Traveling with Carl & Pat aboard the Josephine

Traveling with Carl and Pat aboard the Josephine – Feb/Mar. 2003
Nassau to George Town

From the perspective of someone living in New Mexico, the thought of cruising the Bahamas aboard a private yacht is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Carl and Pat planned to leave their slip in Tarpon Springs, FL and travel on the Josephine south to Fort Meyer then east across the Okeechobee waterway to Stuart then down to Miami and rendezvous with John and Ineke Koppier traveling on the Reverie II from Jacksonville, FL in their sailboat to cross over to Bimini together.

Carol and I planned to fly to Nassau, the largest city/airport in the Bahamas and meet them. Once the boaters left Florida, they would be without regular communication as Verizon (our mutual cellular provider) does not have service outside of the US. The plan was to meet at the Nassau Yacht Haven Marina or the Poop Deck restaurant on Feb. 25.

We had made our airline reservations, packed our bags and were eager to go when the night before, Kate said Dallas was having a severe weather advisory, sleet and freezing rain. She said we should try to reroute over St. Louis instead of Dallas on our way east. I was able to do this conveniently over the telephone. The next morning, Carol and got up at 3AM in 26 degree weather and drove to the airport where we learned that our old flight to Dallas had been canceled! How lucky that we had taken Kate’s advice.

We flew without incident to Nassau and took a cab to the Poop Deck restaurant but no sign of Carl and Pat. I wondered if they had been delayed somewhere and what was plan B? Carol watched our pile of luggage while I made another sweep through the Poop Deck. No Carl and Pat. We asked the marina security if the Josephine had moored but he didn’t know. The security agent was helpful enough to walk me around the docks while we looked. Long story short, we did find the Josephine to our relief. John and Ineke were moored in the opposite slip. After visiting and eating, we were off to bed.

Carol, Pat and Carl aboard the Josephine in Nassau Yacht Haven Marina.

Click on picture for a larger image.

Feb. 26. A pleasant morning in Nassau. Carl and I went to the office to settle the slip charges and check his e-mail while I noticed the TV showing Chicago weather in the teens and Nassau in the low 80’s. John got a head start to the fuel dock while we stowed our lines and followed. Three hundred gallons of diesel later and we were on our way.

I snapped a picture of the huge Atlantis resort on Paradise Island as we motored out of the harbor.

Five cruise ships visiting Nassau.

Carol getting started on her tan.

As we were leaving, we saw some wonderful homes on Paradise Island.

Click picture for larger image.

Waves were mild as we traveled at a leisurely 7 or 8 knots so as to not outrun John and Ineke’s sailboat.

Click for map of the Bahamas

The Captain and 1st Mate man the ship while the crew tries to be comfortable.

Click picture for a larger image.

We chuckled at this scene, Dad at the helm appears to be reading while the two kids are swinging around the mast and out over the water.

After a 35 mile run we arrived near the north end of the Exuma chain of 365 islands, many not inhabited running some 90 miles to the southeast. The charts showed a protected anchorage inside a small cluster of cays collectively called Allen’s Cay harbor. About a dozen other sailboats and one power boat had similar ideas and were already anchored there. We milled about for a bit trying to find a protected place to anchor that was deep enough to accommodate our 5’ draft and still provide adequate swing room on our anchors. We picked a place, dropped anchors and backed down to test that they were secure then shut down the engines and looked around. The water was beautifully clear and ranged from a very light green to dark blue depending on depth and what was on the bottom. We were anchored less than 50 yards from Allen’s Cay itself in a protected area of perhaps ¼ mile by a mile surrounded by a dozen or so little Cays none of which were inhabited except for Highborne Cay a couple of miles to the south.

As we were securing the anchor lines, a huge black vague creature, the size of a flowing black graduation gown, was discerned moving in the clear turquoise water, likely a stingray.

