Back in the Exumas - Allens Cay to Warderick Wells

Our last blog update was Sunday, April 5th, from Nassau. That afternoon we joined the crew from "Gypsies in the Palace" poolside at the Nassau Harbour Club and were later joined by Bob & Stephanie from "September Song." That evening we passed around Tammy's forgotten key lime pie from the previous evening's dinner (life's too short, eat dessert first!), and Todd walked across the street in search of food, returning with an unclaimed Hawaiian pizza from Dominoes that afforded us one piece each.

On Monday the Captain purchased and installed a new macerater pump that was twice as expensive as it would have been in the States, and then we walked to Potters Cay for a late lunch of conch salad and cracked conch. About 5:30 p.m. we again joined the gang poolside and sampled rum cake purchased by "September Song" earlier that day at the rum factory in downtown Nassau and then Doug and Bob made a food run to get a bucket of chicken from KFC, which we all shared.

About 9:00 p.m. the rest of the gang retired to their boats but John wanted to watch the NCAA Championship game so John & Colleen and Todd & I walked to nearby Club Waterloo and spent the next couple of hours watching John's team fall behind. But we had a good time and were able to spend some additional time with John who was flying back to Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday to finish up some business in the States.

The cold front that had been forecast moved in early Tuesday morning and we had a little rain followed by breezy and much cooler conditions. Colleen gave the Captain a hair cut and then they walked to the Batelco office to get a prepaid phone card while I did laundry. That afternoon we walked over to "September Song" to review the weather forecast and use their computer access to send a few e-mails. It looked like Wednesday was going to be the day to leave so we made a final produce run to City Market that evening and stopped in at the Dairy Queen for a hot fudge sundae.

Sunset at Nassau Harbour Club.


Colleen, the beautician.


We left the Nassau Harbour Club at 10:15 Wednesday morning followed by Dan & Carol aboard "Lucky Stars." "Gypsies in the Palace" was waiting for a new watermaker membrane to be delivered later that day and "September Song" elected to wait with them. We arrived at Allens Cay about 4-1/2 hours later after a somewhat rolly ride, but mostly the waves pushed us from behind. The Captain and I were on the beach by 3:30 enjoying a wonderful afternoon. "Gypsies in the Palace" and "September Song" arrived at the anchorage about 6:30 p.m. and managed to find a spot for the evening, even though the anchorage was quite crowded by then. Everyone made a brief appearance at the beach before retiring to their boats to make dinner.

It's soooooo good to be back in the Exumas!


Moonrise over Leaf Cay.


The setting moon over Allens Cay.


Thursday was another gorgeous day and Todd was up early taking sunrise photos. He then took Colleen exploring on Ship Channel Cay about 9:30 a.m. and didn't return until 1:30 p.m.! Apparently, they found a bar on the island and felt obliged to patronize it before returning to Allens Cay.

What a beautiful morning, the sun is rising in the east as the moon is setting in the west.




Some local Bahamian fishermen in the anchorage next to "Life's2Short."

That afternoon we picked Colleen up in the dinghy and went to the beach about 3:30. Just before leaving "Life's2Short" we heard Stephanie radio Bob, who was out in their tender, saying that she thought "September Song" was aground on the sandbar - and it was. Once the tide came up enough for them to float off, they moved "September Song" (for the third time that day!) and then joined us on the beach, as did Tammy & Doug. We all decided to break for dinner and then reconvene around 8:00 p.m. for a blazing campfire on the beach on a beautiful, fun full moon evening.

"September Song" "resting" on the bottom at low tide.


It just doesn't get any better than this!


Happy hour company on Iguana beach.


Good company and bad jokes around the campfire.


By Friday morning the wind had picked up and we decided to leave Allens Cay in search of a calmer anchorage. We settled on Long Cay, a few miles south, and spent a quiet couple of days doing a little exploring, snorkeling and hanging on the beach. "Lucky Stars" had left Allens Cay the previous morning and "September Song" and "Gypsies in the Palace" were going to wait at Allens for the arrival of "Tidehiker" and "Rickshaw" who were expected to arrive from Nassau on Saturday.

We left Long Cay on Easter Sunday about 9:30 a.m. and went out in the Sound where we met up with the four other boats from Allens and fished our way south to Normans Cay. Colleen was the only one who was successful that day, but she was very excited and proud to have caught a nice, 36-inch Mahi-mahi.

Colleen, the Mahi slayer, with boatmates Doug & Tammy.


Once "Life's2Short" was anchored we dinghied over to the Normans Cay Beach Club to check out their Easter brunch ($30 per person - no thanks!) and say hello to Stephan, one of the owners who we met last year. We then met up with "Gypsies in the Palace," "Tidehiker" and "Rickshaw" on the beach that afternoon and were all invited to dinner aboard "Gypsies in the Palace" that evening to share Colleen's catch of the day.

Sunset photos at Normans Cay, everybody is involved.



Colleen prepares the catch of the day - YUM, YUM!


The gang's all here for dinner.


About the time things were wrapping up on "Gypsies," we were invited over to a nearby boat where Mike from "Yamacraw" was hanging out with some friends. We met Mike last year when we were anchored at Normans Cay and took an impromptu afternoon ride with him and his crew to the northern tip of Normans Cay. "Yamacraw" is essentially a transport boat that makes runs between Nassau and some of the islands in the northern Exumas. At any rate, we took Colleen with us and had a great time listening to Mike play the guitar and sing old, familiar songs.

