Breeze On

Each year we come to the Bahamas we see more mega yachts. Today, as we were sailing from Warderick Wells to Big Major’s Cay, we passed by several, but the one in the photo was the largest. This one, named Man of Steel*, is a mere 282 feet long. The people we saw working on deck looked tiny. If you look at the aft end you will see a large open door. George surmises it is for a compartment holding all of the “toys”—jet skis, etc.  You can barely see the man who was suspended on a track sliding along to hose off the windows. After we arrived at Big Major’s we dinghied over to Staniel Cay and picked up a part for the water maker we had shipped over by Makers Air, filled a jerry can each with diesel and gas, dumped trash, and ate lunch at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Our timing was good for getting fuel. A mini mega yacht—only about 100 feet long—had just finished fueling up. The mega yachts can take a very long time filling their tanks and have been known to drain the yacht club’s tanks...

We walked to the top of Boo Boo Hill this morning and brought our phones, iPads, and MyIsland WiFi to take advantage of the weak cell phone signal as well as the amazing view. The first time we visited Warderick Wells we were blown away by the dramatic changes in color as the water depth changes. The photo doesn’t really do it justice. 

Late yesterday morning—not long before high tide—we took a wild, choppy 2-mile-long dinghy ride to Sanctuary Creek at the northern end of Shroud Cay. The calm creek meanders through mangroves from the west side of the island all the way to the eastern shore. It was a beautiful ride with a lot of marine wildlife. We saw 9 sea turtles, 1 small shark, a large ray, and another unidentifed large fish. The eastern end of the creek opens up to the much deeper water of Exuma Sound and a beautiful white, powdery beach. We hiked up to Camp Driftwood at the top of a short, steep hill. The "camp" is a couple of small clearings built in the 1960's by a sailor who was living just inside the creek. In the 1980's the camp was used by federal agents to spy on drug-running planes flying in and out of neighboring Normans Cay.  Throughout the morning the north wind had kicked up a significant chop in the anchorage so we decided to leave Shroud Cay and head for the more protected waters o...

We weighed anchor at 7:30 this morning to start our trip to the Exuma Cays. We left the harbor at the same time a fishing boat was heading out. We met the owner of the fishing boat at 3 T's Laundry Mat on Wednesday and he told us all about how he catches stone crabs by making his own pots and laying them in lines 80 pots long. He marks each line by GPS rather than using buoys (one less thing for us to avoid) and names each line after a family member. He plans to soon visit Florida to talk to a potential business partner. We wish him well. On our way out of the harbor we were also briefly joined by a dolphin playing in our bow wake. Our original destination was Warderick Wells in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Since the wind is forecast to be light for a few days we changed our minds and decided to go Shroud Cay—at the northern end of the park—first and then Warderick Wells when we need the protection from west wind later in the week. We motored all the way across Exuma Sound in ...

We have just returned from our Thanksgiving dinner at Wild Orchids in Rock Sound. When we were last in the Bahamas two years ago we made reservations for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner at the Shipyard restaurant in Spanish Wells. By the time we arrived in the mid-afternoon they were out of turkey. This year we weren’t taking any chances and made our reservations for noon. We weren’t disappointed—we had turkey and ham, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and peas and rice. Thanksgiving dinner with a Bahamian flair.  We have finished up our chores in Rock Sound—groceries, laundry and dump trash—and plan to leave here in the morning and head for Warderick Wells in Exuma. In addition to those chores we also had to take Covid tests. We will present the negative results if and when we are asked in Exuma. Since we had more of the eMed tests—which will expire next month—we decided to use those, although it would be quite easy to find a place to get a rapid test here in Rock...

Last night at sunset we saw thunderstorms brewing in the south. Although we weren’t looking forward to another night of storms we had to admire the beauty of the golden light reflected on the clouds. The storms did arrive a few hours later and, fortunately, weren’t as bad as the storms we had last week. It has been a windy day—causing the harbor to be choppy—so we decided to stay on the boat. I baked a coffee cake and George defrosted the fridge. It looks like defrosting the fridge will continue to be a weekly chore at least until we come up with another idea to reduce the frost.  Storm clouds Sunset—Rock Sound, Eleuthera The amount of frost after just over a week. 

