The Exumas (Part One)

     Our plan is to go where the wind takes us as much as possible and so, when we woke up on March 3 and saw that there was a brisk wind from the South south east, we decided not to go to Cat Island, which was in that direction, and instead we headed over to the Exumas. We caught an 8 lb Mahi-Mahi on the way! We entered Bell Island Cut and anchored on the West side of Cambridge Cay.   This cay is within the Exuma Land and Sea Park, a 22 mile no take zone which extends 4 nautical miles out to sea on either side of the 15 major cays it encompasses. It was established 60 years ago as a replenishment area for many species on land and in the water. We were in our element. The first thing I was impressed with was the number of nurse sharks hanging out by our boat! We had some great snorkeling here but found that the corals in the shallow bays showed great bleaching and general distress. However, we saw some wonderful fish, rays, barracuda and turtles.


    Cambridge Cay - we snorkeled around this rock


 Ruddy Turnstone prints on the beach


Sunset at Cambridge Cay


Gorgeous water all around


We motored over to this small sandpit to put our fee for the mooring in a box.


The payment box


Barracuda under the boat. We kept running into them while snorkeling and they always look like they are in a bad mood.


Sharks also swam back and forth under the boat, making me hesitate to jump into that beautiful water.


One of our mega yacht neighbors


I worried that our sail covers were clashing with the turquoise water.



We tried hoisting Nico's cell phone up the mast to try and get cell reception so he could read any e-mails from work.

     After several days in this location we headed south to Staniel Cay. After one rolly night in what we thought would be a sheltered spot, we headed early the next morning to the anchorage opposite the town. I caught up on Wi-Fi by sitting next to the Taste and Sea Restaurant while Nico bought rum and got rid of trash. We then had the amazing lunch I described in my food blog entry.

The Taste and Sea Restaurant from my perch where I tapped into their Wi-Fi.


The inside before the lunch time rush


The menu


The Dumply Soup


Various leftover bones


Workmen picking up their orders


Bahamian colors

     In the afternoon we went over to Thunderball Grotto, featured in the Jame’s Bond movie. We snorkeled in at slack low tide with only a few inches between the water and rock. Lots of colorful fish greeted us in the entry and then we were inside the grotto that had a ceiling of about 25 feet with light streaming in a hole at the top, like The Pantheon. There was another entrance where you had to dive underwater to get through so we did that and circled the island. Light coming in from the several underwater entrances, as well as the top, made it magical.


The grotto from the outside. The entrance is under the ledge.  

 The current was strong by the fuel dock so we took in cans with the dinghy and ferried it back to the boat instead.



     The next attraction we had to see were the pigs on the beach at Big Majors Cay. It was quite a scene there. Tons of boats from 200 ft on down were all anchored there. We took the dinghy into the beach but stayed in at the edge and watched the action. The  pigs would swim out, looking for handouts. They, too, came in all sizes. A boat full of guys pulled in. They played football in the sand and fed the pigs at the same time so there were guys and pigs running all around with lots of squealing.


The welcome committee


A group flew in to see the pigs.


   


     We continued south to another animal attraction. Bitter Guana Cay is a preserve for an endangered subspecies of the Bahamian iguana. Here, too, boats would pull up and people would feed the iguanas fruit on a stick. They pretty much ignored us when we landed but later, after seeing the guides do it, as soon as I put a piece of discarded fruit on a stick they came charging. We hiked along the very windswept spine of the island. Waves were crashing in the cut between the islands. It was an inhospitable spot. I wouldn’t want to be shipwrecked here.


Nico, making a friend


The windswept eastern shore



Limestone cliffs


A tree trying desperately trying to grow in a very inhospitable environment.


Not a day to be sailing on this side of the island.

Yesterday we went into a market on Staniel Cay to pick up some fresh produce but the shelves were empty except for onions, garlic, carrots and cabbage because the weekly supply boat wasn’t due until later that afternoon. This prompted me to write about how a couple of foodies are faring without refrigeration. Well, it’s like camping for a couple of months but we are getting by better than I thought. I do crave a cold yogurt, fresh greens and cold drinks. However, I can’t complain when you think of how little others have to eat in the rest of the world.

