WalderickWells, Exumas

Relaxing with my blue pedicure to match the sky.

We had just about a 2 hour sail to Walderick Wells and took a mooring ball for $20/night.  This is in the Exuma Cay Land andSea national Park system so there is nothing ashore but the ranger station, where we pay our bill, rent DVD's, exchange books, etc.  The park Ranger there is Darcy, who lives with her husband on their boat year round and has done this for EIGHT years.  Don't think I could do it.  Very scrubby vegetation on all of these islands, and the land is a kind of craggy limestone with holes all over it.  We did take a hike one day but some places could be dangerous if you don't watch your footing.  Basically a pretty barren landscape with few birds, but the water is beautiful.  I neglected to take pictures our first day and now the weather is not so good so hope another opportunity comes along for that before we leave.

Ray on our hike - is this Bahama weather?

The weather we are getting may be tied in to the horrible weather in parts of the US, where 30 some people have died in tornados.  Ours is not that bad, but we just don't go out into rough, high seas with possible squalls creating winds up to 30-40 its.  So, I have been cleaning (no cell phone), cooking (no restaurants), reading (Glass Castle), DVD's (Season 2 of Boston Legal, Big Fish), and best of all getting together with fellow cruisers.  Last night we went to the beach and had a "Blowin' Like Stink" happy hour party with Jesse & Ginny from Wind Dust, Jack and Shaun from Pattycakes, and Ward & Richard from Begheera.  It was also Jack's birthday so Shaun had made a delicious apple cake, her first attempt to bake on their boat and it was a big success.  We all agree the answer to the question we are asked and sometimes ask ourselves - "Why do we do this?" - the answer is meeting incredible people who you instantly have something in common with.  It just doesn't happen on land.

Enjoying the beach before the bad weather but still so windy ray had to hold the umbrella. The only visitor we had that day was a curly tailed lizard who kept creeping up on us - I think he thought we had some food for him.

I was so proud of my pasta I took a picture - it was delicious, just zucchini, garlic, olives, bits of turkey pepperoni and Parmesan with olive oil and lemon juice as sauce.  Add a glass of red wine and lunch on the boat!  Good thing I provisioned well in Miami.  And Ray is always super appreciative of my cooking.

On our hike to Boo Boo Hill we did find blow holes, which during high tide blow up spumes of water but we just felt the hot air coming up.  The island used to have forest on it but excessive logging over 200 years ago left it a barren landscape vulnerable to hurricanes, and will never be able to recover from that.  There is only one mammal in the Exumas, called  Hutia, a small rodent that comes out at night only.

All boaters are encouraged to hike Boo Boo and leave piece of driftwood with their names on it.  Seems there is not enough driftwood so e

Carcass of a whale washed up on the beach here a few years ago.  An autopsy showed it died from ingesting plastic bags, wrappers, etc.  The park here is dedicated to conservation and preservation.  They say "Leave only footprints in the sand".

Jesse (Wind Dust) and Shaun (Pattycakes) on our boat for happy hr.

Jack (Pattycakes) and Ginny (Wind Dust)

Us (duh).  The galley is behind me and guest cabin behind steps on other side.

Chart view of typical cay in Exumas.  Surrounded by reefs and sand bars, navigation can be tricky.

Men of the Sea - Ray, Jesse, Richard, Ward, Jack

Forgot to say, the winds were so strong yesterday, Jesse called over and said "I think your ananometer (or however you spell it and it sure is hard to say but he does it well) is gone.  This is a thing on the top of our mast that spins around and tells us how fast the wind is blowing and from what direction.  Actually, it stopped working a month ago and we weren't going up the mast to fix it. Anyway, when we got in our dinghy we found one half of it and could see the other half at the bottom of the ocean in 10 feet of water.  Rest in peace.

Nassau to the Exumas

On Highbourne Cay

We delayed our departure from Nassau a day because of weather, of course, but glad we did, as we met a couple who were chartering and had to come back in to dock because it was so rough.  As soon as we put the anchor down at Highbourne Cay we had a big rain that washed all the salt off the boat - great.
The next day we had a happy hr on the beach (Jesse's idea)and met some other cruisers.  After Highbourne we went to Hawksbill Cay, where we had lunch out at the restaurant Xuma.

Ray and Jesse in dinghy

Nurse sharks at the end of the dock.  They are feeding on bait from fishing boats.

Happy hour

We broke our topping lift on the way from Nassau which made the boom fall a couple feet to the top of our bimini, which is luckily very sturdy.  Ray now has a spare halyard holding it up.

