Gil on STELLA MARIS
Looking out from "Peace & Plenty" dock in George Town
Ken with a barracuda he caught on the Exuma Bank
Feb. 25 We’re several islands down the chain of the Exumas at Big Major Spot near Staniel Cay. We are enjoying the weather (mostly sunny every day) and the water (snorkeling to see fish and coral).
We were entertained yesterday morning by two goats on the otherwise unoccupied island. They had a face-off in a cave opening that was near our boat. They pawed the ground, butted heads, backed-up and charged. They paced themselves and several hours later were still going at it until some dinghy came along and came too close, disrupting them (maybe they were glad to end it at that point!).
But one of the best things here in this simple village is a bright yellow house with a “Bread” sign outside. When we first stopped in we were told that we could get whole wheat bread at 4 pm when it came out of the oven, so we went back at 4 pm promptly, and then we ordered coconut bread for the next day. Today on the VHF radio we heard that the Yellow House has conch fritter mix to take home and cook for yourself as well as bread. We’ll be there!
We’ve continued to meet interesting cruisers and exchange stories about where we’ve been so far and where we’re going. Some boats are now headed north and can give us up to date reports on where to stop as we head south and good advice about water depths and which cuts to consider using when we pass from the Bahama Banks side of the Exumas to the Exuma Sound. Some cruisers are seasoned and have made this trip many times and others are also new to this and can laugh with us at our first time exploits.
We met Gil from Miami in the Exuma Land and Sea Park a few days ago. He is single-handing a large John Alden sailboat with old charts and this is his first trip to the Bahamas. We have exchanged information and questions and have traded-off on cooking dinner the last two nights.
We’ve had some beach meetings with larger groups -- some planned and some impromptu -- where we get to gab and get more advice and info. The evening beach gatherings usually include a campfire of driftwood and BYOB. We’re experimenting with different rums and different mixers so the combinations are endless.
Today we snorkeled in Thunderball Cave, and saw many of the colorful tropical fish that hang out there. The area around this cave was used in the Thunderball James Bond movie some years back. There are also large rays that coast along the bottom, mostly ignoring us. Some are more than three feet across and today we saw a very large one that was a gray-blue color.
Feb. 28 We sailed to George Town today. There is a route in more shallow water that is more protected from the wind, but since we are trying to avoid shallow water, we took the route through a “cut” to the Exuma Sound and motor-sailed all day to Elizabeth Harbor where George Town is. We fished on the way but only had one bite, and no luck. The town is large compared to others in the Exumas and has more facilities and supplies. There are estimated to be 300 cruising sailboats anchored here, spread out between 4-5 different areas all in sight of each other. It is quite protected here from pretty much all directions.
There is a morning “Cruisers Net” in this harbor on the VHF radio that is moderated by one person but includes information from other designated volunteers. People take turns reporting on the local business schedules, the weather, the up-coming cruisers regatta (The 37th Annual!). Then each interested boat, in turn, can announce that they have just arrived, or that they have some equipment for sale, or that they need to borrow something, etc. This weekend there were church schedules, information about upcoming trivia contests, announcement of a workshop on understanding the weather in the area, and many other subjects.
March 1 Meals are an interesting subject and ours are almost always good; on board our boat we can cook almost anything and it tastes delicious! Must be the fresh air and the anticipation that if we’re roughing it how can it turn out so well. We often make substitutions in a recipe and the results are so good we plan to replicate them when we get home. Eating out for a lunch or dinner in this area is interesting. You usually get a limited menu and then pick out what you want and then you are told they are out of that. After a few tries you settle on what they DO have. Sometimes as you walk in they tell you they “just have chicken” or that they “will have hamburger when the next mailboat delivery comes in a few days”. The food has been good but you can’t have your heart set on any one favorite! Even conch, the local shellfish, is not always available. Today lunch was not grouper or conch chowder, but the mahi mahi and the chicken on ceasar salad were excellent.
In George Town we have connected up with Gil from Miami and his girlfriend Manny has joined him. There are several other boats here that we remember from other places. Stay tuned for more adventures from the Bahamas!
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