The 2012 Grand Finale

July 5 – 20, 2012

In the last post I said that we had dropped the anchor in Wells Bay.  Wells Bay is adjacent to Grand Cay, Little Grand Cay, and Big Grand Cay.  I've commented before that there doesn't seem to be much logic used in naming some of the islands.  This is a good example whereby Grand Cay is much larger in land mass than Big Grand Cay.  Go figure!  The Grand Cays support a small settlement of people who are fishermen themselves or cater to the fishing tourists that frequent the area.  There are no posh resort accommodations, cheesy tourist boutiques, or fashionable restaurants.  You would only come here if you wanted to fish, and most people do that all day, every day, weather permitting.

EAGLE and FLUKE

Cruisers stop here to fish too and be with other cruisers of like interests.  The offshore reef is close to the anchorage, so it is easily accessible for bottom fishing, trolling, snorkeling, and spearfishing.  There are a lot of shallow water rocks and rocky bars in the vicinity that support big populations of lobsters.  We've seen some areas under rocks so packed full of lobsters there wasn't any room for fish.  We always miss out on a lobster feast since lobster season doesn't start until August 1, and we need to be back to Florida before then to prepare for the rest of hurricane season.

Wells Bay beach

The white sandy Wells Bay beach is about a mile long.  It's a great place to get some good walking exercise, especially if you choose to walk in the really soft sand and have your calves get stretched to the max.  It's not the best beach for beach combing since the water is shallow and sandy with minimal wave action so not much gets washed up.  There are other small cays in the area with some little beaches so you just have to be patient and hunt regularly to find “treasures”.

You can snorkel in the anchorage, and if you are patient and just pay attention, you will see some interesting sights.  I saw one hole that had 3 compartments containing a lobster, eel, and stone crab.  I saw locals regularly collect conch, and we picked up some nice shells on the beach leftover from someone making conch salad on Bahamian Independence Day, July 10.  The locals had a big beach party, but no one invited us.  

“Vision” check

If you've followed the other blog posts, you will know that Eddie and I are always on the lookout for pieces of driftwood, especially those that resemble something.  We both have the “vision”, and this photo is another check to see if you do too.  If you can't see that this is obviously a whale, you don't have it!

Early one morning Wayne and I took Ursa for a walk on Wells Bay beach.  We discovered the remains of a hawksbill and loggerhead turtle on the beach that were obviously killed the day before.  I had seen 3 locals on the beach for a long time, but I couldn't figure out what they were doing.  They took all the turtle meat, but left the shells floating in the water.  The hawksbill turtle is so beautiful, with intricate patterns on a shell that has pretty, spiked edges.  The loggerhead shell is only interesting because of its huge size, about 3'.  We are always sad to see the dead turtles, especially since the Bahamian government recently prohibited the killing of turtles.  We've also seen a few turtle nests that have been dug up to collect the eggs.

The sponge

I found this oval, 12” long sponge.  It is unusually symmetrical for a sponge, and clearly shows the numerous smaller incurrent holes around the outside and the one central excurrent hole in the top.  Sponges continually siphon water containing nutrients inward and expel the water back out the excurrent hole.

View from the top

With all the weather woes we've had to deal with, there has been ample time to do some beach combing and in addition to the sponge, we've collected lots of sea glass, other pieces of driftwood and shells.  9 out of the 15 days we spent anchored in Wells Bay, we had rain and/or a thunderstorm, most arriving between midnight and 3:00 a.m.  That doesn't make for a peaceful night's sleep.

Lighting up the night sky

We saw many clouds like this one.  You can even see the lightning bolt and the veil of rain pouring down.  These clouds are usually preceded by a very windy blast of cold air.  The cold air feels SO good, but it is not worth it at the expense of the nasty wind.

Hoping the anchor will hold

This photo, taken during daylight hours, gives you an idea how the bay gets kicked up when the squall line moves through.  When its day time, we can at least have a better feel if the anchor is holding or be able to see if another boat or water spout may be coming our way.  When the seas get kicked up at night, the neighborhood has a whole different feel; it is scarey.  That's why we don't like to anchor close to another boat, especially in Wells Bay which doesn't have the best holding.

