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Tuesday
June
08th
in port
- Compass Cay
Carol and Shyvette
swimming pigs
love it
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
after walking Autumn we loaded up
the dinghy for a ride to Staniel Cay
... on the way we stopped at Fowl
Cay and met the new managers of
Royal Plantation Resort - Yves and
Marta Verhoustraete ... while we
were there we confirmed our
reservations for our farewell dinner
while our RPYC group is here and
also met the chef ...
.. after leaving Fowl Cay we met up
with Paul and Bev at the Thunderball
Grotto and then we all headed over
to Big Majors so they could see the
swimming pigs at the beach ...
watching the pigs swim up to one's
dinghy is a hoot and in general they
are pretty docile however they are
big (in excess of 200 lbs. each and
usually there are at least four of
them) and can become fairly
aggressive when going for the
"goodies" that we humans like to
bring ... every year we hear of kids
and adults being bit or otherwise
injured during a close encounter
with the pigs ... last week a young
man visiting his parents had to have
32 stitches to close his arm and
elbow from an incident ...
bottom line - please STAY IN YOUR
DINGHY while you feed these critters
! ...
we left Big Majors and the pigs and
met Bev and Paul for lunch at the
Staniel Cay Yacht Club and
after saying so long we met with
Shyvette at the new Reception Office
to finalize some arrangements for
the arrival of our RPYC group in a
couple of weeks ... walked up to the
Bread Shop for a couple of loaves of
fresh bread (Whole Wheat and
Cinnamon Raisin) .. on
the way back to Compass we stopped
at one of the sandy coves along Pipe
Creek for a refreshing dip in pool
...
Wednesday June
09th
in port
- Compass Cay
view from Dee Light
Jim and Kim's boat
Kim Jim and Carol
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
spent the morning puttering around
the boat and catching up on email
and such ( the internet connection
at Compass Cay is by and large
pretty fast and fairly reliable
however like all such systems in the
cays it has its "ups and downs" )
...
later in the afternoon we took
the dinghy north
past O'Briens Cay and up around
Soldier Cay where Bill and
Mechelle are - then
traveled on both sides of Little
Halls Pond Cay ( belonging to
Johnny Depp ) where we took some
photos of their lovely
landscaped beach area ...
we also stopped at the Exuma
Park's Sea Aquarium .... we had
not brought along our glass
bottom bucket or snorkel gear
but the water was so clam we
could still clearly see the
coral and colorful reef fish all
the way at the bottom ...
finally we ended up at the
Cambridge Cay area where we
found Jim and Kim's boat moored
(
without a name on it as they had
just painted it before heading
over here ) ... they showed us
the way into a new (for us)
beach they have nicknamed the
Blue Hole and we spent the
remainder of the afternoon with
cold drinks in hand while
lounging in the water and
catching up with all the latest
news of their trip, etc. ...
... as the sun began to lower
into the water we climbed back
into our dinghies and we headed
back to Compass Cay and
Dee Light for the evening ...
Thursday June
10th
in port
- Compass Cay
"welcome back home"
"docktails"
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
shortly after we got up this morning
the Air Conditioning system died ..
always something .. after a quick
check it was evident that the
plumbing was chocked up with junk
that we picked up when we were at
Fort Myers Beach .. UGH !! ..
however after cleaning the strainer
and flushing the system with fresh
water we still were not getting
enough water flow to run the A/C
units ... Marv went in search of
David who is a certified A/C tech
from the Del Ray Beach area but he
had left the cay to ferry Cleo ( who
works in the office here ) in his
skiff to Barre Terra for her
daughter's graduation ... he would
not be back until early evening so
we resigned ourselves to another
night without the air ...
in the evening we walked up to the
the "marina lounge" with Autumn
where we found David had returned
from his trip and over cocktails he
told us he would be by in the
morning to take a look at our A/C
problem ...
fortunately the weather continues to
be beautiful so after dinner we had
our ice cream sundaes on the hard
top while enjoying the cool breezes
and did some stargazing ... by that
time the stateroom had cooled down
enough to make for a fairly
comfortable night's sleep ...
