Hot LatteTudes
2007 Cruise
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Down "The Ditch" and Beyond...
We departed Melbourne, FL Nov 10th and headed down the ICW to Fort
Pierce, then sailed on the "outside" (ocean) to Lake Worth/Palm Beach. Then
we continued down the ICW to Miami, where we anchored across Biscayne
Bay from downtown Miami (beautiful view of city). After waiting for a good
"weather window" we departed Miami. Unfortunately, the weather did not
know it was a "window" and did not cooperate with the forecast. So, our
passage was rough with wind "on the nose". But we made it safely into Nassau
on Nov 19th.
Beyond is better!
Arrived at Allen's Cay (pronounced "key") after spending 2 days in Nassau.
Allens Cay is the home for a population of Rock Iguanas. They have been
trained by tour boats to expect handouts from anyone landing a boat on the
shoreline, so we contributed a few badly bruised apples to their "fund". We
had a very nice, quiet Thanksgiving complete with Turkey, stuffing, yams and a
pumpkin pie!
Since the winds were forecast to increase from the East, we moved to
Norman's Cay. Formerly home to the drug cartel, there is a half submerged
DC-3 in the bay. McDuffs has also reopened under new owners, but we
enjoyed the food, drinks and company.
Warderick Wells Cay is located in the central part of the Exumas Land & Sea
Park. We'll stay here for a few days and explore this beautiful park by land and
sea. We have snorkeled a couple of reefs and a sunken boat already. Very
nice, with lots of cool fish to see (can't catch them). We did get invited to go
along fishing with a couple on a powerboat yesterday (Wednesday, I think).
Graham caught a large Mahi and they also got 6 lobsters! They were sweet
enough to share the catch with us, so we have LOTS of seafood to eat!
We've spent the past several days exploring some absolutely beautiful dive
sites within the park (sorry, no underwater photos), with lots of sea life and
many varieties of fish. There are also many friendly natives inside the park,
and some that are not so friendly (see pics of natives). Our powerboat
friends showed up yesterday afternoon and "boarded us" to share their catch
of wahoo (we finished the mahi the evening before - great timing!). Sadly, we'll
leave the Park tomorrow and continue our journey south. By the way, the
weather has been great - mid 80's daytime, light to moderate easterly wind and
lower 70's at night.
We spent a few days at Staniel Cay, before Erik joined us for a week. We
enjoyed a beach party with some other cruising friends and the crew from two
mega-yachts before heading south to Bitter Guana Cay to enjoy a quiet
anchorage. From there, we went into Black Point (the largest settlement in
the central Exumas), they have 2 restaurants, one grocery store, one bar and a
HUGE laundrymat (YEAH!!). One of the restraunts, DaShaMon holds a Saturday
"Pizza Night", and 10 of us went there and ate all the pizza they had!
When we went south to Little Farmers, we, with Erik's help, ventured to clean
our first conch! (yuk!). After Erik flew home, we went back up Guana Cay to a
beautiful secluded anchorage at White Point. After a somewhat comical diving
trip, we came back with our first LOBSTER! (thanks to Mitch's pole spear).
The holidays were fun and busy at Staniel Cay. We enjoyed Christmas eve at
the Yacht club and had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Sampson Cay Club
with some cruising friends. We also missed our families and were in a bit of a
funk Christmas morning because of it.
However, the real festivities are centered around the New Years regattas. It
all started on Saturday with a Pirate Party at the Yacht club. We dressed in our
best pirate (Buccaneers) costumes and had a good time. Sunday was a BBQ on
the beach with excellent local food, followed by an auction and drawing to see
who gets to crew on the c-class sloops for the race. Graham was on a boat
named "White Ghost", along with our friend Matt. They lead for most of the
race, but were overtaken by a boat (Termites) skippered by the Bahamian
Junior National Champion. These tiny boat have 600 sq ft of sail area and you
hike out on boards to stabilize it (or keep it from capsizing as one did). It was
great fun!
New years eve, there were fireworks on the beach and we were sitting about
25' from the base. Never been that close before, it was incredible! No fire
regulations/ liabilities here!!
New Years Day was the crusiers regatta and we crewed on Matt & Joni's boat,
Soul Searcher. We did OK, despite the light or non-existent winds. The
festivities closed with another excellent BBQ with food cooked by the local
women. Best food we've had yet!
So much for 2007. It was a fun, challenging, changing year for us. Hopefully
2008 will be a good year for all!
I'll start a new page for 2008, so keep in touch.
