Wyuna March 2015 Blog  - At last Bahamas & Exuma Land and Sea Park  

Sail, Sail away.  At last we arrive, 3 Feb in The Exuma islands, 365 pristine cays of protected reefs- stretching nth to sth some 90 miles, mostly uninhabited, where friendly Bahamians live in small towns encircled by crystal water, shifting sand banks and edged by limestone rocks and beaches.

In our 6 weeks of cruising here, we like the wake-up call of water lapping, seeing the last of winter winds and rain & the SUN is now beaming, 28c.  Most days we watch the sundown, then the northern stars arise as they fill the night sky, til Wyuna is a speck in the sea.

Our stops along the way ………………………………..Allan’s Cay .    24 44 74 N     76 50 91 W

On our first snorkel underwater the brown rock iguanas watched us standing still on the beach, while we flippered the reef edge. One of the last remaining protected habitats. We anchored close to shore, then the winds blew up to 30kn for 36hrs (yes cabin fever on board).

 Highbourne Cay

The cruising guide said high-end luxury resort/marina so we anchored out and dinghied in seeing nurse sharks below; to have a leisurely lunch looking across the Exuma Sound island chain. Exquisite as far as our eyes could see to the horizon.

Exuma Land and Sea Park- Bahamas National Trust replenishes and supports marine nurseries.

A gentle sail, 17Nm run to Shroud Cay was serene, picking up a mooring buoy with 0.2 m under the keel at low tide. Tactical Directions & us jumped in the dinghies to explore the Sanctuary Creek “mangrove sea park & nursery channels” and to puttered to the windward side.

Hog Cay

A motor sail inside the banks, sunny blue skies and emerald water made for a very relaxing day til we tried to enter the short shallow route to moorings. No way! Backing off to go the long route between narrow entrances with big currents , making our entry to Hog Cay - Bruce’s nerves twinged looking at the reefs in crystal clear water which looked too shallow but had half metre under the keel.

To unwind we had sunset drinks on the beach close to Pirates Lair – the meeting, hiding place, of Blackbeard, Mary Read and Anne Bonney pirates of the 1700’s which the cays are named after. We met & took our first reef dive with Rory & Mary, on Spyhop in the harbour.

Our return to Little Bell island, inspired by last year’s adventures, with TD & Spyhop, for 4 days we lived in awe of the marine life underwater- drift snorkelling in a large channel, submerged amongst 100,s of bright reef fish, hiking across trails to a wild beach to snorkel large Elkhorn coral heads and after 3 attempts found a seaplane wreck from a drug delivery gone down.

Reluctant to leave the park, we waited for a weather window to take the shallow inside passage sth. Headsail only up, with a 17knt NNW breeze, we drifted down wind with the fishing lines out to make our ETA.

Staniel Cay

 A popular stop for cruisers is Big Majors, the home of big spotted pigs of all sizes roaming the beach.  A small town/resort plus local Bahamian lunch café with conch burgers & cold lime beers went down well.  But we lived inside most days while 25kn Northers blew through. Dinghy rides got rough.

We met Sandringham SYC sailors off Gem, Mv and Shane next to us on anchor, friends of Tony & Michelle.

Ovens Rock

Next we took the Garmin/Active Captain route with Gem & TD to a quiet anchorage, Oven Rock, to walk ashore on limestone, snorkel on small reefs and escape. Gem showed us Ty’s beach bar by dinghy, Waaaaas   sooo  much fun relaxing looking out to water, trying Goombay Splash & conch fritters while laughing at stories of big winds and shark spottings.

Great Exuma Island- Georgetown. After a dayhop sail to this hilly township, we are in a boat village of YES, 350 cruising boats anchored off-shore.   We listen to a daily 8am vhf cruisers net which covers: sailing regatta events, gas & fuel, volleyball at Chat n' Chill beach bar, shops & dentist information etc. - a big change.

We had farewell drinks and a BBQ, with Michelle & Tony our sail buddies, to share our experiences of the season before she flew home to Sydney, after deciding not to sail the next leg- we miss her lots!

Tony asked us to crew TD ( Crowther 42 Cat) for the Saturday race around the island, with MV, Shane and Kurt we tacked, reached, ran, called buoy room on a 58ft Catana, and laid the waypoint mark to finish 3^rd over the line - what a great day ! 

