23. January 1, 2019: Happy New Year! Palm Cay Marina to Hawksbill Cay

January 1, 2019:

Happy New Year! If you've read our last blog (#22. Hoffman's Cay to New Year's Eve), you know that midnight New Year's Eve finds us in our sailboat As You Wish, stuck on a coral head in front of Palm Cay Marina on New Providence in the Bahamas, with fireworks exploding over our heads!

It took a long time to fall back to sleep after that. Soon it was 4 a.m.--high tide--and Dean was back. (I’m completely shocked and grateful that he was!) He hooked his dinghy to the front of our boat (pulling), and John was in our dinghy at the back, pushing. We had planned to pick up the anchor, and I was to drop the rope we had tied to a big post when they were ready. The wind and the waves were too much, and I had to drop the anchor again. We still weren't in the channel. We began to try to inch our way over by using a rope tied to a post on one end, with the other end on our windless while slowly letting out the anchor chain. By 9 a.m., we were still at it. Stephen came by in a big power boat and offered to help (first one besides Dean to do so!), but by then it was low tide again. Wendy had been watching our dogs, but they escaped and started down the docks to look for us. Nikki came back to Wendy when she offered her a cookie, but John had to get Teddy.

Still stuck just outside of Palm Cay Marina

Since high tide wasn't until 3:30 p.m., Dean and Wendy invited us over to their boat. We were very glad for the reprieve, and for the breakfast and lunch they provided! We played dominoes to pass the time. I was worried about our boat, and Dean said, "She'll most likely have some paint rubbed off and minor gouges". We'll see: I’m not holding my breath.

Finally high tide came in, and Stephen showed up with his powerboat. We were all able to get As You Wish spun around and into the marina, where we tied her to an end dock. Whew!! John paid Stephen for his time, and that was a bargain considering that I couldn't even find a Bahamian towing company using Google.

I put on my snorkeling gear, and was pleasantly surprised to find what Dean predicted: yay! After being stuck for 18 hours, this was super news!

We took showers in the "European-style" bathroom at the marina: both men and women. I'm glad the stalls are private!

As I walked back to the boat, I could finally appreciate what a beautiful marina this is! I could join in with a “Happy New Year!” We are so thankful for Dean and Wendy, who are so helpful, thoughtful and caring! I hope we can be more like them!

Stephen, a French-Canadian, is also a wonderful guy: I now love Canadians (and he has a great accent too)! He is the manager for the catamaran charter company here at the marina. (They have nine going out on Saturday).

We ate supper and walked the dogs and cat. There is an old cat here, with a little shelter that says "Matthew the Cat"; I'm sure it's the oldest cat I've ever seen!

We were very grateful to go to bed early and fall asleep on a quiet, still boat!

January 2, 2019:

What a wonderful, restful night we had! I did laundry while John worked on the engine. Palm Cay Marina lets you use a car for two hours at a time. Dean and Wendy signed up for 1-3, and we signed up from 3-5, so we all went to downtown Nassau together. We stopped at a big marine store, and I got some fishing gear. I'm glad that Dean was in front navigating with John, because the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, and everyone here drives on the left side of the road like they do in England. Very confusing on fast, narrow streets, especially in the round-abouts. We saw the pink Atlantis Hotel from a distance.

Every store has a security guard near the entrance. I don't know if that makes me feel more secure or not! We stopped at a Pizza Hut, but it was only To-Go, so we ate on Chaos. It took such a long time for them to make the pizza (and they were busy), that we didn't have time to stop at the grocery store. I'm really missing fresh fruits and veggies!

January 3, 2019:

This morning Jason the mechanic showed up, and our engine is running! (It had a vapor lock).

We were able to use the car again, and we bought a cartload of groceries at the store. It was almost $300, as everything in the Bahamas has a 100% duty slapped on top of the price. Some items pictured here are expensive, and some just unique:

The marina here is really beautiful, and I love the way they prune the sea grapes to look like trees:

This evening we had Dean, Wendy and Pierre over for Krab Fettuccine and fruit salad. I'm glad we're both heading in the same direction--down the Exuma chain--so we may see them again. He's a real estate consultant for banks (still working!), and she's his assistant. They're in the process of getting the fiberglass fixed on Chaos, as a boat ran into them at the dock in Bimini.

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January 4, 2019:

We didn't leave until almost 11, as we thought we'd have an easy 26-mile day, but no, it was another slog. We had the "this is more work than fun" conversation, and discussed other options. Even with everything we’ve been through, nothing enticed us away from sailing.

