Baking in the Bay

June 27-29, 2010

The Treasure Chest Keeps Growing

Actually a moderate breeze has helped stave off the oppressing heat that we had been having down in White Sound. We've moved farther north to a place called Baker's Bay, which occupies the northern end of Guana Cay. I've only had to spritz a couple of times. Wayne made some of his delicious English muffins, thus the title.

Baker's Bay has had quite a history. Having a huge, beautiful beach on its western, protected side, a cruise ship company bought most of the property in the 1980s to use as one of its out island adventure stops. To the chagrin of the environmentalists, the government (for the benefit of local jobs) permitted the cruise line to do some extensive dredging, creating a deepwater channel in from the ocean cut and a turning basin large enough to accommodate the cruise ships. So much dredging had to be done on the sea bottom such that there was enough fill material to create a fairly good sized island that now has its own growth of permanent vegetation. Well, even the cruise line with all its money couldn't deal with King Neptune when it came to Whale Cay Passage, the only entry point into the Bay. When the King is kicking up the seas from the north and east, huge swells are created that prohibit even the largest of ships from transiting in or out of Whale Cay Passage. Even cruisers like us have to worry about the passage conditions, and we can be forced into staying north or south of Whale Cay if the weather is bad. So, the cruise ships had so much trouble using Baker's Bay as a stop, they abandoned their land and sea facilities and went on to ravage other small Bahamian islands that had more reliable access. Of course, the new facilities were all created in the name of “jobs for Bahamians” too. There are no palm tree huggers in the Bahamian government!

So, after about 10 years of remaining idle, someone else came up with a new business idea for Baker's Bay (more jobs for Bahamians!). In order to top the environmental plundering undertaken by the cruise line, the new business plan would include three very controversial projects: dredging another mile long deepwater channel from the old cruise line turning basin all the way to shore, where a huge marina facility would be blasted and dug right out of the island (where no inland water existed); removing the native vegetation and constructing a golf course; and developing the rest of the land for various types of private residences. Palm tree huggers from near and afar came out in droves to fight the permitting, but to no avail, the Baker's Bay Golf and Ocean Club project was approved and opened for business in 2009. We took a dinghy tour of the marina basin. The dockage is extensive, but mostly empty, and there are only a handful of homes built The bar and restaurant are open, but are somewhat remote to make their use just a day stop (Cracker P's is more our speed!). We are deriving some benefit: their WiFi is unsecured, so if a cruiser has a powerful enough antenna, like we have, you can pick up their signal at anchor. It will be very interesting to see how this facility weathers these tough economic times.

Our $50 Million Neighbor

Gallant Lady is the 168' ship in this photo. The “small” boat tied alongside her is 65' long and is her day boat, used for daily island hopping, like going to buy bread or key lime pies from the locals or schmoozing with commoners at Cracker P's. There is a sportfishing boat, about the same size as the day boat, that is anchored nearby. In addition, tied up at the Baker's Bay marina dock, is her reef fishing boat. Times must be tough though, because Gallant Lady is for sale. That figure doesn't include those big toys I've mentioned, but then again, everything is negotiable. I wonder how those people feel having to share the same sea vistas with Ghetto Lady, duh, I mean FLUKE!

(For those of you not familiar with Gallant Lady this is the 8th one, all built by Feadship for Jim Moran who is now deceased. He made his money as the distributor for all Toyotas in the Southeast US.)

On the Other Side of the Channel

Andrea Cay is on the same side of the channel as we are, opposite that of Gallant Lady. In 2007, Andrea Cay was for sale for $14 million. She's only 108' long, so what do you expect?!!Despite her price and size, we saw that she can run aground as easily as we can since when she came into anchor, on a falling tide, she ran aground right behind us and had to wait for the tide to change and rise before moving out farther and re-anchoring.

Eddie and I took a “cruise” in the dinghy out to that spoil island I mentioned at the beginning of this post, about a mile from where we're anchored. Eddie was trying to be nice to me all day so that I would fix taco salad for dinner, as we had managed to buy a head of lettuce. Thus, he agreed to go to the spoil island for a shelling session. Winds were blowing 10-15 KTS, so it was kind of a wet ride over the open water. We've stopped there in the past, and have gotten some good finds. We're always on the lookout for interesting pieces of driftwood, but Eddie happened upon a drift tree that he just couldn't pass up. I had to admit, it had a lot of possibilities as a nice piece of yard art, but since it was bigger than the dinghy I asked Eddie if he had thought what “Dad” would say if we took it back to FLUKE. We discussed that, and how we would get in on the dinghy. Then, we had to walk all the way back to the other side of the island, take the dinghy through the windward waters off the island, and find a safe landing place where we could haul the tree aboard the dinghy. This is what Wayne saw when we were headed back to FLUKE.