One of the reasons we will have stayed so long in Rock Sound—in addition to the good holding and wind protection—is that Wild Orchids Restaurant will be serving a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. We have been to Rock Sound many times but have never had a meal at Wild Orchids. We have already made our reservation for Thanksgiving Day but we decided to also go there for lunch today. They have a new and very nice dinghy dock. It is low to the water and has ladders on both sides. The low to the water part is nice so we don’t have to climb several feet up a ladder to get to the dock. The ladders on both sides are good because we always want to put our dinghy on the downwind side. Today the wind was out of the south so we tied up to the north side of the dock. On Thursday it will be just the opposite. They have a large sign at the end of their dock welcoming boaters and advertising free WiFi, water, and trash disposal. Just the things we cruisers want! Our food today was delicious and the owne...

Sometime in the night last night the wind shifted from ESE to ENE causing the waves in the Pau Pau Bay anchorage to calm right down and give us a very peaceful night. We regretfully weighed the anchor this morning and started sailing back to Rock Sound. It was a gorgeous day for sailing—the sun was shining and the wind was just right. Not too long after we set out I noticed a dolphin swimming with us and I called out to George. He went up to the bow to watch them and get some photos and a video. They stayed with us quite a while, playing in our bow wake and we had so much fun watching them. It is late afternoon, the sun is still shining, and we haven’t had a squall (yet). Peaceful morning in the Pau Pau Bay anchorage.  The dolphins came to play!

After nine days at anchor in Rock Sound we finally left this morning and sailed 25 miles north to Pau Pau Bay. It is a beautiful anchorage near the Pineapple Cays and South Palmetto Point. We bypassed our first choice anchorage—Ten Bay—because there appeared to be a large, smoky fire on or near the beach and we were afraid we would be asphyxiated. This anchorage is not as protected from SE wind as Ten Bay but it isn’t too bouncy or rolly, knock on wood. We launched the dinghy soon after we set the anchor and took a wild ride over choppy water 1/2 mile to the beach at South Palmetto Point. From there we walked a mile to Eleuthera Island Farm, a fantastic farmers market with locally grown fruits and vegetables and locally prepared food. We bought vegetables, salsa, hummus, and—best of all—passion fruit and passion fruit sorbet. We had to eat all of the sorbet—too bad—because we don’t have room in our tiny freezer. It was delicious. We would love to stay here longer but we are heading bac...

We normally find the Bahamas quite dry with episodes of rain every now and then. In the two weeks we have been here we have had rain most days. Some days we don’t see the sun at all. There hasn’t been enough sun for the solar panels to keep the batteries charged and we have already had to use the portable generator four times. During our past winters in the Bahamas we have used the generator just two times the entire winter. Today the sun came out for a few hours and it was a real treat. We took the dinghy ashore while the sun was shining and walked to the ocean hole. There were two other tourists visiting snd a couple of stray dogs, including one adorable puppy. As soon as we arrived the dogs ran up to us and sat down, clearly expecting some food. They followed us all the way back to the dock before finally giving up.  Our only outing yesterday—during a break between squalls—was a brief dinghy ride over to our neighbors on Gemeaux to invite them over for sundowners. We had a very ...

Two and a half years ago we visited the Hog Cay anchorage in the Ragged Islands. While we were there the cruisers would meet on the beach every afternoon at four pm. Very often one or more of the cruisers would bring a guitar and we would have a sing-along. It was so much fun I decided I wanted to have a musical instrument on the boat. I played guitar when I was in high school and still have the guitar in our storeroom at home. A guitar would take up far too much room on our boat, though. A ukulele is a more manageable size and would be easy to learn, I hoped. As soon as we returned home in the spring I bought a ukulele, took a few lessons, and joined a small group in our town that gathered once or twice a month to play together.  Little did I know how popular the ukulele had become. There are ukulele groups everywhere! I enjoy playing and singing and, if I am lucky, even get George to sing along. Right now I am working on my Christmas repertoire.  We had hoped to leave the Ro...

One of our ongoing issues with the Hanse 415 is a freezer that frosts up very quickly. George and I have struggled with it since we owned Breeze On and confirmed it was a problem for others a few years ago when we had dinner with two couples who also had Hanses. We currently have to defrost the freezer about once a week throughout the winter in the Bahamas. We have tried several potential solutions over the years but nothing has really solved the problem. We started with reducing the crowding in the storage area where the compressor is vented. That didn’t help. Next we sprayed foam insulation around the outside of the refrigerator. That didn’t help either. We installed gasket material around the inside of the refrigerator door to reduce the amount of warm, humid air entering the fridge. It didn’t make a difference. We bought insulating material to put on top of the refrigerator and the underside of the door and that didn’t make much difference, either. The most recent thing we are tryi...

