Compass Cay Marina
Latitude: 24.26083 Longitude: -76.51279
BD 392 (Friday, 2/1/13) – BD 398 (Thursday, 2/7/13) –
In Bruce Van Sant’s book, The Gentleman’s Guide to Passages South, he admonishes cruisers to not be slaves to the weather. So, as Friday morning progressed and it got windier and rain threatened, we abandoned our plans to go to Farmer’s Cay. We are, naturally, disappointed, but Farmer’s has another one-day festival at the end of March, so we will plan to go then.
By the late afternoon Saturday, we could see peeks of a little blue sky and the temperature had warmed up some, so we took the dinghy out for a short ride. We headed for the bay that they identify as the conch nursery. From here, you can see a marker at the highest point on the island, 92 ft. There is a sign on the beach that identifies it as Compass Peek. Now, the definition of “peak” is: a. The pointed summit of a mountain. Or b. The mountain itself. I figure since this is only 92 feet high, it is only a “peek” or glance at something that could someday grow into a peak!
We thought that we might be able to take the “jungle trail” from here, but when we turned into the bay, the winds coming out of the east were causing us to get wet. So, we went around to the next beach and decided to hike back to the trail to the highest point. We beached the dinghy and walked over the dune and immediately found a marked trail. In fact, there was a sign pointing up the beach, in the other direction, which indicated that was the trail to Rachel’s Bubble Bath. We took the trail southward from that point and did come out in the conch nursery bay. We took a picture of the sign on the beach indicating Compass Peek (above), but we were not able to find a trail up to the marker at the top
We took the dinghy out on Sunday afternoon. First we went up the creek to the site of some old ruins at the west end of the “proposed bridge”. This is also the eastern terminus of the “jungle trail”. The first building we came had a sign in it stating that it used to be a marine store. We remembered to bring the camera but when I tried to take a picture, I discovered that the battery was dead. (Another trail we’ll have to do again to get pictures.) Next to it looked like it could have possibly been a small home but there was no signage to identify what it was. A little further down the trail, there was another concrete block structure on the south side of the trail which could have been a home. There was no path cleared to get to it, so we didn’t get a very good look. It wasn’t long before we got to a place where a sign indicated that there was an old well just a short walk off the path. We went down there, but didn’t get too close as huge bromeliads had grown up around it. (Randy H. would be envious!) Continuing down the trail we came to a “crossroads”. One path led to the beach on conch bay, close to where we were yesterday and the other said that it went to an old loyalist well and ruin. (Per Wikipedia, “Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain (and the British monarchy) during the American Revolutionary War. “ From www.seaworthy.com I learned:
“Many Loyalists, including some future Exuma residents, sought refuge in eastern Florida as Florida was not involved in the American Revolution. The Treaty of Versailles on January 20, 1783 restored The Bahamas to England and gave Florida to Spain. The Loyalists in Florida felt cheated that Florida was being traded for The Bahamas and were irate at having to move again. No longer safe in colonial America, they looked to the nearby Bahamas with hope. Investigators were sent to the islands for the express purpose of surveying the land and making a report on the suitability of the land areas for plantations. They found that salt was big industry. Seasonal workers from Nassau produced enough salt from the ponds of Exuma as early as 1728 to supply all of America. The cays were covered with large hardwoods such as madeira, lignum vitae, and braziletto spawning some small logging activity. The few settlers they found were engaged primarily in farming.”
When we got to the well, there was a sign posted saying that the “Willie the Snake” that guarded the well was a Compass Cay pet! Thank goodness we did not see the boa on guard this afternoon. (I did see a snake later on our walk – in a hurry to get out of our way!) Another sign said to follow a stone wall to see the home. It looked like it would be too difficult for us to try in our flip flops and sandals, so we decided we would do that another day, when the camera battery was fully charged. We followed the path to the beach and found a boat load of sunbathers sitting right where we were yesterday near the “Compass Peek” sign. We were joined by a few others in the evening outside of the marina office to watch the Super Bowl. (As to the Super Bowl, we understand congratulations are in order for our friend, Ann, who seems to always be lucky, and was lucky enough to win a new TV at the Super Bowl party this year.)
