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Travel
Harbour Island Eleuthera
to Marsh Harbour Abacos
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Friday July 13th
-
we will be traveling from Harbour
Island, Eleuthera to the Abaco Beach
Resort and Marina in Marsh Harbour,
Abacos ..
- NOTE - this is the end of Log D .. to
continue click here for
Log E
..
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Location
Valentines Marina
Harbour Island, Eleuthera
Dee Sea Diving
Dee Sea Diving
Dinner at Runaway Hill Inn
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Thursday July 12th
( Autumn's Birthday )
-
Bob and Gayle will be doing a Deep Sea
Dive with a group from the Marina ..
- Betty took of for the
Harbor Islands Community Center
to get her blood tested and then did
some shopping .. Gayle and Bob headed
out on their Deep Sea Diving trip
.. I filled our Water Tank with water
and started to get DEE LIGHT ready for
leaving in the morning ..
- Betty and I ended up having lunch at
the Sip Sip that overlooks the
Pink Sand Beach .. when we got back Bob
reported that they headed South of the
Marina and thru the Inlet that we looked
at yesterday and that they had two great
dives ..
- Gayle and Bob met a Father and Son
that were diving with them .. the Father
and Son along with their family ended up
spending some time on SEA BUFF after the
Diving Trip .. they have been in the
Abacos the last number of days so Gayle
and Bob got a number of 'to-do' tips ..
- before we hoisted our Dinghy up onto
the Bow of DEE LIGHT we took it out one
more time to explore the other side of
the Sound .. there is a lot of shallow
waters on the West Side of the and there
are a number of small Settlements .. the
Water Shuttles were busy taking locals
from side to side ..
- the four of us headed out for dinner
on our Golf Cart for the Runaway Hill
Inn at 07:00 pm .. the owner of
Runaway Hill Inn keeps their Boat
at the Harbour Island Marina .. a few
days ago he cough a large Tuna so we had
Tuna for dinner tonight except Betty who
had a steak .. the entire evening was
deelightful ..
- Autumn had a great Birthday .. she
spent the day with 'the girls' aboard
SEA BUFF and then when we returned from
dinner she got a number of steak scraps
from Betty ..
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Location
Valentines Marina
Harbour Island, Eleuthera
lunch at Harbour Island Marina
Sunset at Harbour Lounge
|
Wednesday July 11th
( Recovery Day )
- we will be launching our Tender and
will be exploring the area by water ..
- at 06:30 am the Mega Yachts
INSPIRATION with the aid of a local
Pilot ( A-1 ) pulled out of the Marina
..
- most all of the Shops, Restaurants,
etc are closed again today ie
Recovery Day ..
- we launched our Dinghy and headed out
with Bob and Gayle .. we looked over the
Inlet that is a few miles South of the
Marina and then we headed to the Cut
above the Marina .. the Inlet South of
the Marina has two charted routes on
Nobeltec that can be used but after
taking a look at the Inlet neither are
anyplace that we want to take Dee Light
thru .. we went to the Harbour Island
Marina Bar for a quick lunch before
heading back to the Boats .. once back
we rinsed the salt off the Boats and
ourselves and then headed to the Marinas
Pool ..
- we ended up taking the Golf Cart to
the Harbour Lounge for dinner ..
it is located right where the
Independence Day celebration took place
last night .. and did we have a dinner
with a sunset .. and yup Ice Cream .. on
our way back to the Marina we stopped at
the Runaway Hill Inn and we
decided that we will have our last
dinner at Harbour Island there tomorrow
night ..
|
Location
Valentines Marina
Harbour Island, Eleuthera
Betty talking on Skype
Mega Yacht INSPIRATION
Betty at the Beach
Bahamian Independence Day
|
Tuesday July 10th
( Bahamian Independence Day )
- we will be exploring and enjoying Harbour Island ..
- after enjoying a few pieces of
Johnnycake that Ole Pot gave us we
headed out in the Golf Cart .. later
Betty made a number of calls on Skype ..
Autumn spent most of the day recovering
from her ordeal yesterday ..
