On Wednesday, September 5, both my brother Bill and his wife Mary (31 years) and our niece Mary Alice and her husband Rich (14 years) celebrated their wedding anniversaries.  We hope they found very special ways to enjoy this day together.  Rick went out with Tucker to add a green sign and light to one of the channel posts today.  We joined Sandy and John with their guests on the MV Hanco for cocktails tonight.  They have been here before and plan to stay just a couple of nights before returning to Nassau so their guests can fly back home.

On Thursday, John and Sandy changed their minds and left in the afternoon to move to the mooring field just north of here at Cambridge Cay.  It is at the south end of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park and near the aquarium.  They also told us that they hoped to stay at the Albany Marina on New Providence Island that we recommended to them.  They are headed back to Florida after that and we wish them a safe journey home.

On Friday, we rode with Tucker up to Staniel Cay then Rick and I went back to Rachel’s in the afternoon.  I walked up to the bench on the bluff and enjoyed the view.  We found what looks like a glass float (it is actually plastic) on the beach a few days after the storm.  People leave all kinds of mementos on the island with their names and the date, so we have decided to leave this float tied to the bench above Rachel’s Bubble Bath Lagoon.  When Rick finishes the bench, we’ll take a picture to share with you all.

Tucker asked Rick to ride with him to Sampson Cay to get some fuel Saturday morning.  When Rick returned, he told me that the office is now open from 9 am to 12 pm.  They are not accepting boat reservations and the restaurant is closed.  Rick said that they had a very nice store connected to the office in which he thought I might enjoy shopping.  We will plan to go up one morning soon.  Rick volunteered to drive Tucker’s second boat to Staniel this afternoon.  Tucker will be picking up 8 guests, and their luggage, who are staying in two of his cottages for the week.  Rick said he would handle the boat with the luggage while Tucker handles the boat with his guests.  After arriving and getting settled in, the 4 couples came down to the marina to swim with the sharks.  Tucker has built a small dock, just out from the office, that is much lower than the other docks.  In fact, when the tide is high, the dock is under about 8 inches of water.  The sharks swim up and lay on top of the dock.  If you are sitting on the dock, the sharks may lay their heads in your lap.  These are nurse sharks and they are very used to people.  While people come from all over the world to swim with these sharks, I have no desire to do so.  I enjoy watching others, though, including Rick.

 

 

Speaking of people from all over the world, on two days this week, boats arrived with groups of travel agents to see the sharks and learn about the facilities available here on Compass Cay and then on Sunday a boat from Fowl Cay Resort, near Staniel Cay, came with a camera crew and some models/actresses.  The woman in charge told us that she works for Fowl Cay and that the camera crew was here to do a show for the Travel Channel featuring that resort.  Part of the show was devoted to showing the various things to see and do around Fowl Cay and so that was why they came to film the ladies swimming with the sharks.

After they left, we hiked over the island to Crescent Beach for a short swim and then continued along the trail to the low tide airport, passed the well for washing planes and returned to the marina.  The tide was too high for us to walk across the airport to the south beach, but we will try to do that another day.  I’ve added my hand-drawn map at the beginning of this section so you can try to figure out where the places are that I’ve been referring to.

BD248 (9/10/12) – BD254 (Sunday, 9/16/12) –

On Monday, the marina received a very short visit from the MV Revival Bay.  When we were fishing with Wade a few weeks ago, we saw an island with lots of construction on it.  Wade told us that the island belonged to Tyler Perry.  When Rick and I went to Warderick Wells last week, we went by the island again and saw the boat Revival Bay moored there.  There were two passengers on the boat and Tucker confirmed that one of the passengers was Tyler Perry.  As his boat was leaving, another boat filled with people came into the marina.  Most of them had backpacks and luggage, so they must be the new guests that were expected today.  They came on the same boat as a gentleman, also staying on the island, who usually wears a kilt.  He told Rick that he normally builds sets for the movie industry, but he is here now building something on Johnny Depp’s island across from the aquarium in the park.

The guide books say that the Exumas spread out for about 90 miles in a chain heading southeast between Exuma Sound and the Tongue of the Ocean.  Between the Tongue and the islands are “banks” or shallow areas.  When the wind is blowing out of the west, the ocean (Sound) side will be smooth and when it is easterly (more often) the banks will have calm water.  This is much like the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida.  The many cuts through the islands can have a lot of chop and very strong currents.  We have a beautiful view out of our pilot house from our dock.  We look west through a small opening in the rocky island and there is water as far as you can see out onto the “banks”.  At the beginning of this week, the wind was blowing out of the west, so there were white caps in our view and when we went swimming at the beach, it was very calm.  On Tuesday, there was no wind at all in the morning and we decided to take the dinghy over to Sampson Cay to visit their store.  I have never seen the cuts so calm and the water didn’t have a ripple on it.  You could see every blade of grass on the bottom, no matter how shallow or deep.  You could see the coral and the fish and the conchs as we rode along south to Sampson.  While they are only open a short period of the day, they still had a good variety in the store and we bought a lot of fresh and frozen food that we cannot get here at Compass.  Our entire trip, going, coming back and shopping only took an hour.

