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Sunday, April 27 - Monday, April 28: Goodbye Bahamas! We got a nice weather window to cross over the notorious Gulf Stream. We had winds from the ESE @ 10 - 15 kts with 2 - 3 foot waves pushing us towards the USA. We left around 1:30PM to ensure our arrival in Lake Worth, FL during daylight hours and some 21 hours later we arrived. We covered approximately 161 nm with a top speed of 12.9 kts. As we arrived in the harbor and were searching for a spot to anchor, Susan said, "Let's anchor by that catamaran with the blue sail cover," which turned out to be our friends on Morning Glory , Doug & Helen! We had last seen them on our way to Long Island, Bahamas over a month before.

That's it for the Bahamas folks, now click on the link at the top of this page to read our new northbound log --

AKA the search for Cellular Data up and down the US East Coast!

Saturday, April 26: TabbyCat and her intrepid crew left Royal Island and headed WNW across the deep water of the Northeast Providence Channel. This is essentially the Atlantic Ocean inserting itself into the territorial waters of the Bahamas, or just a long way of saying, "this is some deep water (3000+ feet)". We chose this part of our trip to establish the Vincent F. Pahl Memorial. Prior to his death, Susan's stepfather asked to be placed in the Bahamas in a hemp bag weighted to sink to the bottom. We honored his request and offered a limerick as a sign of love and respect for Vince and his favorite type of verse. If you want to visit the spot the coordinates are N25 35.553 X W77 12.828.

After traveling a bit over 66 nm with great winds and waves (we had a top speed of 12.68 kts), we dropped the hook in the Berry Island chain in Great Harbour, Great Stirrup Cay. This is one of the cruise ship islands that belongs to NCL - Norwegian Cruise Lines, so in theory you are not allowed on the island, but about an hour after we arrived, the cruise ship that was in port pulled out and the island was deserted, so we went for a walkabout. Not a lot to see, except for a striped iguana and we find some palm fronds to use for basket weaving (this is why Susan got her Masters Degree). For dinner we ate all of our remaining fresh veggies and fruit so we wouldn't bring anything "foreign" into the US (of course, everything fresh in the Bahamas comes from the US, but US Customs doesn't see it that way).

Thursday, April 24: We bid farewell to Spanish Wells, but not before anchoring just outside the harbor to spend some quality Wi-Fi time communicating with clients. It was important to get this done since the next week could be one without any Wi-Fi access. :(

We didn't go far, just a few miles west to Royal Island. Royal Island is a good harbor (but not great) that has a small opening to the south and is elongated from East to West, so it offer pretty good protection from winds in just about every direction.Since there was some weather coming in, we decided to hide there for two days until the storm blew over. The island is also a private island that has a lot of construction activity that is scheduled to turn into a private home/resort community. Kind of like living on a palm-fronded donut! The developers discourage cruisers from going ashore, so we stayed away from land and went over to "Sarah" for some adult beverages.

Tuesday, April 22 - Wednesday, April 23: Sailed towards Spanish Wells and anchored near a little set of islands just south called "Meeks Patch"  on Wednesday we went into Spanish Wells and took a mooring after briefly running aground (that was exciting, but reinforced our SOP of keeping the dagger boards @ a 3 foot depth. We were stuck until we lifted the board up. Now that may sound like a contradiction - hmmm...well you just had to be there - it works!

While in Spanish Wells we had dinner on a luxurious brand new 46 foot Leopard catamaran, "Sampatico". Tom and Patti from "Liberty" joined us. We were able to get some local fresh fish and we cautiously enjoyed some wine. Spanish Wells is similar to Man O' War Cay in the Abacos. The town is neat, relatively clean and populated by fishermen, boat builders and the related businesses. There is no alcohol allowed and you need to be careful not to swear. Unlike Man O' War Cay, there is a small black population on the island, but a large number of workers come to the island from Eleuthera every morning via government ferry boats ($7 each way). We saw a one car ferry - the ferry had enough room for one car at a time!

