Sunday afternoon it was hot and humid but dry, so we went exploring.   There really isn’t much to see wandering the main road and sand tracks until we ended up looking over the Atlantic coast. The rollers were running in fast and furious onto the beach and the blowhole was emitting spray at regular occasions.   The sea was looking pretty rough and treacherous – glad we weren’t out there. Above the beach was a pasture of what looked like long grass and I wondered whether this was the raw material for the straw handicrafts that are on sale here?

We walked back to the main settlement and admired the sand flats that had been uncovered by the low tide…. What a contrast to the Atlantic side.

The town itself was closed – but we ended up in Lorraines Café for a little while just cooling off from the walk.   Then we went back to Morphie for a quiet night on board listening to the rain beating down on the coach roof.

Monday morning and it was raining – hard….   And that was it for the day.   So we did a few jobs and decided to have a movie afternoon.   I even made popcorn!   We watched two good movies and then managed to get a few hours in the cockpit between showers later on in the evening.   Fingers crossed for better weather soon.

Tuesday morning and it was cloudy and overcast. The forecast was for more of the same – intermittent rain with occasional squalls and thunderstorms.   Oh well, another day on board then… Sigh…. The wind was swinging around quite a bit and we had the occasional shower but nothing too heavy.    Richard topped up the diesel tank from our jerry cans and we made water and ran the generator – yesterday’s non-sun and non-wind day had drained our batteries so we wanted to top up.   We were watching a huge thunderstorm out on the horizon but it was not coming at us – thankfully.

Then the wind swung – to a westerly direction.   Oh no… this anchorage has protection from all wind angles EXCEPT from the west.  We are now anchored in front of a rocky lee shore – with the wind picking up, the rain getting heavier, and the seas building from across the banks. We have no choice but to sit it out – so we get everything down below and batten down the hatches – just in time for the first squall to hit.   It was dramatic – the sea started foaming – the waves are picking up to three to four feet and the wind was so strong it was ripping the heads off the top of the waves…..   Up to 35 knots … up to 38 knots … then the wind dropped, the rain subsided and it looked like all was well.   Sigh of relief.

But then it started again in earnest….. 20 knots…. 30 knots…. 40 knots…. 50 knots…..   The lightning was striking the sea all around blinding us and the thunder was so loud it was like someone bashing cymbals in our ears….  The wind was coming horizontally and when the rain hit you it stung like mad.  We had the engine on to keep Morphie heading straight into the waves to take the pressure off our anchor / windlass / snubber and to give us a ‘get out of jail free card’ if the anchor dragged.   The rocky shoreline with waves breaking behind us was a terrifying sight and a big incentive to keep focused. Then we heard this terrible thrumming noise – the wind generator is about to blow a gasket – so we quickly switched him off. Finally – after a dramatic one and a half hours when we saw 54 knots on our windex – the wind subsided and we heaved another sigh of relief.   That was something else – and I asked Richard how he rated it compared to our horrible night on the Caicos banks – and the answer was 10 times worse.   I agree!    Phew….. time to get dry…. We were both soaked through…. But we took time out to have a celebratory cuddle.  We were safe – yay!

Once the storm had passed there was an eerie stillness and a milky sun tried to shine through the clouds…. There was quite a few boats in the harbour around us but thankfully nobody dragged although a couple left immediately after the storm had gone through – not sure where they were going to though…. The radio was alive with chatter – with one cruiser reporting 65 knots on his windex – think there may be bragging rights with this one LOL.   Later on we picked up anchor and moved deeper into the anchorage – to get us further away from that shore in case the wind swung westerly again. Then the sun came out and the clouds indicated that we had seen the worst with the front moving away from us….. Can’t believe these pictures are from the same day!

The forecast is for easterly / south easterly winds but obviously these storms can build from any direction – there is no other anchorage nearby to run to which would give us shelter from any direction, so we have decided to stay put.   In fact boats are turning up here from other places looking for a safe haven so looks like we have made the right decision.  The current weather system looks like it is going to be the first named storm of the 2015 hurricane season – errrr – the season starts on 1 June so a little early!!! A few hours later the heavens opened again – so we settled down to watch another movie, without the popcorn this time.   Then we had an early night – had been quite a day. The only casualty of the storm was our Ensign….

About 10 pm, lightning lights up the cabin. We are up and out of bed, dressed, got our jackets and life jackets on and we’ve battened down the hatches – this time we removed the canvas from the bow as well.   We sat in the cockpit and the thunderstorm got closer and yes the wind went west again.   This is much more threatening in the dark …   The seas and wind picked up to 30 knots for a short period, the rain came down and we had the engine and instruments on and ready to go. Thankfully it was short lived as the storm tracked along the land and behind us before we finally decided the danger was over and returned to bed at about 1am.

Today, Wednesday, and the sky is grey, the weather is close, the humidity is draining, and the propagation is so bad we couldn’t hear Chris Parker’s weather forecast.   We log on and check it out – and it looks like this weather system has stalled just north of us – and at that point we hear thunder in the distance.  This system is now being tracked on NOAA’s National Hurricane webpage with a 60% chance of developing further – but models are putting it to travel north and west away from us – fingers crossed!  We are sitting tight on high alert again in case we get another direct hit…..   The rain has started coming down and we are monitoring radar to watch the thunderstorms skirt around us.

And here it comes…..   Up in the cockpit – instruments, engine and jackets on…..   Another direct hit by a thunderstorm – luckily it went by very quickly and only lasted for 20 minutes – with wind speeds up to 40 knots and from the south this time.   So we had some protection from land and the waves didn’t build as big – we weren’t worried after yesterday – that was OK!  We’re just brewing a cup of coffee to celebrate and warm us up…. Oh yes, and we can’t believe that a couple behind us abandoned their boat to fend for itself during that storm – we can understand that they might have been scared after yesterday but they put other boats in peril if it drags…..

Looks like another day of fun and games on the good ship Morpheus.   Don’t worry about us – morale is high as this boat rocks!

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday we didn’t go ashore at all because the sea was really rough in the channel between us and Georgetown so we stayed on board and did boat jobs and made water.   A lazy day all round – but were excited to find out that our package had arrived – wow!   Can’t believe it…..

Wednesday morning – up early – and crossed the channel to be at Forbes by 9.00 am to pick up our UPS package.   Yay – we can move on now……   We went to the Redboone Café for internet as we needed to pay some bills, activate the cards, and generally catch up.   We had a toasted breakfast sandwich which was a strange concoction – hot egg, melted cheese, hot ham with lettuce, fresh tomato and mustard.   But surprisingly tasty and great coffee!   All done we headed to the bank for some more drinking vouchers – then into the supermarket for bread and diet coke, liquor store for more beer and to the petrol station for a top up of petrol. Final job was to get our propane gas tank filled – which had run out whilst I was cooking dinner the night before…   As we were finishing up we bumped into Kirk and Chrissy from Ocean Quest – the last time we had seen them was in January at the Beans Pirate Show in Virgin Gorda – and we weren’t expecting to see them as they make their way home to Maine so it was a lovely surprise.

Arrangements made to get together we went back to Morphie for a few hours before heading to the Chat ‘N’ Chill beach for sundowners.    Was a very buggy afternoon so we decamped back to Ocean Quest for two more beers…..   Their boat is a custom UK-built boat that was set up for a circumnavigation by the previous owner – and it is beautiful – we were very envious of the work room and the large engine compartment!

We had a few drinks while the skies grew ominously dark around us and the rumblings of thunder could be heard quite a few miles away. We were just thinking about returning to Morphie when the storm picked up, the wind howled at over 35 knots, and the heavens opened with both fork and sheet lightning all around us.

So we stayed put for a little while longer while Kirk and Chrissy kept us royally entertained and hydrated.   Needless to say, I was quite nervous about Morphie bouncing around out in front of us on her own and didn’t enjoy the lightning show at all!   After a while the rain subsided so we made a run for it.   We got back just in time for the heavens to open again – we got soaked putting dink up on his davits – and settled back on board. The storm continued for almost five hours before we finally retired for the night.   Was not a restful one that’s for sure!

Thursday morning and we waved goodbye to Kirk and Chrissy.   Was great to have caught up with them, albeit briefly.   We have decided to leave Georgetown on Friday and have been checking out tides, currents, distances and options….. In the meantime we did some hand washing and made some water….   We couldn’t be bothered to go ashore having got all our clothes salt free from the constant running back and forth to town and thought about going to the beach for the final afternoon. Of course, the weather had a different idea.   As we just got the clothes dry and down below the heavens opened and it poured, giving us a white out view across the bay.   Decision made then! 