Since the wind was calm on the east side of the island, we took the dinghy around and Rick dove around refrigerator rock.  Our trip around to that part of the island gave us a chance to see an old ship wreck on the rocks as well at the “bat cave.”  Rick had already seen the bat cave, and subsequently asked Tucker about it, on one of his morning walks.  There was, indeed, a black bat hanging in the cave and it had painted on it “Tucker’s Bat.”  You see it was a baseball bat!  But Tucker did tell Rick that there are actually bats living in the cave (which I believe).

Later in the afternoon, as people were enjoying swimming with the sharks, a boat came in the marina called the MV Copperfield and David Copperfield was on it.

Wednesday was a little overcast and breezy so we hung around the marina.  In the afternoon, we were invited to join the group of 4 couples from Texas for dinner over at Fowl Cay Resort’s Hill House Restaurant.  Tucker’s son, Jamal, took the group over to the Cay in a small skiff, but we remained dry on the ride over.  Fowl Cay is between Sampson and Staniel.  Once used by the local community as an island where they kept their chickens for food – hence the name Fowl Cay – Fowl Cay first became a vacation destination in the 50’s when a French couple bought the island.  Over the years, the island passed through two other families and was established as the first high-end luxury resort in the Exumas in March 2002. The current owners purchased Fowl Cay in 2007.

The Hill House restaurant and pub is a relaxing as well as elegant dining spot. It has the highest elevation on the island and boasts 360° views of the central Exumas.   In the pub, with its cozy, rustic décor, including decorative fireplaces, we enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and a game or two of pool before dinner.  This evening’s menu included a choice of pork tenderloin or fresh fish along with conch chowder and Crème Brule for desert.  We enjoyed it so much that we made a reservation to go back on October 13^th to celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary.

Tucker left the island for a few days, so we stayed around the marina on Thursday and Friday.  Friday night we had a “pot luck” supper on the dock.  It was going to be a fish fry, but we had rain with thunder and lightning all morning, so no one went fishing and the fish fry changed to pot luck.  Rick made fried lobster and fish bites from fresh fish and lobster that we had recently frozen and I made brownies.  The eight Texans (well technically Angie is from Seminole, Florida) brought all kinds of good things including some appetizers such as fresh guacamole, stuffed jalapenos and sausage bites, as well as macaroni salad, and Hawaiian Chicken and Rice.  The four Californians brought pork and several sides and Tucker’s family made conch salad.  Justin, from California, played a little guitar but was upstaged when a lemon shark swam into the marina.  Seventeen of us shared the meal and all had plenty to eat.

We got up with the sunrise on Saturday morning to say goodbye to the Texans and Californians.  The Texans went to Staniel Cay to start their journeys back to their real life (working).  And, the four Californians went to Johnny Depp’s Island to continue their work.  With one going home today, the remaining three will stay on Depp’s Island for the time that they remain working there.  Tucker’s brother, Preston and Cleo’s daughter also left this morning.  Cleo’s daughter has been staying for a visit with her Mom this week.  Preston is going to visit his family in Freeport for a month.  We will see him again in October.  We spent the rest of the morning at Rachael’s Bubble Bath Lagoon and returned to the boat to watch the FSU/Wake Forrest football game followed by Florida vs Tennessee in the evening with both of the Florida teams being the victors.  Cleo left in the afternoon on one of the sightseeing boats that come up from Georgetown.  She was very excited to get to go back home and have a nice long visit with her new grandson.

 

Sunday morning found us paddling our kayaks up the creek in the center of the island.  We paddled upstream, against the current, going a little way past the pilings for a future bridge.  We got a different view of Hester’s Ruins and we saw the marker for the highest point again – this time from the East side of the hill.  We would have liked to have gone further, but we didn’t want to go so far that the tide changed and we would be paddling against the incoming tide all the way back.  So, we opted to drift back to the marina and go a little further the next time.  We haven’t done much in the kayaks so far this trip, but I have vowed to go paddling more often for the next couple of months to see how much it tones my upper arms.  Maybe we’ll go in the opposite direction tomorrow – that is assuming I can actually move my arms tomorrow!  Things are pretty quiet around the marina.  Tucker has his grandson, Trevor, helping him out here for a month while most of the other family/staff are off-island.   Trevor will be starting college in January in Nassau majoring in Finance.