We gathered guides at a beach meet of Cuba cruisers, tomorrow go to a music festival and provision supplies to sail sth, 100 miles along the Jamentos uninhabited islands, next week, til we get a weather window for our 70 mile crossing to  Porta de Vita , Nth coast of Cuba- here we Go & Come!!!!!!

Blog Season 4. 2015 – Our new year plan is return with mates to the Bahamas and beyond.

Why do Aussie tennis players get to play & live in the Bahamas (besides no income tax)? 

We know the drawcard- 100's of magic sandy cays stretch from just off the coast of Florida all the way sth to Cuba. Our plan is to tag team with our friends on Tactical Directions (TD) Tony & Michelle- go island hopping.     Once the boat jobs are done!

In winter at St Augustine, Florida’s Spanish town, Bruce did the hard yakka cleaning black mold in & outside, hauling out Wyuna to berth at the marina. A favorite place under the Bridge of Lyons. Great views of a Spanish galleon & stunning xmas lights. 

Glad to meet TD, and Phil & Trish berthed close by we shared in fun xmas festivities;Kris kringle, traditional Colombian lunch out and a cosy NYE on board.

Keen to getaway – with a forecast of low winds & swell,on 5 Jan.TD and Wyuna sailed sth at 7+ knts overnight past NASA Cape Canaveral but missed seeing a spaceship Blast off. Then on to West Palm Beach a golf mecca.  Hungry, we 4 dinghied ashore to the yacht club for a Mahi Mahi grill & a stroll of historic grand mansions. 

Ahoy Gina winched the main sail up at 4.30pm for our next overnight sail,of 3 hr shifts on watch, across the Gulf Stream to Great Harbor Island. 
Bruce caught his first fish- a Cero Mackerel & said “look up we’ve a torn headsail”. 

Imagine how Exhilarating it is arriving, after 5 weeks of boat jobs & supermarket expeditions (no matter how tired we felt)….. Sailors heaven is on anchor seeing miles of beach and a clear water bottom! Knowing we can rest at our 1^st destiny!

Bahamian people are warm, friendly close-knit and like a chat. The customs officers gave us a 6mths visa to stay for $300 us and told us “don’t eat Barracuda, beware of low tides, and try the Beach Café for lunch”. It felt SO good to walk on land after being cabin bound and eat a burger after vegemite on rice crackers for 24hrs.

Life happens here from chatting- like a guy in the Telco office telling us “go to the Blue Hole on Hoffman Island, no signs, go ashore follow a track til you see the opening past an old ruin”. So we did & snorkeled the rocky edge.  Boys grow up here learning freediving for crawfish to 100ft- descending with only flippers & snorkel- it’s very dangerous even if you train to breathe deeply, to not look up & concentrate intensely to ascend safely in the dark - to the surface.  Especially in 600ft deep blue holes.

Still seeking island remoteness, sunset vistas, soft sands and turquoise sparkling water- we chose Bond Cay (Shakira’s island) for our next stop & landed in shallow water of 3ft. on sand banks away from boats & people. 

Until next day, Roy a local visited us by jet-ski to invite us for drinks. We soaked up sun, swam, saw baby crawfish,kayaked then took the dinghy to be met by 3 barking pot cakes (dogs).  
Steve the caretaker and Roy warmly welcomed us with a Kalik beer and said “plenty steaks on the grill, stay eat with us”. Cheers.  Laughing all night we swapped stories like best bush foods- here it’s YES ; love vine, sore back, five fingers, stiff cock, are the names of plants to make tea from- for real.

Next 7 of us snorkeled,3 with spears. Roy patrolled for sharks on his jet ski, Tony did see the pet Lemon shark circle him underwater but No crawfish were caught for the grill.

After a windy night, a dragging anchor, we got up early - under sunny skies & good breezes we headed Sth West for sail and electrical repairs (port battery wasn't charging) to Nassau, capital of the Bahamas.

Never a dull sail? 

Not long under passage TD’s spinnaker tore into shreds in seconds, instantly they ran to fore-deck, kept sailing, pulling the huge sail into a sock. Sh*t happens even in lighter winds of 17kts. Tony radioed to say (#$$%”!!) & all else was ok to keep sailing.

