Bahamas Bound – Year 2

We are waiting patiently for appropriate weather to head to the Bahamas, but the weather gods have other ideas sending us strong persistent easterly winds- a bad idea if you are trying to head east in a sail boat.  Thus, the activities at Marathon continue to occupy our time.  We enjoy more seminars, meals out, and evenings of music.  One afternoon I take a class in jewelry making.  Someone on the morning net remembers having Wednesday evening “meet and greets” in previous years, so Burt and I agree to host the first one of the season.  Name tags seem like a good idea, but finding them in Marathon proves to be a challenge. Ten miles of biking later, we return with the name tags, and the evening proves to be a success.

Just befor sunset under the Tiki Hut

We take a cab with friends to the Dolphin Research Center about ten miles away.  Upon entering, it becomes immediately apparent that we are not at Sea World.  This is a much smaller venue with an emphasis on research and husbanding healthy pods of captive dolphins.  We are able to get close to the pens and watch the trainers and caretakers at their daily tasks. Yes, there is an entertainment aspect as this is what funds the center, but its purpose extends much further.  The trainers take time to talk personally with us, explaining what they and others are doing.  We watch their veterinarian take ultrasounds of the dolphins, something that is done on a monthly basis, and while we are there, they discover two of the females are pregnant.  And speaking of pregnancy, since there is concern about maintaining a strong gene pool among captive dolphins, we watch a sperm collection that will be used for artificial insemination. Obviously, nothing is done behind the scenes! We get close to some of the dolphins who especially enjoy human contact, talking and making gestures to them – they seem to respond back to us in kind.  There is a quasi show with some of the larger dolphins showing off their jumping skills, 

One of the big boys struts his stuff

but we also see less structured play time with water showers, balls, toss toys, and chasing trainers along the perimeter of the pool. Dolphins need the relaxation and creative stimulus of play.  

The dolphins play just like a small child would

How do dolphins sleep? Since they are conscious breathers (they need to think about breathing), only one side of their brain and body can sleep at a time.  Close up we observe a dolphin with one eye open and one eye closed, rolling side to side to keep an eye on what is happening above and below him  - that’s how dolphins sleep. We are told that during hurricanes, the dolphins are released to the open, deeper waters as this is their natural preference.  When the storms pass, they return to their pens by choice as they seem to realize they really do not have the learned skills to survive in the wild over long periods of time. And finally, we see a very interesting research project where several dolphins are displaying their ability to discern less from more.  Two panels are presented with an array of different sizes and quantities of dots.  The dolphins study the panels and then pick the one with the fewer dots. No one knows exactly how they accomplish this, but it implies that they have some level of number sense – fascinating. I could have spent hours watching these beautiful and interesting creatures, but sadly, closing time comes all too soon.

Finally we get the weather forecast that we want for the long trip east. Super Bowl Sunday is our last day in Marathon, and we are invited to friends’ trawler for dinner and the game. Life on a trawler is much more civilized than a sailboat.  We sit in actual living room furniture and watch the game on an actual TV with a satellite feed. We are in the lap of luxury and appreciate this fun farewell from these good friends we met over a year ago.

Early Monday morning we raise the dinghy onto the foredeck and deploy our jacklines.  Although the forecast is for calm motoring the entire 220 nautical miles to Nassau, we prepare the boat as if we might see some serious weather.  The motor east in Hawk Channel is uneventful, but lovely with the multihued turquoise water. Uneventful except that early on, we run over a crab pot float, something that ordinarily would cause the line to wrap around the prop and kill the engine. But, it is our lucky day as all we see in our wake is some shredded styrofoam.  Forty miles east of Marathon, we cross over the barrier reef and head towards the Gulf Stream.  Chris Parker, our weather forecasting guru, says that three hours after winds drop and change direction at the Fowley Rocks weather buoy, the Gulf Stream would lay down.  It is now five hours after that change, and we find Chris’s typically accurate predictions aren’t spot on this time.  We have no wind but the short period waves are coming from all directions.  It is really unpleasant, and Burt and I take seasickness meds for the first time in our memory.  Somehow we get through the night and enter the Great Bahama Banks at dawn.  Only then does the motoring become comfortable.  We have a sixty mile transit across this plateau of water, no deeper than 15 feet, that rises from ocean waters thousands of meters deep.  We see no land and no other vessels. At sunset we enter the Tongue of the Ocean, a trench of extremely deep water on the east side of the banks.  We drop anchor at the southeast corner of the Berry Islands, on the north side of the Tongue, to catch a little sleep.  The stars are amazing, packing every square inch of the dark night sky – there is no ambient light in this area of the world.  The next morning we make the final hop to Nassau with sails unfurled as there is enough wind to finally do some motor sailing. 

Entering Nassau is a bit intimidating - you must get permission from Harbor Control and then encounter some preeeety big ships

Nassau is not a very appealing destination; it is a place where you arrive, take care of necessary business, and leave as soon as possible.  Crime is rampant, so most of the city is off limits, and no one goes out of the guarded marina at night.  After none months away from the Bahamas, we realize we have lost our ability to decipher the Bahamian dialect and are constantly saying “Pardon me” when talking with the locals, making us feel and perhaps look a bit foolish. We clear into customs, asking for a 120 day permit and receive a 150 day permit – go figure as usually you get less than the number of days requested.  We do a few quick errands and visit BTC (Bahamas Telephone Company) several times to get our phone and data plan changed over. It is a frustrating process, and we still do not have it totally operational. Since we crossed to the Bahamas in an unusually good window, we are joined at the marina by many other boats that crossed in the same time frame. The boaters organize a happy hour along side the pool, and we see all the faces that correspond with the voices we have been hearing over the radio the past days.