BD255 (9/17/12) – BD261 (Sunday, 9/23/12) –

Rick rode with Tucker early Monday morning up to Staniel Cay to take a part to be shipped for repair.  Around 3:00 we went out in the dinghy.  Rick dove on some of the coral heads looking for lobster with no luck.  Then we went around the island to the shallow bay where you can see the marker for the highest point.  This area is known as a “conch nursery”.  The depth of the water ranged from knee to chest deep, so Rick got out of the dinghy and walked beside it looking for mature conch.  While we saw hundreds of conch, we only found three that had the required curled lip (sign of maturity) to be harvested.  Rick gave the conch to Tucker.

Wednesday morning we took the dinghy to Staniel Cay.  We were going to the blue store for some groceries and then we would pick up lunch for Tucker and stop by Sampson Cay’s store on the way back. Upon our arrival at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, we asked about breakfast, but we had just missed the 10:00 deadline and they told us that there was no lunch service today – only pre-made sandwiches.  So, we started to walk to the blue store, but we were greeted by one of the ladies we had met when we were staying there last month, who told us she could save us a trip up the hill to the blue store as they were closed for the morning.  There was a doctor at the clinic who was seeing people with diabetes.  We said, OK, we’ll go to the clinic where I would get a diabetes checkup like my doctor at home had asked that I do.  We stopped at the clinic, but there were people talking behind closed doors and no one in the reception room.  We waited a while, but decided to walk to the pink store and stop at the clinic upon our return.  We went to the pink store, but it was closed, so we returned to the clinic – waited a while longer and decided to return to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club bar.   Just after noon, we left Staniel and went to Sampson.  We filled up the dinghy gas tank and bought some groceries and returned to Compass.  While we were at Staniel, the 4 C’s tour boat (from Georgetown) stopped for lunch.  When they found out the kitchen was closed, they decided to come to Compass.  So, Rick and I jumped in to help serve the 28 people who stopped for lunch.  It reminded us of the many times we served the BYC staff at their annual Christmas party.

On Thursday, Rick rode with Tucker to his home town of Black Point on Great Guana Cay.  The guide book says that Black Point is one of the largest settlements in the Exumas.  While there, Rick met many of Tucker Rolle’s relatives.  Tucker told us that he first came to Compass Cay to work at the age of 15.  He bought the lease on the island from the government of the Bahamas in 1999 and has made many improvements to the facilities since then.

We were very happy to hear news from the States from several of our friends.  Jackie Vieira sent a proof copy of a layout she put together about our travels for the October BYC Poop Deck.  Ruth told us how much she and Past Commodore Bill Baker enjoyed the cruise away to Palm Island recently.  BYC Power Fleet Captain Ken Sosville and his wife Jackie were joined by a good crowd for the annual trip which includes a great cookout dinner.  In addition to many of the “regulars” who attended, we understand that Past Commodore Deborah Ross and her husband Richard and, Jackie’s sister, Ann Mahoney and her husband Curt made the trip.  We also received a nice newsy e-mail from Past Commodore Steve Fredrick and his wife Joy.  It sounds like they have been enjoying their summer in Palmetto, in spite of a lot of rain.  They recently gave a slide show presentation on their 2012 sea travels.  Steve said it was attended by about 80 people.  It has gotten them excited to return in January to Trinidad, where they left their sail boat, Ocean Angel, to continue their explorations of many of the French-speaking islands in that area.  We also got an e-mail from friends we made last winter in Great Harbor, one of the Berry Islands.  Arline and Jon plan to leave New York next month headed back to Florida to get on their sailboat, Kasidah, and return to the Bahamas for the winter.  We hope to get to see them, as well as their little dogs, sometime after the first of the year – maybe at Little Farmers Cay.

It rained Thursday night for a couple of hours – enough to call it a rain shower.  But Friday morning was bright and sunny and we went back to Rachel’s Bubble Bath Lagoon thinking that we would “sign” the bench.  Much to our surprise, there were already 3 couples there when we arrived.  They are all staying at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  Rick had met some of them before when they came to the Compass Cay marina to swim with the sharks.  He had recommended Rachel’s to them and they said they decided to follow up on his suggestion.  While we were all there, 5 more people came in to the lagoon.  The new folks were from the boat Beer Break staying at the marina at Staniel.  We had met some of them when we were staying there.  They said that the boat has been in the Exumas since May and they have been traveling back and forth from Texas.  While we were enjoying the bubbles, and the others had climbed the bluff to enjoy the view, we decided that we needed to do more to the bench before adding the signage, so we returned to the marina to spend a leisurely afternoon.

On Saturday we filled our second planter box with green onions, thyme, mint, chives and rosemary.  Rick got a 5-gallon bucket from Tucker and we planted a few tomato seeds and some baby carrot seeds in it.

On Sunday, we went to Rachel’s for a swim at high tide.  We didn’t stay long because the waves crashing through the opening from the sea were so strong, it was a real effort to just stay on our feet.  The difference in the water from the east side to the west side of the island is amazing as evidenced from the picture below – a view looking out of the pilot house – no waves at all.

