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We had a fantastic sail out of Clarence Town, Long Island in the Bahamas, 180 nm southeast to Providenciales (Provo) in the Turks and Cacios. We sailed the first part of this trip in 15-18 knots of close hailed conditions out to Acklins Island. With the sun rising we sailed into the rising sun and the water reflections were simply amazing. The sea state was 3-4 foot waves with many a bow wave crashing into the close hauled jib. Island Spirit sailed very well and we really enjoyed our New B and G NAC-3 autopilot which sails to wind vane steering very well. We simply stood watches and held on as we sailed. Here is a video I shot showing the scene. I hope you enjoy the ride. This is typical ocean sailing. Enjoy…

Remember, we are running a new Garmin InReach satellite tracking device which is recording map pins of every where we travel. This is building an archive map of our sailing. This is really fun to look at as well:
http://share.garmin.com/islandspirit 

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…The Book on sailing south…

Radeen and I have studied Bruce Van Sant’s book “Passages South” and we have made the routes on our laptops and on our B and G plotter and Samsung tablet. We are excited to begin this new chapter in our cruising adventures, which means heading south from George Town, Exuma, to the Eastern Caribbean. We have been to Long Island before and that will be our staging point. The route is well planned by Van Sant and the concept is like this. (He calls his route The Thornless Path to Windward, instead of The Thorny Path. Let’s hope so!) Leaving Long Island and heading east and south, we will make our first major stop at Provo in the Turks and Caicos where we plan to check into the country at South Side Marina. We will spend time in Provo and then wait for the next weather window to run the 50+ nm Caicos Banks. We will anchor for one night at the end of the Banks. The next day we will run south to Big Sand Cay and then onto the Dominican Republic, known as the DR.

The Luperon Harbor

The next option east is called OCEAN WORLD where we would need to take a dock. If you look at this map, you can figure out why they call this place “Motion World” as the east trades and swells come into this harbor as they bounce off the rock wall and reflect back into the marina. We also hear that is the swell is running then this can be a dangerous entrance. This is in contrast to Luperon where you can easily sail in and drop an anchor. We will need to study the swells before leaving Turks and Caicos and then make the call as to where to check in.

Ocean World Marina in the DR

Now that we will be in the DR, the next challenge is motoring east into the trade winds and the current. This is accomplished by motoring at night when the trade winds are blocked by the mountain down drafts, called Katabatic winds, off the DR coast. This makes a calm lee that reaches offshore 5-10 miles off the coast. So, we will motor east during the night and then when the trades kick back in around 9am, we will head back into shore and drop the anchor and wait for the nighttime lee. This leads us to Puerto Rico’s south shore heading east to the Spanish Virgins and then into the US Virgin Islands and onward to the British Virgin Islands. At this point, either this season or next, we will make a turn southward for St. Maarten and the Leeward Islands and then down the Windward Islands. We will haul out the boat and store it somewhere between Puerto Rico and Grenada for May 15 – November 1.

Here are some maps of these plans…

George Town to Long Island to Calabash Bay to Provo. Day hop to Conception (3) Rum (4) to Provo (5A) …. or make one 200nm run to Provo (5B).

The Virgin Islands and south, island hopping or making a full 2 day run.

 Options on this plan:

• Store the boat in Puerto Rico, USVIs, BVIs or Antigua, Jolly Harbor
• This will save time and allow us to explore more northern areas without rushing south
• This will also allow us to start there next year
• Or, simply take a WX window and sail over night for Grenada and store the boat there.

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…Hanging the Tuna…

After 5 years of dragging lines behind the boat, we finally have caught a fish we can keep, a yellow fin tuna. Up till now, we only caught barracuda. Now that streak has been broken and we have landed not one, but two yellow fin tuna on Island Spirit. Our second one was while under full sail in 15-20 knots beam reaching at 6-7 knots. When this tuna hit, it ran out a lot of line until we could slow the boat by furling the jib and sheeting out the main, all while Radeen was holding onto the rod and reel and trying not to let it slip out of her grip. It was everything we could do to just hold onto the rod. Forget reeling it in until slowing the boat down. We were under full main and full jib doing 6-7 knots while dragging this 34″ tuna on the Penn rod and reel, line running out, and me adjusting the drag to slow it down. With the boat slowed to 2 knots and still under autopilot wind vane steering, I began to reel this fish to the boat.

