Waredrick Wells

Waredrick Wells mooring field (view from atop Boo Boo Hill)

We moved to Waredrick Wells on April 17^th and grabbed a mooring ball close to the park headquarters. 

To obtain a mooring you put your vessel on the waiting list the day before your desired arrival.  The lady that runs the office, Darcy, is strictly business and comes across to most as being cold and crass.

There is so much to see and do here and since we’re in no rush we ended up spending 8 nights in the much protected mooring field.

To earn some instant karma and get on Darcy’s good side we picked up 3 XL bags, 1 Lg bag, and 4 med bags worth of debris (over 100 lbs. of plastics, ropes, and glass) from Bullion Beach, about a 45 min hike from the park office.

This volunteer work earned us the title of Darcy’s “new favorite people.”  ^_^

Bullion Beach

Instant Karma

Debris found on the beach

Plastic doesn't go away, it just gets smaller and smaller

Curly tail lizard

If you don't make any sudden movements, these little guys pose for you  ^_^

There are some incredible hikes here on the island on somewhat treacherous trails composed of eroded carbonate rock (we geologists know it as “moon rock”), rock fragments, and “sinky” sand.

Trail marker

Ransom down in Murphy's Hideaway.  When he was 15 he and his brother, Stuart, filmed a James Bond home movie and used Murphy's Hideaway in a scene. 

Beryl's Trail to Davis Plantation Ruins

Restoring balance...just ignore the hutia...

However, we saw most of the island by foot and on the high spots we got some great vistas.

Unfortunately the island is infested with Hutia, a native and endangered (but also invasive) large rodent that looks like a cross between a wombat and a guinea pig.  When skirting the island by dinghy the damage is obvious and it’s sad to see the habitat so out of balance.  We think loosing Charlie on the island would reduce the numbers somewhat (he was built for chasing small furry things), but without a natural predator these rascally varmints have decimated the flora, eating just about every plant they can find.  

The hutia have resorted to eating the bark off trees and are trying to eat the markers!

VARMINT!!!!

As for water activities, there are plenty of good snorkeling sites around the island and you get to see lots of exotic fish.

The Land and Sea Park serves as a renourishment area for the Bahamas and is protected by both land and sea.  This means no fishing, shelling, conching, or lobstering within the park grounds…and there were several times when you would spot a giant spiny lobster and think, “DINNER!!!”

We spent an entire day in the water and saw over 25 different species of “sea critters,” including Spanish Hogfish, Tube Worms, Elkhorn Coral, Queen Angelfish, a Nurse Shark, Snappers, a Pufferfish, Sea Cucumbers, Hamlets, Wrasses, Parrotfish, and the invasive lion fish (underwater photos coming soon!).

AWESOME!!!!

Since the dogs were only allowed on the beaches on leashes (eat your heart out Dr. Seuss), we got permission to let them loose on the sandbar at low tide.  Apparently this was a source of entertainment for the other boaters to watch us chase the dogs, and Charlie and Rei chase each other.  

A park tradition is to hike up to Boo Boo Hill and deposit a piece of driftwood with your boat's name written on it.  We found a great piece of treated wood on one of our clean up days and used an industrial strength liquid Sharpie to ensure our mark would not fade.

Contributions to Boo Boo Hill.

Our boat sign...see if you can spot Vitte in the background  ^_^

On our fifth day in the park a westerly front started blowing and that night we got buckets of rain dumped on us.  There is something to be said about experiencing a storm on a boat.  Outside lightning flashes, thunder crashes, water slaps your hull, and rain beats heavy on all your windows and hatches, but inside its comfy cozy and dry.

The other boaters that hunkered down in Warderick for the storm quickly became our friends, even Charlie and Rei met a new acquaintance, a 9 month old lab mix named Jib who gave them a run for their money on the sandbar one day!

This is the kind of cruising I looked forward to when planning our trip, the experience of felling like a part of a community and sharing the thrill of living on the open sea.  

Sunrise

Sunrise hike to Boo Boo

Back yard

Highborne to Shroud Cay

Exumas Baby!!!!

We departed Nassau on April 11^th for the Exumas!!  We traveled in the company of another boat, Le Bonne Vie, from St. Pete, FL!

Crossing the Yellow Banks was fun; I sat up on the bow as lookout and pointed out the coral heads to Ransom.  It is truly amazing to see straight to the bottom in water up to 30ft deep and spot a sea star on the seafloor. 

We made a pit stop at Allen Cay to see the iguanas and say adieu to Bonne Vie before moving on to Highborne Cay.

The anchorage in Highborne is nice, lots of room, good holding, and plenty of room ashore to let the dogs have some off leash time.

I took this picture at dawn, the sky and water blend into one;  the line you see is our anchor chain under water.

Highborne sunrise

There were a lot of big boats here and for the first time Vitte looks very small to us.

Spyboat

There is a nice reef off of Highborne with a healthy ecosystem.  We spent the better half of our second morning here swimming with the fishes and identifying the different species with our reef guide cards.

We moved to Shroud Cay on Friday the 13^th and our jinx for the day was realizing our holding tank was leaking (YUCK!!!).  Probably the worst job on board is fixing a stinky, smelly, leaking holding tank.  However, we got the job done and hopefully this will be the last time we have to work on that.

