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We met Jack and Lauire… yep another Laurie last night on the beach.  They flew in to be with Ted and Mili on Morning Glory for 7 days.  We were all out driving around and happened to meet at Zephros to chat so we rafted the dinghys together and went to the beach enmasse with us pushing the other two boats.. lol.  While at the beach we met a couple that lives in the next town from us in Mandeville Louisiana!  Matt and his wife had picked up her sister at the airport.  Nicole (the wife’s sister) is a cute little thing as Jono recognized right away… lol.  Matt is a spear fisherman and apparently a great angler, he gave us half a Mahi from his “overstocked” refrigerator.  We traded information then, as dark fell the mosquitoes drove us back to our boats.

This morning winds are up and down, it blew pretty good during the night.  That seems to be the pattern; most of the high wind has been at night for the last few weeks.  Jono is sleeping in this morning.  He rode back over to Morning Glory about 8:30 last night; I’m not sure when he got home.

10:30AM – Morning Glory and I decided to head North 10 miles or so for the day.  Ted wanted to show his company the Undersea Aquarium just north of Bell Island and I wanted to put Jono on some possibly unpicked over beachs at Thomas Cay.  It’s almost noon and I’m anchored at my intended spot, Jono is on the Oceanside looking for cruiser treasures.  I’m excited to have more shipwreck wood to add to my collection back home.  I ran aground once going into pipe creek.  It’s low tide so I’m not surprised.  It wasn’t bad getting off but it wasn’t fun either.  I think I’ll take a swim around the boat while Jono is on the beach.

MG didn’t come all the way back to Pirate beach but we did.  This would be the last day we would see the other Seawinds, we are breaking away tomorrow to head back to the states.  SYL

In the wee hours of the morning a huge supply ship came right by our boat, I mean within 20’ of us.  I guess it’s the “mail boat” that supplies Fowl Cay Resort.  He docked over there for a while then moved on.  All these islands are supplied by these mail boats as they are called.  Everything from fresh water to diesel, groceries, building materials, everything….. comes on the mail boat.  Most islands they come once a week, some remote places get their boat every 2 weeks.  If you need a tire for your car on Crooked Island, or a bottle of wine… you call the store in Nassau, buy it and they put it on the mail boat for you.  It usually makes it intact, but if it doesn’t arrive whole…. or at all there’s no recourse.  You may get it next week, or maybe not.  To better explain what I mean about da’ Bahamas, read this sign from Ocean Cabin on Little Farmers.

Jono made three trips to the outer beaches today…. One by himself, one with me, and another time with Mike.  The bounty was oodles of sea glass, and some nice pieces too!  He also found two more boat bumpers so he’s fixed up totally for bumpers…..  I hung out on Pirate Beach while Mike and Jono went, when they got back we went up to Pirate Beach and swam to cool off after the sun drenching day on the remote beaches.  On PB we met two couples, one from Corpus Christi Texas, the other from Knoxville Tennessee on the same boat.  Both men were helicopter pilots working in Afghanistan.  Laurie form Forever Young came over about 3, Richard followed at 5 with the wine… we left immediately after he got there with the wine… remembering what happened to us yesterday.  Actually we were hungry so… we are dining on Jono chili dogs at this very moment.

5:30 – A few minutes ago Morning Glory arrived at Big Major with their firefighter friends on board from Florida.  So now we are 4 Seawinds strong… a flotilla of Australian fiberglass here in the Bahamas.  Ted did a flyby.. we told him we were returning to the beach after dinner so we will rendezvous in a few minutes to meet Jack and his family!

SYL

We left Little Farmers under sail alone and worked our way North to Jack’s Bay Cove for our first big adventure on the outside.  We hiked over the narrow spit of land, Jono went one way and I went the other to double our search area.  There were tons of wood, a wrecked boat and every type of plastic bottle known to man on the remote beaches…. However you could tell that cruisers had picked them clean of the good stuff – float balls mainly… I found one but it was probably someone’s cull, I culled it too.  What I did find of interest to me was a shipwreck! 