One day we saw one of the little local boats with 3 people aboard break down near shore right before a heavy downpour.  They kept trying to work on the motor, but finally gave up and tied the boat to some rocks, which gave it a good beating.  When the storm let up, they tried pulling themselves along the shore.  We couldn't lend assistance because our dinghy had a steering problem.  We tried calling people of the local settlement on the VHF, but no one would answer.  After 4 hours, they were finally able to hail down another local and get help.

Taking care of business, rain or shine

Ursa feels best when she keeps on a regular schedule, for input and output.  That means pooping in the rain, and on this cruise, she has done that quite a few times.

Storm reward

I'm always glad when we make it through another storm unscathed and at least are treated to a pretty rainbow and time left in the day to be able to do other things.  The other things don't just include fun activities and socializing.  We always continue to have our regular share of maintenance issues.

The day after I remarked how great the freezer was working, the temperature started going up.  We have a lot of frozen vacuum packed fish, but the ice cream was getting soft, and we were in a crisis state.  Wayne could only make guesses as to how much gas to let in or out of the line depending on how the temperature was moving or if the line was freezing up.  It took several days, and just luck, to finally stabilize the freezer again.  It may need additional work after FLUKE gets hauled.

Undercover

Shortly before we left Florida, Eddie had scavenged an old sail in good condition from the municipal marina.  We cut it up and had the edges sewn and grommeted so that we could hang it over the boom and use it to shield the upper deck from the direct sun.  That also helps keep the main salon much cooler.  We think it turned out well, both functionally and aesthetically.

Cool dog

Obviously you can guess that the heat has been as issue, and we are always looking at ways to cool off the boat better.  Ursa was so hot and unsettled in the night that we went ahead and directly wired a 12V fan for her.  Not only has it helped keep her cool, the fan noise masks the sounds of the thunder which makes her anxious.  Some nights she jumps up on the bed table and waits for the fan to get turned on and then sleeps through the entire night.

We have an ongoing issue with the engine fuel line loosing its prime, like it has an air leak.  We discovered this when we went to start the engine after a few days of sitting idle, and it couldn't start because it was starved for fuel.  Eddie has had to manually pump the fuel filter to force fuel into the line before each start.  We have had a mysterious residue (presumably from a mist) in the engine room that we think might be tied to the problem, but we can't find an actual leak anywhere.  That is on the list to troubleshoot.

The guys had to change the raw water pump on the generator.  Right about that time, Eddie noticed that one of the alternator brackets is cracked; we don't know how long it has been like that.   However, we sure got paranoid wondering if the alternator would break off at a really bad time, like there is ever a good time for something like that to happen.

Get a grip

I told you early on that we were having trouble with the dinghy steering.  It progressively got worse, so the guys decided to screw on this wooden handle to give a manual assist to the steering assembly.  It helped some, but about 3 days before we were going to leave, the wooden handle broke in half.  Since we were down to our last gallon of gas for the dinghy we could have just called it quits, but our friends on EAGLE gave us two more gallons to hold us over until departure day.

The breakfast of champions

When Wayne wasn't fixing things or riding shotgun for our spearfishing expeditions, he kept busy baking.  This cranberry almond breakfast ring was a big hit with the crew.  He made a picture perfect braided semolina bread to share at a cruiser's group meal on EAGLE.

The gift surprise

Getting together with the other cruisers is a good way to exchange information about life aboard, anchorages, and experiences had.  Everyone has something to add to the conversations.  Carol and Bruce, from EAGLE, have been out cruising for years and are a wealth of information and seem to know everyone we run into.  Carol likes to paint with water colors in her spare time aboard, and had a stack of paintings for us to look at.  Imagine my surprise when she said I could pick out one to keep!

