Thursday
June 24th
in port
- Staniel Cay
Thunderball Grotto
what a day
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In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242)
355-2024
this is our last day before the RPYC
group arrives and we think we are
about ready for their arrival ...
... first thing this morning DJ was
here to wash Dee Light and scrubbed
her stem to stern ...
we
made another trip to the Blue
Grocery Store and the supply boat
had brought in some beautiful
produce and we got lots of romaine
lettuce, green peppers, tomatoes,
some summer squash, broccoli, etc.
while the Captain vacuumed - the
first mate did some galley duties
and finally ... Autumn got a
bath and a new kerchief for company
too! ...
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Friday
June 25th
in port
- Staniel Cay
Autumn welcomes RPYC
Bahamas 2010 Cruise
Long Legged Lady arrives |
In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242)
355-2024
at 09:00 am the first of the RPYC
Bahamas 2010 Crew which consisted of
our co-leaders Don and Mary and Bob
and Karen arrived via Watermakers
Air ... after checking in and
getting settled we walked up to have
lunch and go over the schedule for
the rest of week with our co-leaders
Don and Mary and Bob and Karen who
will be helping out with the rest of
the group ...
we
finished lunch just in time to greet
Wayne and Diane as they docked their
48 foot Grand Banks Long
Legged Lady
... they are meeting up with us on
the return leg of a 6 month voyage
down to Grenada and we were all
anxious to hear about their trip ...
while waiting for the second wave of
RPYC members to arrive on the 03:00
PM flight we were all able to spend
some time catching up at the pool
area ...
by early evening the first 18 people
had arrived and were settled into
their cottages ... we then met
aboard Dee
Light
for a short "Captain's Meeting" and
cocktails before going up to Staniel
Cay Yacht Club for dinner in the bar
area ...
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Saturday June 26th
in port
- Staniel Cay
getting Dinghies ready
lunch at Sampson Cay
da Swimming Pigs
Thunderball Grotto |
In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242)
355-2024
we are truly amazed at the string of
beautiful weather that we have been
blessed with ... we awoke to another
picture perfect day ...
our plan for the day was to take the
dinghies out and stop at Big Majors
to see the swimming pigs ... then on
to Sampson Cay where we had made
reservations for lunch in the main
dining room ... we pulled up
to the beach area at Big Majors and
were surprised not to see any pigs
swimming out to us ... even after
waiting around for a while the only
one we saw was a lone small piglet
who reluctantly ventured out to the
dinghies ... even he didn't seem to
be very interested in what we had to
offer .... so after floating around
for a bit we decided to head to
Sampson and try again on the back on
the way back ...
at Sampson we took a quick peek in
the Gift Shop/Ships Store and came
out with a few purchases ... we had
opted to have lunch in the
air-conditioned dining room as we
know everyone would be getting
plenty of sun on the water today ...
we made a good choice and everyone
enjoyed a lovely lunch ...
back to Big Majors Island ...
yup the PIGS woke up and did they
swim ... guess you have to catch
them when they're not napping
... then on to Thunderball Grotto
... several of the group had ridden
over on the plane with a video crew
who were doing some filming in the
area for Sandals Resort
company and they greeted us as we
pulled up to the mooring ball ... we
had tried to time our arrival for
low slack tide but ended up just a
tad too late and the current was
beginning to fairly strongly but
most everyone able to see the Grotto
and also lots of fish in the general
area ... Dottie particularly enjoyed
feeding the fish rice kernels
out of her hand ...
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Sunday June 27th
in port
- Staniel Cay
walked to Church
Bahamas 2010 Crew |
In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242)
355-2024 ..
