1.19.11
We left Ships Channel Cay this afternoon after a much-deserved relaxing morning. It was a gorgeous day and we couldn't believe the colors of the water. This was by far the clearest water we had been in yet and what we had been expecting to see since entering the Bahamas. You could see straight to the bottom in the aqua-turquoise water. It was a calm day and we took our time sailing down to Allens Cay. While Brad sailed, I cleaned and soon found a disaster we had not planned for. MOLD!! A sailor's worst nightmare!! It had consumed our V-berth, which was our storage closet for the trip. We had jammed so much up there that we hadn't even noticed it happening. So while Brad navigated, I hauled everything out of the front and cleaned like a mad woman.
We were able to visually navigate our way down to Allens Cay and made it there by 1600. We set anchor in a narrow harbor amongst 5 other boats and looked forward to the next day when we would be able to snorkel.
We woke up early the next morning to a clear glass water type day. We ate breakfast outside and enjoyed the sunrise and were off the boat by 0900. Allens Cay is home to a large wild iguana population. They are semi-tame as cruisers frequently go over to the island and feed them...or so we had heard. There are two iguana-populated islands and we went to the less frequently visited one as the iguanas were supposed to be less-tame. We came armed with diced fruits and veggies and cameras. We were not disappointed – our dinghy was greeted by no less than 5 iguanas, one of which seemed to be the grandfather of all iguanas. They came right out to us and looked expectantly at us, hissing and all the while creeping closer. We started throwing bits of food at them and were soon overwhelmed with iguanas. There were over 20 iguanas at one time scurrying in and out hoping for a hand-out. They ranged in size from the size of your hand to about 30 pounds!! They were larger than Moo and some were the size of small dachshunds! As soon as the food was gone, they lost interest and faded back in to the background.
We donned our snorkeling gear and headed out to some of the coves in the harbour. We snorkeled some easy coves and found nothing of real interest except extremely clear water. Underwater you could see half a mile away everything around you. We got back to the dinghy and as we passed by one of the other boats in the anchorage, they hollered out and told us where the good snorkeling was.
We didn't time the tides right and got to the snorkeling grounds during a rushing tide so were not able to anchor our dinghy and get out. Instead, we floated slowly over the coral heads and stuck our heads over the edge watching the life as we went overhead. It was incredible the life down there – so many different species of fish!! It was a beautiful reef and we were sorry that we didn't get to snorkel it the right way; but for our first reef snorkeling experience, it was gorgeous!
Afterwards, we beached our dinghy on the East side of the island and snorkeled along the shore where there were some less impressive but still dazzling reefs and fish life. We walked around the island and found a deserted house, all the while hearing iguanas scurrying in the bush around us.
It was a great day and we finally found out that we had finally found “sailing heaven.” We were anchored among other cruisers who enjoyed the scenery and life as much as we were and who were as much in awe of the thriving life here as us.
Friday, February 11, 2011
South to the Exumas
1.17.11
We left Nassau at 0800 to sail down to Allens Cay – our first stop in the Exumas! We were so excited and it was a gorgeous day for sailing! We hoisted the sails and looked forward to a day of clear water and sun.
Of course, with our luck and Murphy's Law once again on our tails, it was not to be. We soon realized we would be sailing into the wind all day and were having to go a bit off-course to keep our sails full. We started up the motor to compensate for our bad wind direction, but the damage had been done. The wind was not to shift all day and we were being pushed more away from the islands than we had planned for. We soon realized there would be no reason to fight the wind and tide, which was only allowing us to go forward at 1 knot/hour and instead embraced the wind direction and found a new destination. It was slightly North of where we wanted to go, but not too far off our course. Unfortunately, we were not able to make it there until after dark, so our first anchoring in the dark experience was a bit scary. There are coral heads everywhere in the Exumas and you should always sail during the day so that you can see them, since the charts and GPS are not reliable. If only....we had no choice at this point and were just praying to the sailing Gods that we made it safely.
After sailing for 9 hours on a day that was supposed to be only 6, we were more than ready to be safely at anchor. Finally things went our way and a full moon shone brightly through the approaching clouds. We were able to see enough to safely make it into the anchorage, set the anchor and get settled before the next front came through. It was a bumpy night, but the anchor held and we slept soundly all night.
We left Nassau at 0800 to sail down to Allens Cay – our first stop in the Exumas! We were so excited and it was a gorgeous day for sailing! We hoisted the sails and looked forward to a day of clear water and sun.
Of course, with our luck and Murphy's Law once again on our tails, it was not to be. We soon realized we would be sailing into the wind all day and were having to go a bit off-course to keep our sails full. We started up the motor to compensate for our bad wind direction, but the damage had been done. The wind was not to shift all day and we were being pushed more away from the islands than we had planned for. We soon realized there would be no reason to fight the wind and tide, which was only allowing us to go forward at 1 knot/hour and instead embraced the wind direction and found a new destination. It was slightly North of where we wanted to go, but not too far off our course. Unfortunately, we were not able to make it there until after dark, so our first anchoring in the dark experience was a bit scary. There are coral heads everywhere in the Exumas and you should always sail during the day so that you can see them, since the charts and GPS are not reliable. If only....we had no choice at this point and were just praying to the sailing Gods that we made it safely.