We anchored off Ship Channel Cay just as the sun set. Sailing can be tedious, but also wondrous!

Saturday, January 5, 2019:

Sleep last night was hard to come by, as our anchorage was very rolly. We dropped the dinghy and took the dogs to Beacon Cay, a tiny island we passed about 2 miles back that had ruins on it. According to an Exuma Lighthouses web page, a lighthouse station was established here in 1893. There was a lighthouse, and an octagonal keeper's cottage. There isn't much left of the cottage, and even less of the lighthouse, but it was fun to explore. A small boat ramp had been chiseled into the ironshore, and it was a perfect place for us to land our dinghy. I found a dead flying fish on the shore; I've never seen one up close before.

The dinghy ride back to the boat was much choppier. Then we snorkeled a bit before hoisting anchor and sailing to Allens Cay, SW Allens Cay and Leaf Cay. (In the Bahamas, Cay is pronounced Key, so Allen’s Cay sounds the same as my son-in-law's dad, Allen Key). These small islands clustered together are home to some of the endangered Pink Iguanas! They are mostly dark gray with some pink on them. We found some kind of palm fruit growing here, and they sure liked to eat that!

Endangered Pink Iguana on Leaf Cay, Bahamas

There are also ruins here on Leaf Cay, and curly tailed lizards. Hopefully we can stay here until Dean and Wendy arrive, as I've found some good snorkeling spots.

When I jumped off the boat to go snorkeling, the first thing I saw was a four foot barracuda near me! He looked at me, then went on his merry way.

The water is finally warm enough to swim without a wet suit. Time for a "sea bath": I put my soap, shampoo, etc. on the swim platform, and then jump in and scrub. After rinsing off in the sea, I climb back onboard, and rinse off with our freshwater rinse hose at the back of our boat. After running the engine to get here, the water is even warm!

John was so exhausted that he fell asleep by 7. Wouldn't you know it, the boat started making a weird noise. I was sure that our anchor was slipping. I had to wake John up by 8. No, our anchor wasn't slipping, but the back of our boat was hitting bottom as we were too close to the edge of the channel. It was already dark, and we didn't want to try to re-anchor in a whole new place. We tried to shorten our anchor, but we didn't want to compromise our scope. (If your anchor line is too short, your anchor won't hold). John decided to put out our second anchor, a Danforth, and tighten that up to pull us more fully into the channel. Then we pulled up our Rocna. As John was holding the Rocna and chain, he dinghied over to our boat so I could get on. The plan was for me to use the windless to tighten the Rocna's chain after he dropped it in a new location. As we got close to our boat, he handed me our boat hook (about $100) to put back on As You Wish. I tried to toss it on, but it slipped into the water and so did I! It was dark, and the current was strong. I had my life jacket on, but I was still swept to the back of the boat in a split second. I managed to grab the swim platform and hoist myself up. Whew! John dropped the Rocna where he wanted it, and I snubbed it. I rinsed off and we went to bed.

Sunday, January 6, 2019:

This morning our anchors are still holding! We took the dogs to Allens Cay for a potty break, as the iguanas are on Leaf Cay. I kept looking through the water for our boat hook. John said, "With this current, you have about a one in a million chance of finding it".

He wasn't happy with our two-anchor situation, so after several boats left we brought up our anchors and moved to a better spot. We ate lunch, and then I decided to snorkel where our boat had been. And guess what? I found our boat hook! John was shocked and thrilled. I also found some beautiful white and sherbet colored shells. Then I spotted three large remoras or "shark suckers", each about 3 feet long, attached to the bottom of our boat! Later, I threw some old salsa overboard, and they attacked it like a shark frenzy! I had to feed them some tomato tops so John could watch too:

I went snorkeling again, and this time I saw a big brown stingray, many tropical fish, and a brilliant blue one. I need to look again for my GoPro. I'm positive I put it on the boat, and I'm so frustrated that I don't have it when I see such cool stuff.

Dean and Wendy arrived, and they invited us over for a card game with Teri and Jim from Indian Summer, another catamaran. Teri and Jim showed us how to play Moans & Groans with two decks of cards. It's a long game, but fun as well as frustrating!

January 7, 2019:

Guess what? I FOUND MY GOPRO!!! I'm so excited! It's charging now, but I'll be using it as soon as I can. We went to the Iguana Beach with Dean and Wendy, and fed them some more palm fruits.

