Eleuthera to Compass/Staniel Cay...now back to Eleuthera!

 Today it was blowing out, but Bob wanted to check out some reefs that we were told about, also an area to find conch.  I can only say that there would have been a line a half mile long if they had that ride at Disney World;  a wild ride for sure, but Bob loves to bounce, bob and weave his way through surf, white caps, etc.  Me?  Well, I have all the faith in my Capt!  I would have taken a photo of the 3' waves with the tops blowing off as we went over them, but I wouldn't let go of the boat :)
Love ya Honey Bob!  He finally said "this is getting a little rough, maybe we should go in.."do ya think?"
Yesterday we found this rather deep reef a ways out, Bob saw a 3' Nassau Grouper that he pictured on his dinner plate.  He was using his Hawaiian sling spear, as he shot Mr. Grouper either the fish turned or Bob moved as the spear bounced off the Groupers head!  Bob said "I gave him a headache, now we will have to come back another day to relieve him of it"  Yummmm   I hope he is territorial...as we know where he lives!  I was diving down to see what Bob was after, when I saw him start for the surface and snapped this photo, one of my favorites so far this year!

 These are the quaint seaside villa's at Staniel Cay, the Watermaker Airline comes in here so we call this our "airport run" they have two grocery stores there, The Blue Grocery and The Pink Grocery; they are owned by Brothers and their families. 

 In the harbor where we tie up our tender in front of Staniel Yacht Club they always have sharks and sting rays swimming by, this shark who (thought he was perhaps a dog?) was rolling on his back to scratch his back.  I saw him do it twice,  aaaaah...that feels good!

 On the way back to Compass Cay you must always stop at Big Majors Cay where the locals keep pigs, due to the cruisers that came into this very safe cove, and fed the pigs their leftovers, they started swimming out to the boats for "vittles"  One tried to climb into our boat last year and Bob gave it a great B_ _ _h slap across it's snout.  We still laugh about it.  The locals have a pig roast once a year and say "thanks cruisers for fattening up our little piggies!"

 On the way back to Tuckers Compass Cay I saw a large orange spot on the sea floor and said "turn around Bob; I think I just saw a giant starfish!"  I did, I dove for it, and we took photographs then put it back in it's home at the bottom of the sea.  This is a large Cushion Starfish being held by Daughter Dylan.

 Rachels Bubble bath, one of the most picturesque places on earth I am sure, you find urchins, sea eggs, juvenile fish and lots of bubbles here!  Located on the north end of Compass Cay.

 Forget about Red Right Return for awhile.... just stay Left!  We called this sign "Driving for Dummies" but we didn't argue.  Driving on the left wasn't as hard to get used to as the steering wheel on the right side of the car.  I sat in "passenger seat" on left when Bob took his turn at the wheel, and whenever we would stop to at our destination I would put the car in park for him.  He grimaced a lot :) Even called me a control freak.  The first half hour was like being in church...
a lot of "O God & Jesus!" comments going on.

 Out cruising the coast for reefs I shot this exposed sandbar offshore with the storm cloud hovering overhead, love the contrasts!  There are so many places that are shallow, secluded spots that would be wonderful to teach those Grandkids how to swim/snorkel, next year I hope to have a herd of them here!

 Tarpum Bay Church by the Sea, how beautiful is this?  

 Bob and I talk to everyone; and while conversing with this gentleman (Oswald Ingraham) we found that he was speaker for Parliament for 11years, owns the hardware store where we bought Dominoes as that seems to be the game of choice here and we want to learn it; Bob is way ahead of me by the way..... (I know you all find that hard to believe).  On the way to the car we bought some fresh veggies from a vendor and ended up getting an incredible steamed fish recipe from him.  Bob made it and we bought thought it was every bit as good as any we have enjoyed at Bahamian restaurants.  

 Easter Week Vacation begins for Dylan & Teresa as they arrive in Staniel Cay Via Watermaker Airlines, then transported by Preston Rolle in his skiff to Compass Cay with Papa Bob as co-pilot.

 

 The "windex blue" waters of Compass Cay-Mama welcomes Daughter Dylan to the Crescent Beach

 A fellow boater, Dave who spends most of his winter on his yacht "Living Large" at Compass Cay has transformed this hurricane wrecked house called "Hester's" into his gym, and he allows you to use it without having a membership!  Teresa uses her "Flintstone weights" while Dylan uses the punching bag...ocean views of course!