This is a 34″ Yellow Tail Tuna

We were yelling ITS A YELLOW FIN TUNA, again, Yahooooo! Radeen handed me the gaffe, and with the leader in one hand I whacked it with the gaffe and some how I hooked it through the tail area! That was cool, so as I lifted the fish, I had a slip knot ready to lasso the tail like buddy John-Michael (J-M) on IP 420, PURA VIDA told me about. This worked out great because I could hold the fish up with the gaffe and the line to cut the gills and bleed out the fish rinsing it with saltwater rushing by. I could lower the head and gills into the water and then lift it out again. We also poured some old rum into the gills but that really seemed to not be needed. I will not be doing that again, as this JM trick was a great way to deal with all the blood.

Under full sail doing 6-7 knots

This fishing adventure was while under full main sail and full jib in 15-20 knots of beam winds. We were sailing from Cat Island back to George Town along with good friends Jim and Cynthia of NEVERLAND.  We estimate the seas were running at 3-4 feet on the beam. The boat was rolling side to side and our bow wave ran from bow to the midship cleat like it does when pushing at hull speed of 7.2 knots. Sometimes we would be surfing down a wave and the boat would hit 8 knots. It was under these conditions that the reel sang out and the rod nearly went overboard. This landing went better than our last landing as we got lucky with the gaffe and we used the slip knot trick over the tail. Landing the fish is only half the challenge, the next challenge is butchering the fish while in these conditions.

My filet work, now time to cut in half and skin

With the fish now dead and onboard, we returned to full sail and back to 6-7 knots of boat speed all the while rocking and rolling as we continued the remaining 10 nautical miles to George Town. This gave us an hour plus to filet out this 34″ tuna. I am a rookie at all of this fish work and especially at the filet work. I try not to waste any fish although I see I am wasting a lot in the head of the fish. I need to work on that area. Once I have the filet off the fish, then I work on cleaning up the meat and removing the skin. I follow the Scott Bannerot book given to me by Chuck and Lynn of sv CYAN who sailed around the world. This book (The Cruisers Handbook of Fishing by Scott Bannerot ) covers every aspect of fishing for cruisers. Thank you, Chuck and Lynn, and thank you for the gear and your gaffe! With the filets dried off, we then packed them into ziplocks and moved them into the icebox ASAP for chilling down. For dinner, it was seared tuna steaks. OMG, what a treat that is. We also share this bounty with others as it is really a lot of meals for two people. The last tuna served 14 meals, this one will serve about 20 meals. Tuna is my favorite fish, I am really glad we caught a yellow fin tuna again. Next, we need to catch a Mahi Mahi…..

My happy Tuna #2 photo

Look no blood in the boat, nice idea J-M

Close up, these are beautiful fish

Yellow Tail Tuna

Radeen wants to get a tattoo of this 🙂

Tuna steaks, seared 1.5 minutes in olive oil

Perfection, cool in the center

We tossed out a message in a bottle with cash inside 🙂 $1

Teak work at sea, look, the blue tape is the color of the water! Yes, it really IS!

The view from the helm, notice the fishing rod tied to the jib winch I need a new rod holder, our last big hit broke the rod holder

Selfie at the helm

Making lunch, protein shakes, looking out the galley window

Hayden with his Yellow Tail Tuna #2

Crazy gaffe of the tail….oh well, it worked. Notice jib furling line slip knot around the tail. Now we are back in George Town for a few Cruising Regatta events and to start our preparations for sailing to Long Island and beyond!