As we settled in we observed two swift cigarette boats, out of Nassau, showing tourists the distant beach, inhabited by a huge number of stout iguanas. We wondered if in fact they were being fed, as all seemed to face the crowd en masse, and almost swarm the onlookers. (Later I looked up Island World Adventures on the Internet and found their day trip from Nassau to Exuma is $160/person including lunch, booze and snorker gear.)

Not long after we anchored, the fresh lobster delivery service arrived in a small boat with 4 still wiggling lobster for us. Carol negotiated price with the local fisherman and soon we had not only the 4 lobster but as many conchs thrown in gratis.

John and Ineke used their dinghy to come aboard for the traditional evening beverage then it was dinner and time for bed.

Carol and I had the bow berths which joined at the feet but separated in a V to match the contour of the hull. We could reach out and touch hands but I knew that if I rolled over too much in my sleep, I could fall out on my head in the gap at the open end of the V. Through a hatch overhead, we could see the stars; many more than are visible in Albuquerque. I even saw a shooting star to put the icing on the day. With a cool breeze and listening to bird sounds in a nearby rookery we were soon off to sleep.

Feb. 27. I awoke about 4AM to a stronger breeze and the rocking of the boat. I stood up in the open hatch for a look around but all seemed well. Later in the day we awoke to thin clouds and a very pleasant temperature, both the water and the air were about 80 degrees.

After something to eat, we lowered the dinghy and mounted the outboard. Carl was under the weather so Pat, Carol and I set out behind the Koppier’s in their dinghy for Iguana beach about a half a mile away. This small beach was alive with perhaps two dozen iguanas of various sizes none of which seemed to be the least bit afraid of us. They posed for photos and seemed to be expecting a handout which the sign said was forbidden but some of the other visitors tried to feed them anyway. Looping around to the opposite side of Leaf Cay from Iguana beach we found another beach delightfully deserted and we made our way ashore.

Carol on her air mattress.

We did some more snorkeling and it was pleasant but not spectacular. Ineke was having some trouble with seawater getting into her snorkel.

Securing the dinghies we swam, snorkeled and floated on an air mattress and generally enjoyed the wonderful water and the fish and coral beneath the surface. The little brightly colored fish seemed generally unconcerned with me unless I tried to get too close then they would move easily away. As I meandered along into deeper water enjoying the views, I encountered a barracuda of perhaps 4 or 5’ length and decided to reverse my path. To my dismay the barracuda seemed to be curious about me and started to swim slowly toward me! This accelerated my efforts and I began to consider the option of trying to climb out of the water on a small rock sticking up nearby. Fortunately the barracuda became bored with me and went back to deeper water.

Returning to John and Ineke’s lovely sailboat, all new and smelling of the teak interior we enjoyed the evening beverage. As we boarded, a spider was noted in the gathered fittings, and the suggestion was made to oust it. John protested, noting that spiders onboard sailboats are a very good omen—said to be the spirits of ancient mariners, wishing to return to the sea. We later returned to the Josephine for a lobster dinner.

Feb. 28. An almost cloudless day. Alas, the Captain seems to be stricken with a woeful condition, and uncharacteristically did not surface to breakfast. We had a slow start of reading and just enjoying the view. We again set out after lunch to do some exploring with the Koppiers in the dinghies equipped with plastic viewing buckets. Carl had modified the buckets by cutting out the bottoms and gluing in disks of clear plastic. When the bottom of the bucket was placed into the water alongside the dinghy, it afforded a clear view of the bottom. We enjoyed viewing the coral and fish and looked for conch but others had apparently already harvested most of those.

Later, Carol took this picture of a pile of empty conch shells.

The Koppiers brought hors d’oeuvres and we sat together on the Josephine to enjoy the sunset. Someone on a sailboat behind us blew a pleasant note on a conch shell and was joined by another then it seemed like everyone in the anchorage was trying out their conch blowing skills, some clearly better than others. What a marvelous evening serenade.

Feb. 28. It is almost a carbon copy of the previous day, more sunny skies and beautiful warm water. The best news is the Captain is now feeling a bit better and starting to eat solid food.