On Monday morning, we received an e-mail from Watermaker Air Freight stating that they had received the package that Rick had told them was coming. We took the dinghy to Staniel in the afternoon and had a nice, late lunch at the yacht club, then walked to the blue store to pick up some groceries. Our part was not there yet, but it was a nice afternoon. On the way back from Staniel, we saw that the S/V Wawenoc was securely on its mooring. We had cocktails with the couple on the on the boat Bingo along with the couple from Lifesong. The couple on Bingo had watched the Super Bowl with us the night before. Lifesong has been here at the marina numerous times since we’ve been here. Then, we moved to the dock and had a pot luck supper with Monica, Tucker, Marino, Rick and I. Marino (a fellow here from Canada doing work for Tucker on the various buildings on the island) had grilled steaks and made peas and rice. Tucker grilled fish, and I brought a vegetable to round out the dinner.
On Tuesday, Bingo pulled out of the marina, headed for Staniel Cay. We went to Rachel’s in the afternoon. On our way there, a flying fish skipped across the water in front of us. We are living in a wonderful place! We beached the dinghy at the pavilion and then walked up the creek to the “Bubble Bath”. Since there was a steady breeze and the sun kept going in and out of the clouds that had formed in the afternoon, I decided to sit on a rock and read while Rick went in. He didn’t stay in long, as he said the water was a little cool! While we were on the beach, we noticed that one of the signs had been repainted. The aforementioned Monica has taken on the “job” of updating as many of the signs around the island as she can while she is here. Yesterday, when we went to Staniel, Tucker took Monica across the creek and let her off to explore the jungle trail and update any of the signs along the way. She also took her camera with her. She said that she didn’t see any snakes but she was very pleased to say that she did see a hummingbird. She walked all the way to the beach and then across the same trail that we had taken from the other beach and on toward Rachel’s updating as many signs along the way as she could. (Note: Monica has now “updated” the Compass Peek sign and changed the spelling.)
We received an e-mail from Watermaker Air that our oven part was on the plane Wednesday morning, so we set off for Staniel around 10:45. We planned to stop at the Isles General Store as well to pick up a few things and then stop at Sampson on the way back. We heard from someone staying at Sampson that they had hired a chef and hoped to have their restaurant open in about a week. If they are open, we may want to have dinner there for Valentine’s Day, next week. We had motored along for about 15 minutes when the engine started making a noise it shouldn’t make. We had not even gotten as far as Sampson’s, so we decided to turn around and go back to the boat. Rick says he thinks, as he did before, that there is something wrong in the lower end of the outboard and that we will probably have to order some parts. Trying to do the least amount of damage to the engine we “putted” back to the marina. What took us 15 minutes going, took an hour coming back, but the sky was a beautiful blue with just a few wispy white clouds and the water color ran from deep blue to green to turquoise and even white where it was just a couple of inches above the sand spits. The beaches were either pretty white sand or grey/brown limestone rock, some cliffs rising straight out of the water and others beach with boulders strewn around on it. Obviously from the preceding descriptions, I had a lot of time to observe my surroundings! We got back to the boat, had lunch and then set off again in one of the marina’s skiff’s, Felix II. In this, we sped up to the Isles General Store, went around to Staniel and filled up a gas can and the fuel tank on the boat, picked up our small package with the oven part and had a drink at the Yacht Club bar before returning to Compass. We heard from Steve and Joy, in Trinidad. They are still waiting on various boat repairs, but are enjoying lots of activities on Trinidad such as the 50th year of “Panorama” (the celebration and contest of the pan bands.) In addition to that, they took the fast ferry over to Tobago for a few days. It sounds like they are truly making lemonade out of the lemons they found when they arrived back at their boat after six months at home in Florida.