This is where we caught our Tuna #1 northbound and Tuna #2 southbound

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Cat Island is very special and non-touristy place. Yesterday as we walked around New Bight and strolled along the main road, every single person waved and greeted us. We are so glad we made the effort to come to this Out Island, thanks to Bentley and Jim of sv/Salty Paws who insisted that we sail here. They have told us for years to get out to Cat Island. Day one was New Bight and the hike up Mount Alvernia to Father Jerome’s Hermitage. After that we sailed 1.5 hours north to Fernandez Bay where we dropped the hook right off the beach on one of the most beautiful bays we have ever seen. Look at this view over our bow….

As we walked the one mile beach, we looked back across the bay and zoomed in to take this photo with the rocky point to the northwest of the bay compressed into Island Spirit, so it looks closer than it is. We have our sunshades up all the time because we really try hard not to get too much sun. It is so bright and so intense that we get sunburned very easily. So, up with the shade every day.

http://www.fenandezbayvillage.com/

Hayden working on teak varnish from the dinghy

Radeen enjoying a great lunch

The lobby with reading materials

The “honor” bar where you help yourself and pay later. Great rum punch!

The honor bar

Island Spirit anchored off the beach

The dinghy, “Buns II” is our car, the only one on the beach

View of our boat from lunch

The dining room with traditional thatched roof

Cool art work on the walls

Beach walks with sun hats, it is hot and sunny

We so enjoy this view

The entire Fernandez Beach at low tide all to ourselves, one mile long

The flying gable of the resort’s main hall

So inviting

Swimming time from the beach

One of 14 homes for rent with the resort, some homes are private

Buddies Cynthia and Jim drop the hook next to us

Radeen and Jim at sunset with Neverland in the background

Hayden and Cynthia share a smile

Our sunset lighting up Fernandez Bay

Here is a Google Satellite photo of this location!

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…The Hermitage, New Bight, Cat Island…

It has long been a goal of ours to see Cat Island and to hike the highest hill in the Bahamas. Prevailing easterly trade winds and bad weather have prevented us from coming to this Out Island in the past, but this year we succeeded!

Father Jerome was an Englishman who first trained as an architect and a sculptor. In 1903, he became an Anglican priest who built churches in England before coming to the Bahamas for a brief time. After moving to the U. S., he converted to Catholicism and worked as a wagon train driver and a railway laborer. Then he went to Rome and became a Catholic priest in 1915. Next, he designed and built many large churches in Western Australia. Nearly 20 years later, he returned to the Bahamas, to New Bight on Cat Island. In 1939, Father Jerome began building The Hermitage, his residence with a private chapel and bell tower on Mount Alvernia, 206 feet above sea level. He died in 1956 at the age of 79 and is buried on the property. He built a total of 7 churches and one monastery in the Bahamas.

We are fortunate to have already seen two beautifull churches designed and built by Father Jerome in Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas. St. Paul’s is Anglican (1910) and St. Peter’s is Catholic (1947).  We plan to go to Long Island again, on our way southward out of the Bahamas.

Archway to Mount Alvernia.

Reliefs depicting the Stations of the Cross are along a very steep path to the top.

From left to right, the residence, the chapel and the bell tower

Looking west to the waters of Cat Island Bight. Jerome’s tiny bedroom is on the extreme right.

The roofs look recently whitewashed

There is debate whether or not this is Father Jerome’s final resting place.

The chimney on the right is for the kitchen.

The entrance to the chapel through a narrow door. Notice the thick, sloped walls.

The spartan bedroom

Arches were used often throughout the buildings.

The inscription over the chapel door means “Shrine of the Holy Spirit”

The altar with a glass window to the east, over looking the Atlantic

A carved Celtic cross

Steep paths in all directions lead from the top of this hill.

Island Spirit viewed through the arch beside the bell tower.

There is a surprising amount of large vegetation on Cat Island, unlike other Bahamian Islands.

Resting in the shade on the beach after our hike

Walking with an umbrella to see Father Jerome’s church

The Catholic Church of New Bight Cat Island built by Father Jerome

Stone benches on the beach across King’s Highway from the Government Building. Island Spirit on the horizon.