A sailboat had gone aground and was heeling at an unnatural angle in view of having no sails up. We saw that there were two dinghies providing assistance and they did eventually get it free.

Mar. 1^st. We have explored most of Allen’s Cay and decide to relocate to the marina on Highborne Cay to get gas for the dinghy, milk, orange juice, ice cream, rum and most important of all, a shower! The marina is small but modern and nicely tucked against a small hillside covered with a profusion of palms and other tropical trees/shrubs. The grocery store was well stocked and even had a walk in cooler for produce. This is surprising for an island with only 14 permanent inhabitants. Even more unusual, the girl at checkout closes the store after we checkout because we were the last customers. She gives us a ride back to the marina on her golf cart.

The Cay is privately owned. There is no town, only the marina, store, 3 or 4 rental houses, a generator and a huge Bahamas telephone tower. I tried my cell phone and it showed full signal strength, but no service.

There was a beautiful sandy beach with shade from Casurina Pines. We enjoyed swimming and floating on the air mattress then sitting on chairs under the Casurinas and talking.

A large Hatterus Sport Fishing boat came into the dock and unloaded their catch, a 4 ½ foot Wahoo. Josh, the fisherman, started to clean it on the end of the dock. Carol and I plus others walked over to watch.

To my surprise, there were a dozen nurse sharks swimming in excited circles below the dock waiting for scraps. Many of the shark looked to be a couple of feet longer than I am tall. This was a bit unsettling as just this afternoon, we had been swimming in the water only about 100 yards from these sharks. When Josh finished filleting the Wahoo, he gave some of the meat to Carol then tied a rope to the carcass, threw it in the water and handed the rope to one of the bystanders to play tug of war with the sharks.

This shark didn't want to let go and the fellow on the rope was able to lift him part way our of the water.
Wonder what would have happened if the shark had been able to pull the man into the water?

Someone from “Cool Runner” outfitters invited us to a Bahamian cookout on the beach that evening. The Koppiers joined us on the Josephine for cocktails and some ceviche that Carol made from the raw Wahoo. Later we walked to the cookout and sat at a big table with the fishermen. They entertained us with fishing stories while we enjoyed wonderful grilled Marlin, (the fish, not the mammal), barbecued ribs, salad and cake.

Mar. 2^nd. We slept peacefully in the well protected marina. Carl is making plans to travel south to the Exuma Land and Sea Park. John radios the park and obtains a mooring assignment and we help him cast off. We delay because Pat is not feeling well. At lunchtime the decision is made to hold over another day in the Marina because Pat continues to feel ill.

The map of Highborne Cay shows a spring. Carl and I go for a walk and find the spring in a tree is steel and looks more like part of the suspension from an old car. The sign nearby says “Spring Ha Ha”. Being out of the breeze even for a few moments on our walk causes us to break a sweat. The humidity is high and the clouds look like they could bring rain but do not. We see a nice long beach on the far side of the island and interesting coral beds to explore but the waves are breaking over them in a way that would make snorkeling less than ideal.

The breeze picks up and we just go for a swim. Staying on top of the air mattress is a bit more of a challenge with the waves.

Carol relaxes in the Pawley’s Island style hammock in the shade of the Casurina Pines on the beach and I bring rum and coke and a beer to enjoy while taking in the view. Some very tame birds, Bananaquits, keep us company. They are the size of a wren with a yellow breast. One even had the audacity to perch on my foot looking for a handout.

We take advantage of the only public shower on the island, a very exposed showerhead near the dock. It seems a bit odd to run a bar of soap under arms and inside your swimsuit in public but it is very nice to get the salt washed off. We return to the Josephine and take an afternoon nap. Pat is still sick so Carol takes over the galley and cooks spaghetti, along with the Wahoo that we were given the day before. A 100’ yacht comes in to the marina and ties up by the gas dock. After dinner we take an evening stroll over to look at it. Everyone aboard seems to be in their 20s or 30s. Carol wonders if any of them are lesser known TV or movie actors that she does not recognize.

