February 6, 2001
Location:
Staniel Cay, Exuma
Beautiful Staniel Cay! We anchored on the western shore of Big
Majors, near Pig Beach. So named for the swimming wild pigs that
live on the island and greet visitors to the beach. Actually, they
swim out to approaching dinghies looking for food. One attempted to
climb into our dinghy after discovering that we had food! We fed them
biscuits and a papaya, they loved it.
We were so happy to see our friends John
and Sandy from Jubilee II here at Staniel! We had not seen them
since we were together in Marsh Harbour. We spent many fun days
snorkeling and many late nights enjoying John's wonderful cajun cooking
(they are from Alabama). The Thunderball Grotto was absolutely
amazing. The grotto is a large cave that can be entered at low tide
and is filled with fish of all sizes and varieties. We did not have
the opportunity to snorkel the grotto when we were last in Staniel and it
was definitely worth the return visit! The grotto can be seen in the James
Bond film "Thunderball" and the mermaid movie
"Splash". We also found a few conch and Chris learned how
to clean them - they are in the freezer waiting to be made into fritters
or cracked conch!
February 11, 2001
Location:
Little Bell Cay, Exuma
Little Bell Cay is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park and is literally
teeming with sea life! We anchored and immediately were greeted by a
huge barracuda, big yellowtail jacks and other smaller fish. We
spent our time here experiencing first-rate snorkeling. One spot is
known as the Sea Aquarium and is an island/wall dive that is covered with
fish and coral of all varieties - absolutely gorgeous. We had a few
pancakes left over from breakfast and fed them to an army of sergeant
majors - that was incredibly fun! We also snorkeled over a downed
sea plane which I found to be somewhat unnerving seeing the plane lying
on the bottom. The area is absolutely unspoiled with countless huge
coral heads available to explore. We explored two small caves in
Rocky Dundas that were interesting but not as beautiful as the Thunderball
Grotto. That evening we had a ball feeding our leftovers to the
schools of yellowtail jacks and barracuda - a gorgeous anchorage and one
place I would love to visit again.
February 13, 2001
Location:
Shroud Cay, Exuma
On our cruise north we ran into Rich Tanner on Feral Cat, our slip
neighbor from Herrington Harbor North in Maryland! We knew he was
trying to get to Exuma in the spring and hailed him on the radio and he
actually answered! We were so excited to see him and spent the day
with him and another nice couple. Shroud Cay is part of the Land and
Sea Park and has shallow water and mangroves which serve as breeding
areas for grouper, conch and lobster. We snorkeled over small coral
heads and enjoyed a sunset rum punch with Rich and friends.
February 14, 2001
Location:
Nassau, Bahamas
(Rose Island)
With sad hearts we cruised away from the Exuma Islands and spent a rough
day cruising to Nassau. We did not arrive in Nassau until 4:00pm so
decided to anchor near Rose Island. The anchorage was crowded and
the holding was poor but we were glad to have the hook down for the day!
The next day we cruised into Nassau harbor
and took a slip at Nassau Yacht Haven. We had not stayed at a marina
since Marsh Harbor so it was nice to have water, power, laundry services,
etc. within walking distance from the marina. We did 15 (yes, 15!)
loads of laundry while at Nassau. There was such a water shortage in
Exuma that laundry cost $12 per load. Needless to say we did not
take advantage of that offer! Nassau is a big and bustling city with
Paradise Island within walking distance over a large bridge. We
visited the ritzy Atlantis resort and casino and did some small gambling
($5 in slots!). The area of Paradise Island looks much like a
high-price area of Florida and the Atlantis Marina cost $4.00 per foot for
dockage! We left the marina after three nights of
working/provisioning and anchored in Nassau Harbor to wait out a cold
front. While we were anchored a Bahamian barge, while attempting to
dock, lost control and ran into a sailboat in the anchorage! No one
was aboard the sailboat and the damage, unbelievably, was minimal.
We have never seen an accident before and hope to never see another!
The weather finally cooperated and we were able to start our cruise to
Chub Cay. We enjoyed the conveniences of Nassau but were happy to
leave the noise and congestion!
February 21, 2001
Location:
Chub Cay, Berry Islands
The trip to Chub was incredible! We caught our first mahi-mahi on a
rigged ballyhoo and now have seven bags of fresh fish in the
freezer! We actually caught three mahi-mahi but the first one got
off near the boat, the second fish broke 60 pound test line and we finally
landed the third. The fish was beautiful and was 50 inches in length
and weighed around 35 pounds. We arrived in Chub Cay around 3:00pm
and decided to continue on to Bimini by leaving around midnight. The
weather for the next few days was perfect for cruising and we did not want
to miss the opportunity! Good weather windows are rare in the winter
months. We took a short nap and set off for Bimini!
February 22, 2001
Location:
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
As you may have noticed, there is no entry for Bimini.... We arrived
in Bimini around 1:00pm and looked out over the Gulf Stream and it was flat
(something that rarely happens). We made the decision to cross the Gulf while the conditions were perfect.
With tears in our eyes we started away from the Bahamas. Our time in
the Bahamas was an incredible life experience, one that we will never
forget! The good friends we have made and the life we have lived for
four months will be cherished for the rest of our lives! We
definitely hope to become full-time cruisers when we retire! The
passage to Ft. Lauderdale was smooth and uneventful and we arrived around
9:00pm that evening.
Wow, the lights and noise!! After
being in the quiet beauty of the Bahamas, Ft. Lauderdale is quite a
shock! We anchored in Lake Sylvia for two evenings, got some diesel
fuel and enjoyed a great meal at the Quarterdeck restaurant. We also got a
cell phone and now can be reached at 703-395-4062!! We decide to
continue north to less congested cruising areas!
February 24, 2001
Location:
Latana, Florida
We anchored in the evening near the town of Latana Florida. We took
the dinghy to the Old Key Lime House and had a nice dinner - great hot
wings!
February 26, 2001
Location:
Peck Lake, Florida (Juno)
We cruised to Peck Lake and visited our first American grocery store in
months - very exciting! Gotta love the conveniences of the states!
February 27, 2001
Location:
Canaveral Barge Canal, Florida
We decided to cruise in the ocean today as the conditions were calm and we
could cover more ground this way. We cruised all day and caught one
kingfish on one of our remaining ballyhoo lures. Now we have four
bags of kingfish to add to the mahi-mahi! We also saw a rocket
launch while we were cruising - that was amazing! We were
surrounded by a huge pod of dolphin - what a wonderful experience!
At least eight dolphin swam with us around the bow and many more swam near
the boat. We had not seen that many dolphin since last fall - nice
to see my friends again!