ICE

We have an icebox filled with warm beer and seltzer which we drink each day. In the evening we mainly have been having a rum drink made with freshly squeezed oranges, limes and lemons with a little tonic or bitters. It is delicious - but oh so much better on ice. So, we get creative or beg. We traded a beautiful mutton snapper filet to a couple and in return they invited us over to their boat for drinks. We became friends and have gone over for cold drinks a couple of times, or, if they come over to us they bring ice. We helped out another boat with directions, and then begged for ice. In Cambridge Cay we were on the last mooring that happened to be for boats 100 feet or larger. A few hours later a big boat came in and took a recently freed smaller mooring. A perky Australian crew member popped over on the jet ski and asked if we would mind trading. We said sure - if we could have some ice. We did the trade and she came over with a whole cooler bag full of ice. Later she came back with their crew member in charge of fish and refilled the bag. We went wild with cold beers, iced water, iced seltzer and rum drinks for 24 hours. We splurged and opened a can of evaporated milk and had that in our coffee and on granola rather than the powdered milk we have been using.

MEAT

     Every once in a while we catch fish. We have dined on small snapper, jacks, a small blackfin tuna,  and ever since we got a great new lure in Spanish Wells - Mutton Snapper and Mahi-Mahi.

Mahi-Mahi 

We also had several meals from some conch we collected. If we go into a town we sometimes get a frozen piece of meat and eat it that day.


cleaning the conch

conch salad
    
 We eat what we can for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 24 hours and we give away what we know we can’t eat immediately to grateful sailors. Nico made homemade corned beef and every so often I pull out a 6 - 8 oz. piece that I cook up with carrots, onions, cabbage starry style or with diced potato or sweet potato as a hash. We have canned chicken from Trader Joe’s that I cook with red curry and coconut milk with the usual carrots, onions, cabbage or canned Asian veggies. Tonight, however, we will feast on soba noodles and fresh mung bean sprouts that I grew in my seed sprouter! I make a variety of skillet dishes with tuna, sardines, pink salmon, and even spam! I make dishes with pasta, capers, olives, artichoke hearts and dry Italian sausage. I bought farmer’s market eggs in Vero Beach and they lasted about a month - frittatas, omelets, hard boiled on a cabbage salad nicoise. We also eat beans and rice in a variety of ways. A trick that Nico learned in one of his sailing books is to make an omelette the next morning, using up any dinner leftovers.

Omelette with chicken curry leftovers
     
 Typical meals: hash w/eggs with hearts of palm salad, Salmon burgers, beans and rice,  canned chicken & pasta, root veggie hash, lots of stir frys using cabbage, carrots & onions, various salads using cabbage as the green.

SPAM with corn, sweet potatoes, carrots and sprouts

FRUIT

     Our fruit supply has been good. I bought grapefruits, oranges, lemons and limes at a grower in Vero and I keep them in a net. I have to check every day because suddenly one will start to look bad and needs to be eaten that day. Hard apples such as gala have lasted. I have canned fruit which we haven’t used yet and I bought a bunch of freeze dried fruits at Trader Joes which have been good with granola. When I can I buy local fruit such as a giant papaya.

papaya

VEGGIES

     I’ve mentioned the basic onions, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and cabbage but I also keep various squash and beets in our net. I buy, and use up quickly, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. I was able to get beautiful arugula grown on Eleuthera. Last resort are the canned vegetables stored away in the salon.

SPAM, tomato and sprout pitas

BREADS and SWEETS

     We loaded up on a variety of cookies, chocolate and candies. I make a pan of brownies or bars once in a while. I made an apple crisp using pie filling from a can. When in Eleuthera we bought some homemade treats like pineapple upside-down cake, sweet potato jonnycakes and bread. I buy fresh bread when I can and then we use pita bread and wraps along with WASA crackers or a Norwegian brown bread that lasts forever until opened. I also planned on making bread but found it is too hot to have the oven going.