Rick continued helping with the electrical on the boater’s grille. Tucker has gone to Florida for a medical checkup. Preston returned from his home on Grand Bahama Island on Thursday. We had a few rain showers in the morning and again in the evening which caused our SKYPE call with Ken & Jackie to have numerous interruptions. We wished our niece, Melissa and her husband, Randy, a very happy 15th wedding anniversary and learned that she is planning to finish up getting her Bachelor’s degree and then go to seminary. I can’t tell you how proud we are of her and how much we wish only good things for the both of them and their son, Michael.
BD399 (Friday, 2/8/13) – BD405 (Thursday, 2/14/13) – Friday morning I went to the clinic on Staniel and was diagnosed with a pretty common infection, given some antibiotic pills and told to come back in a week for a re-check. I asked if I should restrict any activities and the doctor told me to stay calm and drink lots of water. I told her that it was hard not to be calm in the Exumas (it being such a relaxed atmosphere)! We were charged $33 for the appointment and medication.
I baked brownies in the afternoon to share at our pot luck supper on Saturday.
Dave, from Living Large, made waffles for everyone on Sunday morning. We called to wish Rick’s mother a Happy Birthday in the afternoon. We also said goodbye to Monica. A group gathered on the dock in the evening to watch the Emmy’s on TV. We heard from Tillie and Jimmy and have started making our plans to get together, on the water, in May.
On Monday Rick continued to work on our outboard engine. Dave (Living Large) fried fish for the pot luck supper. We were joined by Joanie and Macgreggor, a couple from Texas staying at the Lilly House; their friends, staying nearby at anchor on the M/V No Regrets, and Janet and Bob, a couple from Maine who have been staying at the marina on their boat for the last few days. The gentleman from No Regrets had really taken a shine to my brownies on Saturday, so we gave him the ones that were leftover.
Rick went with Preston to take a couple to the airport at Staniel on Tuesday; then they stopped by Little Pipe Cay to have someone help work on our outboard engine. The sky is clear and it is sunny today, but the wind is really blowing out of the southeast. I have been resting a lot, trying to get over this infection, and have been reading. This week, I ready the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I have always been interested in history. In fact, learning more of the history of the Bahamas was one of the things that I looked forward to in association with our travels around the islands.
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. He was the 10th and youngest son of Josiah Franklin’s 17 children. He died, at age 84, in 1790. At age 17 he moved to Philadelphia for a few months, then to England for a few years and returned to Philadelphia in 1726. Most of us are familiar with many of his inventions, like the lightning rod and the Franklin stove, but I didn’t know that he never got a patent on any of his inventions because he believed that everyone should enjoy the inventions of others. He relates in his book that someone in England made a “ton” of money off of a stove similar to his design. What I found more interesting was his part in creating or helping to create the library, city police, fire department and university (or their predecessors) in Philadelphia. I will say that reading the book required more concentration than most because, as it was an “autobiography”, it contained a lot of “thee’s” and “thou’s” and other vernacular colloquialisms of the 1700’s. It has given me an interest to visit Philadelphia after we finish our boating adventure and begin to travel around the North American continent.
Wednesday was my sister-in-law, Tammy’s, birthday. We heard from Ruth who told us of Austin Pickering’s death. All of the Bradenton Yacht Club’s membership will mourn the passing of our Fleet Chaplain. We were also sorry to hear that Bill’s daughter, Tracy, fell and broke her collar bone and that her son, Zack, broke a couple of teeth when he got hit in the face on the very first day of baseball practice. I remember several times that our son required medical attention related to baseball mishaps. Congratulations to Bill for winning the “Broken Prop” award at the Commodore’s Awards Banquet. If you look on the bright side, that means that you went – or tried to go – on a number of the monthly “cruise-aways” with the Power Fleet. Anytime you can cruise away, it’s a good thing! Tucker returned to the island last night and Loan left this morning.
Thursday was Valentine’s Day. I got a surprise box of chocolate candy from the man on No Regrets who so appreciated my brownies. We went to Fowl Cay Resort for our Valentine’s dinner. Rick had lobster and I had lamb. At the door was a hostess with flutes of “red” champagne for everyone and a rose for each lady. We spent the cocktail hour in the lounge and saw how they made the champagne red. They put about a jigger of grenadine in the bottom of the glass before adding the champagne. It looked and tasted great. Of course, those of you who know me well, will not be surprised that Rick only had a couple of sips of his drink and then gave the rest to me! I could go on and on about the meal and the “love songs serenade” by the bartender, Waylon; but the people that we visited with were very interesting as well.