 

BD262 9/24/12 –  BD268 (Sunday, 9/30/12)

Rick took Tucker to Staniel to catch a plane to the States on Monday and I received an unexpected SKYPE from Tillie from Andros.  She was just calling to catch up.  When I asked how her family was, she told me that their daughter is having a problem with one of her eyes.  We send our best wishes to Amy for her speedy and complete recovery.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012,  was our son and daughter-in-law’s 2^nd wedding anniversary.  We sent our wishes for a happy anniversary and understand that they enjoyed dinner that evening at the Melting Pot in Sarasota.

Just as I was finishing up my laundry ($10/load) on Wednesday and walking back to the boat, an inflatable pulled up with the name Tereble on it.  It was driven by a captain and there were several couples on board.  I made a remark to Loan (one of Tucker’s sons) as I passed by that maybe he would get some lunch business and he told me that Labron James was among these guests.  He actually told me that Labron was the tall one!  Rick talked to “King James” of the Miami Heat during their short visit.  He was very personable.  He said they were taking a short vacation on a yacht which was at anchor near Rocky Dundas, just north of here.

When Loan is not helping out at Compass Cay Marina, he operates Loan Fish Adventures in the Exumas and can be contacted via Loanfish@live.com, or by phone at:  office (242) 422-7186; cell (242) 355-3054;  Compass Cay (242) 355-2137.

We went to Rachel’s in the afternoon and ran into a young couple from Missouri, one from Cape Cod and two from just north of Seattle.  They are all staying at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  We got there at low tide and enjoyed the clear, calm water.  We stayed for about an hour and a half and the waves were starting to crash over the rocks before we left providing all the bubbles for which the lagoon is named.

It sprinkled a little on Thursday.  We haven’t gotten much rain since we’ve been here, but our friends and family in Florida, Utah and Andros all report that they have had a lot of it.   We enjoyed a short visit with Pat and Holly who are staying on Staniel Cay.  They both work with wildlife in Massachusetts and have really been enjoying their time in this beautiful area.

We took our chairs, in the dinghy, and headed to the pavilion at the outlet to Rachel’s Lagoon on Friday.  There is a sign on the beach stating that it is two miles from this spot to the marina.  While we were sitting in the shade reading books and enjoying the beauty of our surroundings, we  watched the M/V Good Times navigate the channel into the Compass Cay Marina.  They had been here last week, but returned to Nassau for departing and arriving guests.  After a while, we decided to walk up the creek to the lagoon.  We had tried doing that the very first time we came here, but the sand was very soft along the creek making it difficult to walk.  Since we didn’t know how far it was up the creek to the lagoon, we returned to the dinghy and went around the north end of the island finding a spot on which to beach the dinghy and just walk over a sand dune to the lagoon.  Today, the tide was low and we were able to find mostly hard-packed sand and rock to walk on for the relatively short hike to the lagoon.  When we returned to the boat, Rick went up to swim with the sharks at the office and I took a shower.  As I was getting out of the shower, Rick came on the boat and said that Pat and Holly were up at the office and that he had offered her a glass a white wine.  When I got dressed, I went up to join them.  We enjoyed the wine and conversation for the balance of the afternoon until they said goodbye.  They will be leaving Staniel Cay tomorrow morning.  They were a very interesting couple.

Rick and I watched ESPN Saturday evening as Florida State won its 5^th football game of the season playing against the USF Bulls in Tampa’s Raymond James stadium.  The announcers said that the game was sold out and the number of tickets sold had only been exceeded by the two NFL super bowl games.  We sure would have enjoyed being there and I have no doubt that many of our friends were in attendance.

Rick left early Sunday morning to go to Staniel and pick up Tucker.  There was a threat of rain so he took the rain slicker (that the BYC Power Fleet gave us as a going away gift) just in case it was needed.  Tucker brought back some nice steaks, so he and his grandson, Trevon (Rick calls him “T”) invited us to join them at the picnic table for supper.  We ate shortly after 5:00 with a very a nice breeze to keep us company.  It was a great way to end another week in paradise.
This medicine is used in the find here levitra prices.

BD269 – 10/01/12  –  BD275 (Sunday, 10/07/12)

Monday’s weather report said that this afternoon would be the windiest for the next two weeks, so we were not surprised when a couple of large boats decided to come in to the marina for the night rather than stay at anchor nearby.  We welcomed them to the docks along with their captains, crew and passengers which included at least 10 children.  Later we started to walk over to Crescent Beach.  We stopped to talk to Loan and he told us not to go because it was going to rain soon.  Within a very short time, we had a good pour with accompanying winds, but in 15 minutes the sun was shining again.

Tuesday morning continued to be breezy with passing clouds.  The last couple of days have seen increased activity in the construction of the “boaters grill.”  This is a new building, over the water, that will house the grill and restrooms along with tables for boaters who wish to eat while visiting the marina.  One of the unique things about this place is that they encourage “pot luck” dinners.  In fact, I suggested that they should name it, “Tucker’s Grill and Pot Luck Porch”.