- it is most interesting to watch the
Mega Yachts move in and out of the
Marina .. yesterday the Mega Yacht
INSPIRATION ( Kingston ) docked right in
front of DEE LIGHT .. this is some info
that I found about the Boat
INSPIRATION
Builder:
Broward Marine - Year: 1996
L.O.A.: 47.50 m / 156.27 ft - Beam: 8.50
m / 27.96 ft - Draft: 2.30 m / 7.56 ft
Hull: Aluminum - Superstructure:
Aluminum
Max. speed: 20 knots - Cruising speed:
14 knots
Fuel: 52.990 l / 13.777 gal - Range:
2.400 miles - Engines: Twin
Detroit/Allison 16V 149-TI DDEC
Power: 2x 2.400 hp - Generators: 2x
Northern Lights 99kW - Guests: 10 -
Crew: 10
- the
four of us plus Autumn had lunch at the
Marinas Exterior Bar that overlooks the
Harbour .. lunch was great and the view
is to die for ..
- in
the afternoon we took the Gulf Cart to
the Pink Beach .. with today being
Bahamians Independence Day
everything is closed up for the day ..
there is hardly any activate on the
Streets but there was a lot of people on
the Beach .. but no 'no tan lines' Gals
at all ..
- at about 07:00 pm we headed to the Bay
Street Park area in the center of the
Settlement where the Independence Day
celebration was going on .. we had
dinner at the Food Stands .. they had
BBQ Chicken, BBQ Ribs, Soda, Corn on the
cob, Potato Salad, etc and it was all
FREE .. they had a number of local Bands
and a DJ .. Gayle and Bob left for the
Boats early and it was a good thing
because when the Fireworks started
Autumn decided to abandon the Boat and
Gayle rescued her from the Swim Platform
.. after the Fireworks they had a small
Junkanoo that consisted of mostly kids
..
|
Travel
Spanish Wells thru
Devils Backbone
to Harbour Island
Our Pilot - Ole Pot
SEA BUFF -
Devils Backbone
Devils Backbone
Harbor Island Marina Bar
The Pink Sand Beach
|
Monday July 09th
- we will be traveling from Spanish
Wells thru the Devils Backbone to
Harbour Island ..
- the Route to Harbour Island is thru an
area called 'the Devils Backbone
.. the Devils Backbone is a
narrow Waterway that is VERY difficult
to navigate thru thus MOST everyone that
goes to Harbour Island uses the services
of a local Pilot .. even the most
seasoned Boat Captains will not try the Devils Backbone
on their own .. yes there are some that
have tried it without a Pilot and in a
few cases they have made it but most of
those that have tried it on their own
have ended up being the ones that the
locals talk about .. if they are lucky
they end up back at Spanish Wells Boat
Yard for repairs ..
-
we suggested that since we have
experienced the Devils Backbone
once before that Ole Hat should
Pilot SEA BUFF and that we will follow
.. I have our route for today laid out
on my Chart Plotter .. ie 10.8 miles and
27 Waypoints ( for reference only ) ..
Ole Pot will guide using 'visual' only
and will not use any Waypoints ..
- once SEA BUFF pulled out of their Slip
( 08:15 am ) Ole Pot pulled up behind
them and tied off his Skiff and we
pulled in right behind them .. we had a
great cruise thru the Devils Backbone
and were were docked at the
Valentines Marina by 09:45 am ..
the Harbormaster helped us get hooked up
and said that the cost of the water is
$20.00 per day whether we use it or not
so we hooked up our Waterlines for the
first time in weeks ..
- right after we were docked Autumn
TRIED to jump on the Dock and took a
plunge into the Marina Harbour .. the
Harbormaster ( Marcus ) and I fished her out .. we
wrapped a towel around her and she was
motionless in Betty's arms for a long
time ..
- also right after we were docked I saw
the Captain of OVERDRAFT from Fort Myers
.. he said that he has been here since
April and that his owner will be leaving
at 01:30 pm and that he will be pulling
out with the Boat at about 02:30 pm ..
- we checked in at the Marina Office and
got a Golf Cart .. I took Betty to the
Harbor Islands Community Center
to set up a time to get her blood tested
and I went to the local Barber Shop .. I
got a 'buzz' that only a mother would
like .. UFFFFDA !! .. but it will grow
back someday ..
- Bob and Gayle spent part of the
afternoon enjoying the Pool ..
- we did a Golf Cart Island tour with
Bob and Gayle .. after having a drink at
the Harbor Island Marina Bar we
headed out and we came across a
construction project where they were
mixing concrete onsite .. we ended up at
the topless section of the Pink Sand
Beach where we saw the Wild Horses
on the Beach and yes 'no tan lines' Gals
.. ( after a closer look there were
slight tan lines ) ..