Friday June
11th
in port
- Compass Cay
heading out at High Tide
David from Del Ray
petting the Sharks
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
... we were awakened at 06:15 AM by the
sound of a bow thruster and 4 toots from
the charter boat GoodTimes
as they left the dock next to us ...
while having our second cup of coffee on
the aft deck David stopped by ... after
making sure nothing was obstructing the
water intake we determined that the pump
had finally "bit the dust" ...
fortunately we carry a spare pump so
David started on the task of replacing
it ...
David O'Connor (M/V Outpost)
had us fixed up in no time ... he is
from the Del Ray Beach area but spends
most of the summer months at Compass on
his sport fish boat Outpost ...he
is very capable to do most repairs and
can easily be reached thru the marina
here (Tucker or Jamal) ... David
was done by 01:30 pm .. wow!! -
cool A/C never felt so GOOD !! .. also
have not seen such good water discharge
from the system for quite some time...
... we took the dinghy to Sampson Cay to
get it filled with gasoline and refilled
our spare tank... ran into the folks
from Totem whojoined us
for a drink in the bar ... learned
we are not the only boat to have air
conditioning problems ... Pura Vida
has had to cut their cruise plans short
.. lost their A/C at Compass .. spent a
night on the Hook at Big Majors and
finally came into Sampson Cay where they
have rented a villa until
they head home by air .. a captain will
be bringing the boat back to the States
for them ...
... enjoyed a quiet evening at Compass
Cay ... two large families have arrived
and we had fun watching all the kids on
the dock trying to save their toes (and
other body appendages) from the sharks
and then making their "fabulous bead
creations" around the picnic table ...
we returned to Dee Light for a
light dinner and then retired to our
wonderfully COOL stateroom ... sure to
sleep soundly tonight ....
ZZZZZZ!!!
Saturday June
12th
in port
- Compass Cay
beach at Joe Cay
another sunset
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
after installing the new A/C pump
spent time cleaning up the Engine
Room left from installing the new
A/C pump ... used the shop vac
Ernie gave us and also found a handy
spot to store it ..
in the afternoon we took the dinghy to
the south end of Joe Cay at the Thomas
Cay Cut Inlet where we found a nice
beach with a gentle surf and a great
breeze ..
later in the afternoon a Katy Krogen
with the hailing port of Portland Oregon
pulled onto our dock and we spent some
time chatting with Ted and Sue on
Dream
... they told us they had purchased the
boat 4 years ago from Southwest Florida
Yacht Charters in North Fort Myers and
had since taken the boat all the way
down to Belize and Guatemala ... after
cruising the Exumas they will be heading
back to Florida to complete some much
needed maintenance repairs on the boat
where parts and labor are more readily
available ...
Sunday June
13th
in port
- Compass Cay
from North Fort Myers Florida
Bill and Mechelle & Kim and Jim
Cleo and Carol
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
we had invited Jim and Kim along
with our mutual friends Bill and
Mechelle for cocktails and
dinner aboard Dee Light and
later in the that afternoon they
arrived in their boat at Compass
Cay ... they are living in the
Cambridge Cay / Soldier Cay /
Bell Island area and have both
taken on big challenges with a
lot of hard work ahead of them
but they are enjoying every (
almost ) minute of it and will
do great ..
we are going to be in this
area for part of this week
and after heading south we
hope to return again before
we head back to Florida ...
we hope we are able to get
together with them again
before we head back ..
after saying goodnight to
our dinner guests we spent
the remainder of the evening
at the marina lounge and
then walked to the end of
the dock to take a few
photos of another beautiful
sunset ...