It sprinkled a little bit Wednesday morning.  In the afternoon, an Azimuth 62 pulled into the marina.  The two men on board had a rather difficult time docking, but Rick and Loan finally got them tied up.  (Later, I found out that they were having trouble with one of their engines.)  Three children got off the boat and went up to see the sharks along with their mother (with some fish food and a camera).  The daily stream of visitors who want to see/swim with the sharks never ceases to amaze me. I took about a 45 minute walk while Rick continued to help with the construction project.  I chose the trail to the creek.  This trail ended at the area where the future bridge is planned.  We kayaked beyond this point last week.

Friday morning we took the dinghy to Staniel Cay.  This is akin to the folks at home hopping in their car and driving to the corner store but our intersections are cuts between Abaco Sound and the Banks and our turns are made around tiny cays which are often not much more than a rock sticking out above the water.

We ate breakfast at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club where Rick also bought some mixers.  Then we took the dinghy to the Isles General Store.  We picked up Tucker’s/Compass Cay’s mail and bought a few groceries.  On the return trip, we stopped at the Sampson Cay Club and picked up a few more groceries and purchased gasoline for the dinghy.  When we got back to the marina, a large Westport (I believe we have seen more large Westports – like Jack Nicklaus’ 115 footer – than any other make of boat) was docked at the marina.  This boats name was Domino and it claims Newport, Rhode Island, as its home.

On Saturday, a couple more large boats came in to the marina.  One is a large Broward.  It came in on one engine and the owner asked Tucker if they could leave it here while it is being repaired.  But it has a charter booked for the coming week, so they are going to have the people stay on the boat here and take them to see all the sights via tender.

Sunday found us back at Rachel’s Bubble Bath Lagoon.  Since all of his relatives had left the island for the evening, we ate supper with Tucker up at the picnic table by the office.

BD276 10/08/12 –  BD282 (Sunday, 10/14/12)

Monday morning guests arrived to board Serque’,  a 135 foot long Broward motor yacht built in 2008. According to the internet, the six-stateroom vessel accommodates up to 13 guests and comes outfitted with two Yamaha watercraft, a 47′ Intrepid sports motor yacht, and a six-person spa. Tucker told Rick that all of the staterooms are occupied and they have some people staying in his lodge.  They all went to college together in Arizona.  What a great reunion!  While looking up information about the yacht, I discovered that it is owned by Talon Air and it is for sale for $14,400,000.  Also arriving today was one of Tucker’s daughters, Ava.

When we went to Staniel on Friday, Rick took a fall on the slippery steps where they feed the sharks.  There were no sharks in the vicinity when he fell.  He had walked down the steps to wash off the sand before putting on his shoes to go into the restaurant.  He said he was OK and appeared to be so, but on Saturday he said that his left leg was sore below the knee.  After thinking a while, he determined that he must have pulled his calf muscle when he fell.  He has been taking pain medication ever since, but he hasn’t slowed down a whole lot.  We went to Rachel’s Bubble Bath Lagoon Tuesday afternoon so Rick could soak his leg.   While we were there, we met a nice young couple from Virginia.  They asked about getting to the aquarium, where they plan to go tomorrow.  Upon our return to the marina, a large fishing boat called Zeus was at the dock.  Rick told me that two of Tucker’s sons were on board, Jamaal and Trevor, who is the captain.   They are staying for one night.

Rick decided to take the day off and rest his leg on Wednesday.  Around 11:00 Tucker came by to check on us.  He asked if Rick would mind the store while he went up to his house.  All of his relatives on the island were currently busy working on other buildings.  So, we both went up and spent a couple of pleasant hours sitting in the shade with a nice breeze blowing talking to people as they came in to see the sharks.  The store got so busy, Tucker never left.  While we were up there, Rick asked if people decorated their boats for Christmas while staying here.  Tucker said yes and that he also decorated the marina.  So, we have a new project, figuring out what Christmas decorations we want to put up this year.  We gave away most of our decorations while we were in Key Biscayne, but we still have enough to make sure we will not stand out as the “dark” boat this coming season.

Thursday’s weather forecast included the following:

The maximum temperature for Staniel Cay, Bahamas over the next 7 day will be 87℉ on Thursday 11th October. In the same week the minimum temperature will be 78℉ on Friday 12th October and Saturday 13th October is predicted to be the wettest day with 0.2 inches of rainfall. Thursday through Sunday will see wind speeds of 27 to 29 mph with Sunday 14th October being the windiest.  The wind is blowing out of the north.

We talked to JP and he says it finally feels like fall in Florida today.

In the evening, we learned that Tropical Storm Patty had formed northeast of the Central Bahamas and was moving southwest.  We will keep a close watch on the weather for the next few days.  But, we know that we are in a well-protected marina and they don’t expect this tropical storm to intensify, so we are not worried.

