooling sea breezes.

Having moved 50 miles to the southeast, the difference is amazing.  Yes, certainly in the hottest part of the afternoon it is still hot out in the sun, but the humidity is lower, and the breeze is better, and the nights are JUST cool enough.  It is so much nicer being surrounded by water!

One thing that might surprise people from the cold and snowy north, is that this is the “off season” here in the Bahamas. A couple reasons for that.  Most of the people coming here by boat come from Florida.  In the summer they can come out here and enjoy cooler more comfortable weather. A big draw here is the ocean fishing, and for most of the glamorous species, the real season starts in April or May. Finally, the weather here is changeable in the winter.  Cold fronts can bring days of rain.  We are enjoying the relatively empty marinas, although it is quite a bit busier than I remember from last year.

We are going to be jumping off tomorrow to head further East.  Our target is about 110 miles due east as the seagull flies, Sandy Point, at the southern end of Great Abaco Island.   We had stopped there several times last season, and it will make a good staging ground for our next step south.  We expect about an 18 to 20 hour run if the weather forecasts hold true.

We have found some new places we want to go, and are looking forward to being out exploring again!

Opening the Dania Beach Boulevard Bridge at dawn on the way out into the ocean and the Bahamas.

One year–to the day–after we last checked into the Bahamas here in North Bimini, we are back. After watching the weather for some time as we were getting ready to pack up, it seemed there were weeks of very steady, contrary winds. We were expecting to have a bit of a wait, but in a bit of a surprise, on the first day we were ready to leave, the weather shifted, and off we went.

We have friends who are new Amel Super Maramu owners here in Florida, and they are busy refitting their “new to them” boat, Ora Pai.  We invited them along as crew for the 12 hour passage.  Alan passed in order to keep some projects moving ahead on their boat, but Laura jumped on the offer. It will be easy, just hop on the ferry back to Florida.  Alan even asked if it was important to have a ferry ticket ahead of time, or if it was good enough to just wing it. I assured him that “winging it” would be fine.

We arrived back at Brown’s Marina on North Bimini a little before 6PM.  Filled out our paperwork and marched down the street to clear Customs.   A bit unusually, the Customs office is open until 11PM. After Customs, you have to go to Immigration to complete the check in process. That office closes at 5PM. So we have to call out the Immigration officer to process us on overtime for an extra $75. As he is finishing, Laura mentions that she is going to be taking the ferry back to Florida. He has some information for us, “No, can’t be done.  Yesterday was the last day.  The ferry boat is in dry dock for two weeks.”

Well, now…

The next morning Karen and Laura take a hike across the island to the office of the local puddle-jump airline which flies the 50 mile route over to Fort Lauderdale. Things are very quiet on the island.  We didn’t appreciate the percentage of the tourist business that arrives by ferry.  Almost everything is closed. Even the big Hyatt resort has shut down for the two weeks the ferry is out of service.  In a bit of odd logic, even the airline’s office on the island is also closed!

By the end of the day, Laura has managed to reach the main office of the airline by phone and booked the next available ticket on Thursday for a flight back to Fort Lauderdale. Apologies to Alan for kidnapping your partner during your busy project time!

Lobsta! Ready for the vacuum bags and freezer.

In other news, Karen managed to track down the Bailey, the Lobster Man and stocked up the freezer with a couple dozen fresh local lobster tails. I think a big pile of fresh, and inexpensive lobster will be the highlight of her visit here! (and Bill’s too, as they are in the freezer for months to come! Karen)