"Yamacraw" Mike entertains the group on "White Rat".





The tuna tower of "White Rat" with some serious fishing equipment. Can you tell they are here to fish?


We invited Mike over for a late breakfast on Monday and spent the rest of the day relaxing on the boat. Bob had made reservations for the group that evening at the Beach Club, so we joined them late Monday afternoon for happy hour drinks and dinner.

Americans and our Internet needs.


Dinner with the group at Normans Beach Club.


The wind picked up overnight and the anchorage became rolly and quite uncomfortable. Early Tuesday morning the Captain decided to move "Life's2Short" to the north of Skipjack Point, just a short distance away, where we were hoping the shallow point would help knock down the waves that were building from the south. The other boats quickly followed suit and we found somewhat calmer water. Vicki aboard "Tidehiker" and Linnie aboard "Rickshaw" volunteered to provide entrees for a potluck on the beach later that afternoon, so everyone gathered about 4:00 p.m. and we had a nice get-together on a protected beach near the anchorage.

Doug & Tammy use the looky-bucket to check the anchor.


Potluck on the beach.



Rick & Linnie aboard Rickshaw."


By the time we returned from the potluck, the anchorage was fairly calm and we were all looking forward to a restful night; unfortunately, the water got rough again overnight. With winds predicted to come out of the southwest and west during the day on Wednesday, and with a line of thunderstorms moving our way from Andros, we all decided to move to yet another anchorage at the southern tip of Normans Cay. Once there we had much better wind protection and blessedly calm water, and the storms either went north or dissipated before they reached us.

Todd and I took a dinghy ride to the north about mid-afternoon but we had waited too long past high tide to go as far as we wanted and had to go out into the Sound to get back to our anchorage. However, just as we entered Normans Cut from the Sound, we found a beautiful beach where we sat up our chairs and umbrella and spent the next couple of hours relaxing and reading. Bob came by in his tender with Cassie and Godiva and stopped for a short while to let the dogs run and play.

"September Song," "Gypsies in the Palace" and "Tidehiker" left early Thursday morning for Warderick Wells. "Rickshaw" decided to stay at Normans for a few more days, and we ended up leaving around 11:00 a.m., also headed for Warderick Wells. We arrived at the north mooring field via Exuma Sound a couple of hours later and found that the other three boats weren't able to get in to the north mooring field and had taken a mooring in the south mooring field. At the time, they were planning to move to the north mooring field the next day, space permitting, so we went ahead and took a mooring in the north field.

The view from our sundeck at the Exumas Land & Sea Park north mooring field.


Once situated, we dinghied over to Naked Beach, one of our favorite beaches from last year, where we found a boat on the beach and saw a couple of people snorkeling the nearby reefs. The man, Jed, came out of the water shortly after we arrived and we were chatting with him on the beach while his wife, Page, continued to snorkel. We were all keeping an eye on her, periodically checking to make sure she was still out there, because the water was rough and the outgoing current was quite strong. After a short while we weren't able to see her any longer, so Jed and Todd got in their boats and went searching for her around the corner.

Sure enough, she had gotten too close to the edge of the reef and was literally carried away by the current! Once on the other side of the cay, the current lessened and she was able to swim to the side, away from the current, and grab on to the rocks at the edge of the water. Todd spotted her first and had her hold on to the side of his dinghy while he towed her over to her husband. Needless to say, I was extremely relieved to see two people in Jed's boat when he came around the corner! Page was remarkably calm about the experience, but she knew to just "go with the flow" and to not fight the current. A valuable lesson for anyone who spends time in the ocean.

A short time later we noticed storms moving in from the west. They appeared to be staying west of us and were heading south, but there was a noticeable drop in temperature and we felt a few sprinkles, so we decided it would be prudent to get back to "Life's2Short" before we got caught in an unexpected downpour. Unfortunately, the rain did not come but we enjoyed a pleasantly cool, breezy evening aboard "Life's2Short."

Today is Friday, April 17th, and as I write this blog update, the Captain is hiking up to Boo Boo Hill to leave the "Life's2Short" boat sign he made and to see if the one from last year is still there.

A new year, a new sign.


Update: The Captain just returned and reports that last year's sign is still there and the new sign has been added to the "pile."

The boat sign pile on Boo-Boo Hill.


Our friend Lisa's troll poses with the new "Life's2Short" sign.


This afternoon we will dinghy over to Park Headquarters to update the blog and send a few e-mails. Tomorrow we plan to join the rest of the group at the south mooring field where we will probably spend a couple of days before moving further south to moorings at Cambridge. After that we will work our way to Staniel Cay where Colleen's husband, John, is flying into early next week. Once John is back on board, "Gypsies in the Palace" will likely separate from the group and continue their journey to South America while the rest of us continue to play in the Exumas.

We hope to be able to update the blog again from Staniel Cay, but their Internet access last year was very poor so that may or may not happen. If not, Blackpoint Settlement will be our next opportunity as we work our way south. We'll keep you posted to the extent possible!