On Friday I baked blueberry muffins and a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  I planned baked ziti for supper for the two of us.  In the afternoon, Rick said that all of the workers were planning to leave in the afternoon so Tucker would be alone and would I make enough for 3.  Of course, I said.  When supper time came, there were 6 of us eating.  The 3 sons, who are working on the island, did not get to leave early as planned.  Needless to say we finished all of the ziti and broccoli and we ate half of the cake.  Tucker complimented me by saying that he enjoyed my food better than some of the professional chef’s offerings from the many mega yachts that stay here.

On October 13, 2012, we celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary.  When we were first married, neither of us would have dreamed that we would be living on a boat in the Bahamas at this point of our life.  When we met, in 1972, Rick was freshly out of the navy and did not want to ever step foot on another boat again.   Many of our friends have heard about our first cruise together.  In 1984, he came home from work and said that he wanted to go on a cruise.  I had been working for Manatee County Government less than a year at the time, but I told him that I had some compensatory time that I could use.  We scheduled the cruise just a couple of weeks later, in the beginning of June.  We didn’t realize that was the time that many high school senior classes took a cruise as well.  There were at least a half dozen on the ship with us and somehow we were mistaken to be chaperones!  I didn’t mind, as I had taught high school from 1975 to 1980.  To top it all off, our boat ran aground in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.  It remained stuck there for the duration of our time on board and the cruise line ended up chartering planes and flying everyone home from Cancun.  You would think that would be the end of our cruising, but, in fact, it was just the beginning.  We both had a wonderful time “making lemonade out of lemons” and we cruised two or three times a year after that.  Now, we are on a permanent cruise (for a few years, at least).

It rained Saturday morning, but cleared up in the afternoon.  The wind was blowing pretty hard and we knew it would be a rough boat ride south to Fowl Cay Resort for dinner.  Fowl Cay is between Sampson and Staniel.  The resort faces Big Majors Spot where the swimming pigs are.  Just as we were about to leave here, it rained hard for about 15 minutes.  We were very fortunate to then make it down to the restaurant with no more rain and only a few small splashes on the way.  When we entered the lounge, we noticed that there was a group of 6 people together and one gentleman was wearing an FSU shirt.  He asked the manager to turn on the TV so that we could see the FSU/Boston College football game.  While conversing with this group, we learned that the three couples live in the Orlando area and all of the men had just or where just about to turn 50.  Most of them had attended FSU.  What a small world we live in.  The gentleman wearing the FSU shirt had been the president of the Orlando Area Seminole Club and I am a past-president of the Manatee Seminole Club.  In addition to that, one of the wives, had grown up in Ormond Beach where Rick and I grew up.  Her maiden name was Briley and her father was part of the Briley, Wild & Associates Engineering Firm.

While we were at dinner, it rained some more, but it stopped before we left the restaurant and didn’t start again until we were safely back on the boat.  Then it rained most of the night.

On Sunday the marine weather forecast for the Central Bahamas read as follows:

 “Winds will diminish early Monday; however seas will remain rough due to moderate to large easterly swells through mid-week courtesy of Tropical Storm Rafael.”

Tucker flew to the States again this morning.  We had a pot luck supper tonight with Loan, the 6 crew from Serque’ and 4 folks on the trawler, Faith, out of Pompano Beach.

BD283 Monday –– Sunday, October 21, 2012 (BD289)

Shortly after we were married, Rick went to work in the construction industry.  In fact, he was a licensed contractor when he went to work for the cable television company in Tallahassee.  So, he has enjoyed volunteering his help with the construction (not the heavy lifting part) of Tucker’s boater’s grill.  Monday afternoon he worked on the electrical installation while I did laundry.

Rick opened the store on Tuesday morning as Loan had gone back to Black Point overnight.  For the rest of the day, he worked on the Boater’s Grill.  Serque’s crew moved their tender around to the “storage dock” and prepared for an early departure in the morning.  They will be back with a charter over Thanksgiving.

When you sign your agreement for dockage here, you must agree to Tucker’s Rules.  Some of them include:  No fishing in the marina; separate all garbage; cast all left over food-stuffs overboard; and adhere to the “quiet rules” after 10 p.m.  Tucker refers to the area around the south dock, where we are,  as his aquarium.  The picture below was taken by simply leaning over the boat after I threw out some food scraps.  The variety of fish and their colors is amazing.  Sometimes, if I throw out some scraps of meat, a shark or two comes out from under the boat as well.

 

In the late afternoon, Rick told me that the guys were going to go out and catch some fish and we would have a late supper on the dock with the workers and the crew from Serque’.  We had lobster, conch and hog fish for supper.  It was delicious.

