07 Nassau to Staniel Cay 2010-03-29

March 29
Nassau
Last night we were invited for cocktail hour on a neighbouring boat; a couple from Nova Scotia, and another from Niagara on the Lake, provided entertaining conversation prior to our meeting Al Davis, a friend from Ottawa, also cruising on his boat Excaliber X11, and Ginette, an acquaintance of Al's from Montreal, living part-time in Nassau. They picked us up in Ginette's car to drive us to a little out of the way restaurant called Beverly's Kitchen, where authentic Bahamian dishes are served: conch stew, goat's tongue, curried chicken, curried mutton, and oxtail souse were the main selections, accompanied by the native tradition of rice and peas, together with other side dishes. Also on our table were mickeys of rum and orange juice. I ordered the goat's tongue, but there was none left; the same happened with the conch stew. It was all new to me, so I happily settled for the oxtail souse. I also tried Al's chicken and Jim's mutton. All were absolutely delicious. Our server, a lovely young Bahamian lady, probably in her twenties, appeared quite taken by Jim's sense of humour and giggled and laughed merrily at his comments. The individual charge, including liquor, was $15.00 and was accompanied by a farewell hug for each of us by this charming young lady.

Al and Ginette

March 31

Allen's Cay
Mechanical problems continue to haunt us; we were ready to leave Nassau around 9:30 a.m. and stopped only to fill up on diesel. However, when this chore was completed, the engine would not start. Jim thinks there is air in the fuel tank and it takes two hours to set the problem right. Because of this setback, we are late arriving at our evening destination, thus taking one of the last anchorages at Allen's Cay. It's a pretty location with waters of varying degrees of blues and acquamarine in a small body of water protected from oceans by tiny cays on three sides, one of which is, Leaf Cay, known for the large population of rock iguana's that have resided there since time began. The weather was perfect and we settled in for another equally perfect evening, eating our dinner in the cockpit and watching a handful of people snorkelling near the shores. At about 4 a.m. however, I was awoken by Jim's calling out, “omg” as he scrambled over me, rushing for the cockpit. During the night, the tides and currents had changed direction in the path of our boat (but not in the path of two boats anchored nearest to us), and therefore, in spite of the fact that we had let out similar footage of chain, the three boats collided with a thud, (resulting in the loss of our navigation light). Originally, we thought our anchor had dragged, but this proved to be not the case. For the next hour or so, Jim and I, together with the occupants of these two boats rafted up, used our body weight to push the boats off of each other until the currents changed again and our boats drifted apart in the direction intended. Everyone was nice about it because we all knew it was nobody's carelessness that caused it, but rather an act of nature out of anyone's control. The rest of the night, Jim and I found ourselves jumping out of bed to ensure there was no reccurence of the situation, and today, April 1, we continue at anchor in this charming setting, not so much for its beauty, as for the need for rest!

April 2

Norman's Cay
We arrive at Norman's Cay, one of the longest islands in the Exumas, about 6 miles in total and an average of 1000' wide. This Cay gained its notoriety during the late seventies when it was a base for a very successful cocaine operation.  We meet up with our friend, Al Davis, who has already anchored. It's a time to relax. Al joins us on our boat in the late afternoon, bringing with him a supply of grapefruit juice to compliment our rum; later we join him on his boat for a community steak and wine dinner followed by a movie night (unfortunately, all three of us fell asleep!)

April 3

Today, we spend the morning and early afternoon with Allan exploring the beautiful nearby cays and tidal streams by dinghy. We packed a light lunch and lingered on the white sands drinking in the incredible beauty of this area. We saw stingrays, turtles and a small barricuda, and of course lots of fish. Jim found his first perfect sand dollar. In the later afternoon, we dinghied over to Norman's Cay.

April 4 (Happy Easter!)

Shroud Cay
We spent a couple of days here; Jim and I explored an inlet on this Cay; the second day, we dinghied further out, but found the water too shallow for our dinghy to proceed and therefore turned back. Jim skinny dipped in the cool waters while I took photos (most of which I later deleted!) here we hiked the quarter mile to McDuff's. This infamous establishment is frequented by private aircraft and the boating community, and as we neared the main building, it was necessary to look both ways for landing planes before proceeding to the the watering hole! McDuff's has grown over the years and now includes 3 small one-bedroom cottages which upon query, we discovered are rented for $250 per night. The menu was simple, but expensive, well suited for the clientele (if one could afford their own private plane, they could also afford a $15 hamburger! (we stuck to one drink each; then Al joined us on our boat for another community dinner).

April 4 (Happy Easter!)

 
April 6

Staniel Cay
It was a full day's sail from Shroud to Staniel Cay along the Exuma Banks, but spent pleasantly reading aloud from the humorous book “Motion of the Ocean” Al invited us over to his boat for pre-dinner rum cocktails; later, we invited him for a pasta “clean out the fridge” dinner.

The following day, we dinghied over to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for lunch; it was a delightful experience. The Club was packed with “yachties” from every imaginable type and size of boat. It also gave us our first opportunity since Nassau to have internet access. Their fee is $10 per day – per computer! One of the entertaining features of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club is the regular visits by nurse sharks coming to feed on the scraps tossed into the harbour by fisherman cleaning their daily catch. This is a harmless species of shark, but the visual image is quite fearful.

Later, Jim and I walked up the road to a house where we were told fresh bread was for sale. It was strange to walk into someone's private tiny home, standing awkwardly amidst a family preparing their afternoon meal and children scurrying about. The price was $5.00 which seemed rather expensive, but when I looked around at the poverty in this home, I felt dreadfully guilty for our comparable wealth. This afternoon, we also dinghied over to the “Isles General Store”, the main grocery source on this island for its less than eighty full time residents and the yachting community. This tiny store receives its supplies from Nassau once a week when the mailboat comes to town.

Arriving at Staniel Cay

Club Thunderball, Staniel Cay

At Big Major's Spot, adjacent to Staniel Cay, we marvel at the wild pigs on the beach that swim out to greet us in our dinghy, looking for the free handouts to which they are accustomed. We attend a potluck dinner on another beach, and the three of us are astounded by the amazing food that is brought; there are conch fritters, lasagna, fancy sandwiches, oriental meatballs, huge platters of chicken wings, every imaginable type of dip and dessert. It's pigout heaven and great fun with fellow cruisers from every walk of life.


April 9

This day is spent sailing from Staniel Cay to Warderick Wells, Exuma Park.  Allan, aboard Excaliber X11, glides along near Montamarol, and we wave to each other on this warm, beautiful day.