Getting primed

Once we settled into life at Wells Bay, we went out spearfishing as much as conditions permitted.  I had taken this photo of Eddie after he had gotten ready to go way ahead of time and was waiting for the tide to get slack.  When I looked at the photo, I laughed because I thought with those headphones, glasses, and diving skin on he looked like one of those old Russian cosmonauts.

2 pairs of hogs

Our spearfishing outings aren't just about trying to catch the next meal.  They are about visiting the underwater habitat and marveling about the myriad numbers of fascinating creatures of all sizes and shapes, the good, bad, and ugly.  Being able to put a healthy, gourmet meal on the table is the prize.  We never shoot anything we don't plan to eat, and we spend way more time in the water just looking and not getting anything.  However, this photo shows our best day.  Eddie is holding his 8 pound hogfish, which is the biggest he's ever shot, and one we would say was a day's prize if I hadn't managed to spear the 12.5 pound one I'm holding.  That is my new life record.  Just finding two like this in the same day was a stroke of luck.

We were also fortunate this year not to have to deal with sharks like we have in the past.  I don't know where they all went, but on all our dives from our Wells Bay anchorage, we never saw one of the “bad” sharks, like the reef, black tip, bull, or lemon sharks that tend to be aggressive.  Two separate times I gently bopped a big nurse shark with the blunt end of my spear when I thought it was getting too close to check me out at first sighting.  The nurse sharks are very passive for the most part and just seem to want to check you out and then they usually go on their way so we don't worry much about them.

Team grouper

One afternoon the FLUKESTERS went out for a dive with Carol and Bruce on EAGLE to a spot we had discussed but had never heard anyone diving at.  We were on the third dive in the area, not really seeing much.  Then Eddie spotted this big red grouper under a rock that you could see through from one side to the other.  Eddie scared the fish through to Bruce's side and Bruce got a kill shot on the fish.  Eddie cleaned the fish, and we all got together for another gourmet meal aboard FLUKE and had plenty left over for EAGLE to  serve another time.

Processing

Eddie does a fantastic job of cleaning the fish we catch.  He has a whole set of knives that he uses and keeps razor sharp.  He saves scraps for Visitor and throws pieces to Ursa, who is always “guarding” the area when he is cleaning.  If you put your hand near the fish that are to be cleaned, Ursa will growl.  She won't let Visitor even step out into the cockpit.  She has beat him up so many times, he won't even go near the door; he just stays back in the hallway and meows.  Poor kitty.

Eddie's fish cleaning had attracted a BIG barracuda to FLUKE.  Any time something was thrown overboard, including Ursa's pee mat, the fish would come out from under the boat and check it out.  One day, after a stormy night,  I decided to snorkel out to the anchor to see how it was set.  When I got in the water, the barracuda was there.  Most of the time, they just swim away and keep a steady distance.  This time, it followed way too closely with me, all the way out to the anchor (200').  I felt very intimidated by its actions and asked Wayne to come pick me up in the dinghy.  He was making English muffins, so Eddie had to come get me and yelled at me the whole way back, saying I shouldn't have gone in the water in the first place.  This is coming from the guy who had the shark bite the fish off the end of his spear!

I always dread when the day comes for us to leave.  I personally have mixed feelings about going back to Florida, but what ends up bothering me the most is Eddie's behavior.  I thought it may be different this year since Eddie didn't have the usual enthusiasm for going in the first place although he seemed to really get into it as the weeks in the Bahamas progressed.  When we told Eddie we would be leaving to go back in about a week, he started up.  He gets real mopey and whines about having to leave, especially if we are hanging out with other people and having good diving adventures.  So, nothing was different when the final day arrived and we went out for our LAST (emphasized by Eddie) dive.  Even having ice cream for lunch didn't cheer him up.  The melancholy had set in and continued on until we pulled up the dinghy and then the anchor at 3:00 p.m. to make our 4 hour run over to Mangrove Cay where we would anchor until 2:30 a.m.  Eddie just stands out on the shady side of the deck staring off into the distance, like a puppy getting taken from its litter mates, mumbling about why we can't stay longer.  Just one more dive, please!