A squall on the horizon that fortunately did not reach us.

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…Yellow Fin Tuna….

We decided to take this calm weather window and motor over to Cat Island, one of the far islands we have visited in the five years we have sailed to the Exumas. Cat Island has zero protection from west winds, so you need to go there when it is calm, and you can easily stay there when the east trade winds are blowing. Well, we had the calm today to motor the 50 nm over to Cat and tomorrow it will begin blowing from the NE then East so we can anchor safely anywhere on Cat. We plan to explore New Bight, and Frenandez Bay and they maybe Hawks Nest marina before sailing back on the East trade winds to George Town for more Regatta fun.

On the way over, I finally landed out first tuna, it was a 28″ yellow fin tuna. We both were so excited. How wonderful to finally land a really nice fish on Island Spirit. We have trailed fishing lines for thousands of miles and today, we finally landed a nice proper sized tuna, and a yellow fin as that. One of the best. We estimate that this created 16 meals at least and we will share with other boaters. What a great treat!

Island Spirit 1, Fish 1,002, so let the games continue. Right now, the fish are winning 🙂

Here are some photos of the adventure.

The day started calm in Kidds Cove Elizabeth Harbour, George Town

It was a calm motoring day, no sails

I set out out the lines before we went around the reef and out Conch Cut to sea, but it was not until 7 to 8 miles offshore that the rod dipped and the reel started running out. We had to stop the boat as I could not reel in the fish. After 5-10 minutes. I had the fish along side, Radeen handed me the gaff . I gaffed the fish and landed it into the cockpit. Now the chaos began, We sprayed the fish with fresh rum and that calmed it while I proceeded to knock it out and then bleed it out. Lucky for us, we were also running the watermaker and we had a full tank of water, so we used the fresh water to clean the fish AND the cockpit. All in all, it was exciting, but Radeen was not quite as excited about the entire landing as I was. So, we now have procedures to work out and improve. 🙂

I caught this tuna on a Cedar Plug

Yellow Tail Tuna

I tried to get every piece of meat to not waste any

Chipped gelcoat repairs. I hit this corner with a winch handle…

Well….I got so excited during the landing and the taming of the tuna, that I actually damaged our gelcoat as I was swinging the winch handle and knocking out the fish. What??? Errrrrr, Well, I chipped the gelcoat as I hit the corner with the winch handle. I did not even know I hit the step. All of it was truly was a Chinese fire drill. We really need to get better at this fishing game. Right now we are newbies. Here is proof of the excitement….errrr….and the damages to our boat….Oh, the price of Tuna!

No problem, tape it and paint it…got it covered

Every IP needs to carry some ivory paint, got it…spray, spray…fixed

Done….what fish damage?  It is gone.

Tonite on anchor, we thought we might actually see our first green flash, but the sunset did not produce one. Still, look how beautiful the sunset was. It was a really great day on the boat. Something new all the time. We have lots to learn about fishing, that is for sure!

What a perfect day….

Tuna Steak seared

Red in the center, perfect

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…anchored of the Beach…

We sailed into George Town, (Elizabeth Harbour) all the way into the Chat ‘n Chill beach to enjoy the scene. Here we were anchored about 200 yards off the beach with the sun setting over the stern, how exciting. The 37th Annual George Town Cruising Regatta starts this Friday. There are over 300 yachts here, many of which we recognize. We can see why so many cruisers make this harbor THE place to spend the winter. The Elizabeth Harbour is about one mile wide with beaches on the ocean side as well as on the harbour side. There is the famous Volleyball Beach, home to Chat ‘n Chill beach, where all the boaters dinghy in and hang out, visiting and playing volleyball, yoga, church services, and present talks about boating life and world cruising. There is something fun going on all the time.