- later we ended up taking the Golf Cart
to a very 'local' restaurant Avery's
where we enjoyed 'local' food .. on our
way back to the Marina we stopped to
take in part of the Independence Day
Celebration .. when we made it back
to the Marina we checked out the Mega
Yacht that docked directly in front of
DEE LIGHT when we were out .. DEE LIGHT
is just the right size to be a Tender on
the Mega Yacht .. they were having
Cocktails on the Lower Aft Deck ..
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Location
Spanish Wells Yacht Haven - Eleuthera
Autumn on the Beach
Crab Claw Dinner
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Sunday July 08th
- a day to enjoy and explore Spanish
Wells ..
- Spanish Wells Yacht Haven has a new
owner .. their Boat ( 80 foot
Ferretti )
is in the Tie-Along Slip right next to
DEE LIGHT .. they are Bahamans from
Nassau .. they also own the Marina next
to The Poop Deck in Nassau ..
- Betty took Autumn and myself on a long
early morning Golf Cart ride to the
Beaches, the City, a section of the
Island just across from the Marina and the Warf
area .. on Sundays nothing is open at
all as this is a very religious
community .. I was
able to use the Marina's phone to call
the Valentines Marina at Harbour
Island, Eleuthera to confirm that we
will be arriving there tomorrow morning
..
- it was a clean up day for Gayle and
Bob .. they had SEA BUFF's exterior
cleaned yesterday so today they cleaned
the interior ..
- when I turned in the Key to the Golf
Cart all of the locals in the Marina
Office were watching Bahaman TV coverage
of the Bahamas Independence Day
Ceremonies ..
- at about 06:00 pm Gayle and Bob joined
us on DEE LIGHT for a Crab Claws
dinner .. yesterday Ole Pot brought us
five pounds of Crab Claws and tonight we
had a feast .. Crab Claws, Tossed Salad,
Pasta Salad, Beer Muffins etc .. most
deelightful !! .. and another great
Sunset in the Bahamas !! ..
|
Travel
Cape Eleuthera
to Spanish Wells
SEA BUFF - The Current Cut
The Current Cut
SEA BUFF - The Current Cut
'photo walk' on the Warf
Gayle, Bob and the Girls
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Saturday July 07th
- (( 07-07-07 )) .. we will be
traveling from Cape Eleuthera to Spanish
Wells thru The Current Cut ..
- we left the Marina at about 07:45 am
.. a large Freighter was heading right
at us as we pulled out of the Marina ..
he was headed to Powel Point ( part of
the Marina ) with supplies .. the first
10 plus miles was 'dicey' navigation as
we had Coral Heads on both of our sides
.. once we made it to more open waters
we had an 11 knot wind from our Aft
making for a very deelightful crossing
to The Cut ..
- last night Gayle made a Crunchy
Creamy Coconut Pie out of the
Coconut that Bob and I harvested .. I
had part of it when we were in route and
it was a deelight ..
- we made it thru The Current Cut
at about 11:00 am .. The Current Cut is
a narrow unmarked waterway between two
Islands .. by going thru The Current Cut
we save many miles of open water travel
around the end if an Island .. as we
approached The Current Cut we had 4 foot
Rollers on our Stern plus Whitecaps from
our Starboard Side and once we were at
The Current Cut we had a STRONG
CURRENT coming right at us .. it was
dicey but we made it by staying right on
our predetermined course .. once thru
The Cut we had 6 inchers that soon
became 3 footers ..
- we ran our Water Maker for the entire
trip again today .. the Inlet at Spanish
Wells is marked but once you are in the
Inter Harbour Channel you must use
visual navigation as almost nothing is
marked at all .. the Spanish Wells
Yacht Haven Harbormaster and an
assistant met us at the Dock and helped
us in with the WINDS at our Starboard
Side .. we had both Boats docked by
12:15 pm ..
- after checking in at the Marina Office
we rented a Golf Cart and headed out for
the local Internet Shop .. there is only
one location in Spanish Wells where you
can get on the Internet and it is not
open on Sunday so this was our one
chance to get on-line for a few minutes
.. they charged $10.00 per hour even if
you were only on-line for a few minutes
.. from the Internet Cafe we went to the
Dive Shop ( Bob broke a strap on one of
his Flippers ) .. when the others went
to the Grocery Store I took a 'photo
walk' on the Warf .. this weekend is
the Bahamas Independence Day celebration
much like our Fourth of July so there
was more going on in the town than a
normal Saturday .. along the Warf I went
to where we bought Fuel the last time
that we were here and am I glad that we
filled up at Cape Eleuthera .. the cost
of Diesel here is $3.91 !! .. much of
the Spanish Wells economy revolves
around the Fishing Industry and as you
walk the Warf it is evident .. when the
first of August comes the Fishing Boats
head out and the community is dead ..