... say amen, amen .. after
breakfast we walked up to the local
Church and sang hymns, hugged each
other and said amen again! ...
we picked up several golf carts from
Nikki at 3N's at the airport and
loaded them up for our picnic at Hoi
Tai Beach on the south end of the
island ... Hoi Tai is one of Staniel
Cay's community beaches and we
picked this because of its location
... it has loads of shady seating
with picnic tables, a wonderful
breeze and best of all a soft, white
sand beach area for sunning and
swimming ...
the last of our group (Win and Lars)
arrived on the 3 PM flight and after
cleaning up and changing we met for
cocktails by the pool and another
"Captain's Meeting" with the entire
group ...
at 7:30 PM SCYC rang the bell for
their traditional Bahamian dinner
and we all went into the dining room
for our Welcome Dinner ... at dinner
each person on the cruise was
presented with a personalized Sand
Dollar along with SCYC Tervis
Tumbler as a memento of our cruise
... |
Monday
June 28th
in port
- Staniel Cay
swimming with the Sharks
Sea Aquarium
Rachel's Falls
|
In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242) 355-2024
..
another beautiful day and a good
thing as we have a big day planned
for the group ... Loan Rolle and his
brother Ozzie are scheduled to pick
us up at the dock and take us north
to Compass Cay for the day ...
at 10 AM we were on our way in their
two Albury Brother tenders ...
however Ozzie had to return to
Staniel Cay because he forgot his
sister Cleo on the dock.... and we
needed Cleo because she was going to
cook us our lunch !!! ...
as soon as we arrived at Compass Cay
everyone immediately hit the water
to swim with the sharks ... in fact
the gals were the first ones in the
water ... in addition, most everyone
also had a chance to walk over to
the crescent beach for a swim before
partaking in "burgers in paradise"
cooked on the grill by Jamal and
Cleo ...
after lunch we again loaded up and
headed to the Sea Aquarium in the
Exuma Land and Sea Park just north
of Compass ... this is a
natural sea aquarium with hundreds
of fish that swim right up to your
mask ... after spending time in the
water snorkeling we toured the area
seeing Johnny Depp's "digs" and
several of the other islands in the
area ... we bypassed snorkeling at
Rocky Dundas ( as the surge was too
strong today ) to head directly to
Rachael's Falls on the north end of
Compass Cay ... here we walked up
the flats area to Rachael's Bubble
Bath where Diane found several nice
shells to share with the gals ...
on the way back we drove by the old
Decca station that was used by NASA
at one time ... by the time we got
back to the dock it was 5:30 PM ...
WHEW - what a GREAT DAY!
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Tuesday
June 29th
in port
- Staniel Cay
Sand Dollar Queen
heavy hors d'oeuvres
|
In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242) 355-2024
..
.. we had scheduled a deep sea
fishing trip this morning but after
talking with Wade (the charter
captain) we decided to
postpone it until Thursday ... the
bad news being that the winds a lot
higher than we anticipated bringing
5 to 8 footers to the sound however
it is also bringing in some nice
afternoon breezes to keep everyone
quite comfortable during their stay
...
after breakfast we said so long to
the first of our group Ed and Peggy
who needed to fly back to Ft.
Lauderdale to attend a big wedding
in Boston ... the rest of the group
had a open day for a variety of
activities ... some toured the
Staniel Cay by Golf Cart .. some
went to the Infinity Pool by dinghy
and pulled up Sand Dollars from the
sand (some with more success than
others) ... and others just lazed by
the pool area ...
in the evening we met at the pool
patio again for heavy hors d'
oeuvres and cocktails ...
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Wednesday
June 30th
in port
- Staniel Cay
Little Farmers Cay
Iguanas
shelling .. ?? ..
|
In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242) 355-2024
..
another big day on the water is
planned ... the morning is slightly
overcast which is not a bad thing
because everyone spent lots of time
in the sun the previous day ...