The good weather holds, and we head further east to Highbourne Cay and the north end of the Exuma chain.  There is no tarrying, though, as a front is forecasted to come through. The next day we have a great sail down to Warderick Wells and the headquarters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, a Bahamian National Park.  The mooring ball field there is well protected and a great place to ride out a blow.  We are just in time for the weekly happy hour organized by the park.  Gathering under the beach front tiki hut, we visit with old and new friends while gazing over the spectacular scenery. 

Sunset on the beach in the Exuma Land and Sea National Park

We have been away from the Bahamas almost nine months and have forgotten how beautiful the water and beaches can be.  Come dusk, we are joined on the beach by some of the resident hutias, a rare nocturnal rodent similar to guinea pigs.  They seem oblivious to the humans and focus in on the snacks that have found their way to the ground. 

The nocturnal guests at Happy Hour

Due to the weather, we will be in Warderick Wells for several days, and we spend our time enjoying this special setting.  

The protected mooring field at Warderick Wells

 Hiking trails take us along ridges overlooking the crashing waves of Exuma Sound and across beaches where the sand is powdery soft.  

Spectacular hiking along the Exuma Sound coast at Warderick Wells

 Everywhere we come across the plentiful curly tailed lizards that peek out at us with curiosity. 

Tame Curly Tailed Lizards are on all the hiking trails

We snorkel off the back of our boat as we are moored right next to one of the most popular snorkeling sites.  Amongst the corals are tropical fish of all varieties. We see a large spotted eagle ray gracefully swim by. And, when we return to the boat, we find a three foot sharksucker attached to our keel.  Apparently, we are growing some very tasty algae down there.

Moderating winds entice us to head further south.  We have a fantastic beat to windward down to the small settlement of Staniel Cay and its anchorage at Big Majors Spot.  We spent quite a bit of time here last year, so we skip some of the common attractions such as the swimming pigs, and instead spent the rest of our afternoon snorkeling the grotto where the James Bond film Thunderball was partially filmed.  We feed bread crumbs to the school of sergeant majors and find ourselves in the midst of a huge feeding frenzy with the fish bumping into our masks.  The corals here are spectacular; many are virtually neon colored in tones of green, yellow, red, and lavender. We spend the next morning taking the dinghy to the rocky shore of Exuma Sound and hiking the jagged cliffs. 

Rocky shoreline of Staniel Cay

Crashing waves of Exuma sound

View from the cliffs

And, in the distance we see the approaching island freighter, the Captain C. 

Unloading the precious cargo from Capt. C, a typical inter-island freighteer

 That means only one thing – in a couple of hours Isles General Store will have fresh vegetables and fruit.  We plan the remainder of the day around replenishing our supplies as fresh food is so hard to come by in the Out Islands.

Our latest email forecast from Chris Parker gets our attention.  When Chris puts phrases in all caps, we take things pretty seriously.  A strong cold front, a result of the severe weather being experienced in the States, will pass through the Bahamas with potentially gale force winds from several directions, requiring an anchorage with all around protection. Due to our deep draft of almost seven feet, our possibilities are limited.  We make the decision to head to Georgetown at the southern end of the Exuma chain.  We are skipping many enjoyable destinations in our rush to get protection, but we hope to head back this way when the long term weather patterns seem more settled.

We have a beautiful motor / motorsail / sail for 60 miles down the Exuma chain in sapphire colored waters. Coming into Georgetown is a bit like coming home.  We know many of the boats that spend the entire winter here and are amazed at how many new boats also occupy the harbor.  With over 250 boats anchored along a several mile stretch of Stocking Island, this shouldn’t be a surprise.  We arrive late afternoon on Valentine’s Day and have just enough time to get showers, eat a quick dinner, and head over to Chat and Chill, the local beach bar, for the Valentines dance.  The place is hopping and the dance floor is packed with “Rocking Ron” and “Kool Karen”, friends from Vero Beach, playing disc jockey. The next day we head into Georgetown proper to do laundry, consult about our internet problems, and visit Exuma Market, a fairly adequate grocery store.  With the coming heavy weather, we will be unable to get to town for a number of days. That evening we attend our first meeting of ARGggg (Alcohol Research Group), otherwise known as Happy Hour at Hamburger Beach. Powdery soft sand rimming turquoise water and a beautiful sunset make this an ideal setting.

The foul weather is due to arrive the next afternoon.  Boats reposition, anchors are checked, deck gear is tied down, already wind shredded flags lowered, and we wait.  One boat goes aground off the beach during a pre-frontal gust, but several dinghies manage to push it off the soft sand so it can reset further out. At sunset the winds pick up to the mid-20’s accompanied by some higher gusts from a direction where we will have about five miles of open fetch.  It’s a bit bouncy, but the fresh breeze and bobbing of the boat make for some pretty good sleeping conditions.  Having a huge anchor and lots of heavy chain also makes sleeping a bit easier. Once the wind swings more easterly, dinghy access to the beach and all it’s activities will be much easier, and then, life in Georgetown will get back to normal.