- we lined up a Pilot Captain ( Ole Pot
) to guide us thru The Devils Backbone
on Monday .. later he dropped of
Bread and Johnny Cakes that were
baked by his wife .. later he dropped
off five pounds of Crab Claws ..
- later we had dinner at the Anchor
Snack Bar that is right on the Warf ..
and did we EAT !! .. including my Ice
Cream .. they had a HUGH bowl
of Ice Cream for only $4.50 .. and yes I
ate it all .. after dinner Bob gave us a
road tour of Spanish Wells and wouldn't
you know we came across a Soft Serve Ice
Cream business that was set up in a
persons drive way .. and yes we went
away with a container of Soft Serve for
the Boat ..
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Location
Cape Eleuthera Marina
Rock Sound, Eleuthera
Sammy's Place
Sammy's Place
|
Friday July 06th
- we will be spending the day exploring
the Rock Sound, Eleuthera area ..
- the Cape Eleuthera Marina just
reopened on May 15th .. it was shut down
for a couple of years, changed ownership
and has gone thru an extensive
remodeling project that is still going
on ..
- yesterday when docking I noted that I
had a linkage problem with the Throttle
Control on the Port Engine .. this
morning I worked on the linkage problem
and we headed to the Fuel Dock for Fuel
.. this was our first Fuel since Nassau
..
- at about 11:30 am ( Bahaman time )
Kenny from the Cape Eleuthera
Development Company took us into town (
Rock Sound ) .. Kelly was heading into
town to get some supplies ( Beer ) for a
local celebration that will be held this
weekend .. it is about 25 miles to
town from the Marina and she gave a
verbal tour all the way .. she said that
a son of one of the Amway founders
bought the Cape Eleuthera Marina ( 5,000
acres ) and is the monies behind all of
the reconstruction that is going on at
the Marina ..
- the Summer Camp on the Island of
Eleuthera is run by the Bahaman Police
Department .. ie Police Summer Camp ..
it is for all of the kids on the Island
but there are mostly boys that are sent
to the Camp .. not a bad idea at all ..
- Kenny took us to the Sammy's Place for
lunch and what a lunch it was .. in
addition to everything else Bob had
Sheep's Tongue .. on our way out of town
we were able to stop at a 'Strip Mall'
for some supplies ..
- once back to the Marina Betty and
Gayle headed to the Beach and I got
things ready to head out in the morning
.. after they returned I helped
Bob take SEA BUFF to the Fuel Dock ..
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Travel
New Bight to Cape Eleuthera
Betty in
route to Eleuthera
Cape Eleuthera Marina
Dinner at
Barracjdas
|
Thursday July 05th
- we will be traveling from the Hook at
New Bright to Cape Eleuthera Marina
- as we watching the sunrise there was a
light rain at the same time .. after we
took the 'Girls' to Shore for their
morning walk we then hoisted up the
Dinghies and headed out of The Bight for
Eleuthera at about 07:50 am .. we
started with 2 to 3 foot Seas .. the
Seas built as we headed Northwest and
when we were at the South end of
Eleuthera the Seas were 4 to 6 foot and
were real 'squirrelly' and bumpy .. just
before we made it to the Marina Entrance
we had a large Boat ( 112 foot Westport
- HIDE OUT ) approach the Entrance from
the West at the same time .. we entered
the Marina first in 2 to 3 foot Seas ..
both Boats were docked by 12:30 pm ..
just after getting docked a local boy
asked us if we wanted to have DEE LIGHT
cleaned .. he was the same boy that
cleaned DEE LIGHT two years ago when we
were at Davis Marina just South of Cape
Eleuthera .. we both recognized each
other ..
- the General Manager Stephen ( former
GM at Hurricane Hole at Nassau ) drove
around to our Boats and welcomed us ..
he and his wife live in a home that
overlooks the Marina Entrance .. he
filled us in on the development of the
Marina ( the Marina opened up on May
15th 2007 ) ..