The George Town Harbour

Looking at the harbour, you will see the island to the east called Stocking Island. This island blocks the normal east trade winds so all the boats anchored along the inside well-protected from the winds. This works well until a cold front arrives which pulls the winds to the Southeast and then the South and Southwest and then finally Northwest. Then the winds blow very hard, at 20-30 knots, as the frontal system passes. This SW, NW winds places boats on the lee shore when anchored at Stocking Island. The beauty of this harbor is that you can easily move to the “other side” which is what we do whenever a front is coming. We move over to Kidd Cove and tuck up against the western shore to be protected when the front arrives. There are many good places to move to all along this western shore. Also on this side is Lake Victoria, which is where town and the dinghy dock are located. This dock is at the Exuma Market which provides the free R.O water hose where cruisers take on their water for the day. The ebb and flow of George Town is very simple with beach walks, volleyball, visiting with buddies, and living on anchor, all with free water. What could be better than that?

Julie, Paula, with Hannah, and Radeen

Our first night in George Town we were invited over to the beautiful Cobin Yacht named R-CALLISTA owned by Paul and Paula who are the kindest and the most fun people. We also picked up Don and Julie of the Annapolis Yacht FIRST LIGHT to join in the visit and fun cocktail party aboard R-KALISTA. Paul and Paula rebuilt this double-ender and I think it is one of the most beautiful yachts out here. We really enjoyed catching up on their latest adventures. These guys are from Toronto, Canada and we always find Canadians to be so kind and so much fun. The cruising life is all about the interesting and wonderful people you meet along the way, Paul and Paula are an example of this for sure.

Paul, Hayden and Don

Poker Run awards party

Lumina Resort, Stocking Island

The private elevated cottages over look the harbor and the resort is all eco-friendly with a very large solar plant and R.O. water and collected rain water for vegetation. People are saying that this place is better than any other Caribbean vacation they have taken. It was here that Bill wrapped up the Poker Run with a large party, our own cruiser DJ George and a fun fun dance party. Of course, a squall came through with high winds and rain and caused a bit of a wet dance floor, but it did not stop the party. Everyone had a very fun time. Great job, Bill!

We found Bill’s long lost sister, check out their BLUE EYES

The Poker Run party was fun

Hayden loves to take “selfies”…. with Paula

Our own DJ George of sv/COPPER PENNY did a great job, even during the squall

Hayden, Radeen with Bert and Prue sv EXUBERANT

This is before the squall, little did we know we needed rain gear soon

Hayden, Radeen with our new friends,Jeff and Patty sv/AVALON. They own our sistership. IP35-166, we are IP35-165!

Here are a few more photos….enjoy

The required Chat n Chill sign post photo

Anchored off Chat ‘n Chill

The public library of George Town

The pool and patio at Peace and Plenty

Winds of 16.2 knots, gives us 10-12 amps of power

Winds of 16.2 knots, gives us 10-12 amps of power

Everything arrives by ship, here they are offloading gravel

The beautiful blue waters of Kidd Cove

Good Night George Town

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This satellite photo shows our course today, most of it in water over 1500 feet deep. The turquoise waters are the shallow areas and the “wrinkles” are enormous sand bars. At 0815, we anchored up with Sharon and Craig of IP38 Bonavista, for a fantastic sailing day of 43 nautical miles. Our 45 minutes of engine time included getting off anchor on the Little Farmer’s sand bar, raising the main sail and motoring out Farmer’s Cut from the banks to the ocean. We immediately shut down the engine and rolled out the jib, setting a course for George Town 40 nm south east. Winds were steady at 13 – 16 knots from the NNE, giving us a beautiful beam reach. As we approached Conch Cut, the entrance to George Town, we were able to sail straight into the cut and then reach all the way into the harbor. It was fun sailing directly to Chat ‘n Chill. We dropped sails, started the engine and motored up towards the beach, setting our anchor at 1600 in 10 feet of water. The 55 lb Rocna set quickly into the sand, concluding a great day of sailing. Now we can take in some of the activities here and visit with cruising buddies. George Town looks like there are far more boats here that we have seen in our 3 previous visits. We heard there may be over 400 yachts here for the Regatta that starts Saturday. We plan to ride out the next weather system here on Wednesday/Thursday and then possibly Friday/Saturday sail to Cat Island and discover something new. For now, welcome to George Town, Exuma!