Our return to Nassau Harbor was glorious.  Good friends of Tony’s live here on the harbor and kindly let them moor outside their house. We happily tagged along for happy hour on their balcony with other friends, hearing of local life, tips for repairs and Michelle & Gina joined them at Boot camp.

While we waited days for repairs TD motored to Green Cay where reefs, turtle and fish are colourful. Leslie and Terry on Orient Moon, we met last year, waved us ashore for her birthday drinks. 

Our early morning vhf radio call from TD was miserable- “we‘ve hit a reef, badly damaged the propeller and shaft and most likely will have to return to ST Augustine- end of our season!

They grimly motored back to moor next to us and after discussions Tony reassessed the damage, by diving. Clever Dave (friend from Nassau) arranged for same day repairs at his business and they needed to get the rudder off to fix.  Meanwhile we waited days for a new alternator to be fitted and head sail repairs by the sailmakers.

The winds are up this week in Nassau Harbor, to 20+knts, we've watched boats dragging anchors closeby til Bruce decided at 5pm Australia Day we needed to re-anchor too. Thankfully Tony & Michelle were on board. Anchor up, Bruce tried to steer forward seeing engine smoke and no movement.  Tony picked it! A rope from a mooring bouy wrapped around the propeller. Anchor Down! Quickly Michelle jumps in their dinghy towing ours to avoid more tangles.

Tony dives in with a knife til he ran out of breath, then Bruce. Oh no Gina yells “we’re 6ft from a yacht, with a man in the water to warn them. Fenders Out! Anchor up again! til the rope is cut and the buoy floats free.  Finally we re-anchor away from others.
ALL 6 boats crews closeby anxiously watched our team in action- Brilliantly getting out of trouble.

What a way to celebrate Australia Day, at 6pm our guests arrived for a BBQ and beers and helpers too who watched the turmoil of “Sh*t that happens: even on anchor”.  

A stiff drink calmed our nerves, and fuelled a night of stories and laughs amongst us- knowing we were well dug in with of 150ft chain out. To our mates-we raised our cans to celebrate great team rescue efforts!

Good news next morning our engine is charging. Tony and Michelle are trying to get the rudder off with some difficulty and the wind is still blowing. Thank goodness for good mates who help out when the going gets tough – and stay around for the next episode!!!

Tonight at happy hour while we are recounting our mishap with the mooring ball- a 40ft yacht motors past 10ft away, turns inshore and Bang their 6ft keel hits the sand bank at low tide- Sh*t- just like Captain Ron’s movie. Bruce & Tony jump in the dinghy to help,but they're stuck til midnight til high tide comes.

AS we say Go with the winds, drift with the tides–just watch out for ?


We do recommend Captain Ron film for a laugh.

Which famous Tennis star is playing without a big toe? a Nassau rumor.

WYUNA… we’re heading to COLUMBUS’S New World Colonies ……on to the BAHAMAS 600 Nms

 

Like Columbus, in the night sky we see the northern star with Jupiter and Orion the brightest but we can watch google sky to spot planets.  For night sails a full moon gives us vision on watch but we use AIS (vessel locator) to spot ship lights.  We lifted anchor at 2am, SW tip of Puerto Rico, 10 Feb. and motor sailed 13 hrs. to arrive at Cap Cana Resort a 5*marina in DR. Only to be tied up by a dusty building site!

  Escape we did to Santo Domingo the 14c capital of Dominican Republic(DR) a 4 hr. drive, for a weekend at old Hotel Palacio in the heart of rustic Zona Colonial.

 

The first urban town built in the Americas, it’s now under rejuvenation - of worn cobbled streets, forts, churches, tapas bars and art stalls.  Lucky for us a live gig by Latin legend Victor Victor playing “Por Favor” was on. Adoring fans slow danced the bachata-merengue style ,oh so HOT. 

A morning Latin cafe hit the spot, before wandering 11sq blocks of colonial museums- inside were fine Spanish conquistador artifacts, Columbus Palace furnishings, armour, carriages on display alongside Cuban & Haitian art.

We got a lesson in military rules at the Resistance Museum..stories of independence, people fighting for liberation from colonial occupation & then corruption til 1960’s…sent chills up our spine.