- we must be back to civilization we
have WI-FI Internet and Direct TV for
the first time in days ..
- we checked out the Marina Grounds by
Bike and foot and decided to have dinner
later at the Barracjdas Restaurant (
with a view to die for ) that overlooks
the Seas to the Southwest ..
- once back at the Boats Bob and I
harvested a Coconut that Betty found and
Gayle gave all the Girls Bike Rides ..
- once we made it to WI-FI land I
checked my E-mail and I heard from
Sharon, Bob and Laurel .. they said that
after making it to the Miami Beach
Marina they were able to lick their
wounds and this morning they headed out
for Key West Florida before heading back
to Fort Myers ..
|
Location
on the Hook - New Bight
Cat Island, Bahamas
Betty
with Water Jet
Gayle
with Starfish
|
Wednesday July 04th
- we are enjoying our peaceful
time here on the Hook so we decided to
spend another night ..
- we watched to sun come up over Cat
Island and could hear the Rosters in the
distance .. then we launched our
Wal-Mart Floats and made our way over to
SEA BUFF and provided them with a wake
up rap on the Hull of their Boat .. once
we got them up they took the three Girls
into Shore for their morning trip ..
since we decided to spend another night
on the Hook I had to contact the Cape
Eleuthera Marina to let them know that
we would not be making it there today ..
since we do not have any WI-FI on the
Hook I had to call by Land Line .. it
took two Dinghy trips to Shore to
contact the Marina .. on the second trip
the skies opened up and really dumped on
me .. I walked in the rain to the
BaTelCo to place the call to the Marina
.. once I reached the Cape Eleuthera
Marina they said 'no problem' and we
will plan to see ya tomorrow .. the
overseas phone call cost $1.20 ..
- when Betty and Gayle were on the Water
Jets a Dolphin came thru The
Bight to check them out .. after they
were done with the Water Jets Bob took
them out for Dinghy Drifting for
the balance of the afternoon ..
- I spent some time checking out our
Generator, Strainers, Oil levels etc ..
- I took the Dinghy in to the brightly
colored Restaurant along the Shoreline
.. the Cook came to the Waterside Door
and said that she could do Conch,
Beans and Rice dinner for four at
07:00 pm and that she would not use any
pepper .. we decided to pass and instead
we had a great dinner on our Boats ..
|
Travel
Hawk's Nest to New Bight
The Hermitage
The Hermitage
The Hermitage
Spectacular Sunset
|
Tuesday July 03rd
- we will be traveling from Hawk's Nest
to an anchorage called the New Bight ..
- at about 07:30 am we headed over to
The Club for an Omelet .. to get to The
Club you take a Bike out of the Marina,
to the Islands Airstrip, then down or up
the Airstrip to the Airstrip Support
Buildings, then hang a left to the other
side of the Island .. we had breakfast
with Gayle and Boob .. over breakfast we
decided to head out to the New Bight
today to spend the night on the Hook ..
we were both on the Hook by 01:30 pm
just off Shore from the Village of
New Bright ( 157 people ) .. the
water in the Marina Basin at Hawk's Nest
was 'milky' so we did not run our Water
Maker when we were there but once we
were on the Hook I turned our Water
Maker on ..
- we launched the two Dinghies and took
the Dogs to Shore .. in the travel ( old
) information they said that you could
tie off your Dinghy on the Government
Dock .. well the stone Dock has
weathered and now is the local fish
cleaning spot .. after talking with some
locals we ended up at the Blue Bird for
a drink and to place our dinner orders
for later ..
- Betty and I headed our for The
Hermitage ( the retirement home of
Revered Father Jerome - born in England
1876 ) .. we did not get 100 feet from
the front door of the Blue Bird and the
brother of the owner of the Blue Bird
picked us up and drove us up the Hill as
far as the Road went .. from there it
was a long very rough and rugged walk
and climbed up to The Hermitage
.. once there we were at the highest
point on Cat Island ( 260 feet above our
Dinghies ) .. the view was great both to
the East and to the West .. and it was
most interesting to explore the interior
of the Hermitage .. Father Jerome did an
interim elsewhere as a wagon train
driver, a monk, a missionary and as a
horse breeder .. he became a Catholic
Priest and returned to the Bahamas to
build Catholic Churches and the St
Augustine Monastery in Nassau .. he
first came to New Bright in 1937 to
build his retirement home .. there was a
Guest Book in his home that we signed ..