I think it was a Bahamian racing sloop by the paint on it and by the mast base I found.  I stood it up in the picture above so I could see it easily on the way back down the beach.  Being almost 3 miles away from the boat walking across lava rock, it was a huge undertaking.. but I hoisted about a 6’ long section of the mast base on my shoulder and carried it out.

Luckily I was just up off the beach when Jono met me from his exploration on his beach (we went seperate ways to double our search area) so he and I carried the relic together back to SYL !!.  It will make a wonderful conversation piece in my Bahamian wood / float ball display at home.  The 65# chunk of wood is nestled nicely in the dinghy davit, where I have carried much of my Bahamian wood pieces back to Texas over the years.

This big 2’ chunk probably started its life before the United States was a country.  I don’t think it’s part of the sloop… it looks much older.  From a little sprig, this huge piece of wood grew up, was cut and used for years, then floated on the ocean for who knows how long until it reached the little beach where we found it after bleaching in the sun for who knows how long.  I wouldn’t hesitate to say that it’s a 300 year old piece of wood.  Another major effort was made to bring that piece back home…  the 5” thick 2′ long and 1′ wide chunk of wood may  be my favorite beach find this trip.

I intended to stop by Black Point and do a load of whites at the laundry… but I decided to do them in the ice chest like Jono does so we continued on the extra few miles to where Mike and Laurie are staying tonight… Big Major.  Sailing was fun.. winds were on our beam swaying aft now and then..  The water was flat and we had enough wind to enjoy the day.  We got to outrun two monohulls, one was only 36’ long but the other was over 40 so that’s more of a challenge.  At 9kts apparent I only had a knot or so on them, but when it piped up over 11 knots it was easy to see that SYL was pulling away.

We dropped the hook about 1PM at Big Major near Pirate Beach where Jono made massive us ham sandwiches.  He immediately dropped the dinghy and gathered his hunting gear for another big trek.  He’d scouted the charts and chose some beaches he hasn’t been on for his evening hike.

It’s amazing how much wood and junk are on some of these ocean side beaches.  This is Jono up high looking for the beach just before we split up.

I just realized that “Forever Young” (the 78’ Hatteras) was back in her place on Pirate Beach.  Laurie and Richard just came by on the way to Laurie’s favorite reading chair at her favorite beach.

Pirate Beach Sunset

7:45PM  We just got back on board SYL, Richard brought 2 bottles of wine to pirate beach at 5, so we were pretty roasted by the time we left.  Richard and Laurie, Mike and Laurie, and Jono and I had a great time talking about how we all came to be at this spot, at this time.  It was a special time none of us will forget.  The question came up “Where is it?”  where is it better than this?  My thoughts go back to “normal people” watching TV, getting up going to work the next morning…. Here we are sitting on a sweet little beach looking out on clear blue water with great friends sharing each other’s story watching the amazing sunset with our toes in the white sand of Pirate Beach.  Where is it indeed that it’s better than here….. there may be that place… but it’s not in some living room watching TV.   SYL

We parked at the South end of the airstrip.  Our plan for the day is to find out what “Ocean Cabin” is serving  and go there for either lunch or dinner.  Jono is on the outer beach this morning trying to support his growing boat habit (looking for treasure).  When we arrived yesterday we inflated the dinghy, so far the patch is holding so we have our “car” back.  The kayak provides alternate transportation, but more for Jono than myself.  It’s not easy to get on or off the kayak these days.

I just looked over at Jumanji and Mike is at the top of his mast… he must suspect a bird pooped on the top and he has to clean it off.  I have never seen a cleaner boat outside of a boat show.  I went over and helped Mike come down the mast.  He was checking for a sharp edge that may have been chafing his main halyard.

While we were away walking the town, Jono came back with his first haul of the day…  several fishing floats… all on one beach!  After we came back to the boat and ate lunch, Jono and I went back to the junk covered beach he found all the good stuff on.  We found another huge score of float balls and some fine taylor made boat fenders worth probably $150 at the resale shop.  In all Jono and I found  one orange throw ring, 5 boat bumpers, 7 pre-war aluminum float balls… ! 14 assorted more modern float balls, 5 smaller oval float balls and 2 heavy fiber cylinders (I don’t really know what they are for).  All this was on a single 150 yard beach that apparently NOBODY ever goes to..  Salvage Beach / Wal-Mart / whatever you want to call it we found a great place to shop for beach junk.

