2012-01-17/24 Norman’s, Shroud, Hawksbill & Warderick Wells

2012-01-17 Weather forecasts – Highbourne to Norman’s Cay

Today we left Highbourne Marina for Norman’s Cay where we have anchored for the night and possibly another day or so. One of the issues we still have is weather forecasting and the inconsistencies. Today we had the following forecasts:

1. Bahamas Weather a. WINDS: EASTERLY AT 20 TO 25 KNOTS IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS

2. NOAA a. W OF BAHAMAS E TO SE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT b. E OF BAHAMAS NE TO E WINDS 15 TO 20 KT

3. Windguru a. SE 16 Kt decreasing overnight

4. Windfinder a. SE 17 kt decreasing overnight

5. Passageweather a. E/SE 15 kt

6. The weather guru that all sailors seem to swear by, Chris Parker, has set time schedules on SSB radio for his forecasts but whenever I tune in I can never pick up his transmissions (once only have I heard a transmission)

7. I also use GRIB files which are easy to download files from the internet which give a graphical picture of the winds and isobars over the next 7 days.

So, you can see the dilemma! Who do we believe? Well we went with the majority but it seems as if the wind was a lot stronger than the 15/20 kt. Then coming into the anchorage, it would be our luck to be hit by a rain squall!! The Norman’s Cay anchorage is very big but the entrance is a bit tricky. Most navigation in the Bahamas consists of two phases. Firstly, you use your charts and instruments to get you to various waypoints. Once at the waypoint, then VPR (visual piloting rules) takes over. Here you use your eyes to look at the surrounds, the islands, the channels, the color of the water and your depth sounder to enter the anchorage and find a good spot to anchor.

One of the things you also do is time your arrival so that the sun is overhead or slightly behind you so that you can see below the surface of the sea. Need to see the coral heads, sand banks, channels, etc. So today we had stronger than expected winds!! Wind driven surface waves make viewing the bottom difficult!! Then we had overcast skies!! Then we had a rain squall!! Well, so much for VPR!!! Ah well, at least my depth sounder worked perfectly (touch wood!!!) Anyway, the weather Gods relented and the squall passed and we made our way into this huge anchorage where there were already a few yachts. And Mary even allowed me to take us into shallow water depths of 4.8ft!!! First time ever!!! So turned into the wind and set the anchor – first time again – in grass and sand. Had lunch and spent a leisurely, albeit bumpy, afternoon reading while Zeke had a sleep and then headed over to the beach with the boys so that they could work off some excess energy.

Coming back to Amanzi, we were travelling against the wind and waves and there was much hilarity as the waves splashed over the bow wetting everybody in the process:) Hopefully tomorrow the wind will have settled and we will be able to explore the wreck of a drug lord’s plane which is semi submerged and possibly do some snorkelling – Lobster, perhaps??

2012-01-18 Disturbed night – Idyllic day – Norman’s Cay

Remind me again why I embarked upon this adventure? Oh yes, I remember It’s so that I can have disturbed and sleepless nights. Last night the wind piped up – well, it howled! And the boat rocked and rolled all over the place. Once again I felt that my bed was like a speed elevator!! But!!! I knew my anchor was well set Beep-Beep…..Beep-Beep I hear after being woken by Leanne. The anchor alarm’s beeping, she says. I fly out of bed – helped by the bucking of the boat rocking and rolling. Haul out the compass, check the bearings… no, we still seem to be OK. Turn on the radar, No, all is well, the jetty ashore is still the same distance away. Ah-ha! The wind has shifted around and we have moved away from the position I set on the anchor alarm.

Everything’s well but breezy (euphemism here!!) and bumpy (no euphemism, we’re bouncing around all over the place!!)

Anyway, eventually got back to sleep and woke at 6 for Chris Parker’s weather forecast. Finally manage to pick him up on SSB and it looks like the next few days will be good. So, today has been the type of day that we have been hanging out for!! Little or no wind, almost glassy sea surface, nice and warm. So we set off to explore the wreck of a plane in the water – apparently belonged to a drug lord when this island was still part of the drug route to the USA. This has been cleaned up for some time now but the wreck remains.