The waters leading north from Spanish Wells are a bit treacherous, narrow and strewn with coral, so we elected to pass on our trip back to the Abacos. Solitaire hired one of the Spanish Wells Pilots (a gentleman that answers to "Old Pot") to lead them out, so we bid them adieu.

Sunday April 20 - Monday April 21: We finally made our way to the northwest side of Eleuthera and went through a narrow cut called "Current Cut".   The cruising guides all warn about swift moving currents here and after our hair raising adventure in New York City, we paid attention and waited for slack current before going through here. As a result, it was late in the day so we just anchored behind the NW side of Eleuthera and spent the night before heading towards Spanish Wells. Susan caught up on some work since one of the houses here had Wi-Fi.

Saturday, April 19: We woke up and went off to the library in Governour's Harbour and did a book exchange before leaving to sail towards the north end of Eleuthera and see the Glass Window. This unique feature of Bahamian landscape is due to a cut in between the Atlantic Ocean and the sound on the lee side of the island. The image of the glass window is completed by a bridge that goes over the cut giving you the feel that you are looking through a picture window. One of the truly interesting bits of Bahamian trivia is about the two lane bridge that crosses the chasm. During a hurricane the entire bridge shifted west by some 10 feet (3 meters for those of you who are metricized). No problem mon, let's just install some supports under the now free-standing part of the bridge and we will just make it a one lane bridge!

Our sail was again lots of fun and much easier than the sail to Governour's Harbour. We just rolled out the screacher and sailed on the same tack the entire trip (25 nm). Top speed 8.9 kts. Happy hour was hosted by "Solitaire" and we joined the crews from "Hearts Desire" and "Veranda".

Thursday, April 17 - Friday April 18: We left Rock Sound around noon to sail about 20 nm to Governour's Harbour (note the English spelling!). We had a beautiful sail, but the wind was right on the nose and required 15 tacks. We ended up actually traveling over 40 nm in order to get to the anchorage. We initially anchored in some rocks at Laughing Bird Cay just south of Governour's Harbour and then moved into the harbour the next day. Every Friday, there is a Fish Fry on the beach. It attracts a lot of the tourists from all over the island here for their 1-week vacation, plus the cruisers too. They open the beach area around 7 PM and everyone gets their food, drinks, etc. They have a DJ who cranks up the Bahamian tunes. The tourists and cruisers start some dancing and around 10 - 11PM when we are pretty much done, THEN the Bahamians start dancing.

Had a nice walk through town and found the path to a pretty pink sand beach (where they grow pink palm trees).

Sunday, April 6 - Wednesday, April 16: 10 days in Rock Sound, Eleuthera Island! This could be thought of as "Cruising - making repairs in exotic locations!", but it was actually a nice place to stop and do some repairs, wait for weather and meet new friends. One surprising thing to us was the lack of marine facilities (marinas, fuel, etc) even though the harbor offers a lot of protection. The town had many little shops and a good grocery store within a healthy walking distance.

As noted below we repaired the mainsail headboard here, what we glossed over was there were four webbing straps and each strap took the better part of a day to complete. This included breaking a sewing needle each day, so that by the time we were done there was only one needle left and we had to hope the repairs would hold out until we reach the USA. Let's move on to the FUN part of cruising...meeting other cruisers and exploring!

While in Rock Sound, we met up with many cruisers. One of the ways to do that is to take over an abandoned "Palapa" (palm roofed covered deck/bar overlooking the water) and invite everyone in the harbor to a happy hour. This palapa was part of a restaurant that was no longer in business even though it was in a pretty good location. There was a little dock for us to tie our dinghy to and as we were heading towards it a nurse shark passed beneath the dink (nurse sharks only eat nurses so we were safe - whew!)

We also had two dinners ashore at a pretty neat little restaurant called "Nortside" - actually a house "converted" into a house/restaurant and run by Rose, a Bahamian woman who has 4 - 5 children, all grown and graduated from college or in college. One of her daughters is with the London School of Economics. Nortside overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and is up on a bit of a cliff, so it has nice views of the deep blue sea. There is also a beach that you can get to, so prior to dinner, we had a nice walk on the beach and hunted for sea beans (also known as drift beans) called "hamburgers", or "Mary's beans", or "sea hearts", depending on their shape and coloration. These beans wash up on the Atlantic shores of the Bahamas after drifting in the ocean for thousands of miles. Some are from the Amazon River basin. After you find the beans, they need to be polished and then you attach a string to them to create unique jewelry.