After sailing for 9 hours on a day that was supposed to be only 6, we were more than ready to be safely at anchor. Finally things went our way and a full moon shone brightly through the approaching clouds. We were able to see enough to safely make it into the anchorage, set the anchor and get settled before the next front came through. It was a bumpy night, but the anchor held and we slept soundly all night.
Nassau and Atlantis!
1.16.11
Well, we never re-anchored, just pulled in some line so we were more out of the way. We also met up with our friends on “Quality Time”, who had gone to a marina for the evening to wait out the front. They generously allowed us to dinghy over to their boat and tie up alongside, thus alleviating our problem of finding dinghy dockage on that side of the city (a difficult feat!). They allowed us to traipse in and out of their boat all day as we ran our errands. We also joined them for lunch at a local restaurant, the Poop Deck. It was a great day and we got a lot accomplished thanks to them!
The next day, since we were still having trouble with our macerator, we knew we needed to be pumped out. Unfortunately, the only marina that did pumpouts in Nassau was Atlantis. Dagger. Although it was expensive, we decided we would splurge and head in for the day to enjoy the resort and empty our holding tanks.
Atlantis is AMAZING!! We stayed in the cheapest slips available which are a long trek from the marina office and an even longer trek from the actual resort. But, never fear, they have golf carts that pick you up and take you anywhere on the resort you want to go! So we were escorted up to the office, where we checked in and got our resort map. We were pumped out and ready to have some serious fun by 1300. We had another golf cart ride up to the casino – my first trip to a casino ever! We had to walk through to get to the water park (of course), so I insisted that we play the slots. We pulled the arm 5 times and walked away with...nothing. Ah well, easy come, easy go!
We continued through to the water park, walking through the grand hotel lobby. There are 8 pools on the property, two lazy rivers and over 10 waterslides! It was chilly that day, but after some nagging from Brad I sucked it up and got in anyway. We had a blast! There was even a waterslide that took you through a tube through the shark tank! It was amazing! We also did the Aquarium, which was great too. There was a walk-through tube that took you through the tank, we even had some sharks swim over us. And there were two huge manta rays!! They were beautiful!
That night, we went back to the casino and I learned how to play BlackJack – I was even pretty good at it! I had Brad on one side telling me what to do and a kid from St. Pete on my other side telling me what he thought I should do. Between the two of them, I made my own decisions and came out on top! It is very overwhelming; so many people, bright lights everywhere and the noise of the slot machines and chips. It is easy to see how people get so caught up in that atmosphere.
We enjoyed the water park and casino so much the first night that we decided to stay a second night! A bit expensive and not in the budget, but who can have a budget when they are on vacation?! We spent another day at the water parks and loved every second of it!! That night we watched the Ravens lose pitifully to the Steelers and then gambled a bit more!
We had a blast and would have stayed forever if we were rich, but alas, it was time to return to anchoring. We filled our tanks and went back to our trusty Northern anchorage, this time making sure we were safely out of the channel.
Well, we never re-anchored, just pulled in some line so we were more out of the way. We also met up with our friends on “Quality Time”, who had gone to a marina for the evening to wait out the front. They generously allowed us to dinghy over to their boat and tie up alongside, thus alleviating our problem of finding dinghy dockage on that side of the city (a difficult feat!). They allowed us to traipse in and out of their boat all day as we ran our errands. We also joined them for lunch at a local restaurant, the Poop Deck. It was a great day and we got a lot accomplished thanks to them!
The next day, since we were still having trouble with our macerator, we knew we needed to be pumped out. Unfortunately, the only marina that did pumpouts in Nassau was Atlantis. Dagger. Although it was expensive, we decided we would splurge and head in for the day to enjoy the resort and empty our holding tanks.
Atlantis is AMAZING!! We stayed in the cheapest slips available which are a long trek from the marina office and an even longer trek from the actual resort. But, never fear, they have golf carts that pick you up and take you anywhere on the resort you want to go! So we were escorted up to the office, where we checked in and got our resort map. We were pumped out and ready to have some serious fun by 1300. We had another golf cart ride up to the casino – my first trip to a casino ever! We had to walk through to get to the water park (of course), so I insisted that we play the slots. We pulled the arm 5 times and walked away with...nothing. Ah well, easy come, easy go!
We continued through to the water park, walking through the grand hotel lobby. There are 8 pools on the property, two lazy rivers and over 10 waterslides! It was chilly that day, but after some nagging from Brad I sucked it up and got in anyway. We had a blast! There was even a waterslide that took you through a tube through the shark tank! It was amazing! We also did the Aquarium, which was great too. There was a walk-through tube that took you through the tank, we even had some sharks swim over us. And there were two huge manta rays!! They were beautiful!
That night, we went back to the casino and I learned how to play BlackJack – I was even pretty good at it! I had Brad on one side telling me what to do and a kid from St. Pete on my other side telling me what he thought I should do. Between the two of them, I made my own decisions and came out on top! It is very overwhelming; so many people, bright lights everywhere and the noise of the slot machines and chips. It is easy to see how people get so caught up in that atmosphere.
We enjoyed the water park and casino so much the first night that we decided to stay a second night! A bit expensive and not in the budget, but who can have a budget when they are on vacation?! We spent another day at the water parks and loved every second of it!! That night we watched the Ravens lose pitifully to the Steelers and then gambled a bit more!
We had a blast and would have stayed forever if we were rich, but alas, it was time to return to anchoring. We filled our tanks and went back to our trusty Northern anchorage, this time making sure we were safely out of the channel.
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