Dinghy Jousting?

Now, the tree is strapped securely to the upper aft deck. I just hope that we're not boarded by Bahamian or U.S. officials who may say we are in some violation for carrying this tree trunk back to the states.

Contrary to the norm, our social calendar is filled for the end of the week. On Thursday we are going to a pot luck dinner at Pirates Cove, a bit farther south on Guana. On Friday, we are going to the Stranded Naked party, a.k.a. Cheeseburgers in Paradise, on Fiddle Cay (we will have to move north and transit Whale Cay Passage). Then, on Saturday, we will be going to the Regatta Time in Abaco party on Green Turtle Cay. Life can be so stressful here in these little out islands! However, Eddie never lets the stress get to him.

Wishing Upon a Star

A comment on comments.
We enjoy reading the comments some of you leave on the blog. Just one thing, if you don't sign it we have no idea who left it. But is it nice to know that people do read and enjoy it.

Trying to be Civilized

June 19-24, 2010

Seeing the Light

I'm going to try to do this entry after spending the afternoon on a bar stool at Cracker P's, where Eddie ordered an additional special rum drink of the house, that I didn't need (he didn't need one either!). Our first toast was to “freedom” since we didn't have Captain Wayne around to give us the evil eye about drinking the rum punches. We don't get out on our own very much, for obvious reasons! I'm under a tight time schedule since the internet service that we bought for $35/week will run out tomorrow morning, and we want to get another post done before that.

Since we had to go by Tilloo Bank to get to Marsh Harbor, we decided to drop the hook near the Bank for a couple of nights. Every cruiser should stop at Tilloo Bank, preferably at low tide. It may be the largest sand bank in the Abacos, and I think they have declared it one of their national treasures. It is visible from the Space Station. Vacationers come from all the nearby cays to wallow in the crystal clear, shallow water with the purest of white sandy bottom. It is so bright, you need to wear sun glasses under the water!

Tilloo's Bar

You would have to wonder what is so great about this wallowing I'm speaking of. Well, it is a good way to cool off. You can get some exercise by trying to swim against the current as is spills over the underwater sand dunes. I wear my snorkel and look for natural treasures on the bottom and sea life, which is abundant.

There are lots of small flounder. You have to look carefully to see the first one, but once you do, you are hooked. They are so flat against the sandy bottom, and they change color to blend in with the sand. If you don't startle them, you can see small circles of little blue dots on them that actually make they look pretty. However, their most remarkable feature are their eyes, both of which are on the upside of their flat body. You can see them rotate in their sockets, like with a ratcheting motion which is very comical when they are looking at you.

The other interesting inhabitants are the razorfish, from the wrasse family. These fish, usually under 8” long, are oddly shaped, with a wide head (in the up and down position) with a body that tapers down to the tail. They have long fins that run along the top of their backs that are always moving, so I think they look like they would be slippery. You can get really close to them to the point where you think you can reach out and touch one. However, when they finally get spooked, in the blink of an eye, they are gone, under the sand. I've watched so many of them, trying to see the hole they go in, but it just isn't visible. They are an undersea magic act in their own class.

The biggest attraction to the Bank are the sand dollars. Everyone knows you can never have too many dollars, so I'm not sure anyone ever visits the Bank without picking up more dollars. They range in size from smaller than a dime to larger than a baseball. You should only take home the white, dead ones, not the olive green live ones. If you break that rule, King Neptune will punish you in unpleasant ways.

Dollars and Cents

Another reason for anchoring at Tilloo Bank is that it provides easy access to Sandy Cay, an area that is a designated park (even has small boat moorings to tie up to), most noted for its excellent snorkeling and diving opportunities. I delighted in snorkeling Sandy Cay reef because it is a beautiful, vibrant reef with a variety of colorful underwater plants and animals. People feed the fish, so when you first jump in the water, hundreds of sergeant majors and yellow-tail snappers surround you hoping for a handout. There are a lot of large fish that hang out in the deeper drop off area, waiting to eat the smaller fish. Preserve areas like this are so wonderful in that they allow even novice water enthusiasts the opportunity to easily view sea creatures they may not get to see any where else.

The W & E Marine Maintenance Co. cleaned FLUKE's heat exchanger. The engine has been running a bit too hot, and we are still trying to figure out what may be the problem. See all that grass blocking half the cooling tubes? It isn't supposed to be there, and the tubes had a lot of residue in them. Each tube had to be cleaned using a rifle barrel cleaning brush.

FLUKE's Dirty Radiator

After leaving Tilloo Bank, we headed over to Marsh Harbor area, anchoring in the outskirts of the harbor at a place called Fanny Bay. We thought we would be cooler here, and we didn't relish the idea of having to anchor in the more confined conditions of the busy harbor. Fanny Bay proved to be too exposed to the wakes of the passing boats that were going in and out of the harbor, but fortunately we weren't aboard for most of the one day we spent there anyway.