We had a stifling hot (87 degrees) evening at Mangrove, and I was actually glad to get moving at 2:30 a.m. in hopes that it would make the boat feel cooler.

We had a light southeast wind behind us and lightly choppy, but fairly calm seas to everyone's pleasure.  Visitor never threw up, so that tells you it was calm.  We saw 3 ocean freighters and a cruise ship.  A school of dolphins surfed the bow wake for quite a while, but I still haven't been able to get any decent pictures.  While we trolled two lines, we didn't even get a bite on either line.  I'm not complaining though, because we had so many other great fishing adventures.  With the big push from the powerful Gulf Stream current we made over 10 KTS in speed for a while.  However, since we were traveling on a northwesterly course we had to steer as much as 40 degrees off our actual heading to account for the current's northerly push.

Despite spending over 12 hours at sea, the time seemed to go quickly.  After we leave the ocean at Ft. Pierce inlet, it takes about another 2 hours to get to the Vero Beach Municipal Marina where we planned to unload FLUKE.  That last leg of the trip just seemed to drag on for longer than two hours.  We picked up a mooring line at 5:30 p.m. and thanked FLUKE for another safe crossing and bringing us happily back to our home port.  We will need a week to unload the boat and then FLUKE will be like a “fish out of the water” when she gets hauled out and stored on land for the rest of the hurricane season.

Well, another adventure has come to an end.  Thanks to all of you who have followed along with us, posting comments and letting us know you are being educated and entertained.  We are kicking around some ideas for the next trip, date of departure still to be determined depending on where we decide to go.  Wayne will put together a summary post for the 2012 adventure with our days out, miles traveled, fuel used, etc.  If you want to know anything else, just ask and he can include that too.

Worth Repeating

June 30 – July 4, 2012

After we had finished our “business” in the Green Turtle Cay area, Wayne asked me where I wanted to stop next as we continued our move northward.  The answer was easy, Powell Cay.  We had not stopped there for several years, and I knew it would be a great island for beach combing, both on the ocean side and the Sea of Abaco beaches.

Powell is interesting because it is located in an area of already populated cays, yet it is still unoccupied, not one house on the whole island.  With the prevailing easterly winds, there is good holding on the island's western side, near a prominent bluff, one of the few “high” rocky outcroppings on any of the cays in this part of the Abacos.  Years ago when we anchored here, it was the first time I had ever seen the beautiful, bright white, tropic birds.  They nest in holes on the side of the bluff, and this year we were treated to the antics of 3 pairs as they glided gracefully on the air currents with their long plumage trailing behind.

Laying idle

There is a trail from the shore up to the area above the bluff.  We had not found it on our previous stops, so it was on the agenda to find this time.  Fortunately, someone had hung a sign indicating “Bluff Trail” so we had a good indication where to look for the trail this time.  However, with the heavy rains a lot of new growth had covered the entrance to the trail, but we manged to find it and headed up the path.  There were several large trees that had gotten blown over in recent storms laying across the path, so we had to duck under them.  Wayne was in the lead, so I could see him bending down, but he didn't tell me about the two tree trunks that were side by side.  From my level I could see the first one, but not the second one.  So, when I ducked under the first one I couldn't see the second one because of my hat, so I bent up right into the second trunk and smashed my forehead right into it.  Even through my hat, it broke the skin.  Eddie was behind me on the trail and couldn't see what happened, so he came to the two trees and did the same thing, so he couldn't make fun of me!

Happy trails to you

After we made the short hike up to the bluff, which is worth ducking under all the fallen trees for, we decided to hike over to the ocean side beach.  That trail was very obvious, as indicated by the above photo.

The well-used trail takes you through a variety of island habitats, open and shaded, including elevation changes.  Overall, the footing is easy, but you have to wear decent shoes to avoid getting punctured by thorny vegetation or sharp rocks and to keep from slipping.  One section of the trail is very low, and had standing water on it,  a good mosquito breeding ground, as evidenced by how many times we got buzzed in the thickly vegetated areas.

