We Caught Our Dinner!

Staniel Cay

In our last blog, we were anchored in Big Major and had been exploring Staniel Cay. There are a number of places to stay in the Staniel Cay area so there are options to choose from when the weather changes. We had planned to stay in the marina at Staniel Cay to pick up Martha and George, but the winds were going to be picking up out of the west and we thought it would be too exposed and rough at the marina. We made the decision to move to a mooring ball just across from the backside of the Thunderball Grotto. We had decided that this was our best option to pick up Martha and George in the west winds. It was calm when we arrived so we chose this night to go out for dinner. We went for a traditional Bahamian dinner where they rang the dinner bell when it was time for us to go in. We had

pre-ordered our entrees but nothing else. The meal started with potato soup, bread (gluten free for Heather!), salad, our entrees (Grouper for Heather and Lobster for Cam) and then two coconut cream pies for Cam - they had gluten so he took Heather's home to enjoy later! We asked about the gluten free bread and the waitress gave us half a loaf in a take home container. So nice!

Overnight the water roughed up. We had left our dinghy tied loosely to the boat but in the morning we discovered the second stern cleat was missing and we had lost a dinghy fender and a carabiner. We should have known better but we've really learned our lesson that we should put up the dinghy at night! We went to Staniel Cay to get rid of our trash, get dinghy fuel, and buy a few items before returning to the boat. It was so rolly and uncomfortable that it was hard to do anything on the boat. We saw our friends on C. Marie arrive so we went to their boat to visit in the calmer waters between the Majors for a while. We returned to our boat and when it was time to pickup Martha and George, Cam went alone and took

garbage bags to protect the luggage while Heather stayed back to prepare dinner. Cam brought the luggage first and went back on a second run for George and Martha. Apparently, it was much rougher at the Marina which was more exposed to the west. Once they were safely aboard, we brought up the dinghy. Dinner was steaks, potatoes, and asparagus. Then it was bedtime after a long day of travelling. Sleeping was a little challenging as the boat was moving quite a bit.

We had a slow start on Sunday with a nice big breakfast. Then we loosed the mooring ball with a plan to move to a different anchorage but we made a last minute decision to go out on the Exuma Sound and we fished for 3 1/2 hours - no catch but a few nibbles! We came in and anchored between the Majors which ended up being so much calmer and more comfortable. Then we dinghied over to see the pigs on Pig Beach. The pigs were begging from the boaters. We hadn't brought any food to feed them, but we enjoyed our time with them, nonetheless. We went back to the boat and got our snorkel gear. We found a large and really good coral head for snorkelling quite close to Sea Clef. Cam and George both had spears and we swam in couples looking for dinner. After Heather spotted two lobsters under a rock, Cam and George worked hard, stalking their prey and finally brought back two big lobsters that we split for dinner. Yummy!

Cambridge Cay

We looked at the weather first thing and decided that it should be a travel day and we made plans to go to Cambridge Cay. After breakfast, Cam, George and Martha took the dinghy into Staniel Cay to get a few items to top up our reserves while Heather stayed back to prep the boat. They ended up going to all three stores on the island in order to find everything that we needed. The water was pretty rough for the dinghy and Martha got quite wet on the way back. When they returned, we were ready to haul anchor. We went on the Exuma Sound for more protection since the winds were out of the west. George put some lines in the water along the way and he thinks he got one hit but there was nothing to reel in.

It wasn't too bad out, but the wind seemed to pick up when it was time to turn into Conch Cut toward Cambridge Cay so the entrance was a little harrowing. It helped that we already had a breadcrumb trail from a previous calmer day. We ended up anchoring beside Will ‘n Joy, our Canadian Looper friends that we had just been with in Big Major near Staniel Cay. After lunch we joined everyone on the beach near the trail to Honeymoon Beach. It was calm and shady there. We all had a nice visit on the beach and in the water with the crews of four boats. We headed back to our boat for Martha’s guacamole, painkillers, and burgers.

The next morning, we got going right away so we could go to Rocky Dundas at low tide which was 8:25 AM. It was a really rough dinghy ride over and George and Heather, who were riding in the front, ended up wearing their dive goggles to keep the salt water out of their eyes. When we arrived at Rocky Dundas, we were lucky to find that we had the place to ourselves! Rocky Dundas is a cave in an island near Compass Cay. It was pretty cool with stalagtites hanging down from the ceiling and stalagmites reaching up from the cave floor. There was an opening at the top, and some purple colour on some of the rocks, likely from some algae. We enjoyed the scenery of the cave and then snorkelled some coral that we found at the cave entrance before heading back to our boat. We had a big brunch after we got back since we had skipped breakfast.