We had a lazy afternoon, had dinner, and were just chilling in the cockpit waiting for the sun to go down when the sky darkened ominously and the thunderstorm show started again in earnest.   Really do not like this!!!!   After a few hours of the show we headed down to bed.

Up Friday morning very early to listen to the weather forecaster Chris Parker on the SSB radio – just to check to make sure that our chosen anchorage is safe from a wind perspective. Most anchorages here do not offer protection from all wind angles so it is important to know what is going on before setting ourselves a final destination. Looking good so we picked up anchor – said goodbye to Georgetown – and headed out on the dog leg passage towards the Conch Cay Cut to take us back out into the Exuma Sound.

It is important to time these movements as most cuts have strong currents with the ebb and flow of the tides – and we were pleased to arrive just after high water at the Cut, so we had a very slight current running with us.   As we were going over a number of contours in the sea bed Richard decided to try fishing again……so the lure was out behind us.   We safely navigated the cut and headed off towards Adderly Cut which would take us into our destination behind Lee Stocking Island for the night.   The sea was flat flat calm, there wasn’t a breath of wind, so we ended up motoring the whole way.   Then – woo hoo – we have a bite and Richard is excited. Another Mahi Mahi?   Maybe a small tuna? Of course not, it was another barracuda.   Photo opportunity taken and we returned him to fight another day…..

We arrived at Adderly Cut just in time for low slack water and as we made our way through we passed Adderly Cay which has a stone beacon on top of it. We are not sure of the historic significance of these beacons – presumably they are ancient maritime markers – but they are pretty sizeable.

We round the point of Lee Stocking Island and picked up a free mooring ball finishing this 29 mile run. This area is a Marine Research Centre and we were hoping for some good snorkelling – unfortunately the wind picked up almost immediately we were settled while the sky gave us some great cloud shows.

Later on it rained again for most of the evening / night but thankfully minus the thunderstorms.

Saturday morning and we listen to Chris Parker again – there is some real ugly weather forecast to come our way – so we need to find a place to tuck into and hunker down.   Lee Stocking Island isn’t really the right place sadly so we have decided to move on again – this time to Black Point on Great Guana Cay, another 29 mile sail away.  We dropped the mooring ball – admiring the cloud formations and the beautiful coloured water behind us – and worked our way out the dog leg to the cut at high tide.

The wind had moved north but that was fine – we had 60 degrees to the wind – so up go the sails….. and we are enjoying a lovely sail.   The skies were leaden with clouds and the sea lost its blue hue for a grey colour….. the squalls started and the wind backed….. directly onto our nose.

So almost 10 miles away from our destination we are beating into an increasingly nasty sea – was not pleasant…. Oh well – never mind.  We arrived at the transit to the Dotham cut – and turned with the sea onto our side – was a bit like being in a washing machine. Oh well….

We navigated safely through the cut and spotted a dead yacht washed up on the shore – always a sober reminder of the power of the ocean. But we motored through – thankful that we had still managed to get here at slack water – and came through into the beautiful azure flat calm sea behind the island.   Yay!   The bay is wide open with loads of room so we dropped anchor into sand and relaxed for a little while.  We eventually went ashore – wandered down the main road of the settlement – and admired the views out to the anchorage.

We spoke to a few people – purchased a fresh loaf of bread – and ended up in DeShamon restaurant where we had a very late lunch and a couple of beers. Back on board we enjoyed a spectacular sunset before having an early night.

This morning – Sunday – and the winds are howling already with the occasional rain shower and the sky looks laden again.

The worst of it is supposed to come through Monday / Tuesday so we are hoping to go exploring later today if the weather holds…..   We’ll probably sit here now until this front has moved away from us but we are in a safe place with loads of swinging room and chain out so don’t worry folks!

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday afternoon we spent a few hours bobbing on the beach watching the races before heading across the channel ourselves to Georgetown. Sadly very little wind for the racers but it did mean we managed to get ashore without getting soaked….

We went to the Peace and Plenty Hotel to listen to the live band, have a bit of a dance, and enjoyed people watching.   Check out the girl in the big hat and not much else – we thought she might be a relation of Sinitta LOL.

Afterwards we ended up back on Government dock and had a few beers at the temporary bars that have sprung up for the regatta. We got chatting to quite a few people and had a great time – so good we actually didn’t get back to Morphie until 1 am….

Friday morning and the heavens opened. And that set the scene for the day really – rainy and squally. We did boat jobs in between watching the different races from the cockpit – felt sorry for the guys out there trying to race in those poor conditions. We decided not to go ashore and just relaxed the rest of the day.

Oh yes, and of course we get the numpty who anchors too close to us – so we politely asked him to move…..   This anchorage is huge – there really isn’t any need to get close to anyone – not sure what they thought they were doing.   Thankfully they did as we asked…..   Fantastic sunset before we turned in for an early night.

Saturday morning and the sun was back – but still no wind. Such a shame as this is the last day of the regatta – the guys made the most of it – and we enjoyed watching them in action.

Later on we went ashore as there is a parade before the closing ceremony and prize giving…..   This was a real family day with loads of kids around and the conch salad and BBQ guys were doing a great job keeping everyone fed!   There were loads of small tents erected selling local products and memorabilia – I fancied a straw bag but didn’t fancy the price….

Anyway – we had a couple of beers at our favourite spot – and then wandered back to the main road for the parade.   It was teeming with people and loads of police around….dressed in their ceremonial best.   And they were happy to pose for photos too – which was nice.

The crowd was getting noisy and people were trying to get a good spot – with loads of kids sitting on the roof of one of the gift shops…..

Eventually – about an hour late – the first band arrived.   Not like anything you have ever seen before – dancing girls, dancing band members, all playing their hearts out and doing intricate moves, often impeded by the crowds that engulfed them. What fun!

Then the police band turned up – and entertained us with their dance moves too – all dressed in traditional garb including real leopard skins and pith helmets.   Can you image the whole band swaying “to the left, to the left, to the left”?   We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We then headed over to the Government building and checked out all the huge trophies and beautiful medals – and talked to the police band and chatted / posed with them too…  We asked the guy about the leopard skins – they are very old and date back to colonial days – the newer ones are, thankfully, artificial.

Then it was prize giving time – the dignitaries arrived – and the band started it all off playing the National Anthem.   The prize giving went on for a while – and most of the trophies ended up with Stefan Nodes of Long Island whose family has a long tradition of boat building and sailing.   Some of his family members won trophies in different categories too…

After it was all over we wandered back to the Government dock and chatted to people again – and had great service from our favourite bar tender….

Prices had been reduced for the final night – three beers for $5.   Yay!     Kids were still out late into the evening and there was a pretty little girl who kept coming up to me to do high fives.   Her dad said she liked me – ah bless…..

We eventually got back to Morphie quite late having thoroughly enjoyed our regatta experience.

Sunday morning we had a late start – and spent the afternoon on the beach bobbing and talking to the sting ray that patrols up and down. Richard even managed to stroke him at one point … all the time under the watchful eyes of the huge gulls that shout out ‘mine, mine, mine’ at every occasion.

Lovely day…..followed by a great sunset just before we returned to Morphie.

Monday and we’re back into town – and hoping for an update on when our cards might arrive…. The tracking system still says it is in Nassau.   Well the store we had addressed it to now say they can’t accept UPS….only DHL. Try the Post Office.   The Post Office says no, we don’t get UPS either.   Back to the chandlery and a different women says try Forbes. We got directions and went there – they are closed. Oh well – off to the laundry then. Got that done and back to Forbes – and the guy says yes, all UPS packages come here once they’ve been cleared by customs in Nassau.   He says Tuesday or Thursday so fingers crossed…. Feeling more hopeful than earlier!

We had another bobbing few hours on Chat ‘N’ Chill beach before returning to Morphie for a quiet night on board.

Today, Tuesday, it is pretty windy and choppy so would be a very wet dinghy ride over – so we’re probably going to stay on board today, unless the letter arrives….   Once we have that we can start planning on moving on up through the Exuma Islands – lots of new places still to explore.

Bye for now

Jan

Saturday we were up early to listen to the cruisers net at 8 am….   The usual stuff – water aerobics, yoga, Mexican train dominos, poker, volley ball – but did include some useful info like where to get petrol, diesel, water, propane, laundry, rubbish disposal, provisions etc…. Cruisers further down the island chain call this anchorage here in the Exumas “Chicken Island” as many cruisers that get here often settle in and never leave……  We do find it funny how people leave home to travel and end up recreating social networks in tropical places though – here there is even one cruiser who counts the number of boats in the anchorage regularly – apparently it has risen from 171 to over 200 this weekend – interesting eh????