Ok for now, will update our week at Walderick Wells soon.  I still don't quite know what I am doing with this blog.

Miami to Nassau in 28 hours

We left No Name harbor last Thursday at 6:30 AM and had S-SW winds at 10-15 kts. boosting us across the Gulf Stream past the island of Bimini around 2 PM.  We now were on the Bahama banks, which are only about 15-20 feet deep - quite a change from the depths of over 2000 feet in the stream.  Water color was beautiful but pretty soon  - NIGHTFALL - and it was one of the darkest we have seen - it was like being in a black tunnel for 12 hrs.  Lucky for us we were following our friends Ginny and Jesse on Winddust & they had done this before plus had better radar and other technology (AIS) to avoid any ships out there.  Daylight arrived just as we were to maneuver an area called "The Tongue of the Ocean" (don"t ask - I don't know).  Arriving in Nassau was pretty easy - and the mega resort of Atlantis was a big landmark.  Many cruise ships and mega yachts here. We walked to Atlantis to check it out - amazing - then went to the British colonial Hotel where we sent our honeymoon. Grocery stores not well stocked here due to delay of supply ships and loss of power to meat coolers but we are already well provisioned.  A few days in a marina has erased the fatigue and remnants of sea sickness so now we are headed further into the Exuma island chain, heading for a place called Waldrick Wells.

Sunrise a welcome sight !

Busy Nassau harbor

Atlantis yacht basin - huge boats -$80/ft./night!

Atlantis

Atlantis

Chicago in the Bahamas

British Colonial where we spent out honeymoon

Megerin at dock - Atlantis just across a bridge from us

Inside British Colonial

buying lobster - Yum

Cruise ship arriving in the early morning close to our anchorage

No Name Harbor

Ok, we are still in Miami, now seriously looking for a weather window to cross the Gulf stream over to the Bahamas.  We have been here for a few weeks, first anchoring near Star Island, which is the South Beach area.  Star island is home to many celebrities, including the person (man) who invented Viagra.  His mansion is the biggest on the island, no surprise.  From Star Island we can dinghy to any number of shops and restaurants, walk the South Beach ocean front to check out the trendy and sometimes kooky people.

                                                                     
Now we are in No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne, which is in a lovely state park, but on the weekends the serenity disappears when the party boaters arrive, rafting up to drink, dance and make a lot of noise.  We really don't mind that so much but worry about their ability to handle their boat and possibly damage ours !
I recently went home to Pgh. for a quick visit, leaving Ray to fend off the revelers over a holidays weekend - his nerves were shot.

Anyway, I will try to keep up this blog when we get to the Bahamas.  We plan to go right past Bimini to Nassau, a long trip, then on to the out islands of the Exuma chain.

Cumberland Island, GA

Dungeness Mansion ruin

Wild horses

Cumberland Island, Georgia - Fantastic.  One of our favorite spots on the US coast.  It has a lot of Pittsburgh history, as the ruin of a mansion there was built by Thomas Carnegie and we thought that the architecture really looked like it had the Pittsburgh influence.  Walking on the trails through live oaks and palmetto palms we saw wild horses and turkeys.  No alligators but hear they are there.  It is now under the National Park system so it will be preserved for us all to enjoy.

Trails all around the island

Boat Improvements

Last year we reupholstered the boat cushions and had a new counter top installed, since the previous owners had drilled some holes in the counter for mysterious reasons. Ray worked hard on plumbing and electrical issues but those results are not so easy to photograph. We also bought a flat screen tv, new generator, and changed the boat letters. Here are some before and after pictures. The blue is before.

It's been a long time

As you can see, I had good intentions of keeping a blog with Megerin but somehow dropped those intentions right out of my life.
I know most people keep in touch with Facebook now-a-days ( I have heard blogs are so 2006 ), but I am not a fan (though liked the movie), so think maybe if i start up a blog again it will give me incentive to keep in touch more. I always MEAN to email but seldom do.
Anyway, we have had Megerin for almost 2 years now and have made it to the Abacos in northern Bahamas last year and this year hope to sail from Florida to central Bahama island chain called the Exumas. Right now we are in Miami, anchored near good cruising friends, with the city as a beautiful backdrop. Everyday cruise ships move in and out and i think we are in a lot of pictures - we sure see a lot of flashes going off. The loud music is playing, huge screens are lit up showing passengers already doing some disco dancing - in and out every day! An amazing industry. And quite a change from the island anchorages we used to be in. But it is fun touring around, having very good restaurants and stores nearby. Enjoy it while we can, right?