Black Pt.. Settlement to George Town,Exumas

On Thursday,Feb. 23 we left our anchorage at Black Pt. Settlement and had  favourable winds to sail to Galliot Cay. We would anchor near this Cay so we could go through this Cut[a safe channel to make it to the ocean side of the Exuma Cays] and work our way to George Town on Great Exuma Island the next morning. Larger cays are called Islands.Our friends from Montreal on Michael--  Anje and on the Aquilon also took advantage of the winds and we all anchored near 'the Cut'. Bill was invited to join go fishing with Michael and Yve.They dive for their fish and yes Yve made a catch. The snorkelling was fun too.Later they all joined us for happy hour on our boat.
 The next morning I learned about currents first hand. Before heading out I decided to have a  rinse in the clear waters. Bill did say there was quite a current so I thought I would have a quick dip and stay close to the boat.Here is where my lesson started, the current was carrying me farther from the boat and the line Bill threw out didn't reach.Instead,  the Aquilon was providentially in the path of the current. Yve threw me a line.As I grabbed  the line I saw Michael coming with his dingy. Our dingy was already mounted on the davites. Our friends to the rescue and I learned my lesson to respect these currents. Next time I will hang on to a line attached to the boat if I want to experiment with strong currents. a lesson learned !
  Now I was settled back on Adriana 1 we were ready to go out on thru the Cut to the ocean waters. The waves were 5 to 6 feet and the winds were up and in the bow[or on the nose]so we could not sail.We did meet a lot of boats going north and sailing. We were suddenly surprised by a loud squelching noise and didn't know where it came from. A little later  our engine suddenly was labouring and our steering seemed to have issues too.Just about the time every thing seemed to be okay we heard a different noise. Again we didn't know right away what happened. Not long after Bill noticed our radar hub mount had broken off the mast and it was swinging in the wind, dangling from a heavy wire.This ment we would have to soon find an anchorage.We found a good anchorage in the next 20 minutes or so and were thankful the wire hung on. an answer to pray.
 When Bill was anchoring he discovered we had lost our second anchor, chain and road[the rope]. When we had our engine slow down earlier the road would have been caught  and cut at our prop.  We did lose our anchor, plus, but we were safe .After we were settled, Bill was hauled up the mast in the bossin chair to take down the Radar hub.
 The next day[Sat.] was much less eventful. We left our anchorage early and motored for a while ,then realized we would have time to sail so we could go down the channel to George Town with high tide. We are learning more about tides too.
 Carefully watching  we charted our way thru Elizabeth Harbour[channel] past at least 200 boats to our Exuma yacht marina at George Town.We were able to get provisions and prepare for the Sunday .next time we have wifi we will tell you more about our stay in George Town and our tour of the island.

Bougainvillas in the Exumas



Nurse Sharks in one of our anchorages

 au revoir!

Nasau traffic policeman

Shawnie talking to one of the swimming pigs

The marina at Staniel Cay

Yacht club and restaurant

Elementary and junior high at Black Pt Settlement

Atlantic ocean on east side of Great Guana Cay

Nassau to Black Pt. Settlement

You'll find this town or settlement on Great Guana Cay. Another town on a lovely Bay on one of the Exuma Cays. Today is Wednesday and we have been enjoying beautiful sunny weather since we left Nassau on Feb. 11. On Friday the 10 we said our farewells to Ken and Mary. They left at 7:30a.m. by taxi for the airport in Nassau. flying to Ft. Lauderdale.A shuttle bus would take them from there to their van in Marathon,On Thurs. we toured Nassau-- the straw market and 'Main st.[called Bay St.].We even have a policeman in his smart white uniform on photo.Before going back to our boat we enjoyed a dinner together . thank you Ken and Mary.
Friday was clean up day and provisioning time. While we were out we met Steve and Lisa from the s.v. LisaAnne docked right behind us in Wiarton Marina ,our home port.They were spending a long weekend on Paridise Island. Good to see someone from back home.Saturday morning we headed  across the channel to fuel up and then we were heading for the Allen Cays, one the northren Cays of the stream of Exuma Cays.These islands are the home of many iguanas so tour boats from Nassau come here twice a day to see them. After motor sailing to our anchorage we dropped anchor at about 4:30 in low tide. The winds from the north east channelled thru our waters making it rock and roll sleep.. That's not all. the next morning we realized our dingy had gone missing. Oops! We were thankful to discover it on the beach to the east of us.Bill was able to give it a temporary fix[yes it had a 3 inch hole in one side] and swim it back to the boat . After that we had a quiet Sunday on board and soaked in a few sermons and later some sun rays too .   Mon. the dingy needed the sand and water[salt] cleaned out of it.and since we had no more glue to give our [car]the proper repair, we needed to get to a marina.So Tues. we sailed to Highbourne Cay marina.What a great place-well cared for and great beach for swimming.Well, the glue had to come from Nassau via one of the tour boats that go to Allens Cays everyday. We were thankful how it all came together. After a day and a half we were able to move on with a repaired dingy to our anchorage at Shroud Cay.And with high tide we were able to take a dingy ride thru the river on Shroud . In the clear waters we saw one big;water turtle a small nurse shark and lots of clams burrowed into the sand. At Highbourne we had met Doug and Sunny. They had come to Shroud Cay ,too . We had coffee with them in a.m. on their boat and shared 'happy hour 'with themin the p.m. on our boat; We hope to see them in Virginia when we head north later this spring. ;Our next anchorage was Big Majors Cay this is just north of Staniel Cay .The big attraction on the beach;at Big major is pigs. can you believe it-and they can swim too .They even try to board the;visiting dingies.2 or 3 weeks ago 14 piglets also became part of the show. Saturday evening the boaters were invited to a fund raiser dinner for the school at Staniel Cay. It was great food and lots of it.On our bench we were joined by fellow boaters whose home is Metcalf, On. They remembered our son David since their 3 sons had all graduated from Redeemer Christian High in Ottawa.Small world. Monday morning we had a great sail to Black Pt. Settlement. This anchorage was another beautiful Cay with lots of boats.Many flying Canadian flags. We found about half of them come from Quebec. We are off to visit a couple from Montreal. They helped us with our french and we helped them with our english. It was a win win for both. Tomorrow we hope to head south to Galliot cut. From there we take the ocean side of the Exums to Georgetown . "til then. (Photos to follow0