- shortly after we returned to the Boats
a Sailboat joined us at our Anchorage ..
- later we picked up Bob and Gayle with
our Dinghy and went to the Blue Bird for
a delightful but SPICY !!!! dinner ..
UFFFDA !!! and they did not even have
any Ice Cream to temper it at all ..
three sisters own and operate the Blue
Bird .. they had us sign their Guest
Book also .. on our return trip to the
Boats the sunset was spectacular ..
- we watched the Heat Lightning dancing
in the skies over Mount Alvernla before
we headed in for the night ..
|
Three Captains
Injury Report
Bob -
Sprained Ankle
HAWKSHAW
Bob and Laurel
42 foot Sea Ray
Tony - Terrible
Rash
SCINTILLATOR
Tony and Rose
45 foot Sea Ray
Bill - Sprained Wrist
LADY SHARON
Bill and Sharon
53 foot
Ferretti
|
-
below is an E-mail that I received
this morning from Sharon ( LADY
SHARON ) ..
Hi Marv:
What a day! You may
have gotten all this info already,
but if so, here is another
perspective.
Tony has a
terrible rash all over his face,
arms and legs. We don't know how or
where he got it but it looks like
poison ivy. He may have gotten it
when he hiked Highborne or from some
Mango Cheesecake (mango is related
to poison ivy and he is very alergic.)
He is a mess and very
uncomfortable. This morning Bob
fell and sprained his ankle.
He is in a cast. Both of them went
to the nurse practitioner on Cat
Cay. Tony got a shot of Benidril.
We had to get Bob up to his bridge
on crutches. Tony was in more
discomfort in the sun and we tried
to get him to stay in his boat (but,
would you believe; he did not
listen) while we got Bob ready to
cast off. Finally, at about 11:00
when we were about to leave and Bill
and I were getting our boat untied,
Bill fell and sprained his wrist!
Unbelieable. So, we had three
damaged captains and three first
mates with added nursing duties.
The seas were flat,
the skies clear and a gentle breeze
blowing. There was a storn
approaching Miami but it was about
two hours out when we were only
about 20 miles out. So we were
confident that we were home free
with very flat seas. Oh, but wait.
"What is that big white boat with a
red stripe off our port bow? Oh, it
is the CG!. Bill, they seem to be
turning; in our direction! Bill,
turn to chanel 16 in case they want
to hail us." Sure enough, they are
hailing us and they are asking us
who, what, where, etc. And they
want to board us! So, they did.
The other boats stop up ahead of
us. It takes them 20 minutes to
get on board and that storm is still
moving and we are not. I hear one
of their guys say they are going to
board the next vessel up ahead (Hawkshaw).
They spend about an hour on our boat
inspecting, questioning and being
very polite. Good news is that we
got the "good as gold" document
and were in full compliance without
any drugs or illigals on board.
More good news, they decide that we
were so squeaky clean that they
weren't going to inspect our
traveling companions' boats. Bad
news is that storm did not slow
down. So we keep going for a few
minutes and the storm beats us to
the port and we had to sit still
about two miles off shore.
Lightning was hitting all around us,
it was raining so hard we could not
see more than twenty feet in front
of us and we were very uncomfortable
to say the least. Thank goodness,
the seas were still very flat and
the wind was not bad at all. I just
had visions of getting fried by that
lightning. Bill got two life
jackets out and we sat it out in the
lower helm. We couldn't see the
other boats and we all turned off
our radios beause the lightning was
so close. Finally the storm passed
and we found the other two boats.
Tony was way off to our port and
very close to a huge freighter that
couldn't have been visible in the
storm. Bob was way off to our
starboard. We turned our radios on
and followed Tony in.
If we had not been
stopped by the CG and/or if we were
not delayed in the clinic, we would
have been in the marina long before
the storm hit. But, that was not
meant to be.
Can you believe that
we went all that way and on our last
day in the Bahamas all three
captains were disabled? We can now
laugh at it.
Just a side note,
Rainbow had here little doctor's
visit and it went very well and took
only a few minutes. The doctor was
here before we finished tying up and
gone before our water was in our
tank. Also, the LBO was very simple
and we don't have to do it again in
Ft. Myers.
The boys were so
exhausted, that after a very late
lunch or early dinner, they all went
to sleep and the girls took a bus
ride to south beach and I got an ice
cream cone, Rose bought a blouse and
Laurel didn't get anything. We took
the bus back to the boats at 7:30
and we all stayed in for the night.