This morning we saw that squalls were closing in all around us so we dinghied to shore and walked 1/4 mile to buy fresh foods at the Market Place Store. The market is smaller than the store in Spanish Wells but just as well stocked. We weren’t aware before we arrived in the Bahamas that they no longer provide disposable bags for groceries. We normally pack everything into a large backpack anyway so it isn’t a problem.  We made it back to Breeze On before the squalls arrived. In the afternoon we had a break in the weather so we went to shore again to eat lunch at Frigate’s Bar and Grill. We were pleased to see that there were two other tables of customers eating there. The food was delicious, I especially enjoyed the very fresh piece of grilled grouper on my salad.  A few posts ago I mentioned that we switched our cell phone service from Verizon to T-Mobile. Some friends of ours, Fred and Ruth Ann, told us they switched after friends told them T-Mobile offers unlimited text and...

This morning we visited the Boiling Hole and the Cathedral Caves (aka Spider Caves). To get there we dinghied to Dingle Motors’ dinghy dock, walked south on Sherman’s Highway a little over half a mile, and turned at the sign for the Boiling Hole. The Boiling Hole is one of the many blue holes on land and in the water in Rock Sound. They are sink holes which are connected to the ocean. The name comes from the fact that the water churns and bubbles when the tide changes but it was quite calm while we were there. We continued on the well-maintained path to the caves. I once was on a path that had been improved by a Boy Scout working to earn his Eagle Scout badge. My daughter and husband will attest that every time I walk on a path with nice railings or bridges—as I did today—I proclaim that the Boy Scouts have been there. The caves were interesting with roots from the trees above extending down into the caves. There were quite a few bats on the walls and they started flying around when we...

Our timing yesterday was good. The skies opened up just after we returned to Breeze On and raised the dinghy onto the arch. We had squalls throughout the afternoon and evening. By the evening we had thunder and lightning as well. One particularly strong storm hit us after dark. The wind during the squalls could come from any direction but this one brought wind from the west, while Breeze On had been pointing southeast. George became concerned that the dramatic change in wind direction—combined with the high wind velocity—would not allow the anchor to resettle. I offered to go up into the cockpit and start the engine and idle forward to take some pressure off of the anchor. In the meantime George monitored the screen on the anchor alarm app to make sure we weren’t dragging. At first I didn’t mind getting wet in the heavy rain.  It had been a rather hot and humid day. By the time I shut the engine off, though, I looked like a drowned rat. Too bad George didn’t get a photo of that. To...

The weather forecast called for squalls yesterday afternoon, evening, and all day today. This morning we were surprised by a few hours of sunshine so we took the dinghy to shore and walked around a bit. We tied up at the Frigates Restaurant dock. The restaurant staff has always been welcoming to cruisers, allowing us to tie up to their dock and even dump our trash in their bins. Nevertheless, we always like to check and make sure they don’t mind. We first asked someone sitting at the outdoor bar—probably just a customer—and he said it was fine. As we were walking toward the road we saw someone who was actually wearing a Frigates shirt. He agreed that it was fine and even pointed out bins that were closer to the dock. The Bahamian people are so nice.  The Bahamas requires that everyone wear a mask indoors. It is refreshing to see that all the people we have seen comply with the mandate. We carry our masks in our pockets when walking outdoors. Today during our walk we passed a woman ...

Although we could have easily spent another day or two in Governor’s Harbour we decided to raise the anchor and sail further south to Rock Sound. The forecast called for numerous squalls and wind that shifted to the southeast. Rock Sound is one of the few harbors along the coast of Eleuthera that provides protection from south or west winds. Our sail to Rock Sound was even sportier than the sail we had the day before. The double reefed main kept the ride comfortable. Have I mentioned how much we like our furling mainsail? George put the awnings up after we dropped the anchor. His timing was perfect, the rain started just as he was finishing. We are expecting squalls today and tomorrow and the awnings enable us to keep the hatches open so the cabin doesn’t get too stuffy while it is raining.  Rain in Rock Sound, Eleuthera.  Sunset in Governor’s Harbour. 

We finally visited Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera. The third time was the charm for us. During our last attempt two years ago we worked for over an hour trying to get our anchor to set, giving up as the sun was setting. We moved on to another anchorage seven miles away and anchored in the dark. This time we took the advice of our friend Jean, from Desiderata II, who suggested another location and we succeeded on our first try. Our trip here from Rainbow Cay was more sporty than the what we had yesterday. We had more wind and we were sailing a higher angle, so the boat was heeling more. We put a reef in the mainsail and that helped quite a bit. We are so delighted how easy it is to reef our furling mainsail. Not only is it easy but the sail holds it shape so much better than it did before.  Governor’s Harbour was definitely worth seeing. It is a pretty town with a lot of adorable houses. It appears there is an active vacation rental market here. After walking around to see the town w...