Cam, Meg and Friends In Great Guana Cay

April 28 to May 5/13
From Lynyard Cay in the Abacos we eventually made our way to Great Guana Cay to rendezvous with our son and daughter in law, Cam and Meg. They rented a house there along with our niece Maria and her fiance Bill and five other friends. It was a total blast meeting, and meeting up, with everyone. Although the weather was not typical for the Bahamas for that time of year (cloudy and overcast most of the week, and a little cool) the gang found plenty to do. They enjoyed it all including the short excursions on the boat.


In the dinghy on the way back to the boat from Man-O-War Cay.

Swimming and snorkeling off of the swim platform, Great Guana Cay

Fishin' from the bow at anchor.

April 28, Abaco, here we come

Eleuthera was a blast as we toured the town together and stocked up on supplies etc. We all spent a couple of days there. Crossing to Abaco from North Eleuthera was a bit bumpy but the 4-6' swell was 10-12 seconds and on the beam with, at times, a 2-3' wind chop on top of the swells, Thank goodness for stabilizers! We did a bit of corkscrewing coming into Little Harbour! Glad to be anchored at Lynyard Cay. Escapade is here already. They were just a couple of hours ahead of us. Dream Weaver will catch up tomorrow.




Sylken Sea anchored at Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera.  Dream Weaver and Escapade also here. 

All of us waiting for a taxi to take us to the 'Leon Levy Native Plant Reserve’

Long Island, Cat Island and Eleuthera

From Dollar Harbour we move on to Thompson Bay, Long Island and meet up with Escapade. We leave Dream Weaver and Escapade the next day and head to Hog Cay to prepare for a pleasant crossing to Cat Island. We connect with Betty and Jill on LiLi there. Mom flies into New Bight. She'll be with us for three wonderful weeks! The five of us do an island tour with Danny King, highly recommended. His uncle's cracked conch, where we had lunch, was heavenly! From Cat it's on to Rock Sound where we again meet up with Escapade and Dream Weaver. There was at least one "party night" before we headed to the Glass Window, Current Cut and Meek's Patch.

Beaching with friends on Long Island

Ken, Mom, Betty and Jill, in our own private little pool, Old Bight, CI.

Dollar Harbour Anyone?

We had a great day and are trying to decide on whether or not to go to Rum Cay. The wind and seas are not in our favor for a crossing in that direction. Karin on Dream Weaver has a brilliant option.  Let's go to Dollar Harbour, Long Island instead!. Looks like bonefish/ conch heaven. I had looked at this in the past but from the north there were no easy routes. From here in French Wells it's a cinch. And what a spot it is!  It's stunning in here and for 4 days there are only 3 of us at anchor. The pictures say it all

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More on French Wells, Crooked Island

What a destination! Today we take the tenders and go to Goat Cay. Paul makes a cast off the beach and hooks up on a nice mutton snapper with his first cast, then trips on a conch. At low tide we walk out and pick up conch in 6" of water. Conch salad and snapper for supper tonight. Yum!

The carcass of that mutton snapper we're going to have for dinner.

Fire on the beach at Goat Cay, French Wells.

French Wells

Tricky getting in! VPR (Visual Piloting Rules)and 'puckering' on the low tide, Sandy came through here in force. The channel between the bars at the entrance has shifted south. You will easily see the bars as long as the light and conditions are right. We saw 6+ feet most of the way, then briefly 5.2 to 5.6.Pucker time! This was VPR in good conditions, DO NOT FOLLOW YOUR CHART!
Once inside there is plenty of water but tons of current and holding is spotty, some of the bottom scoured, so look for a sandy spot closer to the sand bars that suit the winds and tides.

French Wells

Spring Point in a Clocking Wind

The wind is clocking to 160 @ 12 - G22+kts. Supposed to go SSE-S-W tonight with no protection from the west. Hopefully the shallow bank means all we get is a chop. We move to Spring Point for hopefully a comfortable night. It took a while for the Delta to grab, then it held in 20kts and 800 RPM. Should be good as long as it does not pull when the wind shifts around to the west.

Where Is Everyone?

We are now in the Bight of Acklins anchored at Jamaica Cay with Dream Weaver. Not another boat or light in sight. The sky is clear so the stars are brilliant as are Venus and Mars (at least we think it's Mars).

Working hard at relaxing under the pine trees at Jamaica Cay.

 

 

On to Acklins

We  decided a night crossing would be best. In order to leave in the light and arrive in the light meant we could go really slow, save a bunch of fuel and just enjoy being at sea on a beautiful night.  I just love night crossings and going offshore, so this suited us just fine.  We travelled at 1400 rpm, 6.5 kts burning 1.4 gph. Perrrrfect! Stars, and clouds, and yes a few squalls in the distance that were not a threat to us.

The Ragged's

What can I say that you don't already know? We spent a week here in the Jumentos and Raggeds with Karin and Paul from 'Dream Weaver'. Flamingo Cay is rolly but really beautiful with conch right under the boat. Buena Vista Cay is awesome! Hog Cay in the Raggeds is a "mini George Town". We rounded the corner to see approximately twelve boats anchored there. Great times as well as we all gathered on the beach for cocktails.
Yes, it's remote and yes some anchorages are rolly. Yes the fishing is awesome and yes the locals are happy to meet you. They'll chat and answer your questions regarding local island life and the out islands. It was very cool

A nice gathering on Hog Cay, Ragged Islands.