So anchored the dinghy, donned my snorkel and flippers and hopped overboard – into 4 feet of water!!! We had chosen low tide deliberately but depths are so hard to judge! The wreck was amazing as were all the small fish that have made it their home. Then it was off to the beach to give the boys – especially Zeke, who didn’t swim around the wreck, a run.

Leanne headed off snorkelling and returned with a couple of conch. These were undersize but we went out and collected a whole heap more – 4 of which were legal which we kept. Then, back to the boat where I proceeded to extract the conch and then clean it and extract all the while meat. By the time I did the 4th one I was like a pro at it

While cleaning the Conch, Leanne noticed some fish swimming around so we put some conch off-cuts onto Luther’s small rod and a fish took the bait, ran with it and promptly broke the line. After that it was out with the proper rods but only one fish – a good sized one was caught by Leanne! Later Leanne and I took the dinghy out for some more fishing near the plane wreck and we each caught a pan size fish.

So tonight we had Cracked Conch (Breadcrumbed and fried, BBQ fish, and chicken noodles – the latter more for the boys and because our skills as hunter-gatherers have been fairly sub-standard and Mary decided to hedge her bets!! So right now it’s 9pm and there is not a breath of wind or ripple on the water. THIS is what I signed up for Tomorrow we head a bit further south to Shroud Cay which is within the Exuma Land and Sea Park so there will be no more fishing for a while

2012-01-19 Still at Norman’s Cay

So this morning we looked at the weather forecast and decided to stay at Norman’s Cay for another day and go to Shroud Cay tomorrow. It was a nice day today but the wind was a bit up and from the NE/N. We decided to dinghy to the beach and then walk along the “paved” road to the airport and the “famous” McDuffs restaurant. Not that we were planning to eat there (hamburgers and chips at $18 is a bit pricey), but maybe have a drink. So we all piled into Amadink, double stroller and all.

Well!! Firstly we turned left onto the road which led us past the pond which stank to high heaven and eventually the road petered out at a huge rubbish dump!!! So much for pristine Bahama islands. So we traipsed all the way back to the beach and then onto the airfield a kilometre or so along.

The tar sealed road turned out to be ….. well, how can I describe it? Third world is possibly the only way. Only if you’ve lived in or been to Africa, will you understand! See the photo.

McDuffs was a major disappointment. It really is just a private residence with a bar/grill – but for some reason it’s mentioned in the guide books.. Of course it was closed when we arrived (11:50) but was supposed to open at noon – which never happened – well, noon happened but the MacDuffs didn’t open! So we had some drinks we had brought with us for the walk and returned to the beach and boat for lunch – some yummy bread Mary had baked again this morning. A real easy beer bread that takes about an hour to bake Thanks to Amanda of Diane. This afternoon was spent relaxing; reading, having a snooze and Mary entertaining Luther and Zeke while Leanne also had a good snooze. It’s been a bit bumpy again this afternoon and evening but I seem to be getting used to it now although the noise of the waves slapping against the hull is still something that I’m not quite used to yet. Maybe by the time we leave…..

2012-01-20 Norman’s Cay to Shroud Cay

Up-anchored today – Mary did a sterling job of moving the boat towards the anchor while I hauled up the anchor by hand and manual winch. The whole process went very smoothly despite Mary’s concern that our anchor may have been under another yacht. Leanne did well stowing the chain in the locker. It was a short hop – 5 miles or so – from Norman’s to Shroud where we picked up a mooring ball in the lee of the island.

Once again, despite being reasonably sheltered from the wind we were still subject to a lot of roll. This seems to occur mainly at the turn of the tide and then it settles down to a gently rocking motion. After lunch we headed up to Sanctuary Creek in the dinghy. This was about 1.5 miles and there was much laughter as the wave spray kept coming over the bow soaking everyone

Eventually we found the entrance to the creek and entered a small narrow creek through the mangroves and made out way across the island via this winding waterway to a beautiful beach on the western side. This creek is only passable on a rising tide. With this the current flowing into the creek from the west was quite strong. The beach was beautiful but with the wind blowing onshore it seemed very rough. The return journey was much smoother travelling with the wind and swell.