Now, that's some log,
eh?
Sharon
|
Location
Hawk's Nest Marina
Cat Island, Bahamas
HUGH King
Crab
Gayle
with Sea Treasures
|
Monday July 02nd
- we will be exploring the area ..
- for the Pleasure Boater there are not
a lot of amentias at Hawk's Nest .. no
Cable TV, no Direct TV ( we are outside
their range ), no WI-FI ( except at The
Club ), no green areas ( just gravel )
etc but it is a Fisherman's 'deelight'
..
- yesterday we took the Dinghies to the
West and East of the Marina so today we
took the Dinghies up the River / Creek
that the Marina is located on and then
we took the Dinghies to the East and
North of the Marina .. we found a number
of Coral Heads and a number of Beaches
.. at our first Beach area Betty spotted
two LARGE King Crabs .. the body was
about the size of a large Grapefruit and
it had an overall span of about two foot
.. we did much snorkeling and added to
our Sea Treasure collections .. Betty
put her RPYC Hat on one of the Crabs to
show the size of it .. Bob used his hand
to also display the size of the Crab but
was quick to pull his hand away when he
was reminded of his bloody Iguana
encounter ..we also came across a Sea
Alter that someone set up along one of
the Beach areas .. it was a great place
to take a break in the shade .. Betty
also found a vintage Clorox brown bottle
..
- once back to the Marina we cleaned up
and headed to The Club for a drink and
to hook up to the Internet .. my son Jon
is on his way to Chub and he sent me an
E-mail from the Miami Beach Marina .. he
said that 'the three Boats are now
there' .. we also got an E-mail from Jim
and Kim saying that they have had a
change in plans and will not be joining
up with us here at Hawk's Nest .. when
we headed back to the Boats for dinner
we saw that the Fishermen were cleaning
the catch of the day in the Fish
Cleaning Building ..
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Travel
Emerald Bay to Hawk's Nest
Crossing to Cat Island
Hawk's Nest - Cat Island
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Sunday July 01st
- we will be traveling from Emerald Bay
to Hawk's Nest
on Cat Island, Bahamas
today
..
- it was about 08:00 am when we pulled
out of the Marina to smooth Seas .. and
within minutes we were in over 5,000
feet of water .. and not one Crab Pot ..
we made water while underway .. we
arrived at the Hawk's Nest Inlet at mid
Tide and we had good water all the way
in .. the Inlet is narrow but well
marked ( three large
Red
Channel Markers ) .. by 10:45 am we were both tied
off for the day ..
- after we were settled in we launched
the Dinghies and took off to explore and
check out the Nude Beaches just out from
the Marina .. we ended up going about 10
miles from the Marina stopping and
exploring at a number of spots .. there
are just miles and miles of beautiful
Beaches to explore .. Beaches and Sea
Life that is untouched .. on our return
trip a HUGE Fish totally come out of the
water between our Dinghies ..
- Hawk's Nest is a Fisherman's
'deelight' .. they are the hosts of some
of the largest Fishing Tournaments in
the Bahamas .. in the late afternoon the
all the Fishing Boats that were out for
the day came in and filled almost all
the Slips .. near the end of our Dock
area is an air conditioned Fish Cleaning
Building ..
- the Marina Office ( The Club ) is
located remote from the Marina Harbour
.. but there are a fleet of Bicycles
that can be used for transportation
around the Marina Grounds .. the only
place for WI-FI is at The Club .. and
that is where their Restaurant is
located also
.. for dinner they only offer one
selection and tonight it is Hot Dogs and
Hamburgers at $25.00 per person .. last
night one of the Fishing Boats caught a
large Wahoo and grilled it for everyone
at the Marina .. we are just a day late .. we decided
to have dinner aboard SEA BUFF and what
a great dinner it was !! .. Pinwheel
Steaks and we even had Ice
Cream for desert ..
|
Location
Emerald Bay Marina
Emerald Bay
Helmet Conch
Cleaning the Helmet Conch
Gayle's Sea Alter
|
Saturday
June 30th
- this will be our last day at Emerald
Bay ..
- note from Bob and Loral when they were
at Highborne Bahamas ..
