Running to the Exumas

 

Late Tuesday morning we headed out from Hoffmans 50 miles to the east end of a Nassau at an anchorage off Rose Island. We did a little early morning beach exploring as nobody had any interest to actually go into Nassau. Once in the deep water I dropped a line to see what we could catch. When we were in Great Harbor I was talking to a guy who lives in Bimini and does a lot of fishing. He handed me a couple of lures and said, “drag these around you will get your fill of fish’. Well don’t you know we managed to land a Cero Mackerel and a 15lb Skip Jack Tuna. That type of tuna is not a good eating so he went back into the sea. The Cero is an excellent fish both cooked and Sushi style.  It was delicious. We were about five miles from the anchorage and we noticed that Liming had black smoke pouring out of his exhaust. All of our hearts sank as things like that can happen to anybody. They were in a couple thousand feet of water so an anchor is no good. Fortunately with the help of Rick on Inked Mermaid he was able to get one of the engines started and continue to the anchorage. 

Turns out a clamp broke on the turbo. The great news was he had another one onboard and was able to solve the problem. What luck! By time all that was done it was 5 pm by time we got settled. The plan was to leave at first light and head for Norman Island which was about 55 miles to the south east.  The forecast in the morning called for 1’ seas that would be on our nose with 10 mph of wind. Well there was 1’ waves and 2’ waves and some 3’ waves with winds closer to 15 mph. Sometimes they all get it wrong. Well we beat our way across the Bahama Bank and set anchor about 1:30  and then had some lunch. Norman Cay is actually a private island once reportedly owned by Pablo Escobar. It was also the original location for the famed Fyre Party that scammed tens of thousands of dollars out of many people. If you haven’t seen the Netflix show on it it is worth a look. Now some other Uber rich guy owns it and has a exclusive private marina for the mega rich. The marina caters to 200’+ club. As the winter cruising comes to a close the mega yachts are moving north and Norman island is on the circuit. Crazy enough there is nothing on the island. 

The bigger yachts anchor off the south end of the Cay. There is also a private air strip that caters to the cruising elite and their private jets. Let me tell you it is quite busy. I spoke to an owner of one of the big yachts and he told me it cost $30,000 a week for him to dock his boat there. Yep you guessed it Next Chapter stayed at anchor. The only service on the island beyond the marina is a small overpriced restaurant called MacDuffs. We went there Thursday for lunch with eight other cruisers, Green Envy, Inked Mermaid, Saltwife, Liming and yours truly.  Sue and I split a burger and a house special rum punch and the bill was $75. The price you pay to eat in paradise. 

To be fair the atmosphere was awesome. We stayed for four nights exploring by dinghy and snorkeling. We even snorkeled an old drug running DC3 airplane that had crashed in the local waters. The winds had arrived and were blowing a steady 20 mph. Even at anchor in the lee of the island we were moving about quite a bit. One afternoon at happy hour on Green Envy, Ken gave us a presentation of the spots where they went in the southern Exumas. 

It was very helpful. What was even more helpful is he lent me a pole spear to use on our trip down. Sue and Kris really hit it off as Kris is also a retired educator. Well once again I saw a weather window that would get us to our furthest point south that we would be going. Getting to Great Exuma Island meant we had to go on the outside with no protection. So the next morning we would pull off and begin moving again. 

There was eight of these mega yachts anchored up here at one point. These are what the show, Below Deck is all about.They are all positioning to cross over to the Med for the summer season. 

  Sue following a couple of big blue rays.  She hovered over them observing them eat.  Their preferred diet being bony fish and crustaceans.  They suck the food into their mouth and spit out what they don’t want.  The stingrays Sue swam with get up to 6 feet in length and live to be 25 years old.

                                                          Ahhhhhhhhhh!

 Happy Hour aboard Next Chapter

                              Todd and Mary enjoying the view

    Dinghy Raftup

                                          Marina at Norman Island

                 No Sue did not murder me on the high seas although it may have crossed her mind!  

The Berry Islands

On Wednesday morning March 29th we watched the sun come up on the Great Bahama Banks over coffee. It was still fairly calm with a bit of cloud cover spilling many shades of gray across the water. We left the anchorage for a short 24 mile cruise to Great Harbor on Stirrup Cay. We had a reservation at the marina but we found a spot in the harbor to anchor for the night.