Our trip into town got off on somewhat of a disconcerting state. When we pulled up to the public dock, a local came running over to “help” us tie up to the dock. Well, we really didn't need any help, but what are you supposed to do when you know that you are going to be gone for a few hours, and there are several of these “helpers” left behind with your dinghy? Having not been into town for a few years, we didn't know if they were part of the New Way or what. So, reluctantly we gave the guy $2 and our bag of garbage to deposit in the nearby dumpster and went into town.

It took the W & E Refer Maintenance Co. 7 trips into several stores to get the freon and fittings that they thought they needed in case our refer takes another nose dive and we aren't within reach of Donnie. Ursa and I waited for them under a tree while the guys went to most of the stores, and I laughed as I looked down the street and could see Wayne walking back and forth across the street, with Eddie-san trailing about 30 ft. behind all the time.

We were sharing the solitary roadside tree with a native lady farmer who was selling water melons and okra from her farm. The melons ranged in price from $5-20, depending on the size. I bought a $5 one, thinking it was small enough to get in the refrigerator. Besides the farmer lady, there were 5 other people (2 adults and 3 kids) that rode into town in the melonmobile. You can see in the photo that the trunk is full, but there were also melons in the back seat, so I think a couple of the kids must have had to sit on top of some of the melons. They were eating, authentic island fare, Kentucky Fried Chicken and fries, the whole time I was standing there. Ursa was drooling at the smell of the chicken.

The Melonmobile

We got up at sunrise to exit Fanny Bay before the morning “rush” hour began when the boat wakes would be constant for a couple of hours. Even though we couldn't read the water colors very well in the poor morning light, we didn't worry much because we were only going over to Elbow Cay, about 7 miles, where we have been many times before. We dropped the hook between the Parrot Cays and Elbow Cay with a perfect view of the lighthouse.

We decided to take a stroll around Hope Town, the little community located on Elbow Cay. It is very picturesque and colorful, with friendly people. We ran into a couple of little girls around 10 years old who wanted to pet Ursa. One of the them was blind and was being led by her companion who exclaimed what a cute dog Ursa was. The vivacious, bubbly, blind girl, Annie, got all excited and exclaimed “let me see her” and held out her hand for me to guide it down to pet Ursa. We ended up running into Annie two more times that morning, and each time she would want to pet Ursa and would say what a cute dog she was. It was touching to see what a joie de vivre outlook Annie seemed to have despite her handicap.

Our land visit was primarily focused on food: eating lunch, buying some tomatoes, and buying a key lime pie from Vernon's Grocery, which seems to have made key lime pies ever since the first key limes were ever harvested. There were no tomatoes (the food barge wasn't arriving for another day), but Vernon said the pies should be out at 1:00. On our previous visits they were usually out by 11:00. So, we decided to go have lunch and then go back for the pie.

Island Color

We sat down at an outside table at Harbour's Edge overlooking the harbor and ordered our traditional island meal: conch burgers and fries. The servings were generous to say the least, so we wouldn't be cooking any dinner later that night; a piece of the key lime pie would be enough to top off the day.

However, when we got back to Vernon's, the 1:00 pie time had been moved to 2:00. We decided not to wait, thinking we may stop by another day and try our luck again. We went back to FLUKE and made brownies instead.

After two nights we moved 2 miles south along Elbow Cay to an area called White Sound. It is most noted for Tahiti Beach, a beautiful beach and sand bar area right at the southernmost tip of the cay. The homes that are along the waterfront are newer: modern, large, and sprawling. I like the older, quaint homes in town proper better. Cracker P's is across the waterway, located on Lubbers Quarters, so it is an easy dinghy ride for us to get there, and more importantly, to be safely able to get back to FLUKE after our “visit”.

Chillin' Out in the South: Lynyard Cay

June 16-19, 2010

Our Lynyard Cay Anchorage

Lynyard Cay marks the southernmost point in the Abacos that we will travel this year. It isn't known for much other than being across from Little Harbor, location of the most visited bar in this region, Pete's Pub. If there were waterway signage around here, like we see along the U.S. highways, a sign for Pete's would read “Last Chance to Get Wasted”. Every cruiser should go there at least once, just to see the laid back, casual, unique island bar, whose floor is beach sand, and visit the artist's gallery and foundry started by Pete's father. Eddie can tell you a good story about one of his late night adventures at Pete's on one of our former cruises.

This is one of my favorite anchorages in the southern part of the Abacos. The area is so sparsely populated, the ocean access is easy, the holding is good, the beaches are beautiful and peaceful, and the water is clear and cool with the ocean being so near. The opening picture was taken during a hike on Lynyard and shows the island to the west of us. You will really get the “picture” when you see the view from FLUKE in the following photos.