First we met Michael and his wife and their daughter and son-in-law. He told us that they had relocated their business from the cold north about two years ago to Lakewood Ranch. He started to explain to us where Lakewood Ranch was and we told him quickly that we had lived for many years in Palmetto which is also in Manatee County, Florida. Michael then surprised us by saying he recently purchased the Riverside Building in Palmetto across from Regatta Pointe. What a small world! And on top of that, he told us that Jeff Stevenson was the one who suggested Fowl Cay for his Valentine’s Day getaway. We suggested that they stop in at the Bradenton Yacht Club as we are sure that they would make great new members.
We also spoke briefly with a lovely woman with long blond hair. When we told her that we were staying at Compass Cay, she said that she and her husband would be coming up there on Saturday to deliver some kayaks. She explained that they own a business called “Wheels and Waves” and rent just about anything someone would want to use while staying on or around Staniel Cay. We told her that we had rented a golf cart from her when Ken and Jackie Sosville were visiting us on Staniel last August and she recalled our boat name. That is pretty much how business is done around here. People don’t ask for your name – they ask for your boat’s name.
Another very nice couple that we conversed with had been to Compass that afternoon and told Rick that they were going to Fowl Cay for dinner as well. From conversation with them, we learned that he had owned the Sampson Cay Marina but sold it. They continue to own and live on the island just across from the marina, which is Big Sampson Cay, where he and a partner run a marine salvage business. I couldn’t place his accent, so asked from where he originally hailed. He told us he was from Eleuthera. When people heard that we intended to go back to Compass after dinner in the dark, they were concerned for us. This couple offered to have us ride back with them to Big Sampson, towing our boat along. They said it would give us a chance to visit and would also get us a little closer to Compass without any mishap. We thanked them graciously, but decided to go back on our own. We were in Loan’s boat and managed to get home safely by the light of a quarter moon.
BD406 (Friday, 2/15/2013) – BD412 (Thursday, 2/20/13) – On Friday morning, we took Marino to the airport on Staniel Cay to return to his home in Canada. I went to the clinic and got a clean bill of health. I asked what we owed for this follow-up visit and Karen, the nurse, said just make a donation in the box in the waiting room. The wind had really picked up and was coming from the southwest. There was a lot of activity in the water surrounding the Staniel Cay Yacht Club as there is no protection from the wind coming from that direction and most everyone was “scrambling” to move somewhere else. We had taken Tucker’s boat – an Albury – and we got a little wet coming back in it.
Saturday, the marina was full! I guess a lot of boats came in to get out of the wind. Sea Clef is back and Captain Barry was able to buy us a new water pump for our dinghy engine while he was Nassau. Around 6 pm a cold front, with thunder storm, came barreling through sending all the boaters from the dock back to the boats where we remained for the night. We got some rain and lots of wind. Not too long before the really bad weather hit, a group of kayakers left the marina. These were the ones that we had heard about when we were at Fowl Cay for Valentine’s Day. There were about 10 boats and they were headed for the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We were all worried about them.
Sunday morning it was 68 degrees with 22 mph winds from the NNW gusting to 45 mph. It is predicted to remain in the high sixty’s through Tuesday and the wind will be over 20 mph. Everyone is wearing long sleeves and/or jackets with their shorts!
On Monday afternoon, we took a short walk on a new trail. Rick said he thought it was the “ridge walk”. We went over some rocky and hilly terrain that generally went across the island from the Lily House to the Crescent Beach House (west to east). This “walk” paralleled the one that goes along the north side of the “low tide airport” but it was up high (on the ridge) so the views were great. When we got to the Crescent Beach House, we decided to take a break and sit for a spell. We knew that no one was staying in that accommodation because they had discovered a leak last week which had damaged the kitchen cabinets. They were unable to make repairs with supplies on the island, so they cannot use the house until the repairs are made. Preston had told Rick that they had planted some corn on the island, but we had not noticed it until we stopped here and found several stalks growing right in front of the porch.