Mar. 3^rd. Pat is feeling better and we hope to make the run down to the Exuma Land and Sea Park, (more specifically, Warderick Wells Cay) and rejoin the Koppiers. We are not able to contact the park which is about 25 miles away by radio from the Josephine so we walk to the Marina office which has a taller antenna and ask them to make the contact. Shortly after 9AM we learn there is a mooring ball available in the park and we make arrangements to get underway.

The run down is very pleasant over glassy seas. The water ranges from 18 to 24’ depth but is so clear that we can easily see a number of star fish on the bottom. We arrive at the park and pull into a narrow channel between the cays and motor slowly up to our mooring ball which is just behind the Koppiers.

This picture was taken down the side of the Josephine. Even in 15' of water, the bow of the sailboat wreck is visible at the top of the picture.

We are moored almost directly over this wreck. The story goes that the owner left the sailboat with the generator running to have dinner on another boat. Supposedly, the generator caught fire which spread to the rest of the sailboat and it sank. Carl and I snorkeled over to the wreck then dived down to it. We saw two lobsters hiding in crevices of the wreckage. I do not linger as the pain in my ears is nearly intolerable. While treading water and recovering my breath after diving on the wreck, I notice the Harlequin Great Dane that was on the shore as we motored in, has now come into the water and is swimming across the channel. He passes within 50’ of me but pays no attention and continues his swim over to a very shallow sandbar. He walks around on the bar for a bit then lays down in the cool water only about a foot deep and seems very content with himself.

The snorkeling is definitely better in the park. Here are a couple of small fish and a brain coral.

It was 26 degrees when we left Albuquerque but we are trying to acclimate here.

Even the Captain gets a chance to relax.

This is a very protected anchorage at Warderick Wells Cay.

The 4 of us got into the dinghy and motored over to the park headquarters.

They had a collection of literature about the park, a video lending library, a book lending library and T shirts for sale. I pick up Michener’s “Caribbean” which should keep me busy for the rest of the trip. More surprisingly, the office had Internet access via satellite. I checked my e-mail and sent out a message then checked the price of GE stock and turned the computer over to Carl. Unfortunately, there was some difficulty with AOL and Carl could only see the e-mail subject lines but could not open the messages. Click for a map of Warderick Wells.

Carol picked up an information sheet about the Bahamian boa constrictors. We find that the Bahamas has three varieties and they can grow to 6-8’ long. The young boas live in the trees and shrubs and eat the anole lizards there. Adult boas feed on frogs, birds and rats. We start to pay more attention to the shrubs and ground as we walk. All we see are hermit crabs and curly tail lizards, but no boas.

The headquarters had another surprise, fresh cinnamon rolls available each day at 9AM. We placed an order for 7!

Carl and Pat relaxing at the Warderick Wells headquarters of the Exuma Land & Sea Park.

From the high vantage point of the headquarters deck, we could easily see sharks in the water near the dock. They seemed quite sedentary, just lying in the water like sunken logs. We were told they were lemon and nurse sharks which are normally not aggressive to people. This was good because someone was working in waist deep water scraping the crud off of a mooring ball.

If you are beginning to think that the sharks are everywhere, you are right. This picture shows the bow of Carl's dinghy with a shark swimming just a few feet below the surface.

This sperm whale had died from ingesting plastic trash.

The Koppiers come aboard for the evening snacks and cocktails and we talk about the beauty of the park accented by almost no breeze and glassy clear water. In the stillness, we can hear the sound of the blow hole on the far side of the narrow cay. To Carol and me, it makes a sound similar to the burner on a hot air balloon.

With AC available from the generator, Carl takes the opportunity to download pictures from his full digital camera to his laptop while the rest of us read novels and magazines. Afterward, we sit out on the front deck and watch the stars. Without city lights, it is easy to see the Milky Way stretching across the sky. We go to sleep easily in the quiet mooring.