I reported earlier that a boat named Invicta stayed overnight on October 1.  When we went to Staniel Cay, on the 5^th, the boat was moored at their docks.  The next week, we heard from a couple of visitors here that the boat is associated with the watch manufacturer, Invicta and that there was going to be some kind of big “do” with them on the island.  When we went to Fowl Cay for dinner on the 13^th we could see that Staniel Cay was lit up light an athletic field.  The manager of Fowl Cay told us that whatever Invicta was filming was currently on the air and asked if we wanted him to tune the tv to the show.  Of course, we all said thanks but no thanks, we’d rather watch FSU football.  Well Staniel Cay has been lit up every night since then.  We can see it from here, about 10 miles north.  So, as I was flipping through channels last night, I saw listed on ShopNBC – Invicta’s 11^th Anniversary Sale.  We tuned in and now understand why the island is so lit up.  They were broadcasting live at 10:00 at night.  We could see the water behind the host and hostess, but we could not figure out where they were on the island.  They said that they would be broadcasting from Staniel Cay through Saturday.  We may try to check it out when we go over there Friday for supplies.

We watched a very nice sunset on Thursday.  When we first got here, the sun was setting behind the island.  Now we get to see it set over the water.  This place is famous for people seeing the “green flash” at sunset.  We are hoping to be amongst that club before we leave here.

Loan got a call early Friday morning that a mechanic was flying in to work on his boat’s outboard engine as well as a couple other fellows’ at Black Point.  Loan picked the mechanic up at Staniel Cay and then took him to Black Point.  Loan returned to Compass mid-afternoon.  Rick ran the store while Loan was gone and I sat up at the office with him painting a memory board to leave here, as so many people do.

Saturday morning brought intermittent rain showers.  We took the Compass Cay Marina skiff to Staniel Cay, stopping at the Isles General Store and having lunch at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  We could see satellite dishes up at the cliffs overlooking Pirates Trap Beach on the north end of the island.  This confirmed our suspicion that the Invicta Watch people were broadcasting from that beach where we have been swimming several times.  On our way back to the marina, we went by the beach and saw that the Invicta people had set up several canopy-type tents.  The weather wasn’t great, so we just drove by and kept on going.  We shared our supper with Loan that evening and he told us that he would be leaving the island tomorrow around 11 to go home to Black Point and have lunch with his mother.  We told him that we’d be happy to mind the store while he was gone.

On Sunday, while Loan was at Black Point, we met a nice couple from the Miami area.  He was wearing a “Gator” shirt and I was wearing a “Seminole” shirt, so we immediately had something to talk about – especially since both teams won their football games yesterday.  A nice couple from Tennessee, with their two children, also stopped to swim with the sharks and walk over the hill to Crescent Beach.  We moved the boat around to another dock on Sunday evening.  We wanted to do it sometime before the end of the month and the weather is predicted to only get windier until then, so today was the day.  They put us at a dock that they use for long-term guests.  When we arrived, we thought we were going to stay 5 days and now it looks like we’ll be here for 5 months!  We finished our evening watching the replay of the FSU-Miami game and enjoying every minute of it!  Go ‘Noles!

BD290 – Monday – BD296 – Wednesday, October 31, 2012

We were very glad we moved the boat last evening as the wind was blowing 20 mph and we got some rain on Monday.

On Tuesday, we began to keep an eye on Tropical Storm Sandy.  Rick took down all of our isinglass and stored all of the loose items on the boat.  The sky is cloudy but not too much rain – yet.

On Wednesday, a statement Issued by The Bahamas Department Of Meteorology said…..SANDY REACHES HURRICANE STRENGTH…Their marine forecast for Wednesday, October 24th 2012:  A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS WHICH INCLUDES THE ISLANDS OF EXUMA AND ITS CAYS, LONG ISLAND, CAT ISLAND, RUM CAY AND SAN SALVADOR.  A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS.

The Worldwide weather website says Staniel Cay’s total rainfall for the next 7 days is now predicted to be 7.6 inches

We are doing all we can to prepare for Hurricane Sandy’s arrival here.  The wind is predicted to blow steadily between 35 and 40 mph with gusts around 80 on Thursday.  The wind will be coming from the East where the island provides the most protection for us.  On Friday, the wind will continue to blow at 35 to 40, but the gusts will be in the mid 60’s.  The marine radio has been broadcasting that anyone in the Exumas staying at anchor should immediately seek shelter at either Compass Cay, where we are, or at Sampson Cay, between here and Staniel Cay.  On the map below, Compass Cay is on the hurricane’s predicted path just to the left of where the “Thu, 10/25/2012 20:00 EDT 69 mph” notation is.

 

Temptation, a 76 foot Hatteras, came in Wednesday morning and is docked nose-to-nose with us.  We are expecting other large boats to move here from Staniel later today.  Tucker, the owner of Compass Cay, happens to be away on vacation.  His two sons, Loan and Tyrone, went down to Black Point on Great Exuma Island, this morning to secure their homes and to make sure their mother is prepared for the storm.  Loan will be back later today.  In the meantime, Rick is watching the place.  Of course, we don’t expect any visitors but boats coming in to ride out the storm.