 Bob says "the heck with that nonsense...I'm taking a nap in the hammock!"

 Dave (Living Large) has also constructed a planetarium, probably the only boater who travels with power tools used for creativity.  That is "refrigerator rock" in the background in the Crescent Beach bay, the early settlers called it refrigerator rock as they had no method of keeping foods fresh, so would go to the "refrigerator" each day to get their food from the sea.

 It is always interesting diving with Bob, he caught this little balloon fish and he sure ballooned up!  He deflates as soon as he is set free and swims away.

 The "trailer park" was full!  From on top the hill we were amazed to see how many boats were tied to the docks of Compass Cay, there were 19 that day, we had never seen that many boats in, and had never seen Tucker's filled up so tight that he was turning boats away and they waited at anchor outside the marina waiting for someone to leave.  A popular place to be safe when weather comes your way.

 Our slip at Compass Cay affords a tranquil view of the entrance and is our favorite spot to watch the sunset fade into darkness.

 I had company swimming with the sharks at Compass Cay, Teresa joined me, this guy was sleeping under the dock, but we had others than swam by our sides, we also saw lots of bonefish and a trunk fish on our nurse shark excursion under the docks.

 Creative visitors leave a sign as a token that they visited Tucker at Compass Cay, this was our addition to the array, it mentions Bob, Linda & Buddy from Stillwater, MN.

 After a couple days at Compass Cay we cruised to Hetty's Land, our favorite anchorage, at night the stars seem to hover over your flybridge, and days are filled with exploring, collecting sand dollars on the beach or take a canoe ride to a private white sand beach as Dylan and Teresa did.

 

 This beach at Hetty's Land was littered with both alive and dead sand dollars; the dead dollars are white, Teresa said she was going to pay her employees with sand dollars on next pay day.  Wonder how that went over?

 The bounty! What we did not get a photo of, and maybe just as well (my battery went dead) was our trek across the island to see the rock formations on the Atlantic side of Guana Cay (Hetty's Land anchorage)  Bob and I have traversed that trail many times, and never had a problem.  This time we sunk into muck up to our ankles going over a 100'+ stretch of what looked to be sand.  Very stinky, mucky sand.  We enjoyed our view of the ocean, climbing on rocks, picking up flotsam and jetsam, then started back...it got worse, now we are sinking up to our knees.  Laughing of course as there was nothing to do but perhaps cry, my one shoe got sucked off my foot so I went barefoot the rest of the way feeling the rotted matter of "whatever" squishing between my toes.  A delightful trek that did not need photos to be remembered for sure. 

 spiny sea eggs found among the shallow waters of Rachel's Bubble Bath at Compass Cay; Teresa has one variety on her hand as Bob picks a spiny sea urchin off a low tide rock wall.

 

 I have a problem.  I have a real aversion to cairns that were constructed just to show that someone was there before you.  In my humble opinion they are "natural graffiti"  when I explore an uninhabited area, I like it to feel the natural beauty of Mother Nature and not see mounds of rocks left there by tourists.  Cairns were constructed as landmarks to guide you, I don't have a problem with that, we see them as we pass through cuts while cruising showing that perhaps that is a favored course, we see them marking trails...no problem there either.  But in the middle of a pristine beach...it had to go, and Daughter Dylan and I did it.  The beach looks natural again, and we got a workout tossing rocks!

Davis Harbour Marina - to visit our friend Glenroy Smith, Director of Operations! Eleuthra Bahamas

I just found this postings that should have been up over a week ago, we are now back in Eleuthera after a fabulous, fun week with Dylan and her wife Teresa, that post will follow soon!

 

Yes, I am making a braided rug.  Why you ask?  Why I ask myself!  I am sure you can buy these things at any craft mall for less than I paid for the materials, but "this will be so fun to do on the boat!"  I saw this project in Martha Stewart Living while waiting in the checkout line at Cub Foods.  Advice:  IF you are ever inclined to buy a Martha Stewart Living mag. to do a project...put the magazine back, step away from the rack.  Then of course I had to buy really fluffy towels that when cut leave piles of fluff, that the aft deck breeze does help eliminate.  Never try this inside...it looked like a snow storm hit the Bahamas.  I started this about 9 years ago, was too messy so put it away only to be unearthed while cleaning a closet in preparation for our Daughter Dylan and spouse Teresa who arrive on Sunday morning!  I hope to have a new rug in our "head" by then.  In the meantime, Buddy is really enjoying sleeping on the pile of towel strips that I have in a corner, he thinks I built him a nest. In the meantime...CHECK OUT MY BOTTLE HOLDER....works really well on a rocky boat, Bob's shoe.