Having had breakfast and got dink down from his davits we headed across the one mile channel – getting soaked along the way – to find the entrance into Lake Victoria which sits in the middle of Georgetown, the capital of the Exuma islands.   The bridge is small and narrow and water runs through it quite rapidly according to the state of the tide – but we negotiated it easily and found the best dinghy dock we had seen for a long while.

Dink secured we wandered town and located everything we needed… and enjoyed seeing other dinghies coming through the entrance from the top of the bridge.

Had a bite to eat in the café while picking up the internet, went shopping in the well-stocked supermarket, and returned to Morphie.  Oh yes, and we found out that the National Family Island Regatta starts on Tuesday so we have decided to stay here for a while and enjoy that – so we’ve ordered our replacement credit cards to be delivered here… We’ll have to see how that one works out!

Later in the afternoon we headed over to the Chat ‘N’ Chill beach bar for a few hours – met a few people – and just generally chilled out. We then headed back to Morphie for an early night and to watch the sun going down….

Sunday morning and we did a few boat jobs before heading out to explore by dink – admiring the little coves and beaches that are tucked in along the shoreline of Stocking Island.  Oh and the beautiful colour of the water as well….

Later on we headed back to the Chat ‘N’ Chill for their hog roast – not sure about all the different side dishes, I mean who has mac and cheese and coleslaw with pork, gravy, carrots and crackling????   But it was tasty anyway….

Now completely full up we headed into the water to cool down and went bobbing – again chatted to a few people – and were amazed by those that turned up in seaplanes and helicopters just to have lunch and leave again!   Seriously……   You could tell those staying in swanky resorts by the boats they arrived in and the designer costumes, bags and sunglasses – great people watching here!!!   And if you are wondering what I’m standing next to – it is a signpost to all those places people call home…. All too soon the sun was fading and it was time to go back to Morphie for another night.

Monday morning as we were having breakfast in the cockpit, we watched some large ships come through loaded up with the Bahamian sloops that are going to take part in the regatta. According to one of the local captains – to keep these regattas alive – the Government pay for the shipping of the boats between islands.

We did the long (wet) run ashore again later in the morning and enjoyed watching some of the local sloops that were out in Elizabeth Harbour practising. They have huge sail areas and planks to sit out on to balance the boats – no winches just a few pulleys…   Apparently they have different classes and handicaps according to the sail material but otherwise they are pretty much matched boats….

Wandering around town we watched the ships unload the sloops and the locals building up the local bars and eateries along the government dock.   We also wanted to go to the straw market but – unfortunately – this had burnt to the ground only days earlier. Very sad but Sandals have stepped in and were erecting a marquee for the local traders to use instead….. Glad to see that the local community are supported by large businesses…..

We had a couple of beers in one of these temporary bars and ended up chatting with one of the racers who, by occupation, is a bonefish guide in Andros – which is something I had done in a previous life…The fly fishing in Andros not the guiding LOL. What a small world!   Had a great chat with him – found out his boat number and name – and we now have someone to support in the races…   O’Neill on a red boat, number 9, called Heath Cliff.   Always more fun when you have some to cheer on!   We really liked the beer prices too.

After a while we headed back to Morphie for a quiet night on board – and all the boats are facing different ways as the sun goes down because of the lack of wind…   The forecast is for no wind for the rest of the week either – so looks like it is going to be a slow regatta.

Tuesday morning and it was hot hot hot – with no clouds nor a breath of wind. We made the run into town to pick up beer supplies and fill up our jerry cans of petrol and diesel….. The temperature  rose to 110 degrees while we were out and by the time we got back to Morphie we were both completely wiped out – so abandoned all thoughts of doing anything else and just rested up for the rest of the day. There were some boats out there practising as well as some races which children and cruisers were participating in….  I think Richard would have quite liked to have a go – definitely not for me, I would have ended up falling off one of those planks into the drink at the first tack!

Wednesday morning and it is grey and a bit drizzly – although there is a puff of wind ready for the first competitive races of The National Family Regatta.  This started in 1954 in an attempt to ensure that boat building skills were not lost to the islands as the demand for sail-driven working vessels reduced – and developed from there.  It s now one of the oldest regattas in the Bahamas…   The races are going to be coming quite close to us in the anchorage so we took up our positions on the coach roof and watched them go by….chased and sometimes impeded by cruisers following the race by dinghy. Really????   It was an amazing sight….and interesting to see that they start the races with their sails down….hoisting them is all done once the gun has gone off.   We loved watching the racing and got quite excited at times when they got so close to each other and we could imagine the shouting of ‘starboard’ and ‘water’ at the mark……

Later on we headed into town to watch the last race of the day –  spotting a casualty from the earlier racing – and sat on the Government dock along with all the locals and waited….and waited…..   We chatted to a few people – met up with O’Neill again as they weren’t in this Class A race – and enjoyed the sight of the stingray swimming through the water coming to see what was going on!

After the race was over we went back to the little bar we had found and had a couple.   The music was blaring from the huge sound systems and there were a few drunks around – but very few people and quite disappointing.   We thought it would be party central…and we were the only white faces too…   Clearly it potentially ends up that way because we spotted that the bars were selling condoms and there was a huge police presence……

In the end we gave up, collected a takeout of chicken and headed back to Morphie. We had thought about going to the Rock ‘N’ Roll night at the Chat ‘N’ Chill but they were playing everything but so we decided not to go out again….

This morning – and the sun returned – and we’ve just watched the first race of the day….but now it is raining…..  Later on we are planning a beach afternoon if the weather improves – there is supposed to be a party in town tonight but we’re not sure whether we are going to bother to attend yet on the back of yesterday’s lacklustre event.

Oh yes the tracking system says our replacement cards have reached Nassau….. Still not convinced they are going to reach us here though!!

Bye for now

Jan

Late Friday morning we headed off on foot to Clarence Town to try to hire a car.   We were offered a cheaper deal for cash rather than credit card – phew – and took delivery of a Dodge Neon, in neon yellow.   There is only one main road on Long Island – the Queen’s Highway – so not possible to get lost….

First port of call was Deadmans Cays – where the BTC store is. We found it easily and entered another (air-conditioned) world – not expecting such a lavish store on such a small island. We asked for Denise – told her Leroy from Mayaguana had sent us – and she quickly showed us what was available.   My iPhone is really old and struggles to even pick up a provider let alone receive texts now – so we decided to buy a new unlocked smart phone to be our on board hotspot which I can also use at home. As well as a Samsung phone we purchased 4GB of data and put $20 on for calls.   Got to the till – and the phone had reduced by $90 overnight, virtually half of its original offer price.   Denise was worried so checked it out with head office and, yes, it was true. Result!!! Having had a quick lesson on how it all worked we said our farewells and went off exploring. Excellent service – really impressed.

We went to Salt Pond – to check it out as a potential anchorage – but decided, although stunning, there is really nothing to warrant the effect of getting there so abandoned the idea. We stopped for lunch at a roadside shack – great chicken and fish and dead VW beetles – before carrying on.

We really enjoyed the scenery as we drove around and noted that the housing was quite large, spacious and relatively affluent with manicured gardens.   There are also loads of boarded up and derelict houses which is a shame…. The Bahamians do not tend to knock down old houses as they believe the spirits reside within and will move in with them if they do.  Oh yes, and while out and about, we managed to pick up a new anchor snubber…..

We then visited Deans Blue Hole, which is the deepest in the world. When we got there we came across a monument to one teenage girl and two women who died here in 2008. The blue hole is at the edge of the beach under some cliffs and there are no barriers to it – the young girl apparently went too close and the sand gave way underneath her…. the two women perished trying to rescue her. Clearly a tragedy – but you do have to wonder why they don’t have at least one life ring nearby to throw to people in case of difficulty???

This is an amazing place created by nature…..     Oh yes, in case you are wondering, the structure in the middle of the blue hole is used by free divers who hold annual competitions here.

Back to Clarence Town and we visited the two churches. These were built by Father Jerome who was born in 1876 as John Cecil Hawes, initially became an architect before becoming an Anglian priest. After the 1908 hurricane he came to the Bahamas to restore the damaged Anglian churches using his unique stamp of hurricane-proof stonework with thick walls and barrel-vaulted roofs.   His retirement home and last Catholic church – having by now converted to Catholicism – were built on nearby Cat Island.

The views from Clarence Town across the anchorage are really quite spectacular.

We returned the car – got a lift back to the marina – and settled into the Outer Edge Grill for a couple of beers while I published the blog that I’d written in the morning. Back to Morphie and an early night.

Saturday morning we checked the phone worked – obviously we need to be in range of a BTC tower – yay we have internet on board.   Hurrah!!  The rest of the day we went ashore to the marina and did laundry and cleaned Morphie thoroughly – as we have Andy and Nicky from Intrepid of Dover coming over for sundowners later.