Shroud Cay, an uninhabited island, is part of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.  The island itself is a rocky archipelago that surrounds mangrove forests and is bisected in several places by tidal creeks.  We packed little Freyja for a day trip and went exploring, but we didn’t hit the tide right and ended up pulling the dinghy on foot most of the way across the island.  

Salt line

Not much wildlife at shallow tide, but we did see a juvenile shark that freaked out at sighting us and erratically swam away.  Charlie was very surprised as well and wanted to give chase…I had to wrestle him to keep him in the boat.

For my geology friends

We eventually made it to the east side of the island and picnicked on the berm under Australian pine trees.

The dinghy ride back was a lot smoother since we could actually float and use the engine.  The dogs were so pooped; they slept the whole way back!

Nassau

Entering Nassau Harbor

Nassau Harbor

We traveled to Nassau on Easter Monday and tied up at the Nassau Harbor Club.  We walked out to the street and were surprised to find bumper to bumper traffic and pedestrians crowding the sidewalks.  What’s going on?  Turned out there was a political rally and half of Providence Island turned out to attend it.  I regret not getting pictures of the mayhem…but here's a link to a picture of the rally, so just imagine all those people in red shirts clogging the main street.

The next morning we re-provisioned the boat, and after stowing everything we put on our swim suits and hopped a cab to Atlantis to experience their water park,"Aquaventure."

Atlantis is a lot like Vegas, except relaxed.  They both have glamorous shops, casino games, and overpriced drinks; but at Atlantis everyone is in resort wear or bathing suits. 

The water park was awesome!!!  Lots of slides, a (not so) lazy river, multiple aquariums, and delicious rum punches.

Our ride back to the marina was quite entertaining as well.  Our driver was HILARIOUS!  He had some good jokes an infectious laugh.  He even taught us some Bahamian phrases to try out.  ^_^

Crossing the Banks to Chub Cay

The trip from Bimini to Chub Cay required an overnight passage across the banks so that we would have daylight when both departing and arriving for navigation purposes. 

The forecast was promising, good wind and light seas, but around 1am the wind built up and so did the swell and we were soon getting soaked with spray.  Inside the cabin water was dribbling down the walls and one wave crashed right into the starboard dorade vent, giving the illusion that it was raining inside.  I was kept pretty busy below with towels mopping up and noting where water was coming in.  

We had been caught in the early arrival of a frontal system that brought with it two squalls and 8' seas.  Pointing hard into the seas we passed the entrance to Chub Cay, then  doubling back we ran with the sea as we entered the harbor. 

We made it to the Chub Cay Marina around 10:30am and the stability of a floating dock was most welcome.  After rinsing the boat and showering we took a much deserved nap.  ^_^

We spent the next day recovering from the passage, washing salty sheets, rinsing sails, and cleaning water from under hatches. 

After two nights at the marina we decided to travel in the company of another sailboat and try anchoring to save some money (Chub Cay Marina is $$$$).  We tried out two anchorages, but neither had good holding so we continued on to the Berry Island Club’s mooring field and grabbed a ball.  We were gearing up to take the dogs to shore when Ransom said, “I think our mooring just snapped!”  “You’re not serious,” I replied, but after looking around and getting my bearings I realized we were indeed adrift.  We started the engine, detached the ball and grabbed another mooring.  However, after sitting on the second mooring for an hour we realized we were better off at the marina, so at 6pm we untied and hauled back to safe harbor.  Imagine if our mooring snapped while we were sleeping!!!

S/V Bye Polar

Charles Squintsanblinks

It was a wise choice to leave that mooring field, turns out we were the second boat to snap a mooring that week!  Further down the islands we ran into other sailors with similar stories concerning uncomfortable conditions in the Berry Island Club’s mooring field.  One couple remembered us from that day and congratulated us on leaving; they said their night was filled with the sound of mooring ball banging on their hull.  Another said that he was constantly doing 360’s around his…a bit stressful.

We spent Easter Sunday on the beach with the dogs and good books…not a bad way to celebrate the rebirth of spring.

Chub Cay beach

Prints in the sand

Relaxing in the shade with a good book

Beach Debris

Miami to Bimini

Sunrise over the Atlantic

 

Oh Miami, thank you for the hospitality, but it’s time to cross the Gulf Stream to Bimini.

We woke at 5am and by 6am we were out of the marina and on our way to the Bahamas!!!

Goodbye Miami!

We left Miami before the sun was up!

 

The crossing was easy, a nice long period swell with a light breeze made for a comfortable ride.

We weren’t able to fully sail, but the mainsail caught some wind for stability.

We arrived in Bimini ~2:20pm and Captain Ransom went ashore to clear us with customs and immigration. 

Before leaving Bradenton we jumped through some hoops to get papers for the dogs and ensure that they could come with us.  However, when Ransom produced the “required paperwork” the lady at customs waved him away and said, “I don’t need to see that.”  Oh well, if we didn’t have the proper documentation it would have been horrible to be turned away after traveling so far.

On our second day we packed a cooler with ice and Kaliks and headed to the beach.  The sand is so soft and there is a nice berm on the beach, so we dug out some chairs and watched the ships go by.

I cannot express how great it feels to finally be here in the islands!  We set a goal and attained it and now we can enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Rei in front of some ruins

Wrecked ship

Bimini beach...There are a lot of ruins on the south side of the island that are probably a result of a hurricane.  I don't know why we didn't get pictures of the town...

Wrecked ship

Silhouette

Bimini sunset

Bimini sunset