Dinner at Ocean Cabin with the group was very good.  Jono had fried fish and I had cracked conch.  Both were very good, with one beer it was a $42 dollar tab.   Steamed lobster was $28 a plate, it looked good but those that got it said it was spicy hot… but very good.  We got back to the boat after dark….. Jono made some new friends on the island; he got a carving of an owl from “JR” the local wood carver.

Jonathon met Jeffery, Carlos, and a few others.  I think Jono likes Little Farmers Cay.  SYL !!

Four Seawinds lifted anchor at 7:15 to make a formation fly by in Georgetown Harbor.  Jono and Mili were in the dinghy to take pictures as we approached Kidd Cove.  The boats in order are: closest to you sv “Zephyros”, second away is sv “Jumanji”, then sv “Morning Glory” with “Sea Yawl Later” in the distance.. but leading the pack.

Ted and Mili on Morning Glory sailed out of the harbor with us but returned for guests arriving later in the week.  The trio of Seawinds continued on to Little Farmer’s for the evening.  It was a glorious downwind sail in 4’ swells and 8 knots of wind.  My fishing prowess (or lack thereof) remains intact.  I did everything I knew of to catch a fish and didn’t get a bite.  Almost 40 miles of trolling and we got nothing…..  Mike and Frank caught barracuda but no game fish.

Arrival drinks were shared on Jumanji until 6:30.  We all returned to our ships for the evening meal.  Jono had thawed out some of Linda’s chicken and sausage gumbo.  We ate it over rice and crackers with plenty salt and hot sauce….  Great finish for the day.

Stargazing was nice, I spent 15 minutes watching satellites move through the night sky – still lit strongly by the sun.  It’s quiet here, no generators running, no boats running thru the harbor all night… Little Farmers is much different than Georgetown on Regatta week.  The “zoo” was fun to see… but this is better!

SYL

Today is Seawind photo day, our plan is to get all 4 boats together for a photo.  Jono and I may be leaving GT tomorrow, so the opportunity for a group shot is waning.  I need to be back home in roughly a month, and we are talking about making some of the out islands on the way back… so we are at the apex of our argosy.  All good things must come to an end I guess.  This picture is of Morning Glory’s arrival (with the new stern extensions)

Today was a great day… again.  Everybody rode on Morning Glory over to the Georgetown side of the harbor.  We all walked the town, I got a Batelco prepaid phone “top up” Jono got some more Gumbay Punch 2 liters, and we all watched the first two regatta races from the bank.  The third race (the big 28’ “A” boats) started at 4PM.  Moring Glory with all on board was on the starting line to watch the big race of the day begin.  Red Stripe and Tida Wave were my favorites… they are historically the fastest two boats.  Both boats took an early lead but had problems during the race.  Running Tide #5 took the win.  The SW flotilla all went back to their respective boats and re-convened at the Chat-n-chill for ribs and chicken dinner.

After hugs all around we left in the dark heading back to our boats.  Tomorrow everybody but Ted and Mili are leaving GT heading back North.

SYL

We charged batteries with the generator last evening; I cleaned the solar panels so we will see how they perform today.  Solar charging has been OK, but not up to par.

Jono is at work this morning.. which means he’s on an outer beach hunting relics.  With the dinghy waiting for glue to cure, he took the Kayak into hurricane hole 1 to walk across to the ocean.

With a light breeze picking up in GT harbor, it is becoming a nice morning.  I forgot to ask about a boat count in the harbor on the net this morning, but I did pick up a spare autopilot on the boat trader segment.  A boat named Celeste bought a new wheel pilot and is giving his old unit away, it will make a good backup for SYL.  It’s nice to see the regatta boats out practicing this morning; we have a ring side seat.  The little boats slide across the light blue water like a leaf in the wind.

