Hello everyone, I know it has been a long time since I sent any information on my whereabouts, but I have been having trouble getting decent internet access, and e-mail access in particular. So, I will try and update you on what I have been doing. I will assume you got the e-mail on my arrival in the Abacos, but not the one about my arrival in the Exumas, so I will start with leaving the Abacos.On December 17 I left Linyard Cay, Abaco for Eleuthera. After the better part of the day sailing and motoring, I arrived at Royal Sound, Eleuthera, where I spent the night. Then It was off to Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera for several days. Governor’s Harbour is the government seat in Eleuthera. The town is quite clean, and has all the necessities except a place to get fuel and water. I spent several days there enjoying walking around the town, meeting the people, and enjoying the library. Also went out to dinner one evening. I then headed down to Rock Sound, at the southern end of Eleuthera, and spent several days in the protection of the harbor as a cold front went through. Rock Sound was a smaller town than Governor’s Harbour, but still enjoyable. I found an inexpensive Bahamian restaurant one evening, and the food was quite good in the home cooking style. But one does have to the pace of Bahamian service!
After the front past, I did a day sail across Exuma Sound to the northern cays of the Exumas, spending the first night at a marina on Highbourne Cay where I was able to obtain diesel fuel and water. The next day left for The Exuma’s Land and Sea Park headquarters at Warderwick Wells. I spent eight days in the north anchorage of Wardrick Wells and explored the cay, as it had lots of walking trails to follow, and did several days of snorkel when the wind was not blowing to hard. It was a good place to sit out another cold front passage. The Park Administrator and his girlfriend opened their house to the cruisers that were at Warderwick Wells on Christmas Day for dinner. They provided a turkey and ham, and the cruisers provided all the sides (NAVIGATOR providing stuffing and brownies). We also had a beachside get together on New Years eve, though no one stayed up until midnight, at least not on the beach.
After leaving Warderwick Wells, I did a couple of days of snorkeling at Cambridge Cay, also in the park. The water was so clear, and on the first day I found a place called the Sea Aquarium that had lots and lots of tropical fish to swim with. It was actually nothing more than a small cay off Cambridge Cay that seemed to attract a t lot of fish. The next day was not so successful, as I was going to snorkel an area known for its elkhorn coral, only a shark wanted to call the area home that day, so I let him have his way and tried elsewhere. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find anyplace as good as the place I had been the day before. From Cambridge Cay I headed further south to the Staniel Cay area and anchored behind Big Majors Spot Cay to spend a couple of days. The first days was pretty windy, so I stayed put on the boat. The next day I met some other Island Packet owners who were going snorkeling at Thunderball Cave, the cave in which they filmed the underwater scenes for the James Bond movie Thunderball. Unfortunately, I managed to scrape my leg getting into the dinghy to head out. By the time I got to the cave, my scrape was bleading, so watched the dinghy while the other two snorkeled the cave. I didn’t want to go into the water with blood, in case we ran across another shark. I will snorkel there on my back north. The next stop on the way south the George Town, Exuma was a settlement called Black Point on Guana Cay. This settlement appeared to be poorer than the previous ones I had been to, but the people were still very friendly and helpful. I walked the island, crossing to the ocean side for the view, and walked around town finding a Laundromat, which I used, and grocery store to get fresh vegetables, and three bar and grills, where, naturally, I had to try out the bar. After 2 days in Black Point, I headed south once again, spending most of the day underway to Cave Cay for the night. I did not go ashore here as it is a private cay, as are many of the cays in the Exumas.
The next day I headed out for George Town, Exuma. The initial ride out the cut by Cave Cay was quite rough, with 4-5 foot seas that were very steep, as a result of and outgoing tide and incomeing wind blowing about 20 knots. But once NAVIGATOR got about half mile off shore, things smoothed out and I had a nice passage to George Town. The entry into the harbor was fairly straight forward, and I found an nice anchorage off Stocking Island off Monument Beach. So, I have been in George Town since January 7, 2013, except for a couple of trips about 8 miles north to Emerald Bay Marina for fuel and water and a change of scenery. George Town is the largest settlement in the Exumas, but no where near as large as Marsh Harbor in the Abacos. It has been fun to meet new people, both cruisers and native Bahamas. One of the Bahamians who is quite knowledgable bout computers, has helped me get decent internet access. I have eaten out a fairly broad selection of restaurants, from beach bars to fine dining (which is very expensive here), though not that often due to the cost. There are also a lot of activities going on in George Town. The cruisers put on seminars on travel experience, technical problems, sprots, yoga, you name it, someone will discuss it. The water is very clear here, both on the harbor and oceans sides. Water colors are fabulous. The weather is also better here, the temperature about 10 degrees warmer than Marsh Harbour, and the winds usually 5-10 MPH less when a cold front goes through. The only real problem is there is not a lot of protection from wind blowing from the SW to the W to the NW. Fortunately the easterly trades winds predominate.
Well, I guess this brings me up to date. Sorry for not writing more often. I will try to do better.
Cliff Baker
S/V NAVIGATOR
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