It was still going to be fairly calm so we settled in for the day. The next morning we pulled into the marina as the winds were forecasted to get quite strong. Our friends on Inked Mermaid and Salt Wife were there also. First order was to wash the caked salt off of the boat. Once we had that tackled we hopped in the dinghy and headed to town or should I say settlement. Very little in town but there was a grocery store that just recently got a shipment of produce.

We bought a $9 head of cauliflower! You have to remember they do not grow anything on most of these islands. We were at the town dock when one of the local fisherman came in with the catch of the day. He and his mate dumped out buckets of fresh Hogfish, Yellow Tail, Strawberry Grouper and lobster tails that were huge. The Lobster tails were selling for $12 and were well over a pound.

Back at the marina we settled in and got to know a number of folks.It was amazing how many folks from Europe were there. Sweden, the UK, Switzerland and others. There was a great community feeling in this place. Friday night was Grill and Chill. They had a local Bahamian come do a barbecue complete with Peas and Rice. Sue put together a great scavenger hunt for the kids at the marina. They had a blast as only Sue can provide. 

Music was provided by boaters that brought their instruments and entertained us all. Scott on Salt Wife made a bunch of conch horns for the kids that were there. They blew them for the crowd to salute the sunset. It was quite cute. It was a lot of fun but it went too fast. 

Saturday we biked to end of the island where a remote breath taking beach sprawled across the landscape with blue saturated water that almost looked fake. We stopped at the Beach Bar for a quick bite for lunch.

When we got back to the marina we jumped into the dinghy and snorkeled an old ship wreck. When we got back to the marina our loaf of local fresh baked coconut bread was waiting for us on the boat. That evening was pizza night at the marina. This guy comes and bakes pizza to order onsite. Now we are talking $40 a pie. However it had lobster and conch on it. I must say it was worth every penny.

Sunday morning April 2nd I made a late morning decision to head out to our next port at Hoffman Cay 35 miles south in the lower part of the Berry Islands. As I looked at the long range weather I saw a cold front approaching which would bring stiff winds from the east making the crossing over to the Exumas not doable. Once in the Exumas we could run the west side of the chain blocking most of the effects of the wind and wave. The weather would be good thru Wednesday giving us a decent window to get there. Three other boats decided to follow as well. So at 11 am off we went.

Conditions were great with 8 mph winds and 1’ seas on our nose. We arrived at Hoffmans and got settled by about 3:30 pm. We took the dingy over to a blue hole on the center of the Cay. You could jump off into the crystal clear water from an overhang. It was fun. Being a pretty long day we called it quits pretty early. We would be leaving the next morning for Nassau at first light. 

Full of lobster

          Earlier the kids were actually petting their bellies off the back of the boat

Fresh Strawberry Grouper

                                                                 Beach Bar

Must have been 30 lbs of tails

                                                                                                     Catch of the day

Always Trust your Gut

Monday morning at first light we wiggled our way out of Angle Fish Creek, through the reef and into the magenta blue Gulf Stream. There was a flotilla of four boats; Salt Wife, Inked Mermaid, Escape and yours truly. We were very excited as this would be a big step for us into uncharted territory. Bimini was a mere 70 miles to the north east but the forecast wasn’t the greatest.

Sunny but the winds were a bit high. The wave prediction was 2’ landing on our forward starboard quarter. When we exited the reef we were met with 2-3’. Now there are two things that will put cruisers into peril. Schedules and excitement for the next port. We were guilty of the second not to mention we used the faulty notion that once we entered the Gulf Stream the current would flatten the seas a bit. Wrong! 3-4’ seas. Sue gave the green light to proceed but keep the color green in your mind. About two hours into the trip Sue came up from below clammy and sweating. Why I never got sick only God knows. Well nothing else to do on the cruise so I threw a line in the water and don’t you know we landed a 30” Baracuda. Nasty set of teeth on those fellows but he put up a great fight. 

Things finally calmed down a bit and we safely made it to Bimini. Now when I say blue water I’m talking blue like somebody touched the picture up too much. Think, “somebody must have plugged the water into an electrical socket. Once settled into our slip I walked down to clear Customs and Immigration. That was a snap.

We gave the boat a brief wash and we were off to explore. We found our way to a local beach bar to watch sunset and snack on some Bahamian conch fritters and sweet plantains. We washed them down with a couple of ice cold local Kalik beers. The winds were not looking favorable on Tuesday so we stayed an extra day in port.