Mar. 4^th. Unfortunately, the breeze has picked up and the glassy water and good viewing conditions are gone. I take a few minutes to catch up this log before going ashore for the cinnamon rolls.

Everyone grabbing for a cinnamon roll.

The woman that works at the park headquarters bakes them fresh each day. Carol and I go ashore and pick up our order. We returned to the Josephine where the Koppiers joined us with a thermos of good coffee.

After breakfast we took a short dinghy ride to the beach and hiked over the narrow part of the island to a blow hole on the far shore. The blow hole was about six inches in diameter and looked pretty uninteresting except when a big wave would compress air in the chamber below and whoosh out with so much force that it blew John’s cap 10’ into the air. We took turns standing over it and letting the force of the air billow out our T shirts.

Snapped the photo a half second too soon.
John's cap is just starting to lift off his head.

We hiked up Boo Boo Hill where the practice is to leave some memento of your boat or yourself such as a hat or shirt or a small wooden sign.

Click for larger image.

Better than the mementos was the fantastic view of the boats in the protected mooring surround by small uninhabited cays.

Click picture for a larger image.

We returned to our boats for lunch and a rest before getting in the dinghies again to search for good snorkeling waters. We were looking for the combination of coral formations near a beach for easy access in and out of the dinghies. At last we found a much protected beach with a couple of good coral formations. We all found a lot of Conch. They look so shaggy with drab brown moss on their top side and when you dive down and turn them over, so beautifully smooth and shiny pink on their bottom side. Carl pointed out some of the fish we were seeing. On the way back to the boat, we saw a large ray. Carol describes them as another black graduation gown moving through the water. Later back on the boat I looked at some of Carl’s fish guides to try and identify some of the others. The ray was a Spotted Eagle Ray. The fish were Nassau Grouper, Parrotfish, Yellowtail Snapper and a Blue Tang plus many others that I could not identify.

After washing the salt off our hands and faces, we went out on the bow to watch the thin crescent moon and the stars start to come out. Another wonderful day in paradise!

Mar. 5^th. The morning ritual is to catch the weather report before making plans for the day. We had been thinking about traveling further south along the Exuma chain weather permitting. Many of the available anchorages are protected on only 2 or 3 sides, seldom all 4. Therefore, the direction of the wind has a strong influence on which of the possible anchorages would be suitable. The weather report is favorable so we pay our bill at the park headquarters and pick up another half dozen cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Carl plugs the way points from the chart into the GPS navigational unit and we are underway. Ineke had given us a plate of her chocolate chip cookies to munch on while we travel.

In the early afternoon, we pull into Staniel Cay. As is our custom, we scan the approaching island with binoculars and find it similar to the other cays, mostly low limestone cliffs with occasional sandy beaches. I see an odd looking dog playing on one beach. As we pull closer I see it is a large hog with another about half the size. I am beginning to think some other beach might be better. Soon we find a semi-protected area and drop two anchors, lower the dinghy and head out to see the grotto where some scenes from the James Bond movie, “Thunderball” were filmed. The literature advised touring the grotto at slack water and low tide but we were about an hour late. The limestone entrance to the grotto was nearly covered by the rising water with only about a foot of air space remaining and the tidal current was already quite strong. Carl and I swam through the entrance and found a chamber perhaps 30’ wide by 60’ long with a dome ceiling about 30’ high. The ceiling had 4 or 5 holes that I could see the sky through. These let in enough light for good visibility and also permitted green moss to grow on two of the walls. I had to hold on to the rock wall to avoid being swept away by the current. While clinging to the rock, I snapped a photo, hope it turns out.

Carl and I each had a slice of bread for the fish. There was a cluster of yellow and black striped fish about 4 inches long near the grotto entrance. When we held out the bread a few fish came over to nibble on it then the whole pack moved in and engulfed my hand. I could feel them nibble on my fingers and soon all the bread was gone. Later I tried to identify them from Carl’s fish guide; they looked like Sergeant Major fish. Beyond these little fish, we saw the larger Yellowtail Snapper but they could not be lured to the bread. On the way back to the Josephine we saw two nurse sharks in shallow water. Carl chased them with the dinghy and I snapped a picture of them just under our bow.