On our second night there Rose was cooking conch, fish and chicken for over 20 and we stuck our heads into the kitchen to see if we could help. Of course, in the States, we would have expected to see some industrial looking stove, ovens and/or refrigerators, but we are in the Bahamas, so it is just a regular looking kitchen from the late 80s and the only "help" Rose needs is finding enough knives and forks for everyone.

What about Wi-Fi? - Yes, it was available for free from a shoe store that sells sandals (the Wi-Fi site is called Barefoot Wireless), or for $10/day from Dingle Motors. Of course, the way we found  Barefoot was by motoring around the harbor until Susan saw a good signal - then she said, "Anchor right here!", which was next to a wreck of a boat that had been run over by the weekly mail boat.

Finally, make sure you look for pictures of our new cat, Eleuthera - aka "Ellie". She joined us here in Rock Sound and is the perfect pet. She doesn't require food, a litter box or make any noise since she is stuffed with cotton and sand.

Saturday, April 5: We had a really quick passage to Rock Sound, Eleuthera Island.  At one point, we were sailing at 15 kts.  Unfortunately, the webbing holding the head of the sail to the halyard broke, so we have had to do some repairs to the sail.  Luckily, Patti & Tom from Liberty were nearby and had a "Speedy Stitcher" sewing tool which has made the work much easier.  We drove around the Island with Tom & Patti, and saw a very large Banyan tree. The sign said it was over 87 years old.

Friday, April 4: Gybing back & forth with the screacher out, we sailed 37.5nm to Half Moon Bay at Little San Salvador Island. The island is owned by one of the big cruise ship companies, so they discourage boaters from going ashore. We did make a quick trip to shore to get some palm fronds for Susan's basket weaving.  The following morning at 7:45, the cruise ship came into the harbor, so we moved on.

Saturday, March 29: Sailed 81.5 nm from Salt Pond, Long Island to Fernandez Bay, Cat Island. We caught two Cerros (similar to a Spanish Mackerel) as we crossed from the deep water to the shallow water. The port engine did not start as we came to anchor (it's so nice to have a spare!).  We think that the very choppy seas must have stirred up some debris in the fuel tanks, as it started up after we switched filers and primed the pump.  We had a nice visit with Bill & Vicky from Beat Army, a PDQ 44.  Vicky is an avid shell collector and gave us one of her beautiful Helmet conchs.  We stayed at the lovely Fernandez Bay until April 4.  There were lots of other boats anchored, and the Island HoppInn is very hospitable - the owner, Thom, lets the cruisers use the WIFI for free, and has a honor bar where we all gathered a few nights to watch the sunset & play dominoes.  We rode our bikes to the Hermitage, a few miles up the road.  It was built by hand on the top of Mount Alverna, the highest point in the Bahamas, by Father Jerome.  The building itself has a chapel, sleeping & cooking quarters, and a spectacular view of the harbor from its perch 206' above the water. As you walk up the steep hill, the stations of the cross are carved into stone tablets.

Sunday, March 23: (Easter) Picked up the anchor and had a nice sail (with lots of tacks, but we don't mind that on TabbyCat) southeast to Malone's Helmet (South part of Thompson Bay, Long Island).  The north end of Thompson's Bay was very choppy, with whitecaps, so we tucked in behind a small hill (AKA Malone's Helmet). On Tuesday a cold front with high winds form the N - NE came through, so we moved to the more protected north end of the bay. We are hunkered down for the duration, but hope to meet some of the other cruisers anchored around us over the next few days. After the winds lighten, we will explore the island and begin our trek back to the states over the next several weeks.

Saturday, March 22: Sailed back to Long Island , tacking the whole way. Had dinner at the Blue Chip Restaurant and spent the night anchored outside Simms.

