Hanging Out the Laundry or Dereliction of Duty

November 10, 2005

Friday, November 04, 2005 - Hogstyle Harbour, Old Yankee Cay, Abacos
By Tom

We had intended to head to Allens today, but the wind was right on the nose and we were pounding into 4 footers. Our speed was a whopping 4 knots at times, so we decided to detour up north to a group of small islands called the Carter Cay's.

We are currently anchored in Hogstyle Harbour behind the remnants of what was once a US missle tracking station. The anchorage offers 360 all weather protection (though the hurricane damaged boats raise some question about how good the protection is). The entrance was a little thin on water and I wouldn't bring any more than 4 feet of draft in here.

There aren't any other cruising boats here, but we've seen 3 or 4 commercial Bahamian fishing boats anchored nearby. The water looks clearer here than it was at Great Sale so we may try and do some diving on the several reefs we spotted on the way in.

The weather is sunny and beautiful with temperatures in the lower 80's. The wind is still blowing like stink as it has been for the last 4 days. I haven't been able to get a weather forecast out of the SSB, so we're kind of not sure what to expect the next few days. I guess we'll see in the morning.

An afternoon snack of french fries followed by a dinner of ribs and zucchini (for the Amies) closed out the afternoon. Later, it was another viewing of Casablanca and then an early bedtime for all.

Saturday, November 05, 2005 - Hogstyle Harbour, Old Yankee Cay, Abacos
By Amy

The wind calmed down today, but we decided to stay in our little lagoon anyway. Thomas is a bit worried that it's going to blow like stink again and we'll never be able to make any easting. But then he heard the fish calling.

A thirty-minute spear fishing trip resulted in four conch and three fish. The first was a 14-inch mutton snapper. The second a small schoolmaster snapper with a death wish who dove in front of his big brother. Not our usual keeper-size, but efforts at resuscitation failed and we had to bag him. The third, a large Margate, became an appetizer for an 8-foot barracuda while it was still on the spear. Needless to say, that brought an end to our hunting. We gave the smallest conch his freedom and departed.

It was back to the boat to collect our seafood-processing tools and off to the beach to extract the slimy conch bastards from their shells. Let's just say that it wasn't the smoothest operation; we had to shatter two of the shells. I did learn to peel the skin off, which is much more efficient than our previous technique of skin-removal, but none too pleasant either.

Back at the boat, I got to hammer the conchs flat in preparation for cracked conch. After all that, we decided to have salad for dinner. Go figure.

If the wind stays down tomorrow, we'll probably head out, but we will definitely return to this spot next time we're in the area. Good protection, good fishing, and no civilization. Can't do much better than that.

Sunday, November 06, 2005 - Settlement Creek, Green Turtle Cay, Abacos
By Tom

We tried to get up and underway early and we did, until a crew member who shall remain nameless ran us aground. Exactly 45 feet from where we had been anchored. Hmm. Needless to say the remaining crew members were not impressed.

In all fairness, it was an accident and after about 15 minutes of pushing and pulling, Dream Catcher was able to pull herself into deeper water.

We got out of the shallows of our anchorage and set the sails towards the settlement of New Plymouth on Green Turtle. It was about 45 miles away and we ended up motor sailing the whole way except for a brief stint under sail alone.

On long day trips like this, we usually turn on the auto pilot and then take one hour turns at the helm watching Otto drive and making sure he doesn't do anything crazy. On one of Amy's turns at the helm, our starboard side fish whacker (trolling rod) started screaming off line. She turned off Otto and slowed us down. I jumped up and prepared to fight the good fight.

I was a little nervous as this was our first trolling fish hook up of the year, but I set hook and the battle was on. Ok, maybe it wasn't much of a battle, but after 5 minutes or so, I reeled in a 30 inch, 4 pound Barracuda. They are just as ugly and evil looking as I remember.

With the conch and fish from yesterday in the fridge, I tossed Barry back into the deep blue. We continued on our way and ended up anchored off Green Turtle by 4pm.

It's Sunday and the immigration office is closed, so we will probably clear customs tomorrow morning.