Jim joined the four of us as we went snorkeling. We were looking for lobsters or fish to eat, but we only saw the little reef fish. We were so tired that we hit the sack early.

January 8, 2019:

I snorkeled today and saw two lionfish sharing a hiding place with a big puffer fish, four barracuda, a lobster and a really cool octopus, and got them all on my GoPro! Now I just need to figure out how to get them to my computer.

We played Moans & Groans at Terri and Jim's tonight: fun as usual!

January 9, 2019:

We motored to Norman's Cay, and through the very shallow entrance of Norman's Pond. We got stuck in the sand, but luckily a couple came by in their dinghy and helped push us free. We are anchored near Chaos. We walked on the island a bit, had lunch, and then I snorkeled. The shallow, sandy bottom went gradually from shore to three feet in about ten yards. Then it quickly dropped to 20 when it reached the channel that paralleled the shore. I was feeling really tired as I snorkeled in the three foot water. Just as I was thinking, "There's not much life here," I looked to my right and there was the most gigantic barracuda I've ever seen! It looked like an eight foot log, just lying in the channel watching me. Creepy! I know masks make things look bigger underwater, but I've seen big 'cudas before, and they have never come close to looking like this one in length or thickness. My heart stopped a beat, and I s-l-o-w-l-y swam on, heading for shore. Once out, I yelled for John to come see it, but by the time he got there it was gone. (I just read that the largest barracuda caught with a rod and reel was 5.6 feet long, but the largest on record was said to have measured 9.8 feet. I believe it!) Murphy's Law strikes again: I didn't have my GoPro along.

This evening, I worked on transferring my GoPro pictures and videos to our iPad, including a very close and colorful octopus video. Then I deleted them off of my GoPro to make room for new pictures...and they were automatically deleted from the iPad too. AAAARGH! Sometimes I really hate technology. I'm going to bed. (Six years later, that octopus video is still one of the best encounters I’ve ever had.)

January 10, 2019:

We went snorkeling with Dean, Wendy, Jim, and also Betty and Jodi from Luna Sea (great name!). Luna Sea is Kent's boat, Betty is his girlfriend, and Jodi is Betty's friend who is joining them for a vacation. Kent's retired, and used to be Dean and Wendy's "computer guy"! Betty does acupressure, and Jodi is a civil engineer.

We found a great reef just off of the 'whale tail' of Norman's, and another just past that where the coral looked like purple broccoli! I saw a sea turtle there, just hanging out in the coral.

This is what I call Purple Broccoli Coral

(And yes, these are GoPro pictures and a video of a school of Blue Tangs!) We ate lunch, then walked the dogs and Penelope to the beach we were at this morning. Penelope got to chase a lizard. John went to look at an "abandoned house", and realized that people were still living in it! (He was very glad they weren't home at the time).

Dean and Wendy invited us over for a grilled chicken supper, and John made a rice pudding for dessert. Jodi brought a delicious salad with black beans, corn, red pepper, garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, and oregano. Wendy suggested that we get Google Fi for our phone service, and I think we should. I'm not liking the BTC service: it's almost like someone is stealing our data it goes so fast.

January 11, 2019:

We left at high tide (11-ish), and we didn't bump at all. Luna Sea, Chaos and As You Wish all sailed to Shroud Cay. We anchored outside the mangrove "river" near a catamaran flying a French flag. We motored up the river in our dinghies, and saw a big stingray and several sea turtles. We went nearly to the ocean on the other side, and beached our dinghies. There is a nearby trail that leads up to Camp Driftwood: basically an area that gives you a gorgeous view! We met the French couple there. They hadn't just bought a boat in the US and registered it in their home country of France; they had sailed all the way here!

This is one of the most colorful, magical spots I've ever been. I could stay here a long time! The Luna Sea crew invited us over for hors d'oeuvres, so I made the incredibly sophisticated Bugs on a Log:(celery sticks topped with peanut butter, then raisins). They were a hit!

January 12, 2019:

We all set off this morning for O'Brien's Cay, 26 miles away. The seas became increasingly rough, and the wind started gusting up to 30 knots. Motoring only gave us 3.3 knots. After only an hour, we said "Enough!" and pulled into Hawksbill Cay. We can catch up to the others later. We explored a beach cave, and then found signs pointing to the Russell Ruins. They're from 1785! There's not much left of the thick-walled buildings.