Tuesday February 19 - Saturday, March 22: George Town is the favorite Bahamian cruising destination for many cruising sailors. There is just too much going on to adequately capture here (but, we will try anyway).

With activities such as volleyball (both Fun and Regulation types), Beach Golf, Trivia, Bocce Ball, Sand Sculpture, Basket Weaving, Racing, Softball, Tennis, and more it's easy to see why so many boaters spend the whole season here.  For cruisers like us, it starts with an Opening Night Gala under the palms & stars, with costumed entrants parading down the runway, and climaxes with the talent show at the end. In between there are regular meetings of "AHOY" (Alcohol, Hors d'oeuvres and Other Yummies) and impromptu performances by the many talented musicians.  After the cruisers are done with their festivities, the Bahamians have their own Music & Heritage Festival (an outgrowth of the cruisers variety show). Just as the cruisers invite Bahamians to participate in the fun activities, the Bahamians follow and invited a group of the cruisers to participate.   The cruisers came up with a band jestingly called themselves "White Folks on Boats". The WFOB gave a really excellent rehearsal from the bow of the catamaran Freebird with perhaps 100 dinghies rafted together to hear these talented musicians perform after less than 2 weeks to rehearse. Many cruising sailors base their entire winter sailing around George Town, arriving in December and leaving in mid-April. These cruisers do all the organizing and serve as committee chairs to ensure all the activities are fun and don't conflict with each other.

Also while here in George Town, we met up with friends from our old C&C sailing club days. Larry & Bev from Chandelle (now a Swan 44) invited George & Gail of Quicksilver to fly in, followed the next day by our friends Ellen & Leon of Karen Lee. A nice reunion was held, with George and Gail as 10-day guests on Chandelle and Ellen and Leon joining TabbyCat for two weeks.

In the finest of C&C and Chesapeake Multihull Association traditions, we elected to race TabbyCat in a couple of races. With a great start, fabulous crew work and a welcoming course, we finished first(!) in the Multihull class in the harbor race, correcting over a Farrier 28 Trimaran and lapping some of the monohulls.  We had guests from Bliss, Elaine & Cecily for both races.  During Ellen & Leon's visit, we made a quick side trip to Long Island, where the oceanside rock formations & beaches are quite beautiful. The wind was favorable for using the screacher, so we made great time reaching Thompson Bay. 

		Fun Volleyball - Hit as many times as you want	At St. Francis Marine	Opening Night
Palmetto Palm, used for Basket making	Racing in Elizabeth Harbor	Look at the color of the water!	The Monument	view from the monument
Gail & Ellen	Isabelle doing Sand Sculpture, or is that Pilates?	Ellen finds a live sand dollar	White Folks on Boats

Monday, February 18: Sailed from Staniel Cay to Blackpoint Settlement, Great Guana Cay.  Had lunch at Lorraine's Cafe. Lorraine's is legendary among cruisers for good food and free Wi-Fi (have you picked up on a theme, yet?), plus a laundromat next door that offers fluff 'n fold. Lorraine's mom makes some of the best bread this side of George Town, so what more could you want? How about the Garden of Eden? Sorry, no pics of this unique site consisting of driftwood sculptures arranged by a local artisan (we actually missed it too, but that's another story). Eager to push on to George Town we left the next morning.

Saturday, February 16: In Staniel Cay, we snorkeled in Thunderball Cave, which was featured in two movies - James Bond's "Thunderball" and "Splash". It was teeming with fish life, and plant life - Sponges, Sargent Majors, and even a Lionfish (a nonnative invasive species, that also has beautiful, but poisonous fins). As we swam through one of the crevasses, we saw a Nurse Shark resting on the bottom.  When we get back to the states, we are definitely going to have to invest in an underwater camera! After lunch, we moved north one island, to Big Major Cay, which is more protected from the easterly winds. Susan made bread, did some laundry, and cleaned the boat.  Mike worked on recovering from a sore throat & cold which seems to be spreading amongst the cruisers. Mike earned quite a few husband points for making corn bread to go with dinner! The Staniel Cay Yacht Club has free limited range Wi-Fi, so you have to dinghy into the yacht club and sit near the bar to use it. No problem, mon - have a Bahama Mama!