Having our Seawind friends around us is really nice.  Ted came over this morning, Mili has her sewing machine out and I need a little bimini repair.  Ted said to bring it on over and she’ll fix it up.  Richard and Laurie from “forever young” came by in their small boat; they came in the harbor yesterday evening on their 78’ Hatteras motor yacht.  She said she caught fish every day and her freezer is full… she wants to go fishing every day here in GT but she didn’t have anybody to clean fish for her so I volunteered.  Jono and I may be able to put up a nice store of fresh Mahi as barter.  Their dinghy is a 16’ boat with a Honda 90 on it, so they use that to go fishing.  I’m glad I bought that second jar of Wasabi….

“High Noon” just came by in his Dink after a grocery trip across the harbor.  I don’t remember his but his wife’s name is Mary.  They are long time seasonal GT residents from Canada.  The first time I came to GT they were parked in the same spot they are now.  High Noon is a 65’ sleek looking monohull that must go to wind like a 747…. It’s a narrow hull so it looks like it’s 100 feet long.  There isn’t many of the old guard left; life is a revolving door out here in cruiser paradise.

There is a 36’ monohull parked behind us; they bring their dog to the bank to do his business every morning.  When they get close to the boat on the return trip the dog bails off the bow of the dinghy and climbs the ladder back up into the boat… it’s the oddest thing you have ever seen.  He looks like a black and white spaniel breed… perty smart I guess.  Dogs on boats… I guess some people can’t make real friends…. Lol.  I love a dog, but when that dog consumes your life (and you don’t want to live for someone or something else) you need to rethink your situation.  I’m not callus; I just guard my heart against loving a non-human to a fault.

Conditions should be ideal for the Family Island Regatta.  I’ve been keeping up with weather and it looks really fine for the races this week.

Zephros invited everyone for drinks and snacks tonight.  I think I’ll go over and visit everyone.  Mike came and picked me up earlier, we went to all the other Seawinds looking at how they were set up.  Our dinghy is out of service while the glue dries so Mike is carrying me around these days.  In a couple days our dink will be good to go.  We used 3M 5200 for the repair, it’s brutally efficient but slow drying.

SYL

Today was a calm day, we shopped at Exuma Market via a dinghy ride across the harbor.  When we got back I started trying to diagnose a charging problem with the batteries.  We haven’t had to charge much… but with the sunshine we have, we should be seeing more power from our solar panels.  It looks like one of our panels is all but dead, and the other is limping.  That would explain the problem.  We have some tests to run tomorrow but I suspect we found the issue.  It’s not something we can or need to fix on this trip… and from what I hear the manufacturer of the panels may give me free replacements so it’s something to do when a shipping address is easier.

While I was working on the solar panels Jono heard something outside.. the dinghy blew out on a long seam, one side went flat.  I took the engine off and Mike and Jono hoisted the boat up on deck where mike made a repair.   Mike has all the right glue and cleaner and the experience so he did it all.  Tomorrow we will see if it holds.  Often there are small leaks to patch after such a large blowout.  We aren’t sure why the blowout occurred, it just may be that the tube over pressured in the hot sun…..  All the Seawind owners pitched in tools and experience to solve my problems, even with the issues it was a good day.

The regatta boats are practicing in the harbor today.  Bahamian sloops were the work boats of past decades, now their heritage is preserved in what is now the country’s most coveted sport, Bahamian sloop racing.  This week is the “superbowl” event of the season… the culmination of months and months of local contests.  The government pays to ship all the family island local winners to Georgetown every year for the “Family Island Regatta”.  This year is the 63^rd annual event.

We chimed in this morning on the “cruisers net” to announce our arrival.  Georgetown draws a large number of cruising boats to watch this event, and the previous event last month where the cruisers actually compete in a big race with other crusiers.  The net happens every morning at 8AM, a host calls on channel 68 (the local harbor hailing channel) to switch the VHF radio to channel 72 for the “net”.  Moderators offer local knowledge to new cruisers, there is a boat trader section where people can sell or trade boating items, if anybody needs help somebody on the net knows how to help with that specific problem so knowledge and spare parts are shared.  One of the segments announce new arrivals, all four Seawind owners told of their adventures, who was on the boat.. where they are from etc.  Then they go into who’s leaving today and where they are going.   The cruiser community is well established here in GT.  There are seminars by professionals on the beach on several subjects including everything from battery maintenance to local history.  Beach church is held every Sunday around the picnic tables at the chat-n-chill.  GT is sort of the furthest distance most cruisers ever go.. the “destination” for many because everything from here South is upwind, remote, or difficult to find good protection.  GT is called “Chicken Harbor” because most people chicken out of going any farther south.

