November 13-30

Georgetown/Exumas to Marsh Harbor/Abacos

Nov 13 - Flew from Tampa to Georgetown, Exumas, via Miami.  Beautiful views over the Islands.  www.bahamas.com/bahamas/island/introduction.aspx?sectionid=6497  

The airport in Georgetown is several miles (20 minutes) outside the "town" which was smaller than I anticipated, given that the airport has several international flights, including jets.  Capt. Luke and Debbie picked me up at the a dock near the grocery store.  Town consisted of a grocery store, dry cleaners, auto parts store, hotel and a few restaurants. S2 was on a mooring, owned by a local named Wendell,  just west of Stocking Island.  It was windy and had been blowing for several days, but the basin was well protected.  There is a Four Seasons resort "Emerald Bay" not far from Georgetown. www.emeraldbayresort.com

Nov 14 - Went for a hike of 5 miles on the south end of Stocking Island, starting and finishing at the Chat & Chill restaurant.  After the hike Luke and Debbie joined me for the pig roast, a feature of the C&C every Sunday.  Did a few magic tricks for the patrons.  Ran into an English couple that had come over to see property that their father had bought 40 years ago from an ad in the London Times....shades of the Florida swampland follies of the 50's.  They said it probably looked the same 40 years ago as it does now.  

Nov 15 - The wind continues steady at 20-25 knots, gusting to 30.  Monday was also cloudy and rainy so we stayed put since we had a 45 mile open water cruise to the next shelter at Staniel Cay.  As it turned out we had to put out the anchor about noon as we were dragging the mooring.  Got some reading in on Digital Fortress and Angels and Demons. 

Nov 16 - Took the tender to Georgetown for a walk around town and lunch at the Two Turtles restaurant.  Picked up a few provisions and returned to the boat.  Snorkeled in the afternoon, not much in the way of fish and the water was a bit turgid due to the winds.

Nov 17 - Wind finally abated and we headed north, a winding route through a number of unmarked shoals.  Sketch charts and reasonably good visibility were helpful.  Wind on the outside was on our beam with 6-8 foot swells, but stabilizers made the ride comfortable.  The pass just south of Staniel Cay, Dotham Cut was fairly open although we pitched a bit  getting through with seas on our starboard quarter, providing Debbie at the helm with some surfing practice.  Water inside was clam and we anchored in 8' of water behind Black Point for lunch before proceeding on to BIg Major island to anchor about a mile from Staniel.  Took the tender to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club www.stanielcay.com that night for dinner.

Nov 18 - Big Major is home to a half dozen pigs and an equal number of wild cats, all of whom are hungry.  They depend on visiting boaters for food and are very alert for new opportunities to panhandle.  One of the pigs even swam out to meet us.  Quite a sight.  While we were more concerned with a pig stepping on our feet, a cat turned out to be the bigger threat as one, in its quest for every morsel, leaped to get some food from Luke's hand and wound up leaving a bite mark on his finger which later became infected and required an antibiotic shot.  Beware of hungry cats!

Following the pig feed we took the tender over to Fowl Cay Resort. www.fowlcay.com The owner, Stuart Brown, showed us around, since there were no guests currently there, it being low season.  Beautiful place, all recently constructed, 3BR house goes for $12k per week.  Resort accommodates 24 guests, no cars on the island, only golf carts.  Great views.

Later in the afternoon at low tide we snorkeled at Thunderball Grotto, made famous by the James Bond movie.  This is one of the most spectacular snorkeling locations in the world I'm sure, up there with Tobago Cays in the Grenadines.  Hundreds of fish of all persuasions in and around a large cave.  The fish are also used to being fed and swim right up to you when you enter the cave, looking for handouts. We forgot to get canned cheese, so had to feed them sliced, which doesn't produce the same level of enthusiasm.

Nov 19 - Another beautiful day.  Pulled anchor and made a one hour run to Sampson Cay where we berthed at the Sampson Cay Club. sampsoncayclub.com The club facilities have been greatly remodeled since we were there in 1999, new docks and buildings, much nicer. Manager Cary was very nice.  Getting into the dock turned out to be a bit dicey due to wind and a big boat to our lee, Debbie opted to let Luke do the honors.  An identical Marlow Explorer "Azura", owned by Charlie and Katie Cricks from Marco Island was next to us at the dock.  They gave me an interior tour of their boat which had a different layout and we had lunch at the club. Cell phone worked here for the first time (ATT).

At the next dock over was an 80 footer named "Lucky Sperm", homeport Climax, PA. Owner was not on board, but the story of how it was named was interesting.  Take a guess.

Sampson Cay is noted for their resident nurse sharks and stingrays, of which they have about a half dozen each.  They gather each time that fish are being cleaned and get quite a feast.  Also there were hundreds of bone fish under the boat!

Nov 20 - Spent a second day at Sampson.  Some good snorkeling, saw a huge stingray and several nurse sharks.  Borrowed a bike for a quick tour of the island, explored the inner bay in the tender.