We departed Melbourne, FL Nov 10th and headed down the ICW to Fort
Pierce, then sailed on the "outside" (ocean) to Lake Worth/Palm Beach. Then
we continued down the ICW to Miami, where we anchored across Biscayne
Bay from downtown Miami (beautiful view of city). After waiting for a good
"weather window" we departed Miami. Unfortunately, the weather did not
know it was a "window" and did not cooperate with the forecast. So, our
passage was rough with wind "on the nose". But we made it safely into Nassau
on Nov 19th.
Beyond is better!
Arrived at Allen's Cay (pronounced "key") after spending 2 days in Nassau.
Allens Cay is the home for a population of Rock Iguanas. They have been
trained by tour boats to expect handouts from anyone landing a boat on the
shoreline, so we contributed a few badly bruised apples to their "fund". We
had a very nice, quiet Thanksgiving complete with Turkey, stuffing, yams and a
pumpkin pie!
Since the winds were forecast to increase from the East, we moved to
Norman's Cay. Formerly home to the drug cartel, there is a half submerged
DC-3 in the bay. McDuffs has also reopened under new owners, but we
enjoyed the food, drinks and company.
Warderick Wells Cay is located in the central part of the Exumas Land & Sea
Park. We'll stay here for a few days and explore this beautiful park by land and
sea. We have snorkeled a couple of reefs and a sunken boat already. Very
nice, with lots of cool fish to see (can't catch them). We did get invited to go
along fishing with a couple on a powerboat yesterday (Wednesday, I think).
Graham caught a large Mahi and they also got 6 lobsters! They were sweet
enough to share the catch with us, so we have LOTS of seafood to eat!
We've spent the past several days exploring some absolutely beautiful dive
sites within the park (sorry, no underwater photos), with lots of sea life and
many varieties of fish. There are also many friendly natives inside the park,
and some that are not so friendly (see pics of natives). Our powerboat
friends showed up yesterday afternoon and "boarded us" to share their catch
of wahoo (we finished the mahi the evening before - great timing!). Sadly, we'll
leave the Park tomorrow and continue our journey south. By the way, the
weather has been great - mid 80's daytime, light to moderate easterly wind and
lower 70's at night.
We spent a few days at Staniel Cay, before Erik joined us for a week. We
enjoyed a beach party with some other cruising friends and the crew from two
mega-yachts before heading south to Bitter Guana Cay to enjoy a quiet
anchorage. From there, we went into Black Point (the largest settlement in
the central Exumas), they have 2 restaurants, one grocery store, one bar and a
HUGE laundrymat (YEAH!!). One of the restraunts, DaShaMon holds a Saturday
"Pizza Night", and 10 of us went there and ate all the pizza they had!
When we went south to Little Farmers, we, with Erik's help, ventured to clean
our first conch! (yuk!). After Erik flew home, we went back up Guana Cay to a
beautiful secluded anchorage at White Point. After a somewhat comical diving
trip, we came back with our first LOBSTER! (thanks to Mitch's pole spear).
The holidays were fun and busy at Staniel Cay. We enjoyed Christmas eve at
the Yacht club and had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Sampson Cay Club
with some cruising friends. We also missed our families and were in a bit of a
funk Christmas morning because of it.
However, the real festivities are centered around the New Years regattas. It
all started on Saturday with a Pirate Party at the Yacht club. We dressed in our
best pirate (Buccaneers) costumes and had a good time. Sunday was a BBQ on
the beach with excellent local food, followed by an auction and drawing to see
who gets to crew on the c-class sloops for the race. Graham was on a boat
named "White Ghost", along with our friend Matt. They lead for most of the
race, but were overtaken by a boat (Termites) skippered by the Bahamian
Junior National Champion. These tiny boat have 600 sq ft of sail area and you
hike out on boards to stabilize it (or keep it from capsizing as one did). It was
great fun!
New years eve, there were fireworks on the beach and we were sitting about
25' from the base. Never been that close before, it was incredible! No fire
regulations/ liabilities here!!
New Years Day was the crusiers regatta and we crewed on Matt & Joni's boat,
Soul Searcher. We did OK, despite the light or non-existent winds. The
festivities closed with another excellent BBQ with food cooked by the local
women. Best food we've had yet!
So much for 2007. It was a fun, challenging, changing year for us. Hopefully
2008 will be a good year for all!
I'll start a new page for 2008, so keep in touch.
| The view from Miami anchorage |
at Warderick Wells Cay
So much for my afternoon swim...
Pig Beach residents
Time for a homebrew!