Our luck is changing as we actually caught a very nice yellowfin tuna on the way to Eleuthera! And was it ever tasty; we worked for it however as the first fish we caught never made it to the boat, became unhooked; then the second one (a nice Mahi Mahi) was eaten by a good sized Lemon Shark before we could land it; but Mr. Tuna made it onboard, we were told once we arrived in David Harbour Marina that this is a well known fishing ground, so I think we will enjoy our trips to and fro!

The entrance to Davis Harbour Marina is shown above, it is a safe harbour in a quaint setting! Not only was the fishing great on the way over, but once we got settled into the marina (which is really becoming a beautiful place thanks to Glenroy!) we had to search the surrounding waters for some good reefs to dive and hopefully become a slayer of fish and lobster.  On Bob's first dive he came up with this beauty, we are sure it's tail is over 2lbs, our kitchen scale only weighs up to 1lb so we have to guess, but no problem feeding both of us I am sure!

Glenroy's beautiful (soon to be Mrs.Glenroy Smith!) Gretchen and his 10 month old Daughter Kelly.  Baby Kelly has not been reading the book on how babies are suppose to act as she has slept through the night since she was 2 months old, and she never cries unless she is hungry.  She entertains herself well, and is a real mimick...the faces and sounds she copies from "dear old Dad" are hysterical.  My goal was to teach her patty cake, which she was just picking up when we had to untie our lines from the dock and head to Compass Cay...  The Patty Cake lessons will continue at a later date Ms. Kelly!

The Beatings will Continue until Morale Improves!

THE BEATINGS CONTINUE UNTIL THE MORALE IMPROVES…. The Smalley’s Pirate Bar T-Shirt that I wore this morning to leave the dock, to humor our friend Shavago as he released our lines to start our voyage. 

I ran out to the point this morning to watch the 164’ yacht Mary Jean leave, its Capt is a Australian woman that looks to be about 16 as she is so adorable and petite.   She was navigating from the starboard Portuguese bridge to take it out the channel.  I wanted to see it leave so that I would know how tight to batten down our vessel.  I decided due to Mary Jean’s rise and fall from incoming waves that I had best do a pretty good job.  9:30, throw rugs replaced with newspapers (no cat will EVER throw up on a bare floor…they always run for a rug!) 

We had a non-eventful departure into Exuma Sound, glad I tucked everything away, but it is smooth enough that Buddy may not have to Ahem… puke during our 5 hour cruise.  Once we get out in deeper water Bob is going attempt fishing, and I will start some wheat bread!  (that was a bust by the way…no surprise there)  But the fishing pole got some air J

March 18

Roosters crowing at 6am, sunrise over Black Point on Guana Cay silhouetting the 50 or so boats in this safe “parking lot” where we all chose to drop our hooks rather than have a bouncy and perhaps unsafe anchorage anywhere else on the island.  Our night was very calm, just enough rocking to lull you to sleep,   My latest “go to sleep book” is the Stuart Woods Severe Clear.  I just finished the John Grisham Litigators, which was difficult for me to put down.  Bob is reading the new Randy Wayne White on his Kindle, so when we are both finished with our respective books we are going to switch and I will have my first Kindle experience.  I have a hard time not keeping books, as my family room library shelves attest, but they are old friends that I can’t part with.  Once I get a piece of something I hate to let it go, so I only put the books I struggle through in the charity bag! 

I am on the Isogenix dietary system, not just trying to lose weight but to get my body healthy, leaner yes…but more muscle and more strength.  What is interesting about it is that even though I joke with Bob that he has to eat his potato chips outside so I can’t hear him, I really have not had any cravings for anything that is not part of the system.  I told Bob to wake me up if my fat cells burning away during the night bothered him J  I did my work out on the aft deck, drank my shake, took my supplements and look forward to a low cal lunch at Black Point…something like fried conch, perhaps!  Oh, and a Kalik to wash it down with!

3/18

Took our love to town, a short tender ride to the dock, met a couple from Stuart FL that we had lunch with at Lorraines, (I had the conch sandwich and of course the obligatory Kalik!) then introduced them to Willie Rolle at his Garden of Eden.  We had been there in the past, he is Tucker (of Compass Cay fame)

Rolle’s Brother.  Betty Rolle was sitting on the stoop plaiting strips of straw to be sent to Nassau straw market, her Grandson Gentry gave a tour of the pot hole garden naming each tree and plant, he is 4 and smart as can be.