Friday, February 15: We moved TabbyCat & Silk Road to Fowl Cay & went snorkeling at nearby Dundas Rocks. Fowl Cay is very small, just a U-shaped island, but well protected from the south.  Dundas Rocks has a cave that you can swim inside, although it's best to do it at low tide and when the water is calm. The cruising guide said it was "spectacular!" inside the cave, but we could see very little difference in the sea life as we flippered inside. Then we took our heads out of the water and looked UP! AHA! Once inside, you are in a bell shaped cave with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Okay, that was pretty cool. We made our way back to the boat and had a wonderful sail down to Staniel Cay after saying good bye to Rachel & Steve.

Wednesday, February 13: Left Warderick Wells at 11:15 AM and arrived at Compass Cay at 2:30 PM. We sailed 23.8 nm, tacking back & forth and achieved a maximum speed of 9.2kts, just the type of glorious sailing that leaves us satisfied with the cruising lifestyle. Morning Glory & Bodacious arrived ahead of us, since they took the more direct (motoring) route!   The entrance to Compass Cay looks a bit "exciting" since it's a narrow channel with sandbars on either side, but we had 8' of water all the way in. We tried anchoring inside the bay, but the current was too strong, so we anchored at the mouth created between the two Islands (Compass & Pipe Cay).    We went on a dinghy exploration trip with Morning Glory and figured out that you can get to the inside bay if you head for the Marina, turn right to go through the channel, really make a hard left after getting inside & hug the big rock on the left, then follow the red balls (they are hard to see) toward the cut.  Once past the cut, turn south and you will find smooth water and protected anchorages. Rachel & Steve from Silk Road were heading north, so they joined up with us and convinced us to stay another day in Compass Cay. Since it was too rough to snorkel, we went on a hike around the island. In the evening, Rachel cooked a wonderful Mexican meal, and Rum N'Amuk (Terry & Linda) and Bodacious joined us on TabbyCat.

Saturday, February 9: The wind was on the nose at only 5 knots, so we motored 18.5nm to Warderick Wells, HQ for the Exumas Land & Sea Park.  This was the first park in the Bahamas designed to preserve the entire ecosystem from the sea floor to the "mountains". They have done an admirable job with little funding and a culture that pays little attention to regulations designed to pass the natural beauty of these islands on to future generations. We picked up a mooring at Emerald Rock for $20 per night. The staff was really quite friendly - we had to take the laptop to the HQ building in order to pick up the Wi-Fi signal, and found ourselves surrounded by these cute little bananaquits (pronounced - "banana keet", they are little wren-like birds with yellow bellies). If you bring a bit of sugar and place it in the palm of your hand, they land on your fingertips and pick up the crystals of sugar. They are so light that you hardly know they are there, except your eyes and ears delight as first one lands, cocks it head to the side, pecks at a crystal and is soon followed by a fluttering of black and white and yellow, each one a blur looking for a finger to alight upon and gain a sweet reward. 

The weather forecast called for a few days of winds above 25 knots (it was pretty accurate!), so we stayed here for four days.  The last night was a bit rolly as the wind clocked to the south, creating a swell in the anchorage/mooring field. One of the larger boats had to leave their mooring, since the wind and waves were so strong that the mooring began to fail (yikes!). The Park hosted a cruiser's get together (They supplied ice and a bonfire) on the beach with the whale skeleton. Wi-Fi is available from the park for $10/day.