Was a busy day and we had a nice evening…   They have circumnavigated the world and gave us some really useful info for crossing the Pacific.   We gave them PG tips in return LOL.

Sunday morning and Andy came by with some weather and radio station books for the Pacific – fantastic, thank you so much.   We then picked up anchor with our destination Rum Cay, 35 miles away.   We had a fantastic sail with some rogue waves beating us up and some strong easterly currents to content with – but had a wonderful time.

As we crossed deep contour lines into shallow water we had just started our engine as we reached our final waypoint – and were about to take down the sails in preparation for eyeballing through the anchorage – and the fishing lure went mad.   OMG – Richard has caught a fish – and we quickly identified it as a mahi mahi by its skin colour as it jumped and tried to escape.   So Richard played the fish – on a hand line – while I managed the boat….   Finally we got the sails away, the fish was still attached, and we pulled him on board.   Wow – Richard is one very excited person!   We secured him – the fish, not Richard – on the deck while we picked our way into the anchorage through the coral bombies….. and got our anchor down at 2pm.   Now that we were secure it was time for a photo opportunity before we filleted the fish for the freezer.

I kept some back and while Richard cleaned all the blood and gore from Morphie I cooked him fish tacos.   Catch to plate in less than two hours.  A very happy and full husband….

We decided we didn’t fancy snorkelling having put blood in the water LOL so had a lazy afternoon and evening on board, enjoying the beautiful water and the sunset.

Monday morning we went ashore to explore but the Government dock was too high – so we dinked into the local marina. Well this is a construction site – a few boats were still tied up – but many of the piers and docks were dilapidated and were no longer connected to land.   Nice views though and a good place for gulls to have a snooze.

We turned around and went back to the town dock and beached dink instead.   We met a local guy straight away – really friendly – had a chat and wandered around and noted the size of the small government building which seems to serve many purposes.  We found the graveyard and it was very sad to see so many graves just marked with a rock and no inscription – only the very wealthy had headstones, including one from the original land-owning family dating back to 1910. Carrying on we wandered into a bar – no beer sorry – and wandered out. We checked on Morphie out in the anchorage and found another bar.

Dolores was very pleased to see us and showed us her Sand Bar.   Unfortunately she had no supplies of anything – all she could offer us was tequila – er, no thanks. But we had a lovely chat and signed her visitor’s book whilst being regaled with local stories and back in the day when Jackie Onassis visited…..   She also told us about the marina – apparently the owner was jealous that a new bar was taking his business so he pulled the competitors bar down one night. To avoid prosecution he ended up giving away his land…..hence the current development. One really interesting fact we found out was that, to encourage islanders to return and settle on the out islands, one member of each family is given a Government job to ensure that all settlers on the “family” islands have a living wage. To put this into perspective though, there are only about 50 people living on Rum Cay right now.   The Government also stepped in to assist Dolores rebuild her bar and home after it was devastated by a hurricane many years ago…..

Back on board and we welcome Intrepid to the anchorage and accepted sundowner invitations.  We decide to go bobbing for an hour on the beach so I’m unpacking the bag from earlier and putting everything away – and ask Richard where is the iPad?   He thinks I’m kidding – er no…   Damn…. I think we have left it in the bar when we were searching in the bag for a pen.   Richard is back in dink faster than you have ever seen him move – he heads to the bar – and it is shut. He asks the guys outside to open it for him as he thinks he has left something behind – they do, and thankfully, the iPad is sitting on the seat where we left it.   He comes back to Morphie very thankful for honest people!   So we spent a very short time on the beach having a bob with our last two beers on board before returning to Morphie, cleaning up, and going over to Intrepid for sundowners. We had a lovely evening…. and I tried marmite popcorn for the first time ever!   Think Twiglets for the taste….  Totally hooked now…

Tuesday morning and we left Rum Cay early to sail to Conception Island – only 24 miles away.

Had a great sail – wind at 90 degrees – and our anchor was down by 1.30 pm. This is an uninhabited island which is also a marine park – with no facilities and one of the few places without a BTC tower, so no communications either.   We snorkelled the anchor in beautiful clear azure blue water and had a quiet night on board watching the spectacular sunset and the milky way in the star-strewn night sky.

Wednesday morning and we went out exploring by dink – and snorkelled a few spots on the reef. Had a good time and we enjoyed playing in the sea.   We didn’t see a lot of huge fish nor variety but there was some nice coral around and we did get followed by a baby barracuda for a while.

As we headed back after our final snorkel later in the afternoon we realised that the water was getting a bit dark and that Morphie was surrounded by clouds. Oh well, never mind. Was a great day and Richard enjoyed his first mahi mahi dinner.

Thursday morning and we did boat jobs….. before heading out exploring in dink again. We wanted to go through the cut into the interior which is mangrove swamps, but needed to wait for a rising tide to get through the very narrow and shallow entrance.   On the way we stopped off at a number of places to admire the beaches, the reefs and the colour of the sea – plus the birds that are flying overhead all the time.

We got through the cut – had to get out to push dink a little way because of how shallow it was – and then meandered through the channels….   Absolutely stunning – no other word for it!   We frightened a few sharks, turtles and rays by dink but unfortunately they all swam away quickly when they spotted us – so no photos. We did have our snorkelling gear in dink but neither of us fancied it as the water was soooo murky.

After a couple of hours we came out of the shallows and dinked around the headland back to the anchorage – and went snorkelling on another reef.   Again, not a lot of fish, but we had a good time.

Back on board and we had an early dinner and got Morphie ready to go to sea – we are heading off early in the morning for our 40+ mile passage to the Exumas.   Not a long passage but we want to arrive at a reasonable hour to spot those coral bombies / rocks in the water.   So early to bed after sunset.

This morning – Friday – and we were up before the sun and picked up anchor at 6am – enjoyed the sight of the huge yacht Adele lit up as we passed – and then the sun rose behind us.

We were sad to leave Conception Island…. It truly is a very very special magical place…..   Sigh……  We had another great and fast sail – with much more boat traffic than we are used to – and, as we passed the end of Long Island across the drop-offs the fishing line went again……   What?!?   Hoping for a tuna or a wahoo Richard battles this fish until it jumps out and we realise that it is another mahi mahi. He was pretty strong and feisty and Richard had to work hard with the hand line to bring him to the boat. Eventually he goes quiet and we lift him in – quick photo opportunity.

Richard gives him an air kiss and tells him that he lives to fight another day before releasing him back into the water.   Not sure who was more surprised at all this – Richard at catching another large fish or the mahi mahi at being released!

We eventually spotted land ahead…..

…..and whilst still in safer deep water we took down the sails and motored into the narrow cut – having timed it right for slack water – between the cays and Great Exuma working our way along the channel until we got our anchor down at 2.00 pm. We are now anchored off Higgins Landing on Stocking Island, opposite Georgetown on Great Exuma. Looking forward to exploring this new area tomorrow……..

Bye for now

Jan

Saturday morning we said fond farewells to South Side Marina, Provodenciales, and motored out the 18 miles across the pristine waters of the Caicos banks to the coast of West Caicos, taking the opportunity to make some water along the way.

We had heard about the large development – Russian cash allegedly – that had been stalled part-way through and was surprised at its size.   Rumour has it that Putin has frozen the owner’s bank account as it may be from ill-gotten gains…. so unlikely that it will ever be finished. Shame because it looks beautiful.   As we cleared the shallows into the deep coming off the banks Rocking B passed us under sail.

Along the coast there are dive mooring balls that we are allowed to use overnight – as anchoring is prohibited in this area – so picked one up and decided to go snorkelling.   Not much to see in this sparkling clear water – clearly the dive spot is behind us into the blue – but we came across a couple of cute critters hiding in the soft coral-encrusted rock.

Coming back to Morphie we checked on our mooring ball rig and were not impressed by the frayed rope which looks like it has been propped – so quickly we got back on board and moved to another one.

After an early dinner we headed over for sundowners on board Rocking B – chatted to Ken and Margaret and had cuddles with their two dogs……   We watched in awe the formation of an impressive water spout out at sea behind us – not sure we would have been quite so laid back had it been coming our way!!!!

Sunday morning at 6 am we slipped away from our mooring ball under a moonlit sky into the deep water for the passage across to Mayaguana, our first Bahamian island.

We started out with reefed sails and watched the spectacular sunrise……

The seas weren’t too big and the wind wasn’t too strong so we quickly shook out our reefs and enjoyed our first beam reach under full sails for a while…   Absolutely lovely!   52 miles later we entered Abrahams Bay.   This is a huge anchorage behind a reef but, as you can see from the chart extract it needs careful eyeball navigation.