Sunset at Staniel Cay. The Koppier's sailboat, the Reverie II is on the right.

Click picture for a larger image.

The Koppiers joined us on the Josephine for cocktails then a grouper dinner that Pat prepared. It was well after dark when they were ready to head back to their sailboat. Without a flashlight in the dinghy and the anchor light not illuminated on the sailboat it seemed like it could be a scary trip.

Mar. 6^th. During the night, the wind picks up a bit and small waves make a tom-tom drumming sound against the hull. The breeze is welcome through the forward hatch into our berths but the tom-tom sound is not.

The typical breakfast has been either cold cereal or hot oatmeal. The routine while anchored out is to run the generator for a couple of hours during breakfast and again at dinner to have AC for the toaster, microwave, refrigerator, etc.

After breakfast we pile in the dinghy for an exploratory loop past Fowl Cay and other smaller unnamed cays in search of good coral and possible lobster. Returning to the Josephine for lunch we then head south in the dinghy to the village on Staniel Cay and walk around.

We visit the blue grocery at the top of the hill and buy a package of ice cream and plastic spoons. It is good, but not as good as Blue Bell, Carl’s favorite brand. Our walks take us to the Pink Coral Grocery where we buy a single $4 apple. Note the turtle shells at lower right. These are banned in the US.

Returning to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, the Koppiers have lunch while Carol and I share an order of conch bits.

Carl & Pat use a pay phone to call home to see how Tina and her kids are doing. They are house sitting for Carl and Pat.

Slack low water is approaching so we dinghy back to the Thunderball grotto for another visit.

Ineke and John watch the proceedings.

View from inside of the roof of the grotto showing the natural openings though which James Bond was lifted by helicopter in the 1965 movie, Thunderball.

This time John, Pat and Carol join Carl and me inside. This visit is more enjoyable without having to fight the tidal current.

Click on picture for a close up view.

Underwater view from inside the grotto looking out one of the entrances. Note the fish and legs of another snorkeler.

I snap a few more pictures then Carl and I feed slices of bread to the schools of fish. The fish scramble is incredible and the slice of bread is consumed in seconds.

On the way back to the Josephine, we cruise by hog beach and sure enough both hogs are there. As we approach the beach, they wade out in the water hoping for food but we have none. I did not want a hog trying to climb into the dinghy so we backed off.

At the Josephine, we enjoy a very nice sunset with the cocktail hour then Carol opens the beauty parlor and gives Pat a haircut. Pat hammers the conch that I bought a few days ago and cooks up a great fried conch strips dinner.

After dinner Carl and I look over the charts to see where tomorrow’s anchorage may be and then retire very tired after a great day.

Mar. 7^th. After reviewing possible anchorages with the Koppiers, we hoist up the dinghies and leave Staniel Cay. Carol sees six onions floating by in the water and wants to jump in and rescue them but we decide against it due to the swift currents. The route out is favorable and John unfurls his head sail. We enjoy the breeze and reading. I have started Michener’s “Caribbean”, some 811 pages starting almost with the beginning of time.

While motoring along at a leisurely pace, we see a very large manta ray on the surface. Carl tries to maneuver closer while I climb up to the fly bridge with my camera in hopes of a picture. The manta ray is not interested in cooperating and swims away. The breeze freshens and we decide to stop short of the original anchorage in favor of one at Black Point on Great Guana with more protection. We set our anchors then join the Koppiers on the Reverie for lunch. Ineke has baked fresh brown bread for our sandwiches, a nice treat.

After lunch, we go ashore and walk around the town. The streets are paved with macadam but intentionally covered with sand. We wonder why, to preserve the macadam? Make walking on them barefoot more comfortable? School has just let out and the street fills with children wearing their neckties as part of their school uniform. We stop at the grocery and buy celery, bananas and canned orange juice. The others have walked ahead to see the other side of the island while Carol and I wait at the dock. A group of men are busy playing dominos, a rowdy, loud game at times, punctuated with angry verbal outbursts.