snapper, sweet potato johnny cake and papaya

GOING ASHORE

      Last but not least, we do eat ashore once in a while. We had dinner with Steve Connett and his partner Barbara in Spanish Wells but Nico’s Wahoo fish was way overcooked. We had a sailor’s potluck in Hatchet Bay that was made up of a variety of snacks that don’t need refrigeration, and in Staniel Cay we went to very different kind of restaurant called Taste and Sea. We found out we had to order before 11:00 for lunch. When we went in at 11:30 the place was deserted and they gave us the special which was Dumply Soup in big styrofoam containers. We got a cold beer and sat down, looking over the turquoise bay. Then, one after another, pickup trucks arrived filled with workmen coming in for their orders. Soon it was packed. Another cruising couple came in hoping for lunch and were told they would have to wait and get whatever was leftover. Dumply Soup, pronounced Dumplee, was a thick gravy surrounding a variety of pork parts (vertebrae, rib, tail, unidentifiable bones) and wide, thick noodles. There was even some plantain and possibly a carrot in there. Also, we have very much enjoyed having lunch, dinner  and wonderful snacks aboard Diamond Sky with Roger and Laura Gray, and Scuppers, their cat. 


We did not eat this little guy!

     My goal is to organize my blog by island group here in the Bahamas. After several delightful days in The Berry Islands we took advantage of favorable winds to head over to Eleuthera. We left at dawn and had a brisk sail over to Spanish Wells on the Northern tip. We pulled into a marina where our former Captain on Geronimo, Steve Connett, keeps his boat. Geronimo is the former research vessel owned by St. George’s School that we worked on in the early ’80’s tagging sharks and turtles. Steve is very involved with marine conservation in the area and runs a non-profit called The Cape Eleuthera Institute. I have been pleased with the number of turtles I have seen since we have been here. We visited with Steve and his partner Barbara and then spent the next day working on the boat, doing laundry and getting fresh provisions in town.

The Marina

We rented a house and skiff here over a dozen years ago with the kids and loved it. I spent my childhood going to nearby Harbour Island. I had always heard disparaging stories about Spanish Wells (inbred, poor, a little weird) but it just isn’t true! Must be island rivalry. The town is prosperous from the southern lobster industry and everyone is so kind. 

One of the colorful, prosperous houses

We spent a long time working with a woman who runs a tackle shop and she set us up with some good lures for our time here.  We left the comfort of the marina with its pool and bar and anchored in nearby Royal Harbor and rolled a bit when the wind changed. 

     Next leg was to Hatchet Bay. To get there we had to go through Current Cut which at times really lives up to its name. On the way we caught a huge mutton snapper! 

The Mutton Snapper

We had so much meat that we gave some away to a couple, Roger and Laura Gray, when we reached the harbor. They reciprocated with iced drinks after a hard day of 15 miles close hauled and three passages of narrow, coral cuts. The next day we dried out gear from our rollicking sail the previous day. We explored the town, which was sleepy and poor, and bought an ice cream as a treat. A sailing couple organized a pot luck supper on the town dock which was a great way to meet fellow sailors and trade stories.

Pot Luck

Hatchet Bay Anchorage

     We left Hatchet Bay in tandem with Roger and Laura (and their cat, Scuppers). It was so calm we anchored  in the middle of the wide expanse of water and swam and had lunch on their catamaran, Diamond Sky. Amazing clouds throughout the day, including a waterspout sighting! 

Various clouds as we sailed the west coast of Elethera

Waterspout

We swam over for lunch

     Our anchorage that night was off of Rock Sound on the southern tip of the island. We motored some more the next day through the shoals. Nico stood on the bow and gave me directions to avoid coral heads and shoals. We passed The Island School where niece Emily went. Rounding Powell Point into Exuma Sound the wind was not favorable for us so we motored the rest of the day to Little San Salvador. Nico had been to it with Geronimo and then it was a deserted island. Now it is owned by Holland American Lines and a whole resort has been built up there including a faux pirate ship and colorful cabana type houses. Cruisers can stay there after the ships leave in the afternoon. In the morning we woke up and saw the gigantic Ooterdam charging in and anchoring really, really close to us. We hauled in anchor and beat it out of there as the lighters starter to cluster around to offload thousands of happy tourists.  

We caught a Mahi-Mahi while crossing Exuma Sound