Monday, November 07, 2005 - White Sound, Green Turtle Cay, Abacos
By Amy

We are legal! Well, most of us are at least. The wickies (ferrets) have gone into stealth mode, having promised not to disturb the peace in the Bahamas for the duration of our stay.

Checking in was as easy as ever. There was a 2 hour wait for the custom's official as she was hanging up her laundry to dry in her back yard. This seemed to dismay the Ugly Americans waiting with us, but we both thought it was funny. Hey mon, don't you know we're on island time?!

Next order of business--rum! Yes, we bought our first bottle of Bahamian rum five minutes after checking in, at about 9 AM. We did hold off until early evening to partake, though. We're not total drunks.

The important stuff handled, we moved to White Sound, where there is more protection. A quick bar trip stripped us of $26 (beers were $6 plus BAT and gratuity they add in for you). We were desperate for human interaction, but needless to say, we'll be seeking that elsewhere from now on.

The afternoon was spent kayaking (me) and going to the hardware store (Thomas). Lunch was fish tacos, so that leaves us seafood-less for dinner. Maybe we should have kept Barry yesterday. Pizza is a good alternative, though.

In the meantime, we're taking full advantage of the numerous free WiFi networks here to catch up on email and web browsing

Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - Rat Cay anchorage, Manjack Cay, Abacos
By Tom

We sailed the 5 miles out of White Sound and up to the southern anchorage at Manjack Cay. In a rare display of initiative, we actually put up the main sail as well as the jib. Bold, I know.

We got the anchor down and the sails stowed and then headed out to find somewhere to hunt. The ocean is still too rough to get outside, so we thought we might check inside behind some of the near by Cay's.

Right away I saw two lobsters hiding within 12 feet of the dinghy. I dove on them repeatedly but was unable to wrestle them from their lair. Giving up on them, we patrolled the area and I managed to snag a School Master Snapper and a Mutton Snapper.

Amy spotted a giant Atlantic Spade Fish that I shot not once, but twice and both times he managed to spin his way off the spear and to freedom.

Back on the boat I cleaned the fish and we both took showers. Dinner was sauteed snapper with rice and fresh bread. To bed as soon as the sun set.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - White Sound, Green Turtle Cay, Abacos
By Amy

We intended to fish on the barrier reef today, having come to Manjack Cay for that express purpose. But surprise, surprise! The forecast was totally wrong. Instead of 5 knots from the west, we got 20 from the east.

We did revisit our lobster friends despite the swells rolling through there. They were expecting us, however, and were tucked under their rock too far for a good shot. The other sea creatures were equally well prepared. We saw a huge spade fish. We both took several shots; Thomas hit it once, but he escaped. At the end of the day, we went home empty handed and hungry.

We sailed back to Green Turtle under head sail alone and made pizza. By evening time, we were resorting to ferret shadow puppets for entertainment, so decided to give the town bars another try. We hit the Tipsy Turtle, where we were the only customers, then Jolly Rogers. Again, no one. We are now $28 poorer and no further along in finding anyone to talk to.

Thursday, November 10, 2005 - White Sound, Green Turtle Cay, Abacos
By Tom

Most of the crew (Amy, Mila and Lunch Box) slept in this morning. Once they woke up and were fed, Amy and I dinghied into town to get a few groceries and to use the Batelco phone to call home.

We also called down to Marsh Harbour to inquire about having a new prop for our dinghy shipped in from Mom and Dad's back in Maryland. Ok, get this. The prop cost me $80 from a prop web site. Now to get it sent to me in Marsh Harbour via UPS will cost $45, plus $20 in taxations and then an additional %7 of the total! Can you say suck it?

After the UPS fiasco, we dinghied back to the boat and then performed a little breaking and entering on the White Sound observation platform so that we could take some pictures of our boat floating happily in the anchorage. Our guide book said this platform deal was open to the public, but when we got there the gate was padlocked. 30 seconds later, we were passing through the gate and climbing the hundreds of stairs up to the observation deck. See, I have skills.

We returned to the boat and I made steak fajitas for dinner before we retired with our books before turning in for the evening