As we didn’t get there until almost 3pm we decided to just go in enough to get shelter and anchor in soft sand. The anchor dug in straight away and we enjoyed the view – fantastic.

We had a quiet night on board listening to the wind howling through our rigging and watching the sun going down.   Sunset is much later now and it doesn’t get dark until about 7.30 pm which is nice……

Monday morning we picked up our anchor and worked our way through the rocks, coral bombies and shallows to get closer to the settlement.   Of course, closer is relative – we still had about a mile to dinghy in – but we were happy….

We dropped dink and followed the markers to the Government dock which actually almost dries at low tide.   We tied up dink and admired the view out to the anchorage and across to the bonefish flats….

Then we wandered the hot and dusty sand road into the settlement – to find, as expected, the customs and immigration were shut because of Easter. But the friendly locals all told us it was relaxed here and we could wander without being cleared in if we wanted to. Well we did – so we found a local store and bought bread – and then the local hostelry where we enjoyed our first Bahamiam brew Bush Crack. Not sure about the name – although the taste wasn’t too bad LOL.

While in the bar we were chatting to Lloyd and he said there was good diving here – we were excited until we realised he meant free diving.   Errrrr…..don’t think that is for us – thanks, but no thanks!!!!   After a while chatting we headed back to Morphie for another quiet night – and spectacular sunset – on board.

Tuesday morning and we were up and back in town to get checked in.

Because of the Easter holidays the queue was long – this office is the Post Office, the Customs / Immigration / the magistrates court and just about anything else Governmental that you can think of.   So it was pretty busy – particularly with people wanting to cash cheques. We got our forms – started filling them in (using carbon paper) – and admired the respect that everyone has for each other….   Good morning “Mrs B” etc…   Finally we were legal – with cruising and fishing permit in hand – and we wandered off again, this time finding another convenience store which sold Ginger Nut biscuits and fresh potatoes and cabbage.   Nice….   Everyone is so friendly here – we stopped and chatted to many locals along the way.   We finally ended up in the Batelco office – the Bahamas telephone company – as we need to sort out internet access while we are in the remote areas to be able to stay in touch.   Unfortunately Audrey was sick – too much partying at Easter?!? – so we were asked to come back another day.   No worries – we headed out through the shallow dinghy track back to Morphie.

We got back on board – raised our Bahamas courtesy flag – and decided to snorkel around the boat in the afternoon. It is all sand with nothing to see apart from the odd conch – but we did have some fun in the water. Check out the photos and see how shallow and clear it all is……..   Another quiet night on board with fresh veggies! Yum….

Wednesday morning and we returned to Batelco – unfortunately Audrey was still sick. So we decided to head back to Morphie and leave Mayaguana – destination Clarence Town on Long Island.   We passage planned – made food – and were underway by 11.50 am having found that my lifejacket had fallen apart whilst being stored – not good!!!   So Richard and I are going to have to share his for the night passage when doing shifts – not ideal – we do have others on board but we don’t like them although they would be adequate in an emergency.   Looks like another thing to add for the list for when we get to Florida….

We said goodbye to the shallow anchorage, ran alongside the coast of Mayaguana under full genoa downwind – we even gybed to follow our rhumb line – and then, of course, the wind shifted and we ended up beating into it!   Oh well – never mind.   We pulled out the main and got on with it – then after about two hours the wind clocked again – and we are now on a beam reach…. Unfortunately the wind is a little light at only 10 knots so we have slowed down – but hey we are having fun so who cares?!?

The sun went down – another great sunset at sea – and was very dark until the moon came up later.

We had some usual night traffic – one tug, one cruiseship and one tanker this time….   We left Plana Cays, Acklins Island and Crooked Island to port and continued on into the morning…..   At 2.20 pm – on Thursday afternoon – after a 127 mile passage, we dropped our anchor behind Strachan Cay and opposite Clarence Town.   Beautiful anchorage…..

After getting ourselves cleaned up we headed into Flying Fish Marina to enquire about laundry, taxis into Deadmans Cay, internet access etc.   They weren’t particularly helpful as we are not marina guests.   We then wandered to the marina’s restaurant where we had a couple of beers and an early supper whilst we caught up using their internet. While we were sitting there a big fishing boat came in and started to cut up the catch – and throwing the remains into the water – obviously a regular thing as the sharks were waiting for the feeding to start….

We headed back to Morphie and had a very early night to catch up on our sleep after our overnight passage.

This morning – Friday – I got up early to blog while Richard cleaned salt off the rail…..  Later on we are heading into town to see if we can get a hire car to do a bit of exploring – and to visit the ‘flagship’ BTC store to sort out internet access…..  Fingers crossed.

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday we enjoyed a lazy day on the internet, reading, cleaning and generally just chilling…. and thoroughly enjoyed it. In the evening we popped up to Bob’s Bar which sits above the marina and had a nice couple of hours chatting to Bob, Cam and the two dogs Effie and Gemma.   We also met our marina neighbours Ken and Margaret who are cruising on their large catamaran called Rocking B. The views out across the channel and further out to sea are quite beautiful…..

Wednesday we took Bob up on his offer to take us into town to visit the IGA supermarket – so we quickly took the opportunity of topping up drinking vouchers at the ATM – and got some basic provisions.

Arriving back in the marina and Effie and Gemma were disgusted with our efforts – no dog treats in the bags…. Must try harder!    We also investigated doing some diving – $160 each for a two tank dive using our own gear. And one of our pet hates is a very busy dive boat, so I watched carefully when they left and counted 18….   We are not sure we want to spend $320 for the experience – and don’t forget we’ll have to pay the $300 cruising licence to stay here.   Hmmmmm….not sure…..

After a long debate we decided to wait to go diving until we get to the Bahamas – so close geographically it can’t be that different….. Disappointed but never mind.   Morphie quite likes it here……..and I quite like not having to climb up or down onto huge concrete docks either.

In the marina there are a couple of mangled large props sitting around – and they belong to a $5mn motorcruiser which was put up onto Molasses Reef by the delivery captain at 25 knots having only 40 hours on the engine since new!   The bottom was ripped out and they have filled it with plywood and epoxied over it to make it waterproof – but it is a right off and will never go to sea again probably.

What a sorry tale and certainly puts our bent anchor into perspective – oh yes, and we’ve got it straightened…. Yay!

In the evening we went to a pot luck BBQ at Bob’s Bar and met a lot of locals and more cruisers who are in other small marinas dotted around. Was quite a lively and fun event but eventually torrential rain stopped play….   Bob is a real character – born in the UK, raised in Canada, and moved here almost 40 years ago….  Here is an old photo of him with the dogs.

Thursday morning and we headed out to hire a car and explore the island.   We arrived at the rental place to be told you can’t hire a car without a credit card – not here, not in the Bahamas and definitely not in the USA.   Damn….this is going to be difficult going forward….   Eventually the guy said – OK take the car we’ll take cash – and we got away with it. But not sure that is going to happen anywhere else – once we get to Florida we’ll have to stay put long enough to get the replacement cards sent to us……   Our little hire car was adequate and pretty reasonable at $49 a day – so we headed off.   First stop was the port to get our departure papers……and then we drove the whole length of the island.

We headed out on the main dual carriageway – and Richard enjoyed driving on the left and having proper roundabouts again – eventually we arrived at the Blue Haven resort where the brand new IGY marina on the Leeward end of the island is located.   The marina was spectacular although the entrance is tricky through the extensive reef and they send out a pilot for all the boats coming in.   A bit disappointed that we didn’t get to stay here but, to be honest, it was all a bit sterile and totally lacked any ambience whatsoever.

Moving on we admired the canal system and the very large homes that were built along the waterfront.

Then we came to the main tourist spot – Grace Bay – and it was full of large resorts with most of the big hotel chains present with very few public accesses to the beach. The beach is stunning – beautiful blue water lapping onto white powder sand…..

Not that many tourists around and certainly no small vending operations set up by locals although I did see some jewellery sellers and one hair braiding lady in operation.   All the action is in the hotels it would appear… Driving back towards downtown Providenciales we saw the huge mall – yep designer shops again – and noticed the stark difference between the opulence of the homes and the poverty that the locals clearly live in…… This may account for their less than friendly attitude we have encountered so far here in Providenciales.

Moving on and we drove around the flamingo lake – yes we saw two – and continued on the dirt roads which are littered with rubbish thrown out of cars.