There is a large contingent of Canadians boats here.  Many leave after Cruiser Regatta in March but quite a few are here for Family Island Regatta this year.  March signals the end of the harsh Canadian winter.  Instead of second homes, lots of canooks buy a big boat and park it or sail it here for the season.

It’s getting dark, our sunset was as beautiful as always, this time with about 300 aluminum trees (sail boat masts) in the picture.  Tomorrow morning I’ll ask to see if somebody has a boat count, normally they announce how many cruisers are here.  At events like this, cruisers often outnumber the locals.  There are some large boats here, even a 60+ foot Gunboat.  If you don’t know what a Gunboat is.. google Gunboat catamaran and see what pops up.  I have never seen as many catamarans on the water as there are now.  Catamarans may outnumber monohulls these days, apparently many new cruisers are opting for a cat, and there are more cruisers this year on the water than I have seen in the past 15 years.

Last night I opened my hatch fully to watch the stars.  Light pollution is low here so your vision to the heavens is much clearer than on land.  I’m thankful for the experience.

SYL  Rusty.

Jumanji, Wings and SYL made a fine sail from Lee Stocking.  The contest of the day was a fishing tournament, we all put out lines and did our best but the only fish caught was a Little Tuney on Jumanji.  However, Morning Glory caught two nice Mahi a few miles from the harbor.  The coolest thing is…. All four Seawinds planning to unite in the Bahamas made it to GT this evening. 

Jumanji sails out of their in harbor home at Port Aransas, Texas.  She is a very nice well equipped 2001 boat, they have been sailing alongside SYL since we caught up with them in the Gulf of Mexico heading to Florida’s West coast.  Mike and Laurie are avid sailors, she was the helmswoman and he trimmed sails for many years racing Farrier trimarans.  Mike was president of the F24 and F28 classes for many years, he currently does the PHRF performance ratings for racing sailboats on the Texas gulf coast.  This is Jumanji’s first year to cruise the Bahamas, both sailors successfully retired from Conoco Phillips a few months ago.

Morning Glory hails from Stuart Florida, she is a well sorted out ship with almost every Seawind extra or addition you can attach to a 2000 model Seawind 1000.  If it doesn’t have it yet.. I’m sure it will soon…. The highlights of her many extras include extended transoms, an extended hard top with custom made sunbrella enclosures, bow sprit and screacher and front opening windows.  Ted and Mili are wonderful people, as are all out Seawind friends.  Ted brings a two person Hobie revolution Kayak, a single kayak and an inflatable paddle board with him.  Ted is an avid spearfisherman and Mili sews all the canvas for the boat.  They too (like Jumanji) are lucky enough to keep their boat at their home.  Ted is a retired Miami Beach fire fighter / first responder.

Zephyros is the newest in our little fleet, she is a 2009 XL model that comes from Seawind with extended transoms and front opening windows as well as other changes SW made to their new models.  Frank and Pat live in the Tallahassee area where Frank is a retired pilot and Pat was a teacher.  They have never been this deep into the Bahamas.  They; like Mike and Laurie are ex trimarans racers, they started with an F27 and went to an F31.  It seems there is a natural progression from Farrier racer… to Seawind cruiser in the sailing community.  Zephyros has a bow sprit and screacher like Morning Glory so they are both fast nice riding examples of the Australian brand.

Sea Yawl Later !! is of course the old man of the group, hull number 37, she’s a 1998 model but doesn’t look her age.  When Linda is on board she stays pristine, but Jono and I have taken some liberties in that area.  We don’t live for the boat. We live on it… lol.  It’s not too bad this year, but assuredly not up to Linda’s standards.  My little ship is the most “stock” model of the group.. no extentions of any kind or big headsails.  I’m known for carrying too much weight but still being one of the faster boats in the fleet.  Seawind did good when they built SYL, she’s solid as a rock and pretty darn fast regardless of her deep waterline and lazy captain.  I’m loaded for cruising with a watermaker, radar, single side band radio, and the heaviest dinghy in the fleet.  I’m not sure if Zepyros has a watermaker, but I know the other three boats do.  We are all self-sufficient fully rigged cruisers.