Mosquito goo trail

We walked into the neighborhood of a gray gnatcatcher.  We've run into the tiny, 4” chattering birds before.  They come real close to you and hop from branch to branch until you leave their area.  For being so small they have a lot of spunk!  They are the chihuahuas of the bird world.

Gray gnatcatcher

There is a nice high dune that you crest before you see the ocean.  You can look back the way you came and see other parts of the dense undulating island.

Great swimming beach

The beach has soft, clean white sand and a broad, expansive area 50 yards wide offshore with a clear sandy bottom.  We could see 4 nurse sharks placidly cruising along the bottom.  There were some offshore rocks and coral heads visible, and we decided we would take the dinghy out to them the following day.

Rather than taking the “public” trail back to the west side of the island, Wayne said that we should try walking around the north end of the island like we had done on a previous visit.  I thought I vaguely remembered having done that hike before and remarked that, if I remembered correctly, we had to wade in waist deep water part of the way.  Wayne said he wasn't sure that was the same episode he was thinking of, so I reluctantly agreed to go along.  I knew the tide was rising and was concerned that the waist deep water might require swimming instead, and we had “treasures” we were carrying that I wouldn't want to give up.

Shallow existence

The first part of the hike back wasn't too bad.  We had to forge our way through some knee high vegetation with only a few thorns until we reached the NE end of the island where there is another nice beach area.  Since the tide was still low we could walk on the sand most of the way.  There were many big invasive trees fallen over, probably from the 2011 hurricane season.  Looking in the photo above, you can see why the whole tree fell over instead of just getting blown apart from the wind.  The roots are shallow because of the iron rock base, some still clinging to the root ball, and the storms erode the earth and sand away from underneath. The native vegetation does a better job of surviving because of their slow, deep-rooting rate of growth which makes for stronger wood fibers and better holding.

We FLUKESTERS began to get spread out on this section of the walk.  Wayne had gotten farther in the lead, and with the curving shoreline was out of sight.  I was in the second position and stopped to figure out if we could manage to get a large piece of driftwood I knew was meant for me back to FLUKE.  I could see Eddie rounding the last bend and decided to call him over.  When he saw it, he agreed we wouldn't find another piece better than that on the rest of the walk so we should take it.  He said he would try to carry it for a while by himself, but I had my doubts as to how long he would be able to make it.

Eddie with good intentions

After about 100 yds, Eddie had had enough and suggested resting in the shade.  He asked where Wayne was, and I told him I thought he was up ahead since I hadn't seen him in 15 minutes.  While Eddie rested I rounded two more corners to try to find Wayne, but couldn't see him.  I wondered if he had found a trail through the brush since we had run out of beach and there were only rocks and thick vegetation to walk through along the water. 

Eddie and I began arguing about what Wayne may have done, with Eddie thinking that he was probably going on ahead to get the dinghy because he knew we had the big piece of driftwood.  I didn't think so and suggested that we could share the weight of carrying the log by each of us holding an end.  This banter went on for some time until we realized we had the dinghy key and Wayne wouldn't be able to pick us up!

Soon after we started moving again, Wayne showed back up and asked what happened until he saw the big driftwood piece.  Rather than make a fuss about it, he took on a resigned, good sport, attitude when he saw how we had already “bonded” with it.  He showed us the shoreline “path” he had taken on the way back to us.  On his return pass to us, he had waded through the water, but it had already risen too high for us to be able to do that with all we had to carry, so we were stuck having to scrape through the underbrush and rocky terrain right along the water's edge.  Wayne and Eddie had to pass the log through the brush since there wasn't enough room in most places to hold it across your body.  Wayne called it a “death march”!

We finally made it back to the flat, sandy, west side shoreline where it was easy to walk again, and Wayne took over carrying the big log.  We came upon several people who had beached their day boat where they were trying to cool off in the water.  One of the guys yelled out that he liked our driftwood – a man after my heart!  He, like Eddie and I, has THE VISION.