I would not give up Veda L for anything…she is beautiful, and her aft deck makes a perfect gym!  Nothing sweeter than working out with a view of the sea, a little tricky balancing sometimes, but sure that is good for me as well!

Laying in bed this morning,I was thinking that I should have elaborated a bit on the one time that we buried the bow of Veda L and then due to the weather that created that "event" we also surfed Veda L into Emerald Bay Marina on a 6' wave. We were at Farmers Cay (check out the Where in the World are Bob & Linda link)and we broke the rule of not following a schedule. We were watching the cut which takes you out to the sound (our route back to the marina)and Bob was seeing 9 out of 10 waves and I was seeing the 10th (which was not a good one). I say "are you sure Bob?" He says "we will be fine...it's not that bad" Aye Aye Cap' and away we go, everything battened down safely. We knew it was going to be rough, and we have an ocean going vessel, but as we approached the "no going back zone" Bob saw the wave in the set that he hadn't seen before, yelled "hang on" as we plunged down into the trough, we took green water over the windshield, popped back up and then got hit by a 2nd (not as bad) and a 3rd and last. In the midst of this, the only thing loose in the pilot house was Bob's treasured coffee cup, which went flying in the air on the first "dive" and was caught mid-air by me! Coffee everywhere of course, but the cup was safe. Once we got out into the sound we had 6-8' rollers on our port beam for 6 hours. You would look out the pilot house window and see...well, you would see SEA. I spent the majority of the trip under a blanket on the pilot house seat saying "that felt like a bad one" and Bob responding "it was a bad one" As we were approaching Emerald Bay Marina I was naturally concerned about the breaking waves at the entrance, Bob calmly says "we will have to surf them in" OK...why not? We hang out a ways watching the waves as the break moves to the north of the entrance, timing the waves more carefully than at Farmer's Cay as we can clearly see them all. After watching a few sets Bob calls on the radio and says "Veda L entering the basin of Emerald Bay" the response was something like "Uncle Bob!" The sensation of surfing a 48' boat is pretty amazing as you don't feel power beneath you, you just feel that floating/gliding sensation that you get on a surfboard, we entered with no problem whatsoever, were greeted by our "nephews" who were beaming "Awesome, Uncle Bob!" who told us that as we were coming in all they saw was the top of our mast with the radar. In the pilot house as we were coming in I was saying "hang 10 Buffalo Bob, shoot the curl" As we were walking around the marina looking at the other boats in slips and saw a trawler nearby, the captain of that boat said to Bob "Did you see that boat that came in today?" Bob asked "which boat?" He responds... "only one boat had the nerve to come in today! It was so cool, this guy surfed his boat in, amazing boat handling skills!" Bob says "was it really that cool?" Of course he finally tells the guy that it was him but he was just enjoying the praise! Let's say I slept well that night, and although we would not repeat the experience knowingly, we learned from it and I appreciate the Capt. that I have at the helm!

Goodbye Emerald Bay....again!

 Leaving Veda L. snug in a slip at Marina of Emerald Bay Dec 2012, Bob and I enjoyed a fabulous family Christmas with our Grandgirls in Stillwater, we got "dumped on" a couple of times with snow, then spent 3 weeks in Aruba so that Bob could perfect his jibes, and Linda could perfect her dancing moves in 4 parades during Carnaval!  After our "vacation from our vacation" we flew back to the Bahamas Mar 10, where we have been awaiting a weather window so we can once again point this beast to the east and leave the marina.  The seas are calming, Bob walked out to the point to check things out and he declares a safe passage to be made in the morning.  Provisions purchased & stowed, if we'd be lost at sea for two months we would not starve!   

 Linda getting ready for the San Nicholas Grand Parade, the costume reflects Bohemian Gypsies....lot's of coins jingling!

 Aerial of Marina at Emerald Bay, old photo, but you get the idea of the narrow channel, which is normally not a problem, but when you have 6' breaking waves coming in....let's just say you appreciate the slip!

 Veda L all polished up, and ready to head toward Staniel Cay where Dylan and Teresa will be meeting us next weekend, they are flying in on Watermaker from Ft Lauderdale.

 Shows why the slip was much preferred to venturing out.  A couple big boats did leave however, if they timed the waves perfectly it was not TOO dangerous, but not for the faint of heart.