Monday
July
19th
in port -
Compass Cay
our view from Dee Light
|
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
the winds are still blowing at a fairly
brisk clip and we are keeping an eye on
Invest 97L ..a tropical wave presently
just north of Puerto Rico moving WNW
... all the boaters we have been in
contact with are pretty much staying put
with a couple in Bimini, others in
Nassau and even one in Hope Town ...
the weather hasn't hampered our enjoying
our time here at Compass and we took to
the dinghy to another lovely beach we
had not previously visited ... behind
the beach area is a beautiful creek
which flows through the interior of the
island ... it looked to be a great area
to explore by kayak ... |
Tuesday
July
20th
in port -
Compass Cay
docktails at the Marina Lounge
|
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
we enjoyed docktails with a group of
boaters from the Homestead area and
realized we had met up with them last
year during our stay at Compass ... we
brought up a wheel of pastry-wrapped
Brie we still had in the freezer and one
of the other boats contributed a great
platter of bruchetta to the
gathering ... Autumn also enjoys the
daily migration to the Marina Lounge
especially with the breeze blowing in
her face as she lays on the dock
listening to the evening "fish tales"
... |
Wednesday July
21st
in port -
Compass Cay
Carol and Mimi
afternoon at secluded beach
|
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
this morning Mimi our dock neighbor
on Star Fisher
brought over a lovely matching
pendant and earring set she had made
from shells she found at Compass Cay
..
with the uncertainty in the weather
forecast we decided to stow the
dinghy on deck as we didn't want it
banging against the hull like we
experienced at Staniel Cay ...
however, before we did, we decided
to pack up the dinghy for one last
picnic at the beach ... no rain
today and the air is much drier
today and the sky is a brilliant
blue color today ... hard to believe
there is a tropical depression
somewhere out there!
in the evening we stopped at the
Marina Lounge and then walked over
to the service dock where the Bahama
Star was docked ... Captain Bruce
had just finished cooking one of his
famous deep-fried turkeys ... with
Sheila's homemade dressing and gravy
we had a feast ... we used up the
last of of the apples in the
refrigerator and contributed a warm
apple cinnamon crisp (thanks for the
recipe Pattie!)
|
Thursday
July
22nd
in port -
Compass Cay
one of many Compass Cay signs
Bahamian hair cut
|
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138 ..
with the storm coming our way we
considered going to Nassau a little
earlier than we orginallu planned
... we contacted
The
Atlantis at Nassau to
see if we could change our
reservation date from the 25th to
the 23rd .. they got back to us and
said that due to the inclement
weather they are filled ...
Invest 97L has been upgraded to
Tropical Depression #3 late this
morning and has the chance to become
Tropical Storm Bonnie later today or
tonight .. by 06:00 pm it became
Tropical Storm Bonnie ... we stowed
everything securely, added a couple
of extra fenders and rechecked all
the lines ...
.. Mimi and Tom, our dock
neighbors on Star Fisher have also
decided to stay put instead of
heading to Highbourne so we invited
them over to Dee Light for dinner
tonight ... Mimi brought the salad
(which truly was a work of art) to
accompany our Chicken Alfredo ...
after a lovely dinner and much
conversation the first bands of rain
started through the area as they
returned to their boat ... after
double-checking the lines and
fenders we retired for the night ...
|
Friday
July
23rd
in port -
Compass Cay
long night for Autumn
Sea Beans from TS Bonnie
Crescent Beach
Sea Bean treasure
"sea bean jackpot"
|
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138
it was a long night for Autumn ...
shortly after we headed to bed
Bonnie was just to our south .. we
had wind and rain bands pass thru
with reported maximum winds of 35 to
55 mph with gusts to 65 to 70 mph ..
we had added extra fenders so Dee
Light was very secure between the
wooden pylons .. but she sure made
some strange sounds and shook /
vibrated much like she did when we
rode out Hurricane Wilma at
Clewiston Florida in 2005 .. Autumn
remembers that day all too well ..
last night we decided it might be a
good day for a walk on beach in
search of treasures that might have
washed up in the high surf from TS
Bonnie ... so we packed up our
walking sticks and some cold drinks
and headed over to the Crescent
Beach .. we walked less than 20
yards to the south when we spotted
our first sea bean ... we ended up
hitting the "sea bean jackpot" when
we set an all time record total of
nine sea beans found today ...