The interior of the island is virtually desert sitting on a limestone base with scrubby vegetation and swamps – the beautiful manicured grounds all belong to the hotels and the luxury houses. And money does not equal taste – some of them were downright ugly!   The scrub land was all parcelled off into lots ready for development which seems to be a theme on this island with Sotherbys offering every other house or lot for sale…

So what do we think? Well, actually we are not impressed…… If you came here for a relaxing hotel holiday on a fantastic beach then I think you would enjoy it a lot.   If you went all inclusive so you could actually afford to go diving then yes that would be great too!   But overall Providenciales has little charm and is a bit soulless….

Friday morning – today – and we were supposed to be leaving to stage for our passage to the Bahamas.   But the weather is not good – strong winds and squalls – so we told the marina office and they said that customs will not force us to leave into bad weather as they would have some liability – don’t worry about it, have a good day and enjoy yourselves. So we extended the hire car and took ourselves off to that stunning beach armed with a cooler and went bobbing….   Was lovely!

Back in the marina now – and we are definitely leaving tomorrow and should arrive into Mayaguana, our port of entry into the Bahamas, on Sunday.   But, of course, it is Easter Sunday so we don’t know whether we can actually check in or not – and also whether we can get any internet access either…..   So just to manage expectations we’ll be back on line the minute we are able.

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday morning we were finally ready for sea – and visited immigration and customs followed by the marina office to pay our bill.   We were pleasantly surprised that they calculated our stay on the lower seven day price rather than the daily rate – saving us a $100. Thanks!   We asked for a 12 noon departure to avoid the swells running across the marina entrance that always form later in the afternoon. The Commandante came on board, issued our departure document, and by 12.15 we were motoring and beating into the waves as we left the marina. We quickly cleared the reef and turned towards our first waypoint hoisting the sails into 16 knots of breeze…. and we are absolutely smoking on a beam reach with waves hitting us side on. The motion wasn’t the most comfortable one but who cares – the sky is blue and the sea is bluer and we’re going fast…….   We were enjoying ourselves a lot….

By 3pm we realised that we were going way too fast to arrive at our destination in daylight so reefed heavily to slow us down.   You can tell by this comment that we have finally turned our racing heads into cruising ones LOL.   At 6pm we went into shifts and I saw the sun go down – and of course a few ships to keep me company.

Richard then came on watch and at midnight, just before we changed over again, a huge wave broke on us which pushed our port rail underwater…. I was in bed at this point but quickly ended up on the floor….. Ouch!   At 1am the seas calmed down a bit and I had phosphorescence sparkling in our wake – and of course the obligatory cruise ship glow out at sea.   The rest of the night was quiet – with the occasional rogue wave showing us who was boss – and we made good albeit slow progress towards Grand Turk as the sun rose.

We were both together in the cockpit – and then – WOW – Whales!!!   Broaching, playing, waving … an amazing sight.

We anchored on the south coast of Grand Turk at 9.00 on Friday morning – and fell in love with the colour of the water against a sandy beach backdrop.   Slightly ruined by the industrial landscape, the rusting hulk of a sunken ship and a dinghy dock that was too high, had a boat on it, and left us no option but to drag dink up the beach and keep fingers crossed he would still be there when we got back.   We cleared in easily – welcomed home to these UK islands – and returned to Morphie.

We didn’t want to stay in this anchorage – however beautiful the water was – so picked up the hook and by 2.45 pm we had eyeballed our way in through a reef system to anchor in Cockburn, the capital of Grand Turk.   We went ashore and found that the town, itself, was closed!   A few interesting old buildings, HM Prison and a lot of masonic lodges….and even the museum was closed.  But otherwise very little going on – we did find a small café that had internet so we had a couple of cold ones and checked out the weather.   Well, the weather was going to clock around on Saturday that would make this anchorage untenable so we need to leave in the morning.   Disappointed at this quick turnaround but, hey, we have the other islands to explore ahead of us.  We enjoyed the sunset and an early night to recover from the passage.

Saturday morning and we picked up our hook at 9.30 am – or we tried to.   The water is so clear I can see the bottom and I realised that we had picked up a cable with the anchor as we moved forward – checking the charts again and the cable is a high voltage one and not where it should be grrrrrr…….. decidedly not a great start to the day. Obviously it belonged to the Cable and Wireless Towers that loom over the town.

Luckily it was shallow water – Richard jumped in, I let out more chain to give slack, he cleared the cable and I picked up the chain as quickly as possible to avoid getting caught on the second power cable sitting behind it – also not on the chart!   Then I had to stooge around to pick up Richard inside the reef and then we headed out. Phew….. We always knew this day would come – just very lucky that we were in shallow water.

We had a wonderful sail in 15 knots of breeze across to South Caicos – eyeballed our way into Cockburn Harbour and sat looking around in awe.   Think Anegada with beautiful clear water and you’ll get an idea of what I mean.   And, of course, we are the only boat in the anchorage.   Oh yes, and why do all rocks look like Brian the Snail???   We snorkelled our anchor – wary of more power cables – and all was well. We even had a couple of barracudas that kept us company as we swam around.   We did find a wreck of a boat about 200 feet behind us though….another hazard of these islands it would appear!

We went ashore – wandered the sleepy town – and came across a couple of scientists who run the marine biology school here.   We also wondered at the number of broken down abandoned properties littering the place.

On our trek we came across the ship’s bell from the Rhone steamship that sunk in a hurricane in the BVIs back in the day – a wreck that we have dived off of Salt Island. Apparently a South Caicos islander was involved in the salvage operation and was given the bell along with his pay.   What a small world eh?   It is a shame though – that something so significant – would end up living in a small tower attached to the church in this quiet and sleepy place.

And, of course, Richard couldn’t help himself but to ring it but we also said a silent prayer to all the people that perished on the Rhone.   I had visions of islanders rushing out to see what the noise was all about but no-one stirred apart from an old grisly looking dog who loved Richard scratching his ears…..

Going back towards Morphie, Richard took me to the worst bar I have ever been in….   A complete dive and I think we were tolerated by the locals – the barmaid was wearing very little clothes so Richard was happy and one local guy made good conversation.   Suffice to say we only stayed for one drink!   There was no internet available anywhere on the island so we were not able to catch up with any weather updates…..

Back on board we had a quiet night after Richard fixed the shower sump pump which had burnt out…..

Sunday morning and we picked up our anchor – no diving operation here in South Caicos which is what we were hoping for – and so we had decided to spend the night on the Caicos banks.   The Caicos banks are 60 by 50 miles of beautiful azure blue shallow water peppered with coral heads which have to be spotted by eyeball navigation. We made our way into the banks and were amazed – this is so so beautiful and better than we could ever have imagined. There is no wind at all so everything is flat calm and serene….   We were having a great time – and the wind wasn’t supposed to pick up until the following morning when we would approach the island of Providenciales – known as Provo. But of course our weather forecast was a day old by now which we found out later….

At 3.30 pm the wind stared kicking in – and the water started to chop….   We checked our charts and we can’t make Provo before dark because of the long routing we had deliberately taken – so we have to make the most of it and spend the night.   But it wasn’t going to be the beautiful romantic snorkelling and dining experience under the stars that we had planned!   Well, the wind continued to build above 20 knots and the chop was turning nasty…. We had dropped quite a lot of chain already but decided to throw it all out – so 200 feet of chain in 10 feet of water should keep us safe.   Just before sunset a fishing boat came by to check we were OK – they were running for cover as the forecast had indicated very strong winds overnight and they didn’t think we should stay on the banks…..

We radioed Provo Radio to seek advice and were given an alternative anchorage inside a reef behind a rock on the edge of the banks – but we would have to do this in the dark and what about those coral heads???

So we decided to stay put and settled down for the night on our sofas as the forepeak was too noisy as Morphie continuously bashed into larger and larger waves with many breaking green water over the bow.   At 2am there was an almighty bang – and the snubber has gone… There is no choice but to jury rig another as the anchor windlass would not cope with the strain of this mad night – so Richard is on the bow of the boat in the dark doing it while taking a dip every now and again as Morphie rode the waves. This was the only time I was scared really – because in these conditions I would never be able to get him back if he fell overboard – but he was harnessed up and wearing a lifejacket so wasn’t really in danger….   Job done and we carried on riding out the horrible conditions – with every bang and thump sounding like Neptune was taking a sledgehammer to our hull.   Finally the sun came up – thankfully!

We quickly changed our passage plan to take us back out to deep water to get away from the chop and started to pick up the anchor – it is my turn to take a dip this time with the bow rising and falling into the waves and also to try to stop taking on water into the anchor locker. The anchor came up surprisingly easily however it was badly damaged – check out the new shape!   To bend solid steel like this gives you an idea of the conditions we were thankful to come through….   Were we in danger really? Probably not – but so many things could easily have gone wrong….   Just thankful Morphie is such a strong boat… she looked after just fine.