Marathon, Florida Keys to Bahamas-Bimini to Nassau

We are preparing to leave Nassau, Bahamas capital this morning but we need to update you on our experiences this past week and a half.
 Marathon seemed to be the most favourable place to have our guests, Mary[my sister] and Ken[our brother in -law] meet us.This had been planned a long time ago with meeting place -Miami.They arrived at 5:30 p.m. on Thurs.-great reunion, lots to share.Friday the winds that had been up most of the week seemed to have seetled enough for us to start our trek north east so we could do our crossing to Bimini Islands on Saturday. . The winds were in our nose much to the dismay of our new crew member and navigator [our seasoned sailor , Ken]. We were all thankful to arrive at our anchorage.at Key Largo[Roderique  Key].The next morning would be the day for the crossing. The winds were in our favour for the first hour or so but after making it through the Angel fish cut it was in our bow . As the morning progressed the winds and waves did too. The crew was generally pretty quiet but our cheerful captain kept our spirits up.He optimisticly would say 'you will forget this rougher crossing soon after we arrive. Actually the last few hours were calmer[a bit]. We were all excited when we noticed land in the distance.We were getting our first glimses of the Bahamas.After going thru some sifted  sand in areas at the channel entrance we were able to follow the markers to our lovely new marina and resort.It was beautiful , well cared for and very quiet. only 8 or 9 boats.We were given customs papers by the dock master, Hylan who helped us and welcomed us to his country.Our scribe, Ken filled out the papers and Bill biked 3 miles to the customs and immigration to pay the entrance fee for the boat and give us permission to visit.Upon Bill's return we were able to change the quarantine flag for the Bahamian flag on our mast ,still flying our big Canadian flag as always from the stern. Sunday we were able to walk to the nearest church[Outreach Gateway Ministries] The congregants were very welcoming.It was a new experience for all 4 of us and I could say a lot more,but,for now-- the message was from Joel 2 esp .ver. 12 &13..
 We enjoyed the huge pool with a few more boaters
 The next day we cleaned ship. Bill was able to rent a golf cart so the men could go to the hardware store while we did laundry downtown , Alice Town.Bill and Ken also came back with a dozen lobster tails.Back for lunch and some repair work on the boat. We walked thru the amazing resort area ,along the ocean walkway to another infiniti pool looking out over the ocean . great place to catch the sun rays..Now it was time to really explore town. back to the boat ,then the golf cart  took us to many points of interest-views on both sides of the long peninsula island , a stop at a little shop for home-made guava[local fruit] ice-cream sundaes and historical sign and buildings, then the infamous Dolphin house.An artist [Ashley B. Saunders]has been building this for the last no. of years from items from the sea and demolition sites.It was amazing. I hope the photos capture some of his creativity.
Mary and I made a great team in the galley. Tonight it was going to be 'lobster' and sweet potato fries. We enjoyed thoroughly. enough lobster left for a salad the next day. what a treat.
 Tues. out on the  waters  for a great sail the Great Bahama Bank, heading-Berry Islands or Cays[pronounced Keys]Since these waters were not deep [around 10 to 20 feet we anchored out in the big waters.Here the galley chefs prepared a steak dinner while the 'captain Bill and captain Ken] plan the next days sail.
 Again a great sail .this time in the Tongue of the Ocean  . These waters were  up to 6000 feet deep[not too shallow].We came to an anchorage just east of Chubb Cay in the Berry Is. The seas had been calm  so Ken was able to use his teaching skills to teach the regular 2nd mate[myself] a lit more about navigating. That was good because I'd been feeling a little under employed since our guests came onboard.Why not take a course. We also learned more about stars.

Dinner at Marathon

The Crossing to The Bahamas

Repairing a cross brace,plus the Bahamian flag

Customs Blg Alicetown

Home made guava icecream

Dolphin House

Bimini view

Anchored on the Great Bahama Bank

Light house at entrance to Nassau Harbour

 The next day we sailed to Nassau and needed to wait an hour for harbour clearance before we good enter the busy channel to our marina at Paradise Club Harbour.We will fill you in on Nassau next blog. {out]