Also, on this walk we noticed that some of the plants that had caught our notice a couple of weeks ago had now changed appearance. Their green “bean” pods have started opening and red flowers have appeared with a black bean inside the flower. Tyrone Rolle told us that you could eat the beans – just before he popped one into his mouth!
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On Tuesday, Rick contacted Steve with information he heard from some fellow boaters with Rocna anchors. Apparently there is a recommendation on how to attach swivels to their anchors. They suggest you install a short (4-5 links) piece of chain between the anchor and the swivel; then, connect the other end of the swivel to the longer chain. This reduces the stress placed on the swivel as the vessel rotates on the anchor, since it holds so well and tends not to move. This came up as we were talking about the brand new Hatteras fishing boat that snapped its anchor at Big Majors Spot during the weather this past weekend and ended up on the rocks. Steve replied that he bought the articulated Suncor swivel which pivots in all directions, not just swivels, to hopefully avoid that problem. He and Joy are now just waiting on weather to leave Trinidad and start this year’s adventure.
The M/V Quest left on Wednesday morning. They had been docked right in front of us for the last several days and were also here for New Year’s Eve. Apparently they had decorated the boat for Christmas at Highbourne Cay and after Christmas they left all of the decorations at Highbourne with the exception of one small snowflake ornament that they put on top of an antenna in the middle of the boat. The ornament is solar powered and, at night, it flashes bright colors reminding me of a small disco ball. Anyway, it provided a nice distraction in the evenings when I would sit in the pilot house working on the computer. As Quest left, Joannie (the owner’s wife) was driving their tender and ran aground trying to get out of his way as he left the marina. Not to worry, because Gail, from the Nordhavnn at the end of the dock, jumped in her dinghy, went out and pushed her off. It seems, as the Bradenton Yacht Club women made clear a number of years ago, that boating women all over the world are no longer just “galley maids” but are, indeed, “Great Mates.”
Thursday, as I watched the sun come up over the ridge, I was thinking about my brother, Rick. Today is his 59th birthday and I am sure that he was up with the birds. I hope he had a great day. As I looked out at the entrance to the marina this morning, I saw four sailboat masts. Often times boats anchor in this area. When the tide is low, it is very obvious where the water is deep enough. When I was thinking of writing this, I tried to think of the appropriate word to describe the color of the water. I thought azure might be right – so I looked it up in Wikipedia to be sure. They say that azure is equivalent to “sky blue”. I continued to research and I believe that I have found the absolute perfect word to describe the water. Many of us have heard the name, but I have a feeling that few of us actually knew what color(s) it described. The word is cyan. Wikipedia says:
“Cyan may be used as the name of any color in the range between blue and green. This color is also called aqua or blue-green, and was formerly known as “cyan blue”. Some tones of color close to cyan in the cyan color range are teal, turquoise, electric blue and aquamarine.”
I think all of those words used in the definition can be used to describe the beautiful waters of the Exumas.
This afternoon, the kayakers returned to the marina. We were very glad to see that they had survived their camping in the park just north of Compass Cay.
When we were gathered for cocktails at sundown – called Sundowners – the group decided we would have a pot luck supper on Saturday night. Gail and Tokie, on the Nordhavn, said that they had a boneless leg of lamb which they would bring.
BD413 (Friday, 2/22/13) – BD419 (Thursday, 2/28/13) – Our plans changed for the pot luck dinner as a number of people planned to leave on Saturday. At least a dozen people participated in our Friday night pot luck dinner and all of the food was delicious.
On Saturday, we made reservations to fly to Florida for Easter. We went for a nice walk on the beach in the afternoon. Rick was going to cook fish for supper, but we enjoyed the sundowners so much that we skipped supper all together. (I don’t believe it hurt us one bit to miss a meal!)