We quickly entered deep water – cold, miserable and very wet – but had a great sail in 28 knots of breeze although you can tell by the photos that both of us were pretty keen to get to our next destination.

We then re-entered the banks via the shipping channel as we couldn’t eyeball in these conditions and made our way to Sapodilla Bay.   We dropped the hook – and it dragged – so we dropped it again…and it dragged again.   Clearly the new shape is affecting its ability to dig in – so I stooged around while Richard swapped it out for our spare.   All done – dropped the hook – and it dragged.   The Danforth anchor is really designed for hard sand and we are trying to get a set in putty-like mud and grass so not really surprised.   Thankfully on our second attempt we got a set and we set up the anchor alarms and sat in the cockpit for a little while.  When we were confident we were OK for the night – still with the wind blowing old boots but at least in a more protected place – we broke open the beer and I cooked toad in the hole as a celebratory meal.

This morning – Tuesday – and we moved around to Southside Marina, a very basic setup – but at least somewhere we can tie up to while we get our anchor repaired / replaced and another snubber purchased….   The weather forecast is also not looking conducive to run to the Bahamas any time soon with a number of fronts on their way – and we haven’t really explored or gone diving yet. The Turks and Caicos have a pretty strict regime – you get 7 days for $100 entry / exit – and if you want to stay longer then the cruising permit is $300 so we might have to bite the bullet and pay that.   But we have a couple of days yet to work it all out. Right now we just want to relax and take a deep breath!

Bye for now

Jan

Saturday lunchtime we walked….and walked….uphill….until we reached the main road beyond the numerous Lifestyle Resorts that take up much of this area.   We found a bus straight away to take us into the town of Puerto Plata with the other passengers seeming a bit surprised to see tourists using the local transport. The driver dropped us off with vague instructions on how to get to the market – a five minute walk away – and left us in the middle of a busy street teeming with people and motorbikes.   We were unsure whether we were in a safe area or not so looked around to get our bearings and decided to head down towards the ocean.   As we wandered around we were approached a few times by people wanting to be our local / paid guides but we managed to keep them at bay….. We finally reached the central plaza – got some more drinking vouchers from the enclosed bank ATM – and carried on towards the ocean. The ATM was guarded by a security guy with a pump action shotgun – hmmmmm…. obviously not quite so safe then???   The streets were pretty quiet now, apparently all the people were congregating elsewhere for a drive through of some presidential candidates for the next election.

The beach here is pretty nice looking and is framed by a boardwalk which appears to be very popular with the locals just chilling out. We admired the fire station and some old houses before heading back towards the centre of town. We didn’t fancy visiting the jewellery shops, the gift shops, nor the cigar factory….. so carried on whilst fending off more potential tour guides.

We did manage to get some good information though which is that there is a cable car up the mountain – so we headed in that general direction.   We ended up in a market selling fruit and veg – so we picked up some fresh produce – and carried on. We were getting tired as well as hot and bothered and had still failed to find the cable car.   We were then approached by a couple of moto-taxis…. These are motorbikes that do a taxi service. Of course, they are pretty dangerous…. but we thought hey, when in Rome and all that!   So we took one each – and I told my driver not to lose Richard as he had the money not me LOL – and we weaved in and out of traffic, trucks, down main roads and eventually ended up at the cable car entrance. We really enjoyed it although pleased to have arrived at our destination unscathed!

The drivers were keen to pose for pictures and kept calling us ‘momma’ and ‘poppa’ – allegedly a friendly term for older people. Not sure I want to be that old!!!!

We paid our entrance fees, grabbed some water, and then waited for the cable car. One coming down the mountain was a pretty impressive sight.

We all piled in….about 20 of us…..with only two other tourists, the rest being Dominicans….   Then we started on the journey – wow the scenery – and enjoyed looking down on to the town.

When we ended up at the top we realised that we were in the clouds – refreshingly cool and stunning.

There is a statue of Jesus Christ on the mountain top which is just like the one standing over Rio de Janeiro – wasn’t expecting that.

We wandered around – down paths and over bridges – enjoyed the spectacular views and the abundance of trees and flowers before heading to the restaurant and had some snacks – well, we ordered snacks, but they were huge!   After this late lunch we admired the views again – got a local guy to take some artistic shots of us with Jesus – and then waited for our return trip down the mountain….

We certainly went down quicker than we went up LOL.

Anyway we decided that was enough excitement for one day so got a proper minibus taxi this time back to the marina.   We didn’t fancy any dinner so had a quiet night on board having enjoyed the spectacular sunset.

Sunday morning after a lazy start we decided to hit the local beach…..   Most of the resorts here have private beaches – and Ocean World has its own too, but not for marina residents and we really didn’t fancy paying and entrance fee to sit in a manufactured environment and watch dolphins in captivity – so we knew this was going to be a ‘local day’. We went bobbing and people were waving and talking to us….. We even tried out our new Puerto Rican hats too – baseball caps are all well and good but we do not get enough shade with them on our backs. Fancy eh???

We had a fantastic bobbing time and were amazed to realise that we had started a trend when the locals started bobbing with huge bottles of rum and were shouting “Salut, Salut” at us all the time…   Oh yes, and Presidente comes in three sizes here – regular, grande and jumbo.   Please note that we were drinking regular ones, although do own up to a number of grande and jumbo bottles currently chilling in the fridge….

We went back to Morphie and got cleaned up before heading out towards the local Mexican restaurant that we fancied trying. On the way we checked out the fancy artwork on one of the villa walls – looks like riding dolphins might be a bit dangerous too – check out the boy’s arm LOL.

Oh yes, remember Bob the dummy that lived in the garage in Wisconsin???   Well, he is clearly moonlighting because he was modelling outside the restaurant here in the DR!!   We had fantastic food – nothing fancy – but was really very very good…

We then wandered back to the Ocean World complex and decided to have a pontoonie on the Terrace.  Well, Sunday night is party night!   The DJ was playing music and videos and the locals were having a great time – we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves watching them dancing. Wow these people can move…..   It ended up a pretty late night….

Monday morning and we were going to do laundry – but the laundry was shut. Oh well….. And it is really quiet from Ocean World next door – no loud pink panther music or applause – and we realised that the performing seals get the day off on Mondays too LOL.  So we ended up getting the complimentary shopping bus to the surprisingly well-stocked local supermarket to get more supplies…… Back on board we had brunch – did some passage planning – and then went to the small pool. This is open to marina guests only on Mondays to Fridays and has a swim up bar, although it is shut….. But that didn’t stop us buying a bucket of beers from the Terrace café and taking them with us….   Had a lovely time in the pool….it was our own private oasis for the afternoon.   Monday night was another quiet one on board.

Tuesday morning and we were going out for the day on an organised trip, rather than rent another car.   The truck picked us up on time at 9.00 am and we headed off with some other tourists – US predominantly apart from one French Canadian couple and another couple from Liverpool.   First stop was a local village – and to visit Pappo and Momma at their family plantation home.   We enjoyed walking through their gardens admiring the coffee, chocolate, bananas, pineapples, avocados, herbs and spices etc all growing in abundance.   The flowers here were spectacular too….. We visited their traditionally-built wooden house – and we were surprised that they still cooked on open hearths using wood as fuel – with an outhouse for washing and another for the bathroom.   They had very little but it was absolutely spotlessly clean – very humbling to think of all the ‘essentials’ we can’t live without at home or onboard. They have to buy drinking water too….. They let us try their fruit, they made us hot chocolate and coffee from their own produce which was delicious…. so I bought some chocolate to use myself on board, now that I have the special recipe!   We said our farewells having had our first beer of the day from the all-inclusive bar tended by Juan the driver.

Next stop was a village school…..   This caters for poor village kids and in one class they have three different age groups. They only attend four hours a day as the classroom is used for another group in the afternoon for four hours and then another group in the evenings….. Clearly the population is larger than they can cope with and we were pleased to see the foundations of a new school being built by the current President as part of a big infrastructure project – 800 schools planned so that every child can get an education..

We donated some clothes and some maps to the school and ended up with our pictures being taken with the principal who was very happy with our donations…..

Schooling here in the DR is not mandatory but the wearing of uniform is – and often there is only one uniform per family that all the children share and many of them don’t have shoes either and have to walk miles to school.   It is a simple but tough life for these kids.   We were delighted that they were being taught English, Spanish, French, History, Geography and Maths even at this early age and potentially can be their doorway out of poverty.   This was also our first exposure to illegal Haitian children who were attending the school as this gave them access to free food, and their learning curve was even sharper as Spanish is not their mother tongue.

On our way through the lush countryside we came across a very poor Haitian village and the local stores seem to have little provisions in them….

After the school we drove through more lush countryside and went swimming in a local river – was very refreshing despite being a little chilly!!!!