 

The weather on Thursday through Sunday can be easily summed up as follows:  the wind blew and it rained, the wind blew and it rained, the wind blew and, the wind blew.  Oh, and, of course, the seas were very rough, either on the east side of the island or the west side, or both.

Thursday morning, the storm passed through Cuba and was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane headed our way.  We put additional lines on the boat to make sure that it does not crash into the dock when the wind blows out of the east.  All we can do is sit, wait and watch – just like we would do if we were in Florida.  Boy, are we glad we decided to stay here at Compass Cay Marina for the balance of the hurricane season after moving here to weather Tropical Storm Isaac.

The worst weather was not expected until around 4:00 in the afternoon.  Rick helped Loan to secure as much as possible and took a few pictures along the way.  He even tried to send some video to Bay News 9.  The following is a picture of Crescent Beach taken Thursday morning, before the storm hit, while the wind was blowing out of the east.

 

At about 2:30 Friday morning, the boat was really rocking as the wind direction had changed and was blowing out of the west producing waves rolling through the basin and hitting the boat broadside.  Still, we were securely tied between two docks and, while it was annoying, we were not worried.  Although both of us were awake most of the night, it was not nearly as bad as the night we spent anchored off of Warderick Wells Cay on August 3^rd.

By noon the sun was shining, though it was still quite windy.  Rick and I walked over the island to see how Crescent Beach had fared.  Today, the wind was blowing out of the west, so on the east side of the island the water was relatively calm.  It did appear that there had been quite a bit of beach erosion.  What a difference a day makes, as seen in the following picture of Crescent Beach.

We walked to Hester’s Ruins, at the north end of Crescent Beach, and found that two walls had been blown down that had withstood Tropical Storm Isaac back in August.

Twenty-four hours after the storm came through here, it was still very windy.  The radio reported that the center of the storm was north of Great Abaco, but tropical storm winds extend out for some 250 miles.  We are all wishing that we had some kind of equipment to measure the wind speed.  – Where’s a sailboat when you need one?  – The men said they believed the wind blew over 100 mph yesterday.  Friday evening another squall line came through with estimated gusts of 80 mph.  Rick and I talked about the storm and realized that this was the worst hurricane we have been through in, at least, the last 40 years.

Saturday, the sun was shining but the wind continued to blow.  The noon report on the weather channel said that the storm was way above the Bahamas, but with the large wind field, the northern Bahamas were still on Tropical Storm Watch.  Apparently, Sandy doesn’t watch the Weather Channel, because we are still getting tropical storm force winds here in the Central Bahamas!

Even though it was windy, Rick decided to take a hike today.  I opted out because I didn’t want to get sand blasted.  When he returned, several hours later, he told me that he hiked all the way to Rachel’s Bubble Bath via the North Cliff Trail along the northeast side of the island.  He said that the views were beautiful, but the trail was rough and he didn’t think I would have been able to manage it.  We figure, going and coming, he probably walked about 6 miles.

 

On Sunday, the Weather Channel is saying that Sandy is going to come into New Jersey on Monday or Tuesday, but the entire east coast of the United States is getting wind from it now because this storm has the largest wind field of any in recorded history.  I believe it, because it is still very windy here and still coming from the west.  In fact, Captain Joel told Rick that he didn’t think he’d be able to take Temptation back to Staniel Cay until Tuesday.

Rick took the dinghy out of the water for the storm, so he used this opportunity to perform some routine maintenance on the dinghy and the outboard engine that we bought last March.  Although the seas are still rough, Loan went to Black Point to check on his mother (and partake of some of her Sunday dinner.)  As the day wore on, the wind continued to drop.  Rick went for another hike, while I did some chores.  Today, he walked to the south end of the island.  He crossed an area they call the low tide airport and walked along the cliffs, passed an old freighter wreck, to Tucker’s Bat Cave.  The low tide airport is a swath of land that is dry during low tide and has a couple of feet of water over it at high tide.  It looks like it could be a landing area, but they tell us that it has never actually been used for one.  I have mentioned the Bat Cave before.  We saw it from the dinghy one day.  While it may actually have some live bats, there is a black baseball bat hanging from the ceiling which makes it the “bat cave”.  Today, being so close to Halloween, the bat cave was especially scary because there was a real snake guarding its entrance!  Rick said he did not get close enough to determine what kind a snake it was or just exactly how long it was – and I am glad for that.  He took a picture of the snake, but he blends in so well with the rocks that I didn’t post it.  You’ll just have to take my word for it.

 

Thanks to all the many friends and family who sent e-mails, prayers and best wishes for our safety during the storm.  We are blessed to have so many people who care about us.