Friday, February 8: Motored 15.4 nm to  Shroud Cay. On the way we stopped for about an hour at Leaf Cay (just north of Highbourne and across from Allen's Cay) to visit the the infamous Allen's Cay Iguanas (they love veggies, but you really shouldn't feed them - right!).  Once anchored in a little bay at Shroud Cay we launched the kayak & explored the southern river which leads to a natural well with drinkable water. We then kayaked north across the bay to the a deeper river which runs through the Island and kayaked part of the way through, but it was getting late, so we headed back for happy hour on Morning Glory.  The water in this anchorage reminded us both of a swimming pool - very  clear light turquoise water, with some leaves floating on the top; I felt like we should have gotten out the pool net to skim them up. We got up early on Saturday and kayaked all the way through the  northern river to "Camp Driftwood" on the eastern side of the island,  climbed the hill and left a small gift. On the way to "Camp Driftwood" we saw a shark and a turtle, plus a fair collection of live conch. Of course, since Shroud Cay is the start of the Exumas Land & Sea Park, you cannot catch any of the creatures here.

Thursday, February 7: Sailed to Highbourne Cay. Highbourne Cay is shaped like a distorted "H" with a nice anchorage at the north end and a small marina at the southern end. This time, Morning Glory anchored in the normally protected bay to the west since they wanted to get an early start on Friday, and TabbyCat anchored in the northern bay after winding our way in past a number of coral heads. The northern anchorage was very protected - our new anchor light creates a milky halo on the water around the boat, it took us a while to figure out what was happening; you have to see it to truly understand the phenomenon.  No free Wi-Fi, but you can pay $10 a day to the marina for access. The Highbourne Cay Marina gives a brief weather forecast each morning on the VHF.

Saturday, February 2: Sailed 35nm to New Providence Island, and anchored at West Bay. We came through the South entrance & Morning Glory took the North entrance. Susan watched for coral heads from the bow. There was free Wi-Fi access available (if you have a strong antenna & some patience).  We bicycled to the Lyford Cay City Market on Monday and got some groceries. The grocery store here is better than most in the Bahamas, because they cater to the vacationers coming to the nearby resort. In the afternoon, we explored the canal that runs through the exclusive and very private Lyford Cay resort in the Kayak.  On Wednesday, we biked back into town with Morning Glory and then took a bus to Nassau. After lunch at the Fish Fry, we walked through the Straw Market & around town. The Straw Market was unimpressive except for the number of "vendors" crammed into a small space, and the huge number of straw baskets adorned with "The Flintstones" and "Little Kitty" designs.

Wednesday, January 30: We arrived at Morgan's Bluff, Andros Island, Bahamas at 8 AM, after bypassing Bimini and crossing the Great Bahama Banks. Andros is among the least visited islands in the Bahamas due to a lack of good harbors and beaches. It is also generally referred to as the largest island in the Bahamas, but a closer look at the charts shows in the south of the island there are many little islands with mangrove swamp areas that make up the "consolidated" land mass shown on most small scale maps/charts. The northern part is where a lot of the farming is done. Unlike much of the Bahamas we have seen, the people on Andros seem to mostly earn their living by fishing and farming - tourism is way down on the scale.

Check in was easy at Morgan's Bluff (named after the pirate, Capt. Henry Morgan) - we just dinghied in with a bunch of other cruisers, and the barkeep called the Customs & Immigration officers over.  Too bad it was much too early in the morning for a Bahama Mama!  Morgan's Bluff has at least two claims to fame. The first is a set of caves where it is rumored Capt.Morgan hid treasure ("Arrrrgh! Pieces o' Eight, Matey!"). The second is as a shipping port for fresh water found on Andros and bound for Nassau. While in Morgan's Bluff, we saw a large shipment of grapefruit being readied for loading onto a ship bound for Nassau. A local named Shalom offered to provide us with a large quantity of grapefruit, or to arrange for a dinner and taxi ride in Nichollstown for a price to be named later - we declined after hearing that other cruisers had been charged $50 for a five mile taxi ride.Catamaran On Watch headed back to the USA for repairs the next day, since they hit a coral head on the way into the anchorage. We rode bikes with Morning Glory  down the coast of Andros Island to the settlement of Nichollstown and by then it was an appropriate hour to have that frozen Bahama Mama on the beach. The next day we explored the nearby caves with Morning Glory & Ru-Ah (Wolff & Gemma), alas we did not find any treasure in the caves.  There is no Wi-Fi access at Andros :(.  

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