View to the South

View to the East

Notice that the ocean is visible (see the boat?). The land is very narrow in this section. See the beautiful beach. There is good shelling along this part of the island, but the most shells can be gotten at low tide down on the southern tip of the island, in the sandy areas that are on the western side of the rocks that jut out the end. It is best to snorkel the area and pick them off the bottom. The water is as clear as a bathtub's, so it is easy to see things. Eddie and I collected lots of “treasures” during our expedition. In contrast, here is what it looks like right on the other side of that beautiful beach. You wouldn't want to get washed up here!

Oceanside Shore

The northern view is also pretty, having some taller trees, higher elevation, and some rocky outcroppings with even longer expanses of beachfront. A popular day beach, for the locals and tourists with rental boats, has a path from the west side over to the east where there is a pretty, sandy ocean side beach.

View to the North

When we dropped the hook here at 5:30 p.m. on the 16th, the sun was beating directly into the cockpit, where we have a remote temperature sensor, and it read 119 degrees! We acted quickly to get up our “deflection” shield, a piece of screening fabric we hang up across the back of the boat to help keep the sun off the main salon when we are at anchor. Once we opened the boat and got the air blowing through everywhere things cooled down to around 98. Thankfully our refrigerator continued to hold its proper temperature, getting some relief from Donnie's last gas fix and the much cooler water we were floating in. Overall, we have had two weeks of great weather, but we know that can change quickly in these little islands.

The temperature also heats up when we work on our “chores”. We try to brainstorm to solve some of the problems, and we all have different ideas about how things should be done, so we raise our voices (if you know what I mean!) to try to promote our own points. W & E Marine Maintenance Inc. usually do a good job keeping up with making repairs, but they tend to slack off on the routine stuff. I have to give you an example.

I usually do all the vacuuming; it has to be done about once/week because of all the animal hair and how much sand we track in all the time. It takes 45-60 minutes to do a good job. Eddie is supposed to empty the vacuum and put it away. Well, the last time it was used, he didn't clean it out, but put it away anyway (that is not the first time for that either). I pulled out the vacuum (not knowing it was full) to use up in the pilothouse, and when I got to the top of the stairs, the front popped open. The filter, with all the hair and other debris fell out, missing the upper 3 steps, but hitting the other 5, knocking dust into the grooves in the steps and up the sides of the stairwell. It landed on the carpet at the bottom of the steps, and a huge cloud of dust rose up the stairwell, right into my face. It was just like something you would see in a cartoon! To say I was angry was an understatement, and it is a good thing we don't carry a gun aboard.

Making repairs on FLUKE is always made difficult by having to work in such confined spaces, whether it is above or below decks. Last year I wrote about our dinghy bilge pump becoming inoperable and that we had to hand pump the water all the time. Well, that problem just now got around to being fixed. It required removing the battery and practically crawling in under the seat to get to the bilge pump, fuse, and wiring that needed to be changed. People say the definition of cruising is working on the boat in exotic locations.

No Wake Please

Eddie and Carol Audubon have diversified from their inwater activities to scour the island beaches for weathered pieces of wood so that we can make some bird nesting boxes to put up in our oak trees when we get back to Vero. We have lots of woodpeckers and screech owls in the neighborhood, and they will be able to make good use of some nesting boxes since there aren't enough tree holes to go around for all the birds who need them. Eddie even found a piece of wood with an entry hole already in it!

Is This Big Enough?

Like last year, we have seen nesting nighthawks and least terns. The nighthawk eggs are already hatching, and we have seen the little puffs of chicks. The least terns are just now laying eggs. On one of our wood hunts we were near a tern nesting area. They keep the “nests” above the high water mark, but well below the dune line of vegetation, where predators may more easily be found. It is important to watch where you walk so you don't step on the eggs. The terns were very agitated when I was taking these photos and were dive bombing and pooping on me to try to get me away from their nests. The first photo shows a typical nest, just a small depression in the sand with a little pile of shells or rock fragments.

Two Eggs Are the Norm

This photo shows another type of nest arrangement. I wonder how the bird sits on this nest?
Maybe there was only room for one egg.

An Only Child

Here are two more eggs I spotted. The egg in the upper part of the photo is damaged (you can see a yellow spot on it and it had a fly on it), and I think it has been pushed away from the other one. However, the good egg doesn't even look like it is even in a nest, so maybe both eggs have been abandoned.

Homeless?

I'd be happy to stay here a while longer, but we need to move north and get closer to Marsh Harbor where we can try to buy some refrigerant in case the refer crashes again. I have a feeling that finding the gas and the fittings we need will be an island challenge for us.