Loan and Ozzie (from Compass) again
showed on up the dock with the
tenders and we took off for Little
Farmers Cay about 20 miles south of
Staniel ... after a tour of
Cave Cay Marina and then Musha Cay
which is a beautiful private resort
owned by David Copperfield we docked
at Little Farmers Cay for lunch at
Ocean Cabin with proprietors
Ernestine and Terry Bain ... they
had prepared a traditional Bahamian
al -u-can-eat buffet of fried fish,
baked chicken, cracked conch, baked
mac 'n cheese, peas 'n rice, and
coleslaw with a split broiled
lobster tails to boot ... after
lunch led by Terry we all sang the
Little Farmers Cay song and then
sang Happy Birthday and He's a Jolly
Good Fellow to Fred to celebrate his
80th! ... finally Commodore Chuck
hung a signed RPYC burgee from the
rafters to commemorate our visit to
Little Famers Cay ... before
boarding the tenders again we walked
up to JR's Woodworking Studio ...
we had hoped to stop at the long
sand bar at Galliot Cut from some
shelling but as we left the docks we
noticed a storm brewing to the
southeast ... after conferring with
Loan and Ozzie we decided we did not
want to get caught out on the bank
quite a distance from any shelter so
decided to pass on the shelling and
head back to Staniel ... instead on
our return we stopped at Guana Cay
to feed the local Iguanas table
scraps from our lunch ... we had
been told they are vegetarians but
they can certainly chomp down those
chicken bones! ...
after the big lunch today at Ocean
Cabin most everyone had a light bite
to eat at the pool patio again and
afterwards several of the group
enjoyed a night-cap at the bar ...
|
Thursday
July
01st
in port
- Staniel Cay
they are off
they are back
Farewell dinner
|
In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242) 355-2024
..
.. Wade Nixon was at the dock in his
Grady White at 09:00 am for
our fishing trip ... we headed north
and went out at Conch Cut just south
of Compass Cay ... when we were
about 2-3 miles of shore in about
1000 feet of water the seas calmed
down and Wade put out 2 lines rigged
with ballyhoo ... we began to
watch for birds as they like to eat
the same thing as the fish eat ...
it wasn't more than 15 minutes when
we spotted a flock working the water
... as we pointed the boat in that
direction and came closer we could
see the school of Mahi Mahi ...
Eureka! ... not more than a minute
later we had the first strike! ...
and no sooner had Win taken the
first line in her hands when we got
the second strike and Carol G. began
to reel that one in too! ...
it was really exciting with both
gals reeling in fish at the same
time! ... all in all each of
the girls caught a Dolphin with Win
bringing in 2 (Lars concluded
he "had caught enough fish to last a
lifetime" so he passed) ... we
finally called it a good day's catch
and on the way in Carol M. managed
to land a 4+ foot barracuda that
Wade would cut up for bait ...
... the rest of our group used the
day for beaching, shelling,
snorkeling and exploring the area
... and Billie and GiGi came back
with a bucketful of fish from their
flats fishing trip ... we all
met aboard Dee Light at 5 PM for
cocktails before boarding the tender
from Royal Plantation for our
Farewell Dinner at Fowl Cay where we
enjoyed a wonderful dinner (with a
fabulous birthday cake for Fred too!
)
|
Friday
July
02nd
in port
- Staniel Cay
farewell drinks
Conch Fritters tonight
|
In Port -
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - (242)
355-2024 ..
at about 08:30 am we could hear "da
plane .. da plane" .. and by 03:00
they were all gone ... we have
decided they are much like
grandchildren "wonderful to have
them visit - but nice to see them go
home again!" ... we hope they
had as much fun as we did in sharing
with them a small taste of the
Exumas that we have come to love!
... we spent the rest of the
afternoon chillin' out and Rita Kay
and Clay stopped by on their way to
the Yacht Club for Happy Hour ....
the local Conch Man ( Alan ) showed
up with 20 large Conch for us ...
we watched as he cleaned them for us
and we stowed the shells on
Dee Light
to take back with us ... we later
met Clay and Rita-Kay at the Yacht
Club for a drink and then had dinner
aboard Dee Light ...
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NOTE
- this is
the End of
Log E
.. "click" on
Log F
to continue with our cruise
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Links to
Log A or
Log B
or
Log C
or
Log D
or
Log E
or
Log F
or
Log G
or
Log H
or
Bahamas 2010 Main Menu
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