Paradise in little pieces

Author: Doug
4/15/09
At anchor, White Sound, Green Turtle Cay

OK, lots to catch up on. First off the things that have gone wrong so far:

1. We broke our brand new camera. It says waterproof right on the front, but when we put it in the water it died. We are going to try to call olympus tomorrow. Until then, no new pics, sorry.

2. The boys beds (in the forward cabin) got wet. Also everything in the forward storage locker including 6 rolls of paper towels and all our galley towels. This is what happens when the hull to deck joint on the boat goes under water. Now, some of you boaters are probably wondering what was the hull to deck joint doing under water? A fair question. The answer? 20+ knot headwinds and big seas for 3 1/2 out of 4 days. We were burying the bow. Not enough water to be dangerous (maybe a couple gallons in 3 days) but still, it was rough. Darn rough.

3. Drug an anchor at Allen's Pensacola at 12:00 am. Why does this only happen in the middle of the night?

4. The Island we were anchored behind caught on fire. I'll let Bryce tell this story in his entry.

Being on a boat is taking the good with the bad, it's not a resort vacation. On the other hand the rewards are amazing.

After plowing through head seas across the banks from West End we spent a quiet night anchored behind Great Sale Cay, which is uninhabited. We had good shelter there from the strong SE winds.

While we were in Lake Worth we met up with a "buddy boat" In this case Fred and Marianna Glantzburg, who keep their beautiful 39' Kady Krogen trawler "Serendipity" in Brunswick, GA. Our boats travel at a similar (slow) speed so we get along really well. We have been traveling together for mutual support and safety.

We left Great Sale together and headed for Allen's Pensacola, another uninhabited cay, about 45 miles SE of Great Sale. By the time we got there we were all beat up and exhausted from the rough seas and the boat had so much salt on it that it looked like the outside of a margarita glass.

We dropped the hook, launched the dinghy and headed for a trail through the island where there is a signing tree. That's when we saw the fire. As I said, I'll let Bryce tell it, but I'm very proud of how hard they worked putting it out. We probably saved a big part of the island, as it is really dry here right now.

The next day the wind was still howling, but had shifted somewhat to the South. After discussions with Serendipity we decided to stay put for a day. It is harder to make good decisions in this part of the Abacos because you are out of radio range of weather reports and have to rely on other boats to pass on info.

One of the cruisers who helped us with the fire gave us a tip about a hidden cove on the other side of the cay, so we loaded up the dinghy and went exploring. We drug the dinghy up on a small, weedy, rocky beach and banged around until we found a goat path through the thick undergrowth to the other side of the island. As we topped a small rise the path came out onto a beautiful white sand crescent cove flanked by tiny islets. The water there was shallow and crystal clear with a perfect little bonefish flat to the east side. Because the cove is on the North side of the island it was sheltered from the howling South wind. It was paradise.

The boys swam, Jen relaxed and I caught a nice bonefish on my fly rod. I also hooked but lost two triggerfish, which I have never seen on the flats before. They ate the bonefish fly I cast to them and fought really well. They tailed like permit.

That night a big squall came through and we drug our anchor. No harm done though. I can always count on crying babies or dragging anchors to wake Jen up.

The next morning (today) the wind had dropped to only around 10 knots and we had an awesome run here to Green Turtle. Fred, who is a retired engineer, came over and helped me fix the leaking raw water pump on our generator. We just got back from taking the boys in to the Green Turtle Club to see their favorite band, The Gully Roosters, play live.

Paradise doesn't seem to come all at once, but we are loving the little pieces we get.

Tomorrow if the weather holds we head for Guana Cay.