Monday June
14th
in port
- Compass Cay
this is NOT Dee Light
private beach
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138 ..
we awoke to yet another picture
perfect day and in the morning many
of the boats were on the move again
... four boats left Compass and
another 3 arrived including another
60 foot Viking from Tarpon Springs
... we took the dinghy to Sampson
Cay to meet with one of the charter
captains to discuss our plans for
when the RPYC group arrives
... after meeting with Raymond
"Breadboy" we joined the crew from
Totem
for lunch in the dining room ...
after lunch we made a stop back at
Dee Light
for some cold drinks and then headed
back out in the dinghy to explore up
north again and spent the rest of
the afternoon on a couple of private
beaches ... we found the small
inlet at O'Briens Cay with the
stream that flows all the back into
the interior of the island ...
because it was low tide it was all
sand and looked totally different
this visit ...
Tuesday June
15th
in port
- Compass Cay
Totem
Loan, carol and Jamal
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
Totem returned from Sampson Cay with
their guests .. worked on our "Dee
Light" sign that we had put along the
walk way .. it had weathered to the
point that it could hardly be read ..
made an addition to the bottom of the
sign and gave it a couple of coats of
varnish ..
we wanted to talk to Loan (one of
Tucker's son about helping out with the
boat transportation while the Bahamas
2010 Land Sea and Air Crew are here ...
while we waited for Loan to return to
Compass from a graduation we retrieved
our signboard hanging on a tree along
the main walkway and took it back to the
boat for a "facelift" ... it had
really weathered since our last visit so
this time we added a couple of coats of
varnish ... hopefully it will weather
the elements a little better ... we also
added a "lower level" with our names ...we
postponed our last dinghy trip to Rachel
Falls until tomorrow and spent the
afternoon around the docks until we were
able to catch up with Loan and Jamal to
make our arrangements for the boats
...because Jamal is generally busy
running the Compass marina Jamal's
brother Ozziewill
most likely operate Jamal's second boat
( Tucker sure has a lot of good-looking
boys - nice too! ) ...
we enjoyed a very nice sunset with a bit
more breeze this evening which made for
a very comfortable cocktail hour on the
dock ..
Wednesday June
16th
in port
- Compass Cay
Carol and Bruce (Bahama Star)
our updated sign
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138 ..
we wanted to get to Rachel's Falls
during the incoming tide ... high tide
was scheduled at about noon so we got
our gear and cooler ready and loaded
into the dinghy ... before we left
we invited Captain Bruce from the
Charter Sailboat Bahama Star
aboard to see Dee Light ... he and his
wife Sheila have been doing charters
(mainly high school and College kids in
the summers ) for over 25 years
... when they "retire" they are looking
to find a suitable live-aboard boat ...
Bruce also makes awesome deep-fried
Turkeys ...
the Rachel's Falls area was prettier
than we remembered and we found 3 really
nice shells on our walk up the the Falls
... after a short swim we decided we had
exceeded our quota of mid-afternoon sun
and headed back to the marina ... after
we loaded the dinghy onto the boat we
enjoyed some down-time with Marv working
on photos and Carol enjoying a brief
siesta ) ... when the sun was
lower we took our sign to re-hang it in
the tree branches lining the walkway ...
( looks very nice! ) ... we then
continued on to the crescent beach on
the other side of the island ...
walked all the way to the far south end
of the beach and around the corner to
the "low tide landing strip" in
search of sea beans or whatever else may
have washed ashore ... we
think this must surely be one of the
prettiest beaches in the world with
super-fine sand that has a slight pink
tinge similar to Harbor Island ... after
having a cold drink after our beach walk
we called it a day and headed back to
Dee Light and took Autumn for her
evening walk with a stop at the Marina
Lounge ...
Thursday June
17th
travel
- Compass Cay
Jamal
Travel - Compass Cay to Staniel
Cay
we checked out at the Marina office and
gave Cleo a big hug along with the dates
for our return trip ... at 09:45 am we
left the dock at Compass Cay ... a
little sad but knowing we will be back
again soon ...
we took our time traveling at only
about 10.5 knots as it is a short
distance to Staniel Cay ... after some
very capable maneuvering on the part of
our Captain dealing with a brisk current
and a reasonable amount of wind we were
docked before noon at Staniel ...
after which we even received a couple of
compliments on our docking procedure !!
NOTE
- this is
the End of
Log C
.. "click" on
Log D
to continue with our cruise