After our swim we moved on to a local restaurant run by the Outback company where we had very tasty (unlimited) chicken and rice with beans.   We also got to see some Salty crocodiles which do actually live on a brackish river near the border with Haiti.   I think it freaked out some of the tourists knowing that they had just been playing in the river LOL – wasn’t going to tell them that there were only specific areas these crocodiles lived and this wasn’t one of them!

After lunch we carried on driving through the countryside and ended up in a sugar cane area – so Juan stopped the truck and wielding his machete chopped us some sugar cane to try.   Very tasty!

Then we arrived at the beach – having to walk over a very crotchety elevated pathway made out of palms – to go body boarding in the surf and between that, bobbing, and a back and neck massage, we were pretty chilled……

And that was the end of our day – what an amazing adventure – so thank you to Eddy our tour guide, comedian and singer plus Juan our driver, bar-tender and machete wielder – for a wonderful fun and informative day.   We returned to Morphie and had a lazy evening on board.

This morning – Wednesday – and we have checked that the weather still holds for our passage tomorrow to Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Yes, it does. So I’m in the marina laundry while Richard is on board doing engine checks etc….   The rest of the day will be preparing Morphie for sea and organising the formal and rigorous check-out process here in the marina so that we can leave at the time we want to….

We have really enjoyed ourselves here in the Dominican Republic – we have had an amazing adventure and way beyond our expectations.   Richard even said it was a place he could envisage living – not something he says every day!   We are sad to say farewell but excited about the next stage of our travels this season.

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday morning we took delivery of our hire car and headed off to Las Terrenas which is where there are a couple of large supermarkets – and we need to stock up on beer. We waited until we got to the Dominican Republic for this as we prefer the local Presidente to the Puerto Rican brews…. We drove through mountains on one of the only main roads on this part of the island – admiring the lush scenery whilst taking care on the hair pin bends.   The housing got poorer with people living in basic shacks without running water – there were large blue containers dotted around on the roadside which people were filling water containers from and carrying back to their houses.  And the crash barriers were useful places to hang washing out to dry…..

The motorbikes faded away to the towns and the only traffic jam we saw in the countryside was a few farmers on their horses – which appeared to be the main mode of transport.   These horses trot in the most spectacular way – with high knees and small steps – like they had been trained for dressage and reminded us of the Lipizzan horses at the Spanish school in Vienna.

At the supermarket we found Presidente in cans – hurrah – but definitely did not like the price!   Outrageous when we know how much the large bottles cost in Semana – so got some bits and pieces and left the beer behind.   On the way back from the supermarket we drove along the beach which was dotted with lots of small hotels and restaurants – hoping to make a stop to take in the air.   As we were driving along on this narrow road, however, we spotted lots of palm fronds sticking out of the regular mainholes…… and, to our horror, we realised that this was a warning that there was no cover at all…… and these death traps occurred every 50 metres or so.   Picking our way through carefully we abandoned our idea of stopping and just got out of there!

Relieved to be off that road we drove down a tree covered avenue and then back into the mountains……. We admired the view of Cayo Levantado in the distance and the manicured grounds of the marina as we returned.

Having unpacked our shopping we headed back out into Samana Town – again it was very busy – and went to a local warehouse and picked up a couple of crates of large bottles of Presidente for 90 pesos each (67 pesos to the pound)…   These are incredibly good value as they hold over a pint!

Back to Morphie and we got ourselves cleaned up and ready to receive John and Nina for sundowners. This couple had come into the marina yesterday on an Island Packet 40 and we had helped them dock in the absence of any marina staff – so they are our next door neighbours.   We had a really nice evening together.

Wednesday morning and back out in the car – this time our plan is to go to El Limon waterfalls.   We drove back into the mountains and stopped at one of the small restaurants that offer tours.   The horses looked quite stout and well looked after – compared to some of the skinny ones we had seen – and we agreed a price. The guy said it was about a 25 minute ride to the falls – so money exchanged hands and Richard and I were introduced to our trusty steeds – Paloma and Blanky – and we left with our two female guides….. through the plantation as our guides pointed out coffee, bananas, advocados, bread fruit just growing willy nilly about the place.

Of course, Richard gets the good horse which just trots along steady on her feet. Mine, meanwhile, was a stubborn mule who stopped, ate, pooped, refused to move, ran to catch up and stumbled on the rocks.   Not much fun when she stumbled on the path alongside a sheer drop!   After stopping for the horses to get a drink at a feeder to the falls we arrived at the National Park.

We got off and paid our entrance fee and then went down the path – and down and down and down the steps….   And this continued for 15 plus minutes. Phew that was a challenge with my dodgy legs!   We arrived at the bottom – took some shade in a little cave – and then went to the falls…. They were really spectacular and well worth the trip…. We even made friends with a parrot while there…..

Then it was time to turn around and go back up – wow that was very hard work and we had to stop to take our breath a few times….   We were very pleased to be reunited with our horses for the return trip through the plantation. Blanky seemed in a better mood on the way back thankfully LOL.

Back at the roadside we enjoyed soursop and bananas with the guides and their families before returning to the car.   Had been quite an adventure…

Back in the car and we abandoned ideas of continuing on to the beach and decided to return to the marina and that beautiful pool…..   Had a lovely bobbing time……. We enjoyed the final views out to sea and watching the fisherman beating into the waves home.

Wednesday evening and there was a cocktail party for cruisers in the marina – so we cleaned up and wandered along. It was a good social end to the day.

Thursday morning and we were up very early as we were heading out to sail up to Ocean World Marina on the north coast near Puerto Plata an overnight 120 mile sail away.   We started on pink and blue jobs – Richard did an engine check and spotted a dodgy fan belt so changed that out – I went shopping for fresh produce and paid our marina bill. In the meantime we returned the car keys and the Commandante, the Naval Intelligence and the Drug Enforcement guys all came on board to give us our despacho (permission) to leave port.  All done and we slipped out at 11 am enjoying the views of Puerto Bahia as we left……

We motored straight into wind and waves out of Samana Bay and were treated to a couple of huge humpback whales broaching on the way – but didn’t get close enough or stay long enough for us to get photos – but wow nevertheless!!!   We turned the corner, pulled out the sails, and enjoyed the views of the lush coastline….. Then it was time to go into our shift pattern and I was alone sailing downwind with full genoa to watch the sunset.

Nothing much happened after that – then Richard came on watch at 9pm.   At midnight we swapped again and there was a ship going across our bow – so I stood watch and had a very exciting three hours!   After the tanker crossed our bow I had two coming from behind – one was a large cargo ship and the other was the Independence of the Seas.  And the cruise ship was heading straight at our stern.   The cargo ship started to pass us to starboard and I radioed the cruise ship to check they could see us – he confirmed he could and he changed direction slightly to pass about a quarter of a mile on our port side.   Was a pretty spectacular sight as he passed!   Phew….all done….oh, hang on, another one coming at us.   This large container ship passed us to starboard going in the opposite direction so all that was left were stern lights as Richard came up for his 3am watch.   Was pretty tired by now so fell into my bunk gratefully!  And, guess what, Richard never saw another ship all night…… but really enjoyed watching the sun come up.

Beautiful sailing day, the skies were blue and the sea was bluer….. and we spotted Puerto Plata in the distance.   Then the wind died too low to push us along at any reasonable speed so we motor sailed the last few miles….

We entered the marina after a 26 hour passage and pulled into the fuel dock – have never seen docks this high in our lives!!!

We were met by the Commandante, the marina manager and the drugs people who did not come on board – instead I went with them to the office while Richard stayed with Morphie to ensure that the lines didn’t chafe through on the dock.   Formalities done and we were given information on our slip and we moved off.   We got docked in our allocated slip and, again, the fixed concrete docks are very high so Richard made some quick chafe protection gear out of flexible conduit he had purchased at a builders yard near El Limon for this exact purpose.  We had been warned by other cruisers that it can be rolly in this marina and they had ropes sawn through by the concrete docks – in fact, they all had renamed the place Motion World LOL.

All secure, we washed down Morphie and then went ashore…..wearing our compulsory wristbands to identify us to the security staff.   Ocean World Marina is part of the Ocean World Park complex and it has a pretty tacky building fronting it….and we were served restorative beers in paper bags at the terrace. Whatever next?!?!   After a little wander around outside the complex we returned to Morphie for an early dinner and to bed – pretty tired.

This morning – Saturday – and we are planning to wander to the main road and see if we can get a bus into town…..   Richard has just checked the lines and spotted this….. would have lost this rope for sure during the night without his preventative measures!

We will be here for a little while waiting for passage weather – lovely and settled right now but not enough wind!

Bye for now

Jan