SYL

We raised anchors right at 7AM heading for the shallows of the Pimlico Cays.  It’s always a little stressful because you’re in the shallows (4 to 6 feet) for a long time.  It seems like hours, but it’s probably only one.  The shallows went well, Mike had all the waypoints in so I followed him.  It was my least stressful trip through there every because I wasn’t in the lead.  Our ETA for the days trip is before 11AM so it will be a short run today.  We only used our mainsails today with all the direction changes..  winds are pretty light anyway.

We are stopping at Leaf Cay for an hour or so, there is a beach Jono wants to check out… that will also allow time for “Wings” to catch up.  They are sailing the deep water this morning in the Exuma Sound.

Wings did rendezvous with us at Leaf Cay – Adderly Cut.  We traveled together another couple miles and stopped for the evening at Lee Stocking Island.  The small beach provided great overlooks to the ocean as well as back toward the boats on the calm side.  It’s a highly rated anchorage for the scenery and its geography.  You should never see much of a current here so the boats sit facing the wind all the time… which is nice.  If the boat isn’t facing the wind you don’t get a breeze in your hatches, and facing the wind.. the waves go right under the boat rather than rolling it side to side so “no current” is a good thing.  This evening wind direction is supposed to clock all the way from SE to South, to West, then from the North by nightfall as the next weak front comes through.  This time of the year fronts don’t normally make it this far south so it will be a very weak front with almost no wind… perfect for the offshore section of run to Georgetown.

Jono and Mike are back from their gris hunt, I guess I’ll go over and see how they did.

No score on the ambergris, more scratched legs than anything else walking through the brambles to access remote beaches.  About 3:30 we all dog piled on to “Wings” to check out Jono’s prospective purchase.  Mike and I looked at it pretty closely.  It’s a well-kept for a 1968 model, it has several cruiser features that Jono would need and I think it’s a good option for him.  I am a little concerned about the mast and rigging (if it’s heavy enough) but other than that it’s a usable boat with lots of extras.

Winds are shifting as expected.  I took a nice warm shower after my swim earlier, we do a good job of conserving water but sometimes you just have to break down and do a full fresh water shower and rinse.

The little anchorage is filling up, Mike and I were the first two boats in, now there are 7 boats here.  I am surprised by the number of catamarans I’m seeing this year.  When we first started sailing it was odd to see another cat, now… half the boats you see are catamarans, even the powerboats have gone to two hull boats.  1 of the 7 boats in this anchorage is a monohull.  There were supposedly nine 57’ Horizon power cats at Staniel when we were there, at 4.5MM a copy they must be a pretty nice rig.  It was a Horizon rally, I didn’t see all 9, only 5 had arrived before we left.

We have good cell service today, I talked with Linda, there were several good things going on back home so that’s a refreshing change for this trip.  I have about 30 minutes left on my prepaid Bahamas phone, I may load it back up in GT so I can keep Linda in the loop, and find out how it’s going back home.

I fed the iguanas on Leaf Cay today.  It’s a one boat beaching opportunity.  I slipped in and hung my anchor in dry sand, stepped down in knee deep water off the bow and went ashore.  We saved some old bread so the iguanas had a feast.  Leaf has great memories for me and Linda, it’s still the same.  The picture on my boat card is at Leaf Cay.

It was black box wine on Jumanji tonight…. They are planners so we talked about where to anchor in GT tomorrow.  As long as Laurie and Mike have a plan they are quite happy.  The plan is to anchor in Kidd Cove so we can go into Lake Victoria and the exuma market for provisions tomorrow evening.  It looks like a wonderful downwind drift tomorrow.  We all agreed not to race, the goal for the day is fishing!  The winner is the one that catches the biggest edible fish.  Anchors aweigh at 7:30…. GT here we come.

SYL !!