We ate “Sunday waffles” with Dave and a number of others on the dock the next morning. When he was asked why we didn’t have waffles last Sunday, he replied that the marina was full and there were just too many people. Barry set up the TV to try to watch the Daytona 500 on the dock, but unfortunately his receiver didn’t pick up the channel that carried the race. So everyone sat around telling stories of their experiences with various races in Daytona. Rick and I grew up in the Daytona area and he and his family attended the car races for many years – starting when they raced on the beach. When Rick was a boy scout, when the race track had just been built, he took the ticker tape results which were printed after every 10 laps and distributed them to rows of reporters in the press box. He remembered how Bill France, Sr. hired high school students to direct traffic at the track. And, I remembered that in the late 60’s, there were not enough hotel rooms in the area to house all of the race fans, so the local chamber of commerce asked residents to rent out rooms. I would room with my grandmother for a few days while we rented out my room for several years. We met some very nice and interesting people.
On Monday, we went with Barry, Janine and Sarah to Staniel Cay Yacht Club for lunch and then to the Blue Store to pick up some groceries. On the way back, we stopped at the “pig” beach on Big Majors Spot. Five pigs swam out to greet us. (Last year, we only saw four – and then only three at a time). All we had to feed them was some lettuce that we had just bought at the store and they didn’t seem to want any of it. But they wanted something and they made that fact known with the most squealing noises I have ever heard out of them. I wished I had the camera with me to make a video. Oh well, there’s always next time.
When we got back to the boat, I started on my contribution for our “Full Moon Pot Luck Supper at Hester’s Ruins”.
We transported the food via the Kubota (atv) across the island to the ruins that Dave of the M/V Living Large has partially restored.
We had a lovely dinner at Hester’s. Dave fried bite-sized pieces of grouper. Barry brought grilled steak and tuna, Janine (Barry’s wife and the chef on Sea Clef) made palenta and a cake. Gail and Tokie contributed grilled lamb chops and some coconut bread and I brought a crock pot full of mixed vegetables. We set all the food up on a new picnic table that Dave made.
Thirteen of us enjoyed the scrumptious supper by the light of the moon. From left to right in the picture below are: Preston, Loan, Sarah, Trevon, Tyrone, Dennis, Gail, Tucker, Charlene, Rick, Tokie and Dave. We returned back to the boats about 8:30 p.m. already planning to do it again at the next full moon.
Tucker and Loan left early Tuesday morning to fly to Nassau for the day to take care of some business. Rick assisted Preston and Trevon (Tucker’s brother and grandson) minding the docks and the store. Trevon was here last fall and told us of his hopes to start college in Nassau at the first of the year. Apparently he missed a deadline for taking an entrance exam, so he is waiting until the next opportunity to take the test. In the meantime, he is working here and he is a great help!
On Wednesday, I took inventory of our food provisions. That means that I took every can, box and bottle out from under the couch and organized it on the table. Then I made note of how many of each product I had. Then I put it all back under the couch and input my new numbers onto a spreadsheet. After that, I started all over again by counting everything on the shelves in the salon, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom and input those numbers into the computer. I try to do this every couple of months so that when we are in a good place to shop, I will know what we need. After counting all of that food, I decided we would have left-overs for dinner!
Rick has been working, or helping to work, on various boats. He has finally fixed most of the leaks in the dinghy, but we are still waiting on some seals for the engine to be shipped over and installed before we can use it. He also replaced a part in Loan’s outboard engine that allows the engine to go up and down. And, he helped another boater whose brand new water pumps quit working by re-installing his old ones. There really is never a dull moment around here. I stayed busy doing laundry and reading. I went out on the back of the boat to read about 3:30 but the no-see-um’s drove me back inside pretty quickly. They can be pretty bad around here if the wind is not blowing.
Thursday, the wind picked up and started to clock around. In the morning it blew out of the SSW switching to SW, then W and NW overnight. When the wind is out of the west, more people come into the marina for weather protection. In the morning, we already had 11 boats in the marina and I watched waves breaking on the sandbar just outside the marina entrance (even at high tide.) We got about a three-pound lobster yesterday, so we had lobster alfredo for supper tonight. We plan to go with a bunch to the Staniel Yacht Club for supper tomorrow night.
