Fun and Adventure in Pipe Creek

I have some great pictures to go with this post but I have to wait until my "system administrator" (Sean) comes at the end of the month and fixes a problem with my computer. I'll upload the pictures then.

Sunday, February 5th: Anchorage at Big Majors

We will not be going south to Georgetown on Great Exuma Island even though it's a popular destination for many boats traveling in the Exumas. Some years, there are as many as 500 boats anchored in the Georgetown harbour - this year there are far fewer - just over 200 (the economy again). Once there, it's possible to become involved in activities of every kind organized by and for cruisers: hobbies, exercise and parties on the beach - stuff like that. Some settle in for the winter, while the more adventuresome travel further still further south to Long Island and beyond. Another time, we might do the same, but not this year. We're content to explore areas close by until our kids arrive at the end of the month and then we'll begin a slow trip north.

We've spent a careful week moving back and forth between the marina at Staniel Cay Yacht Club, the anchorage nearby at Big Majors, and Black Point settlement (3 miles south). We've been careful in that although we've kept an eye out for water colour indicating shallows and rocks, for the most part we've followed charted paths through the water.

As in Georgetown, but to a lesser extent, there's cruisers' society here. The VHF is busy with people calling one another - arranging rendezvous and catching up on news. They have met this year or in years past at happy hours, local fund raisers and beach gatherings announced on the VHF and  at special dinners put on by restaurants, or when they have gathered somewhere to do laundry or email. Many cruisers return again and again to the Bahamas and develop a network of friends here.

When we first arrived, we felt on the outside of it all until we began to run into people we had met earlier in our travels. When you meet cruisers a second or third time, you begin to feel as though you know them. Last night we had Richard and Carole from Kalissa and Joe from Gemini over for drinks.

We first met Richard and Carole in St. Mary's, Georgia. Every year, there is a cruisers' Thanksgiving lunch there and leading up to that, a week of activities. For Thanksgiving, the town supplies roasted oysters followed by turkey with the balance of the meal provided pot luck style by cruisers. Some 80 boats were anchored in the harbour that week. We went to an hors d'ouevres and drinks party (where we met Richard and Carole) but skipped the lunch and moved across the Georgia state border to St. Augustine, Florida where we went to a Thanksgiving lunch provided by the Methodist church. Although we met and lunched with a great couple, who we met again and had over for drinks in Titusville, our decision not to attend the cruisers lunch at St. Mary's was probably a mistake. It's the best networking opportunity going for boaters moving south. Nevertheless, who did we meet up with here at Staniel Cay but Richard and Carole on Kalissa and today we are following them into a sheltered anchorage in Pipe Creek where along with Kalissa, Gemini, and a third boat, Just Ducky, owned by friends of Richard and Carole, we'll wait out Monday night's "blow".

When we rented a Boston Whaler with our friends, Glen and Janet a couple of days ago, we went into the waters in and around Pipe Cay. Janet was surprised at my anxiety over getting into shallow water over rocks. I was the most jumpy person in the boat. She and Glen were much more relaxed. It was perhaps the memory of hearing our dinghy prop grind over rocks on 2 different occasions earlier in our trip in admittedly less transparent water. Finding water deep enough for a keeled boat is a special challenge in this area - and that is why we followed Kalissa. Here was an opportunity to anchor in a pretty and well protected area without the angst of picking our way in among the sandbars and rocks.

Glen and Janet - do you remember the bay that we motored through? and the sailboat anchored there? Well - the boat was Just Ducky. Today, we are one of three boats anchored near her and for the first time ever we have put out 2 anchors to guard against an unwanted "up-anchor" situation in the strong current here. Bob was not thrilled at the idea of setting a second anchor but felt better when both Joes (from Just Ducky and from Gemini) told him that they set a second anchor by taking it out and dropping it from their dinghy. This sounded easier than the method described in guide books where you fall back to set the first anchor and then bring the boat forward again at a 45 degree angle to set the second. In addition to the fact that we don't have a double anchor roller to facilitate feeding out a second anchor, I think that Bob feared that since he would be standing with the anchor at the bow, his crew at the wheel would have trouble getting it right.