Here are the sailing photos of the day.

Radeen as we motor back out to the boat from Little Farmer’s Yacht Club

Setting sail for George Town.

The ocean is THIS BLUE when the sun is out

Sailing into the morning sun

Beautiful beam reaching, heading south

We love to see the flag flying to the side, this means beam winds

Again, the water is so blue, so beautiful

Our new B&G custom screen displaying the 3 apps that I chose. L to R: Sailsteer, Autopilot and Instruments. Sorry it is not more clear. On this screen, winds show 14.3 knots, SOG was 6.4 knots, and autopilot was holding a 106 degree wind angle

There it is, Chat ‘n Chill, out the porthole.

Blue water and palm trees from our boat.

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We are lost in the beautiful cruising life of the Exumas in the heart of the Bahamas. Days are moving between beach walks, snorkeling, swimming, trail hikes, visiting with boat buddies, talking about routes and places to go, on and on and on. All the while surrounded by the most beautiful water of teal blue, crystal clear where we see the bottom in 20-25 feet when we drop the anchor. We can not imagine a more beautiful place to sail. Yes, we are outbound from here to the Eastern Caribbean, and we know that is beautiful as well, but we are a bit sad to sail out of the Exumas as this is the most beautiful place we have ever explored. But we need to explore onward and we need to discover new harbors with Island Spirit, so onward south.

We have been running off wind and solar

We have spent the last week in Cambridge Cay, Staniel Cay, Black Point and now Little Farmer’s Cay. We are pushing south to George Town because the weather forecasts have been the most confusing of all times. Chris Parker is offering up 4 situations from calms to deep low pressures. Then the Grib files show no big deal, just 15-20 maybe 25 knots east winds, typical. So with this confusing forecast, we are making a run for the safe harbor of George Town where 300+ yachts are anchored. Then next week it is the George Town Regatta and we plan to sail over to CAT Island where we have never been. We hear this is a great island to meet the locals and to explore. We hope to sail out there and learn all about Cat Island.

Typical water color when looking off the stern, unreal

Walking Staniel Cay, we found this

Staniel Cay, typical beach

Blue water anchored off Thunderball Grotto

Radeen and Cynthia sure take a beautiful photo, Staniel Cay Yacht Club

Radeen holding up Bell Rock, Cambridge Cay

The beach walks at Cambridge Cay are priceless

The beach to ourselves

Let’s go for a beach walk

Happy Valentine’s Day, 2017, 37 years since we engaged

Swimming off Cambridge Cay

Sunset Cambridge Cay

Two Calm days with sun shades up

Dinghy run to Compass Cay to see the marina

A beach walk with cruising friends

The 35 knot squall arrived

B&G Wind Plot data shows peak winds at 34.6 knots

The cruising buddies at Black Point, Linda, Cat, and Radeen

Too funny, I was called “Mr. C” as a teacher

How to haul your boat with the mail boat crane

Lift it up

Lift it over the mail boat

Lower it to your trailer

There it is on the boat trailer, way coo

This is the CMAP navigation chip, which pays for Explored data Compare this to the next screen

This is WHY Navionics is NO GOOD in the Exuams It says I am in 3 foot water on a sand bar. NOPE, it is not here. DO NOT USE NAVIONICS IN THE BAHAMAS, YOU WILL WRECK

Off to Little Farmer’s Yacht Club

We meet Roosevelt Nixon, who built the yacht club 28 years ago.

Check out the cool bar

The resaraunt where boaters come in for dinner

That is us anchored off the club

The Little Farmer’s yacht Club

The Dinghy Dock

Heading Home, Radeen and Island Spirit

Island Spirit on anchor off Little Farmer’s

 So, life is good aboard Island Spirit, we so doing well, we are moving south, and we are loving the Watermaker. We are now running it 2-3 hours at a time every other day. We have all the water we want. What a treat in the Bahamas. Next stop….George Town.

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