Let's go with Roni & James- to the celebration of DR Independence Day. After an overnighter to the Nth coast, with SV Harlequinn- we tied up at Ocean Water World marina part of a dolphin/seal show - we didn’t see. Instead we went inland to La Vega Carnaval – where Limping Devils in satin costumes lash out hitting spectators with filled animal bladders- reminiscent of slavery, ouch Bruce got Whacked.

We set sail at 5pm from DR, desperate to find uninhabited sand cays to swim and chill out.

On arriving next morning whales were breaching in the distance.  Yes, Sandy Cay has stunning deep blue sea to turquoise sands.  Excited, we launched our new Sunny 2 person kayak to ride the wave break to the beach.

Next after dodging reefs and shallow water, the Turks & Caicos police boat visited us at 5pm, while we anchored for the night on the Caicos bank “10 NM from land” to ask us our names and destination (looking for drug runners?). After a BBQ meal and rest we woke by 7am to sail the sth & west coasts of Providenciales Island in 1 day to reach Turtle Cove Marina.

NEVER has Bruce helmed so nervously, Wyuna’s 25ft. width/ 5ft keels missed all reefs and beaches, by steering a route in currents, over and between wave breaks – luckily Gar min Navigation route plan was spot on – “Ah a cold Presidente beer” went down the hatch well at HHr.

We were glad to meet Sandy who arrived 10^th March at postcard perfect ‘Provo’ – snorkels on, underwater we saw a Scrawled filefish!  We stocked the fridge, ate fresh grilled lobster and cracked fresh conch shellfish, (yum local treat) and it felt great to stretch our limbs. All Dive boats were booked, so offshore we go. No sleep in for the crew, at 3.30am the main was winched up.

We entered the lagoon of Mayaguana, an outer BAHAMA island and exNASA base (John Glen dropped in the water one time). On our dinghy ride to town, in mangroves, we spotted native Flamingos feeding at sunset, then spread their pole legs to fly.

A local man Reggie, a very friendly restaurant owner, cooked us conch and we ended up hiring his own truck (no rentals here) with Roni & James to Pirates Well (dug by pirates) & lagoon.  Bruce drove dodging potholes.

 

Small Samana Cay is sublime for water lovers.  After a tricky entrance, we knew why we love cruising off shore. Wyuna floated on deep blue water, we untied the kayaks, jumped in to snorkel reefs under white cliffs- til Bruce lifted a large Spiny lobster from its hole. We cooked it and shared it with Roni & James, Leslie &Terry on the fly bridge of Orient Express and wash it down with vino, watching the sun go down!!!!!! Cruisers paradise eh.

Next route, we rounded the Bird Cove Lighthouse for a night stop only. Sandy read, slept, winched, on watch on her final passage to Long Island, a quiet secluded island harbour.

We’d read about but have never seen Blue Holes, and the world’s deepest Deans is 600ft here, where freestyle divers compete. Our attempt was 5 secs. A farewell treat for us all was lunch at Seaside Village lagoon bar before waving goodbye to Sandy after 2 weeks of sun, hectic fun, endless miles of sailing, underwater excursions and adventures.

We can confidently say WYUNA's found her home – where the water is SO clear we can watch the stingrays glide past the boat and the barracudas DO follow you when swimming or scrubbing the sides of the boat-

"Oh the BAHAMAS islands (means low water)- are SUBLIME."

 

WE will continue to tag team with our mates Roni & James on SV Harlequinn and  leave Long Island 3 April, after Kathy and Brian land here.

Wyuna -sailing north in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico(PR)

Hurricane season is June to Nov.- let's SPLASH WYUNA in the waters of Puerto Rico
(PR, Spanish virgin islands).

We had a short stay in LA, to wander the art and sculpture garden of the stone galleries of the Getty Museum plus take an historic architectural tour of the stunning hand built Craft Houses of Pasadena - a movement of the early 1900 to bring back rustic living in cities!

Gamble House 1908

Anxious to climb aboard WYUNA on the hard stand, we arrived the 6 Dec. in Fajardo, at Puerto Del Ray Marina to don gloves for the clean up and restarts; 5 days later we tired of doing jobs so booked the enormous travel lift . To our relief the driver took WYUNA to the dock with 3 belts under her hull, after a visit by police about our missing dinghy outboard engine.