In the creek we met up with Bruce and Cindy of Aviva. We had met them in Nassau when we were all in Nassau Harbour Club Marina. They had stayed on for much longer there with their daughter and when she returned to the US they started making their way south. So they joined us for sundowners on Amanzi when they returned from their trip up Sanctuary Creek. While on the beach they passed some other cruising people walking their dogs and the one growled at and promptly bit Bruce on the finger!!!!! While they were here we were rocking and rolling in the swell again. There seems to be no apparent reason for this that we have been able to discern.

Last night was mostly peaceful but we had the rolling around again twice during the night. We have now determined that the most severe rolling occurs at the turn of the tides. Not sure why this is, but it seems clear that for some reason there is a lot of swell at that time. It’s counter-intuitive as one would expect it to be really calm at slack tides!! Today we are staying at Shroud again. It’s overcast with a cool breeze at the moment. Everyone’s hanging out for the sun!!! Later, maybe……

2012-01-21 Shroud Cay – Miserable day

Today was a very overcast day with a few rain squalls. According to the weather guru there was about a 1:100 chance of having a squall come through – and we had 2. At least the rain washed some of the salt off the boat but it did mean that we were essentially confined to barracks. So spent the day on the boat – me reading, Mary baking bread and Leanne entertaining the boys doing water painting etc. It cleared up later and we took ourselves off to a small beach were we met up with a Canadian couple and their 3 children. They have taken a year off for cruising. While there we dropped off our $30 into the honesty box on the beach in and envelope provided at the box. I wonder how many boats don’t bother to pay for their use of the ball.

2012-01-22 Shroud Cay – Hawkesbill Cay.

After another very very rolly night we headed a few miles further south to Hawkesbill Cay and picked up another mooring ball. This bay seems more protected from the swell and has been very calm all day with just a gentle roll. After arriving, Leanne and I went snorkelling at a coral reef after dropping Mary and the boys off on the most beautiful beach.

We were the only boat in this bay for a while until the Canadian couple arrived later. The reef was Ok but not much color and only a few fish. We did see a lobster but unfortunately couldn’t take it as we are in a national park and fishing/gathering is prohibited At least we know what to look for now!)

After joining Mary on the beach we headed back to Amanzi for lunch and the boys had a little nap. We then dinghied around a small headland to view the ruins of a settler colony dating back to the 1800’s. The track to the ruins was quite tough going for the boys but Luther managed well while Leanne carried Zeke. We then thought to cross the island to one of the eastern beaches where we could hear the surf crashing but turned back when we came to a spot where we could see how far it was. So we turned back to the beach and dingied further up the coast to the “pirate’s cave.” This was a large hole in the rocks extending quite deep but almost inaccessible due to the sharp rocks. So we simply viewed it from the sea.

After that it was back to the boat and dinner. We were treated to a gorgeous sunset but then I found that my anchor light was not working so I’ll have to look at that in the morning! Not sure how I’ll get to it as it is atop the radar arch above the radar dome…….. After that we all watched a movie on DVD – got stuck into some serious chocolate eating and eventually went to bed.

2012-01-23 Hawkesbill Cay – yay, a very calm night!!

Had a great sleep with little or no motion in the boat. What a change from the rocking and rolly anchorages so far. Got the anchor light sorted. Simple loose connection in the control panel plus a loose wire with no apparent terminal!! Simple but still took a few hours to sort out!! Goodness knows how it was attached!! I think it was probably just jammed onto the connecting terminal!!!

Mary spent the morning preparing bread dough for baking while Leanne and the boys enjoyed the beach. This afternoon we joined the Canadian couple for their son’s birthday on the beach and also met another couple – Pieter (from Holland) and his wife, Eloise (from Brasil) and their son. Mary baked chocolate brownies and made popcorn to take along. Funny thing, seems like popcorn is very popular worldwide because both other couples also brought some

So, another perfect day – slightly rolly now and tomorrow we head to Warderick Wells if they have a mooring ball for us (no anchoring allowed there). One can book a ball 24 hours in advance but you will only get one if someone leaves and one becomes available. So we’ll see. We couldn’t talk to Warderick Wells directly and had to relay through a sailboat – this because our antenna is not as high as those of the sailboats!