We managed to get beach walk and a swim that afternoon along with a bike ride in Alice Town. Happy hour was at Stuarts Conch Stand where they have $2.50 Sands Light beer. A real deal in the Bahamas. The conch salad was spectacular. He picked the conch out of the water, cleaned them and prepared the salad. We ended up talking with four guys who were there on a 68’ Bobby Davis sport fish boat. They were from New Jersey and mostly retired. Well one thing led to another and we ended the evening on their boat. It was a beautiful boat. 

The next morning we left for the Great Bahama Banks with another boat, Liming. We met them back in Michigan this past summer. We made a 75 mile run in perfect conditions. Light wind and less than 1’ waves. We were within about 25 miles of Bimini but it was 4:30 so we pulled onto the bank to drop a hook for the night. Sleeping on the bank is something special. It is so vast.

The stars filled the sky from horizon to horizon. Unfortunately I got a first hand look at them. When Liming came in to set anchor I had a gut feeling just a bit close but I have been challenged judging distance on the bridge. Sometime in the middle of the night Sue shook me and said;” Mike the boat just hit something.” I said; “it can’t there is nothing to hit out here.

Well she persisted and I dutifully went topside in my skivies and don’t you know our stern was tapping the bow sprit of Liming. We anchored first so it turns out Liming had way too short of scope. When we swung we just touched. Fortunately is was very calm so no damage done. We started the engines, pulled anchor and reset a good distance away. I went right back to sleep. Not so sure about my first mate. But heck somebody has to be on watch!

Back on the High Seas

I know it has been awhile since I have updated the blog but we have been just too darn busy having fun. I am currently sitting at anchor just off the north east end of Nassau. I hope to get you all caught up soon. So here is the next installment.

Finally on Tuesday the 21st the weather was good enough to get to our first stop at Marathon. We managed to get a fill up of diesel from a tanker which saved us a good chunk of money. We then made the 44 mile trip to Marathon where we anchored for the night.

We had a completely unobstructed view to the west with the famous seven mile bridge off to the right. That night we enjoyed a couple of grilled lobster tails for dinner while watching the sunset. 

The next morning we cut over to the inside of the keys to head 12 miles to Matecumbe Key where there was a a nice anchorage with beautiful water.

We got on the dinghy and explored the mangrove channels. Later in the afternoon we went over to the famous Robbies Hungry Tarpon Restaurant. It is a staple on the keys where tour buses pull in to let people feed these massive Tarpon. 

We met a great couple from Ohio that were wintering in the area. He had just retired and was still in that phase of figuring out who he was. 

The Thursday morning we had a short 10 mile trip to lower Matecumbe where the village of Islamorada is located.

We anchored up right in front of Lorelei, another famous Key establishment. We were also close to Wild World of Sports which is where the first Bass Pro Outlet was born. We loaded the bikes in the dinghy and went ashore. We found our way to a Dive History Museum which turned out to be fantastic.

This guy undoubtedly has the largest collection of hard hat dive helmets in the world. The museum was very well done and covered diving from the diving bell all the way to scuba. We stopped at a couple of unique shops  along the way. We enjoyed a two person band at the Lorelei followed by a great dinner aboard. 

On Friday we headed 23 miles to Key Largo where we anchored in front of Sunset Marina where Brad Shirley and his wife Kathy, brother of Steve Shirleys, runs his parasail business out of. He met us there and was kind enough to loan us his truck so we could get some final provisions for the Bahamas.

Later we met up for dinner followed by a night cap aboard Next Chapter.                     

On Saturday we made the final 23 mile leg up the Keys to Angle Fish Creek on the north end of Key Largo which would serve as our jumping point to Bimini.

When we got to the anchorage we dropped the hook and backed down on it and heard a noise. Now we usually put the dinghy up on it’s mounts but that day we decided to tow it behind the boat. Well don’t you know the tow rope got sucked into the prop.

Shit! Back in the water to dive down and clear the rope off the wheel. I swear. So we have never been to North Key Largo and now that we have been we know what people are talking about.  It is truly a place of exuberant wealth.

It is largely a private community with its own private air strip, health clinic and small village complete with an Orvis outdoor outfitters. The homes there were all opulent beyond description and manicured to the tee. The mega yachts in Ocean Reef Resort were jaw dropping.

We connected with another looper boat, Inked Mermaid, whom we had met in Tarpon Springs months ago. They were making the crossing with two other boats and asked us to join in. We had a early captains meeting to discuss the plan for the morning and called an early night. 

                                  Had cover the cost of borrowing the truck in trade

The dinghy was packed to the brim with ship stores to go to the Bahamas.