Ahhh, deep breath. Bruce helmed her with 2ft either side, to the marina berth. Hurray! 
Our first night we partied free with 100 boaters at the marina to PR music and pig on a spit.  Then headed next day to BIG US supers; Sam’s Club, Costco and West Marine to stow WYUNA with 6mths food, 6 new batteries and a new 15 hp outboard– in 26c humid winter heat!

Cruisers step 1: share the adventures

We cracked the local Don Q rum for Mojitos to celebrate with our sail mates Roni and James, for them helping us get back on water.  The very good news for us is they’re cruising a similar route like to share ripping yarns, have sailed the Bahamas banks and reefs and can duck dive snorkel til they DROP in the Caribbean Sea.

Step 2:  : be friendly to strangers

Our season begun in familiar seas, sailing to Culebra Island before Xmas, with no plans for January.  Within 24hrs of mooring in Honda Ensenada, instead of feeling lonely, we met other cruisers and invited our neighbours by dinghy (who to our surprise came) for Xmas eve drinks.

One joy of cruising for us is meeting liveonboard workers, kite boarders, NASA IT programmers, peace corps adventurers and die hard sailors who believe living on water is even better than Noah’s Ark.  US ‘seasonal blow-ins’ had a warm welcome from Culebra cruisers, who are chilled out unless a storm is coming.  Thanks again to Roni and James we joined them and their friends for a fun Xmas BYO lunch on our back patio.  Between 8 of us we drew on 37 years of Caribbean yachting tales, true or hearsay, of shark sightings, romances, natural wonders ...yes you can guess the rest!

Happy New Year *

Step 4: carry a torch at all times

"It's TOO good to be true, NYE fireworks are exploding around the bay." When the lights went out at Susie’s restaurant we lit the bar with torches for the barmaid to mix our margaritas. Along with others we waved hands to the music and went off to the street party for live Latino dancing. They love fast beat , loud, non- stop salsa with hips bouncing – (better we tap than attempt daggy dancing) - and we loved being amongst them.

 

 

Step 5 : snorkel slowly so not to frighten the fish

After a month we were desperate to jump in for a swim at a peaceful anchorage. Culebrans are proud of their natural wildlife, working hard to regrow marine reefs and fish life with water temps rising, so offer free moorings.  We sailed 5 miles, moored and duck dived at Pt Tamarindo a beach with idyllic vistas of small islets. The water shone under the moon-light, coral gardens with soft leaf fans wavered in the current.  Coloured blue tang and stoplight parrot fish fed in the day.
Yeah this is the cruising life …afloat on blue water ringing reefs.

 

Step 6: sail off the beaten route

Our next island hop was to Vieques another Spanish island, til 2003 it was a US military bombing practice base until a local was killed and protesters gained agreement for closure.  Thus not surprising it's not a popular sail destination.  The new Garmin blue chart did help with unusual navigation - umm where do we drop the anchor away from unexploded ammunition?
 "NO l'm definitely not swimming where the 27yr old got bitten by a 6ft shark swimming in the world’s largest  bioluminescent bay.” Our first swim was a brush with a large 15 inch moonlight jelly fish. Out we quickly jumped!

Culebrita island national marine park is a favourite bay we revisited for a few days to swim, hike, snorkel and see the old ruined Spanish lighthouse - it's beautiful, uninhabited for 500 years and a P.Rican weekend place to escape to.

 

Step 7: go where the wind takes us

 

On our longest passages so far, to Vieques and ST John’s, US Virgin Islands, winds have hit over 20knt sailing to windward.  Damn it we don’t like tacking ALL day, and not reaching our waypoint because of wind changes.  The US national parks are pristine here and so are the dreamy turquoise white sand beaches. Below we swim with beautiful spotted eagle rays as they glide past and stay away from big southern rays….....much prefer to shadow a green turtle any day! 

Next .....Sail along new coasts for the thrills of open waters and skies

At last we’re on route, getting excited to sail hop the 100 mile south coast of PR next week, and make the passage west to the east coast of the Dominican Republic where we will meet R&J to arrive for the whale season in February.   That’s of course if we are in the lap of the easterly winds and can scream along running with the headsail full and even lay the waypoint.

Wish us luck on that one!!!