Sea-beans
(also known as drift seeds)
are seeds and fruits that are
carried to the ocean, often by
freshwater streams and rivers, then
drift with the ocean currents and
(hopefully!) wash ashore.
These sea-beans don't initially
come from the sea and while some are
indeed beans, many are not
technically beans at all! Some
"sea-beans" are technically fruits
that contain seeds. Nonetheless, if
they drift to and into the oceans
and wash ashore, we collectively
refer to them as "sea-beans".
These sea-beans come from trees and
vines that grow along tropical
shores and rain forests all over the
world. The seeds or fruits fall from
their parent plant into waterways,
such as the Amazon River, then drift
through inlets to reach the ocean.
They travel with ocean currents
until they wash up on a beach
somewhere, perhaps thousands of
miles from their origin. Sea-beans
are quite hard and buoyant, which
helps them survive their
long-distance voyage.
Why
do sea-beans float?
Sea-beans
often float because they have an
internal
air pocket
within the seed.
This air pocket is often trapped by
the hard outer covering of the hard
beans called "shinies" (which
can you can
polish
to a nice shine).
When
and where can I find sea-beans?
Sea-beans
drift onto beaches around the world,
particularly after
higher-than-normal tides during
hurricane season. The number of
beans you can find will vary with
time of year,
Gulf Stream variations, offshore
hurricane activity, wind and
temperature changes, and tropical
plant abundance for a particular
year.
September and October are typically
the most bountiful times to find
sea-beans. Ocean currents, connected
to each other in a huge global
transit system, can carry sea-beans
from current to current- so, a seed
from Jamaica could travel to
Florida, then to New Jersey, and
then across the Atlantic to the
United Kingdom. So when you find one
on a beach you never know from where
it may have originated!
Can I eat sea-beans?
Sea-beans are
studied for medicinal uses, and a
few are available commercially as
nutritional supplements. Edible
drift seeds (when fresh from the
plant!) are the
coconut,
the
Tropical
Almond
and the
Hog Plum.
|
Saturday July
24th
in port -
Compass Cay
Tom and Mimi heading out
Jim and Kim with Carol |
In Port - Compass Cay - Tucker (
242) 355-2138 ..
with the passing of TS Bonnie the
skies have really cleared up ...
although it is still on the breezy
side the surf on the beach is pretty
much back to normal today ... early
this morning we bid farewell and
smooth seas to Tom and Mimi as they
headed out to Highbourne to pick up
company after which they plan to
visit Spanish Wells and Harbour
Island on Eleuthera ...
we
have decided to leave the dinghy
stowed on the bow and a little after
noon we set out on foot again as we
wanted to explore the northwest side
of Compass ... after leaving the
Crescent Beach we found the Cliff
Trail that snakes behind Hester's
House and started our trek over the
scraggy cliffs which overlook Exuma
Sound ... we kept an eye out for
Tucker's billy goats but we were the
ones who felt like billy goats as we
climbed up and over the cliffs
... we were glad we had brought
along enough cold drinks to sustain
us because after 4 1/2 hours (and a
nice refreshing swim at the end) we
finally made it back to the boat at
5:00 PM ... just in time to greet
Jim and Kim as they came into the
marina with their dinghy! ...
Autumn was soooo glad to see Kim she
could hardly contain herself!
we spent the next couple of hours
catching up on all the latest news
with Jim and Kim until the sun
started to set and they had to leave
to go back to their boat at the
Cambridge mooring field ...
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