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| This is called "Two Palms Beach" on the chart...wonder why? |
Wow, it has been a long time
since the last update. I will try not to go on and on but there is a lot to write. Here
it goes….
When I returned from Colorado, Scott
was in Georgetown. It was great to see him and spend a few days with him. Scott had
already spent seven days with Steve going to Conception, Hog Cay, Joes Sound, and back to Georgetown. They
have great pictures of the fish and Lobster they caught. Be sure to check them out.
After Scott went back to US (bummer) Steve and I headed over to Long Island where
we caught up with Sapphire and Brilliant. We spent a few days in Long Island and finally had decent weather
to head to the Jumentos. If you recall, we had tried earlier in the year to go to the Jumentos but did
not have good enough weather to make the trip.
The
Jumentos are very nice. The Cays (pronounced keys) are all uninhabited, so no services (gas, diesel, water,
assistance, etc.). You must go to the Jumentos self sufficient. There are great beaches
as well as good fishing and lots of great conch. You could just choose the size of conch you wanted.
Steve did get a nice grouper as well. Yum! We were able to spend a few days with
Brilliant at Flamingos Cay in the Jumentos; it was nice to get to know them better. We also were invited
to a BBQ with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) on the beach. We had peas and rice (Bahamian staple),
BBQ chicken and the best steak I have had in a very long time. These guys spend a lot of time on the water
so it was interesting to listen to their stories.
We
parted ways with Brilliant, they went north and we went south. We ended up going to Duncan town at the
southern tip of the Ragged Islands (we were about 65 miles from the NE coast of Cuba). Going into Duncan
Town you have to go through a channel about 2 miles long where there are mangroves on each side of you. What
a great experience. Once you get to Duncan Town there are a few services. The Bonefish
Lodge has a restaurant and great internet. Plus there is Maxine’s Grocery Store and a couple other
stores.
We learned something
new in Duncan Town about Conch. When we went to Maxine’s, we noticed behind the store there was a
clothes line with these little things hanging on the lines. Curious as we always are we asked what was
hanging on the line. They were cleaned conch drying out. The conch is dried out and
sent to Nassau to be used for medicine as well as shipped out to Japan. Unsure what the Japanese do with
them. Very interesting.
We
took our time coming back through the Jumentos and were able to spend some time at Double Breasted Cay, Raccoon Cay, Buenavista
Cay, and then back to Flamingo Cay. We took the bank side back to the Exumas rather than the ocean side.
The weather was great; the water was very flat so we could see every blade of glass as we passed it. We
did have to motor the entire way which is not the optimal situation for a sail boat but since the bank side can be quite shallow
in places it is better than having high winds with a lot of chop and bump the bottom.
When we got back to the Exumas, we went to Black Point and were welcomed as family.
In the Bahamas Easter is, I believe, the most celebrated holiday. All the children that were born
on Black Point were on Island which was great to see. Most of the children that are born on Black Point
have to leave home and go to Nassau to go to high school. The celebration for Easter was four days,
Good Friday through Easter Monday. They had a great Junkanoo group, a basketball tournament, fishing
tournament (73 fish caught by one person was the winner) and great food. It was a nice time.
On April 13 we left Black Point (always a difficult time for me) with Sapphire and
went to Highbourne Cay (an eight hour spinnaker run…great fun!) for a night, then to Royal Island for a night and on
April 15 we arrived in the Abacos. It was
an interesting trip from Royal Island to Little Harbor (Abacos). It was a 10 hour trip with constant changing
seas as wells as lightning, thunder and some incredible water spouts. The most impressive water spouts
we have ever seen. No worries, unless you are right under a water spout you usually have time to
change your course to get out of the spout’s path.
We
are now at Lynyard Cay anchored for a few days just relaxing. It is one of our favorite spots in the Abacos.
That’s all for now,
Kim