Nov 21 - Warderick Wells, /Exuma Land and Sea Park A short sail from Sampson Cay the land and sea park encompasses several dozen miles of the cays, with the main stop located at Warderick Wells.  The park maintains a about 30 moorings for visiting boats, but only a few that would accommodate a boat our size.  We were the only boat in the park for the time we were there.  Fish here are also friendly with a resident barracuda, dubbed Bill by Luke and Debbie, hanging out off the stern for the whole time we were there.  We fed him and a couple of "friends", yellow jacks I believe, a bag of cold cuts.  Hiked to the top of Boo Boo Hill where visiting boaters leave mementos and did a bit of snorkeling.  This is a tranquil place where one could hang out for several days.  The park attendant has been here for 8 years and was talkative. 

Nov 22 - Nassau - A 5 hour run to Nassau, in protected water, but with a few "bommies" across the fringe of the yellow bank.  Took on 1000 gallons fuel before docking at Hurricane Hole Marina.  HH is within walking distance of Atlantis.  Had dinner ashore with L&D at an Italian restaurant in the strip center at the marina, which was quite good.  Next morning I walked to Atlantis, even bigger and more opulent than I had remembered.

Nov 23 - Nora, Tom and Dee arrived in the afternoon.  Luke had to go to the doc to get his cat bite tended to. Dinner that night at Atlantis, following a walking tour of their marina, where the BIG boats park!  Dining at Atlantis is a real bargain, $68 for a bottle of Benzinger Chardonnay! A record!

Nov 24 - Due to the weather forecast we delayed the decision as to whether to make the open water trip to the Abacos or return to the Exumas.  We decided on the Abacos, departing about 0900 and arriving at 1530, running at 19 knots all the way for the 75NM trip.  Seas were initially 3-5 feet but built to 7-8 feet later in the day.  Winds averaged 20 kts.  Anchored just off Bridges Cay, breezy all night with chop, wind shifted to southwest.

Nov 25 - A couple of hours run to Boat Harbor Marina on the east side of Marsh Harbor.  Still breezy with the wind at 25 knots during a less than memorable docking effort by yours truly, albeit with one engine set on "slow engine" which did nothing to help. We also bumped bottom on the way in.  The Navtec C-Map charts for the Bahamas were definitely not adequate.  Boat Harbor had experienced some damage during the summer's hurricanes, but not anything near that experienced by next door Marsh Harbor, which had most of the marina's on the south side wiped out.  We walked to town and had lunch at ? which was good. Today was Thanksgiving and Debbie fixed an excellent dinner, turkey and all the fixins!

Nov 26 - A short trip to Man-O-War Cay where we anchored off and took the tender ashore for lunch and exploration of the island by golf cart.  There are only two restaurants on this island which has only a few hundred residents, most of them with the same last name - Aubrey.  The island is dry, much to our chagrin, but they will let you bring your own wine to dinner.  They do have a well protected harbor, but it is crowded and would not easily accommodate a boat of over 40 feet. Luke re-injured his shoulder pulling on the anchor chain.  It had been doing well after a fall in Annapolis.

Nov 27 - Snorkeling off Foot's key which was of minimal interest, thence on to Orchid Bay Marina on Great Guyana Cay.  We were about the only boat at the marina, which was large and with new docks; 100 plus slips.  Deb did a nice job on backing in, high fives around.  We had dinner at the resort restaurant than night, which was very good.  They indicated that the had a few mosquitoes and everyone but me sprayed up before walking back to the boat, but no bugs were encountered.

Nov 28 - Toured the island in a golf cart after breakfast.  Noted a Jayhawk sign in front of one of the houses. Then on to Hopetown. www.hopetown.com We thought this must be a steal at .75 per foot, but found that is was worth the price.  They did have a dock and power, but little else.  The marina is isolated by land and accessing any of the rest of the town must be by tender.  We borrowed the marina's outboard and went to town for lunch at a nice little resort called ? The town itself is quaint and interesting. The harbor is well protected, but has a few bugs.  The marina owner was nice and very accommodating.

Nov 29 - Back to Hurricane Hole for the last night.  A bit of a tiff with the marina after they assigned us a slip that was much to small, designed for a 50 foot boat and only a foot of side clearance.  Debbie did an excellent job docking in tight quarters.  The dockhand got rather belligerent about our electrical hookup and I had a talk with the general manager of the resort concerning his behavior.  We had dinner at the dockside restaurant than night which was good.  They let us bring our own wines for a corkage charge.  Few people at the resort (Abaco Beach Resort). Luke was not feeling well.

Nov.30  Tom, Dee, Nora and I left on a charter flight from Marsh Harbor to Freeport to connect with our flight back to the states.  The flight was about 45 minutes. Freeport was hit hard by the summers hurricanes and there was considerable damage evident at the airport with hangers destroyed and planes damaged.  Part of the terminal building was torn down and was in the process of being rebuilt.  We took a taxi to Port Lucaya for lunch and browsing before catching our flights. Debbie and Luke made a 140 mile run that day and overnighted here before crossing the gulf stream the next day. They arrived back in Longboat on December 5.

Thus endeth the 2004 cruising season.  Capt Luke is wintering in Texas and Debbie in Safety Harbor.

Total mileage for the summer was 5300 NM, 580 engine hours.

Plans for 2005 call for a return to the western Abacos followed by a leisurely cruise on Long Island Sound, Hudson River, Erie Canal, Georgian Bay and the rivers back to Florida.