SORRY BUT THE GIRLS
TRIED ALL AFTERNOON TO GET IN THE
NET BUT COULDN'T....RIGHT NOW WE ARE
READY TO LEAVE FOR CHUB AND THE
OWNER LET US USE HIS COMPUTER....ALL
WENT WELL GETTING OVER HERE
YESTERDAY. SEAS 2-3 NO BIG
DEAL...BUT GETTING THRU THE CUT WAS
REALLY AN EXPERIENCE...LOTS OF
CURRENT MIXED WITH TIDE MADE FOR A
LOT OF PUSH...ANYWAY OFF WE GO AGAIN
AND THE GIRLS SHOULD HOOK UP WITH
OUR LOG ENTRIES LATER TODAY.
BOB AND LOR
-
the rains that came thru this area
and then headed to Florida came back
this morning .. I took LIL DEE ( our
Dinghy ) out only to get caught in a
good downpour .. a good day
to use our Skype to make a few calls
and change out our Fuel Filters ..
-
yesterday when we were Snorkeling
Betty and Gayle both found some
Helmet Conch so today it was
Helmet Conch cleaning day .. the
meat from the Helmet Conch is
poisonous so we did not save it for
Tony
-
below are notes from LADY SHARON and
HAWKSHAW written after they made it
to Chub
Bahamas ..
We arrived at
Chub. The water was so smooth,
I gave myself a pedicure while
on the fly bridge. It is
beautiful here. We miss you
folks. Say "Hi" to Betty.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
We made it to
Chub after fueling up at
Nassau. The ride was about
as smooth as you could ask
for..plus we dodged the
rain. The Club at Chub is
beautiful and everyone did
some pool/drinks time. The
bar is built into the pool
how
convenient.
We had dinner
at their restaurant and
headed back to the marina to
see a beautiful full moon
rise over our boats. Its
too bad we missed your son,
it would be nice to get the
experienced point of view
about this place.
Hopefully
this weather will continue.
-
after getting everything ready to
head out in the morning we took the
Marina Shuttle to the Four Seasons
for dinner and one last trip to the
Casino ..
|
Location
Emerald Bay Marina
Betty blowing her Conch Horn
|
Friday
June 29th
- the winds have died down and the Seas
have laid down so HAWKSHAW,
SCINTILLATOR and LADY SHARON
will be heading back this morning ..
- the sun came out for the first time in
days and it was a great day to start
their trip back ..by 07:30 am with Betty
blowing her Conch Horn all three
Boats had cleared the Marina Harbour and
were underway .. they reported that they
had 2 foot rollers ..
- there is an Air Strip on the top of
the Marinas Break Wall that an Alter
Light Airplane landed on and took some
people for rides ..
- with the winds down we launched our
Dinghies and headed out in search of
treasures .. after weaving our way thru
the Coral Heads we made our way
to a Beach only to find that the Surf
was going to do a number on our Dinghies
so we regrouped
and headed out for a second Beach that
was protected a little .. and we found
treasures including the
Conch that Tony was looking for
.. it was a great Dinghy outing ..
- shortly after we got back from our
outing Betty said that two Governmental
Officials stopped by looking for
Illegal Aliens .. she told them that
Tony left this morning and that he was
heading North ..
- we ended up having Docktails / Dinner
at the Wahoo Bar ..
|
Location
Emerald Bay Marina
Farwell Dinner
Flowers at Four Seasons
|
Thursday June 28th
- another day to watch the weather and
enjoy Emerald Bay .. and a good day to
do planning for our next number of days
in the Bahamas ..
- a few larger Boats headed out of the
Marina this morning .. it was
interesting to watch as they hooked up
their Tenders / Dinghies as they headed
out .. once out of the protected Harbour
area they really bounced .. the topic at
the Boaters Lounge and around the Marina
is the weather .. it is most interesting
to listen to the seasoned Captains and
other Boaters talk about the Seas, Wave
Heights, etc ..
- all of us ended up having lunch
together at the Marina's Wahoo's
Restaurant .. weather permitting the
three RPYC Boats are going to head out
in the morning ..
- we all headed to the Grand Isle
Resort Pool area for Docktails and
then had our Farwell Dinner at
the Four Seasons Restaurant ..
COMMENTS FROM OUR FIRST MATES
- Sharon ( LADY SHARON ) - It has
been an amazing trip. I am so sad
to have to turn around and go home.
Marv has been an excellent cruise leader
and Betty was a great social director.
We could not have asked for better ones.
It has been a journey to remember for
the rest of our lives. Thank you
Marv and Betty. |
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