Before high tide in the afternoon, we headed back to Compass Cay to take our friends to Rachel's Bubblebath where we had had so much fun the previous week. That was another wet ride across the cut but we think we figured out how to get the dinghy on plane with the four of us which improved the ride. The Bubblebath was so much fun and the waves were bigger than

our last visit. We returned to Cambridge Cay heading right to the beach at Bell Rock and we followed the trail over to the other side of the island. We enjoyed a nice walk along the beach and Cam sat in the waves. We even saw a turtle! We went back to the beach on the inside before heading back to our boat.

Suddenly, there was a strong gust front and we all hurried out to collect the items that we had drying on the railings. Cam and George stayed on the bow because the PowerCat in front of us was having trouble with their anchor and drifting very close to us. We thought they were too close to us when they anchored initially. They eventually hauled anchor and left the anchorage. A lot of boats had to relocate. During the storm we noticed that boats in the anchorage were pointing and swinging in all different directions and most captains were on bow watch. There are opposing currents and tides in the anchorage which become challenging with strong winds. It is a complicated anchorage and you definitely want to plan to anchor with enough swing room and make sure you set your anchor well. We didn't get the rain, just the winds and fortunately, everything settled before dinner.

We didn't have a great night as the boat was rolling a lot and then it poured rain at 2:30 in the morning so we were all up running around the boat closing windows. Then at 3:30 AM an alarm started going off. It was the propane sensor alarm and the alarm device was quite wet as the galley window was not latched closed so water had leaked into the cupboards, through the alarm device, and down to the floor. Cam turned off the propane breaker and then he was up for an hour cleaning up the water. In the morning, Cam turned on the breaker for the propane and started the coffee. It seemed to be working, but then the alarm started going off again so he switched the breaker off. We would have to start our day without tea and coffee until we could figure something out.

The day's plan was to move to Shroud Cay as it was the best option for wind and waves and we had to get closer to Normans Cay for George and Martha's drop off on the weekend. Unfortunately, it had been fairly windy since they arrived. Around sunrise, before we departed, the winds suddenly changed and as we looked off our stern we could see that the last power vessel that had come in, now had its stern on a sailboat’s bow. Both crews were actively fending off while the power vessel was pulling up anchor. Never a dull moment in this anchorage! After we were underway, Heather and Martha tried some reset options that they had found online for the propane alarm, but the alarm still sounded. Finally, they got the coffee made on the portable butane stove and made tea in the microwave. It was a little bumpy trying to do that while we were underway but nothing spilled! The crew was much happier with their daily dose of caffeine!

We got to Shroud Cay and decided at the last minute to anchor on the south end of the island since the winds were going to be more north before turning to the northeast. There was a lot of swell in the anchorage so we tried putting out a swell bridal. We were still fussing with the angle of the swell bridal when True North radioed us. We met Jim and Gee from True North in Chattanooga and hadn't seen them since we travelled together on the Tenn-Tom. From a distance, they could see where we should attach our lines to make the swell bridal work better. They told us that they had sounded the area for depths on their dinghy and Jim made a recommendation for us. So we had some lunch and then relocated as Jim had suggested. We were very happy with our swell bridal this time and our location was slightly more sheltered. It was too bad we couldn't get off our boat to go visit with Jim and Gee and thank them in person but it was pretty rough and windy.

After we were settled, George took apart the propane sensor and dried it all out with a hairdryer. He had to try this a couple of times but he got it working so we all had some tea. Then we played games for the afternoon followed by dinner and a movie. We had a much better night as the bridal kept us nose into the swell. It settled for much of the night but kicked up around 4:00 AM. About mid-morning, we moved to our previously intended anchorage at the north end of Shroud Cay and took a mooring ball.

We waited for the approaching high tide and headed over to do the mangrove creek exploration that we had done when we were here previously. We took a little more time on the beach before exploring the creek. We saw lots of turtles on our creek exploration. When we got to Driftwood Beach it was very busy with guests from a small cruise ship. We tied up the dinghy and headed over to get in the water. After we were here the last time, someone told us that we were supposed to swim out into the bay and allow the current to pull you through the opening into the creek. We didn't get much of a pull as the current wasn't strong enough but it was fun to try. Then we did the climb up the hill to the lookout point. We headed back on the dinghy following the creek to the northern entrance. We saw lots more turtles and one stingray. The water was a little rough when we got back to Sea Clef so it was tough getting our dinghy back on our boat, but we had learned our lesson and we knew we needed to get it secure on our boat. It had been another busy day in paradise!

Click on the photos below to view the images in slideshow mode. Coming up next, we say farewell to our friends in Norman's Cay and have our final stay in the Exumas at Highbourne Cay.