Carol asks a woman working at the government office if any fish are available for sale and she says a fellow had just walked by minutes before with some nice fish. She is helpful enough to call and he comes over from his house about three doors away and shows us a nice grouper in a bucket. He wants $20 for it but I have only $13 and change. After some contemplation, he accepts and puts the fish in a plastic bag for us. I judge it weighs about five pounds, enough for all of us to have a nice dinner.

Back at the Josephine, I fillet the fish on the dinghy to keep the mess out of the galley. We throw the head and skeleton into the water but nothing comes for it while it is close enough to see.

I take a welcome shower then join the cocktail hour already in progress. We enjoy a pretty sunset then Carol cooks the grouper and we all gather around the table in a warm part of the boat that gets no breeze. The dinner is good and afterward we quickly retire to the much cooler aft deck for conversation.

Mar. 8^th. I am awaked by the crowing of a rooster somewhere on shore. We have a sunny clear blue sky and a light breeze.

Carol & I fix bacon and eggs and the Koppiers join us for breakfast. I pull out the American Airlines flight magazine and show John, Ineke and Carl the Mensa quiz. They get hooked, who knows when we will be sailing today :-)

Carl, Pat, Carol and I go looking for lobster in the dinghy. We travel a considerable distance and look over a lot of coral with the viewing bucket but nothing looks promising. We do find the wreck of a fairly large power boat. It is in only about 5’ of water. We anchor the dingy near it while Carl and I snorkel back and forth over it looking for telltale lobster antenna sticking out from under the planks. We do not see lobster but the propeller would make a great souvenir. It is quite large and we have no tools suitable to remove it from the drive shaft. On the way back, Carl spots another wreck and we again anchor and snorkel over it. No luck finding lobster. This is a wreck of a fair sized sailboat. It is in about 12’ of water and I can feel the pain in my ears when I dive down to it. Carl tries to recover a canvas bag of something, but it is too heavy for him to lift. It must have been full of coins :-)

Carl resting on the side of the dinghy after diving on the wreck.

We return to the Josephine and get underway. After traveling only 8 or 9 miles we anchor near Oven Rock, a large rock with a small cave in the center of the side facing the water. We are still on Great Guana Cay. There is an osprey sitting on the edge of his nest of sticks on top of the rock.

The chart shows a collection of coral heads just north of us and we dinghy over still in search of lobster. We find one large coral head. Carl, Pat and I snorkel around it. No lobster but lots of beautiful fish to enjoy. I add to the collection I have identified by noting grunt, Bluehead, Stoplight Parrotfish and best of all, a Queen Angelfish. I complain that my mask seems to have started to leak. Carl points out that it might just be my new beard. I have not shaved since leaving Albuquerque. I apply chapstick to my upper lip where the mask fits under my nose and sure enough, the leaking stops. We were having a great time until Pat sees a large fish that she did not care for and swam rapidly back to the dinghy and climbed in. She appeared to be done snorkeling for the day so we dinghied to the beach. Carol enjoyed floating on her air mattress while Carl, Pat and I did some beachcombing. We find a couple of small sponges and lots of very small plain white shells.

Carol had brought a couple of air mattresses along on the trip. It is just amazing how pleasant a humble $1.99 low tech. toy with no batteries or moving parts can be.

Click to see how much I am enjoying it!

Back on the Josephine, we had another wonderful sunset and happy hour. (Click the picture above for a larger image.) Shortly after dark something made the depth sounder alarm go off. Carl thought that a large fish had swum under the boat and got a flashlight but we saw nothing. He then attempted to beam the search light into the water to attract creatures, but to no avail.