The following morning we took the dinghy back out to the east side of the island to check out the rocks and coral heads we had seen from the beach the day before.  Eddie speared a 3# grouper, but overall there weren't many fish to see.  Wayne said that we should get back to the west side of the island via the south end, but I told him I thought it was too shallow for the falling tide, but Wayne didn't think so.  Since he hadn't fussed about having to deal with the driftwood the day before, I decided to let him have his way about taking the southern route.  Never having said “I told you so”, I still wasn't happy having to help drag the heavy dinghy several times for quite a distance until we had deep enough water to run the motor.

We had yummy grouper sandwiches for lunch and then a little time to rest and try to stay cool.

Dog day afternoon

Sometimes the coolest air is located in the shade on the bridge deck, and we all retreat to that area at one time or another to try to catch a breeze swirling down the side of the boat.

When the winds increased and had a more westerly flow, we moved over to Angelfish Point.  Since it was already past 5:00, we knew we wouldn't be bothered much by boat wakes at that time of day.  We have always found good anchoring along the east side of Angelfish where we have ridden out some very high blows. 

I talked Wayne into driving the dinghy for me while I trolled along the east side of Crab Cay from its northern end to a few miles south down from where we were anchored.  I got several hits and had one fish up to the boat, but lost it before I could see what it was.

Moonrise over the thunderhead

On the morning of July 2 we moved to Allans-Pensacola where we rendezvoused with our friends, Carol and Bruce, on EAGLE.  We all went out to the offshore coral heads for a 4 hour marathon dive.  We don't know when to say when!  I speared a 4# grouper, but overall we didn't see many fish considering all the time we spent in the water.  There were 12 boats anchored at the cay for the night, the most we have seen at anchor at any of the small cays the entire time we have been cruising this year.

The following day, we moved over to the Fish Cays and went out for another dive trip.  While we did see more fish than the other places, it was still less fish than we had seen the previous two years.  Surprisingly, we haven't seen any sharks, which is unusual when we spear fish and stir up the neighborhood.  The visibility was poor, so maybe they were there, and we just couldn't see them.  But we KNOW they can see us, so we are always on the lookout.

We stayed anchored at the Fish Cays for the night, and EAGLE elected to go back over to Allans-Pensacola where they felt more comfortable.  We didn't mind being by ourselves, but it would have been nice if they took a couple thousand mosquitoes with them!

We rendezvoused with EAGLE in Moraine Cut the next morning where we planned to go out beyond the barrier reef and head westward to Wells Bay off the Grand Cays, which would be our final anchoring area before heading back to Florida.

Since our normal cruising speed is also great for trolling, we planned to try our luck trolling the 150 – 300' depths for the 7 hours it would take us to get over to Wells Bay.  We had our lines in the water as we went through the Moraine Cut and caught and released a jack.  That was the first fish of what would turn out to be an explosive Fourth of July fishing day for the FLUKESTERS.  Finally!

Eddie and the blackfin

You know that old saying “Be careful what you wish for”.  Well, when it was time to eat lunch, we had to pull in the fishing lines so that we wouldn't hook up any fish while we were trying to eat.  Then, by 2:00 p.m. we had to bring in both lines altogether because we were just too hot (it was 90 degrees in the pilothouse) and too tired to have to reel in the fish and take them off the line.  Our total for the day was 8 blackfin tuna (ranging in size from about 8 – 15# each), 1 spanish mackerel, and 1 jack.  We kept a 15# tuna for ourselves, released a couple of others, and Eddie gutted a few to give to friends of EAGLE once we arrived at the anchorage.

Arriving in Wells Bay once again brought back a lot of pleasant memories of great cruising adventures of the past.  We hoped the period of good weather that had been with us for the last week would continue.  Lloyd and Jacquelyn had diving plans swirling in their heads!  Jacquelyn had already made up her mind to make the dive again at Tea Table Cay where she almost took her last earthly breath to take up new residence at Davey Jones Locker.