Richard and the 2 Joe's went diving and spearing fish today - so tonight at happy hour on Kalissa, we had tasty pieces of sautéed fresh fish, chunks of lobster (from the lobster that Joe caught) as well as hot olive puffs, and raw vegetables and dip. It was supper for most of us. Incidentally on the 3 boats, there are 3 Caroles (with an e) - so that's 2 Joes, 3 Caroles, a Bob and a Richard.

Earlier this afternoon Bob and I got on our snorkeling gear and followed the divers outside into the Exuma Sound. We paddled around and saw a few fish but the chief part of the exercise for me was trying to adjust my mask properly and for both of us - the challenge of getting back into the dingy from the water. To add to the challenge, our dinghy has particularly high puffy sides. Richard and Carole loaned us a dinghy ladder which made the struggle less for me but Bob was determined to climb in by propelling himself forward using his flippers and then finding hand holds in the dinghy to pull himself in. It wasn't easy. He's asleep right now - I wonder why?

We'll give it a go again tomorrow. Richard tells us that colourful fish can be found in places inside this bay. He'll show us where and lend us the dinghy ladder again. Meanwhile, the hunters will be going back "outside" with their spears. But not us - when you still haven't mastered your mask and dinghy return skills, you can hardly think of carrying a spear.

Tuesday, February 17th: Pipe Creek

We didn't snorkel again after all. Instead, Richard and Carole took us walking along trails on a nearby cay. One trail went from the side of the bay where our boats are anchored to a beautiful beach and the open ocean waters of Exuma sound. Following a second trail, we climbed to a high point on the cay to see a stunning view: on one side, a beach of white sand and black, grey or white faced limestone rocks rising out of the blue ocean and looking back toward our boats, the enclosed bay where the water is patterned in strips of transparent yellow sandbars and aqua, and turquoise water.

We had more seafood at happy hour. Joe (from Gemini) caught 2 large lobsters - one being particularly humongous - so that there was plenty of meat for us to put together dinner. Carole from Kalissa made bean salad and I made potato salad. While eating and socializing on Gemini (a Tartan 37), we were lucky to watch an outstanding sunset and as per the custom among certain cruisers in the Bahamas, some in the group blew the conch shell to mark the disappearance of the sun. Richard does an excellent job of producing a loud clear tone. Bob gave it a try as well. His high school trombone experience paid off and he was able to get a decent and sustained sound and then, with some success, he blew the first notes of Taps.

We've also had a little excitement in the bay. In the late afternoon, Carole and Richard noticed a boat off in a part of the bay where the water is very shallow. Bob grabbed the binoculars to see for himself. It seemed likely that the boat had gone aground. The skipper was pacing back and forth on the deck. The boat wasn't moving and the anchor wasn't down. Finally, Bob and Joe from Just Ducky got into their dinghies and rode over to see what was happening. The fellow on the boat was very happy to see them. Joe had brought his hand held depth finder so that he could tell the captain where the deeper water was and also gave him some advise for strategies to get the boat off the sandbar where he was good and stuck. There would be no hope of that until the tide came up at about midnight. Just before we went to bed, Bob called to check on the stuck boat (Water Music) and he and Joe both talked to the captain. Joe assured the captain that if he found himself in further trouble that he could call - the VHF would be on all night - and somehow he and Bob would come and try to help (we left our VHF on as well). The captain said that they'd been doing a lot of crying (in the background we could hear his wife laughing at that) - he also shakily admitted, that it was very good "to hear their voices". The following morning he called: at high tide, he had been able to get Water Music off of the sandbar by pulling in the anchors he had deployed in deeper water. Imagine doing that in pitch dark at midnight!

Kalissa and Gemini are leaving today. They'll do laundry in Blackpoint and then Kalissa is leaving to head south to Georgetown. We'll hang in at the anchorage another day or two and then move to someplace new but close by. We don't want to get too far away before our company arrives and anyway - it's unlikely that we'll find many other places as beautiful as this.