Mar. 9^th. Pat makes pancakes for breakfast while Carl gets the morning weather. We are thinking about leaving the sheltered side and crossing through the Exuma bank so we can run down to George Town on the outside. John comes over for the morning travel conference. We decide not to make the run to George Town as we would arrive late in the afternoon. A good intermediate point seems to be Rat Cay. We try to time the transition from the inside to the outside of the Exuma Bank to be near high tide and slack water. After reading for a little while, we hoist anchors and are underway. Passing through Galliot Cut is uneventful and the water turns from turquoise to a very dark blue. For the past 12 days we have been running in 18-24’ of water but now the depth sounder reads up to 1200’. Waves are 3-4’ and we bounce around a little bit but not badly.

As we approach Rat Cay we notice a problem with the usually very reliable GPS chart. The waypoint seems to be on top of Rat Cay instead of in the water as it should be. The waypoint seems to be correct but the chart's depiction of the Cay is in error by perhaps ½ mile. Carl moves up to the fly bridge to navigate into the anchorage by sight ignoring the disturbing GPS chart display. We find a nice anchorage with good holding for the anchors and set off in the dinghy to find a wreck that is shown on the charts to be nearby. We do find it and drift slowly over and check it out with the viewing buckets. No lobster antennas are visible and we are a bit disappointed to have had no opportunity with the spears. We try to explore some of the coral formations but the current is so strong that we worry about being swept out into deeper and rougher water. We motor over to an inviting beach to walk and Carol finds a nice shell.

The Koppiers have invited us to happy hour and we are pleased to join them and listen to Eric Clapton while enjoying a beverage and snacks. A very pleasant two weeks are nearly over and soon we will be returning to New Mexico, very nice in its own way but nothing like the Bahamas :-)

Mar. 10. We awake to a humid cloudy day. Carl said he could hear goats on Rat Cay and tries unsuccessfully to locate them with his binoculars. During the night, the boat must have swung full circle as our two anchor lines were crossed. We haul anchors and follow the Reverie out to the Bahamas Sound pleased to find we have a west wind and calmer water.

Carl at the helm.

John and Ineke hoist their sails and we pull alongside for a photo.

Click for larger image.

We pass another blow hole, this one spouting white water some 15’ in the air. It is a partly cloudy day and we are heading SE into the intermittent sun. The water is a very dark blue especially when we are under a cloud. Looking ahead, I see where the sun is reflecting off of the waves and the sea looks like dancing diamonds.

Shortly after noon we are on approach into Elizabeth Harbor and George Town but find that neither the Harbor Master nor the Exuma Services Marina will answer the radio calls that we and several other boaters make to them. After following the zig zag entrance route, we arrive at the marina and pull into an empty slip. It appears that there are over a hundred sailboats still anchored in the harbor, probably late departures from last week’s sailing regatta. Carl and I walk to the marina office and are told the person in charge will be back in an hour. We walk about ½ mile to the Harbor Master’s office and find it empty and locked with no hours posted on the door. These people seem to enjoy a very lax work ethic.

Carol & I walk into the small town, find a taxi and make a reservation for 5:30AM Wednesday the 12th. We certainly hope he is reliable. Next we find a grocery store for orange juice, a lime and of course more ice cream.

You can't go to town without a bit of browsing the shops.

We enjoyed seeing an outdoor class at the school. You can imagine that there is no air conditioning available.

Elizabeth Harbor in the late afternoon.

Just before retiring for the evening we look out over the harbor now illuminated by hundreds of sailboat lights. It looks like a small town out there.

Mar. 11. A SeaLink freighter pulls in to the harbor with refrigerated trucks aboard. The grocery stores will be restocked today.

We go into George Town for lunch at the Two Turtles restaurant and enjoy grouper strips. We find an Internet Café with high speed satellite service at $0.50/minute and check our e-mail.

Sunset at George Town.

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The Koppiers join us on the Josephine for happy hour and we say our good-byes.

Mar. 12. We are up at 4:45AM, have a bit of breakfast and haul our bags down the dock to wait for the taxi and are pleased that he was reliable.

So ends a very enjoyable 2 weeks! Thanks to Carl, Pat, John and Ineke.

Jerry Heald
March 2003