Feb 20 - Exumas

Feb 15 – Nassau
We were welcomed to Nassau with fireworks at 10:00 last night. We’re not sure what they were for but they came from Paradise Island. Maybe they were for Valentines Day, or maybe it was part of the Kelly Clarkson show last night at Atlantis. We did some chores around the boat in the morning. We had an unfortunate occurrence and one of our 160 litre flexible water tanks got a hole in it. We had to drain both of the flexible tanks and then mop up about 20 litres of water out of the bilge. Water is scarce in the Bahamas and you have to pay for it just about everywhere. We were fortunate that at the marina we were staying there was a flat fee for water and we were able to refill the tanks at no additional charge, but we certainly felt badly letting all that precious water go down the drain. We had a spare flexible water tank that had previously leaked around the nozzle, and Dave was able to fix that one and install it.
After all that fun, we packed a lunch and walked across the bridge to Paradise Island and went to the beach. It was packed with tourists and folks off the cruise ships. It was a nice little beach, but there was quite a bit of surf and it was challenging to actually get in the water. Annie buried Kristen in the sand and she had sand and shells in her hair for the rest of the day. After the beach we walked to the Marina at Atlantis to try to better understand their rate structure that ranges from $4/ft to $7/ft. We learned that the slips farthest away from the heart of the complex are a little more exposed to weather but $4, while those in the heart of the basin are $7. The amazing thing was the number of megayachts (100’+) that were tied up in the inner basin

Feb 16 – Nassau
After listening to the weather we decided to stay put for another day. There is supposed to be another cold front coming through today and high winds tonight. There was a light day of school done in the morning and then we went for a walk through Nassau in the afternoon. We got caught in a couple of really heavy rain showers, but the rain is warm so it isn’t too bad. The Disney Cruise ship was in the harbour and we had fun spotting the folks off that boat. There is a street of really high-end shops that are all duty free that target the cruise ships. We also wandered through the straw market where there are lots of little stalls selling crafts. Many of the ladies were sewing patterns on the outside of straw bags. We had a late lunch at a Senor Frogs over looking the harbour, but they had to close up the windows because it was so cold and windy. It was a sort of silly place where they gave everyone balloon hats to wear on their heads and bead necklaces to wear around your neck. After lunch we walked away from the harbour to climb the Queen’s staircase. It is a steep, steep staircase that is cut away in the cliff and leads up to a fort overlooking Nassau Harbour. We missed the entrance and ended up climbing up easy way to the top of the hill and then coming back down the staircase. It is really amazing to think of all those slaves, hundreds of years ago, working in the intense heat, to carve this ravine in the stone and then building the stairway.

Feb 17 – Hawksbill Cay
After talking with Warm Rain yesterday, we decided to follow them about 50 miles south-east of Nassau to Hawksbill Cay. The anchorages here are not like what we are used to at home with nice snug harbours. Most of the anchorages are exposed and it is difficult to figure out where you will be comfortable, as the wind shifts around. It was nice to have someone give us some pointers. It was a great day for a sail with 15-20 knots of wind from the North East and we able to really sail for the first time since who knows when. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to pull the mainsail up as the halyard that we need to pull it up has slipped out of it’s track at the top of the mast (again). We were still able to go over 5 knots most of the way, but with a 50 mile day, starting at 9:00 that was going to put us into the Hawksbill kind of late so around 3:00 we put the motor on to get us up to 6 knots. We were able to drop the anchor and get it set first time at Hawksbill which was a relief as sometimes we have a hard time getting the anchor to hold. It was around 5:30 when we got settled and we quickly dropped the dinghy in the water so we could explore the beautiful white sandy beach before the sun went down. The water was that beautiful aqua color that you see in pictures – it looks just like what you expect for the Bahamas! When we got to shore, Warm Rain was already there, and a few minutes later Nicki May came in too so we had a nice visit on shore. We are inside the Exuma Land and Sea park so you aren’t allowed to take anything – no fishing, no conching, no shelling, so we weren’t even allowed to take the shells we found back to the beach. We had a late supper and went off to bed.

Feb 18 - Hawksbill Cay
After much debate, we decided to stay in Hawksbill another day. We had hoped to get a mooring at Warderick Wells at the park headquarters, but they didn’t have any available for today. The forecast didn’t sound too bad, and there was still lots of exploring to do. Nicki May decided to stay too, but Warm Rain moved on. After a quick day of school, we went exploring in the dinghy and walked over to the other side of the island. The views are just beautiful here. When we got back to the boat there was quite a swell coming into the anchorage and it was pretty rocky-rolly on the boat. We decided to move north a mile or so to another anchorage with hopes that it would offer a little more protection. There were mooring balls there too, and it was supposed to be a windy night so we thought that might be a good idea. We had a hard time getting the mooring ball for some reason, and dropped the boat
hook (again). I got in the dinghy and rescued the boat hook and then passed the mooring line up to Dave on the boat.
The kids thought it would be fun to spend some time playing "Swallows and Amazons" and set up a camp on the island by themselves so I took them to shore with some blankets to make a tent. The beach we went to had a trail that led up to a Loyalist settlement with the remains of 10 houses built in 1785. It is sort of weird to think that this settlement didn’t survive, while Loyalist settlements in Nova Scotia did survive, when it seems to us that the climate there is so harsh. I left the kids on the beach for about an hour, and then Dave and I went back to pick them up and we explored the Loyalist settlement some more. Then we went back to the boat. The motion was pretty bad, so we decided to go for a swim to get off the boat for a few more minutes. I got really cold swimming for some reason – must have been the combination of too much sun and then too much water, so Dave made a great supper of spaghetti and meat balls.

Feb 19 – Warderick Wells – Exuma Land and Sea Park Headquarters.
We had a really bumpy night as the boat was heading into the wind, and the waves were coming at us from the side. It must have had something to do with the tide as it seemed to getting better and worse through the night. We decided to leave around 8:00 and hope we would get a mooring at the park today. If not, we would go a little farther south to one of two other places that seemed to be more sheltered. As it worked out, there was a mooring for us today and we were all settled by about 11:00. There are about 20 boats here in this beautiful protected harbour. The center of the harbour is a shoal sandbank of white sand and then the channel around the edge of the harbour is beautiful shades of blue so it is really beautiful. It was so wonderful to get out of the waves into somewhere peaceful. Of the 20 boats, there are three other boats here that were tied up with us in the Dismal Swamp – pretty amazing. The Dove, Zingara and Calliope are all here. When we went to the office to register we saw huge land hermit crabs. Also there are lots of little grey and yellow birds that love to eat sugar right out of your hand. There is a group of coral heads right off the office and we went snorkelling in the afternoon. Kristen was a little nervous at first to go snorkelling near the coral, and she thought she would stay in the dinghy. Dave and I finally talked her into giving it a try and she was amazed. It really is just like swimming in an aquarium. There are so many little fish swimming around. We saw purple fan coral and we also saw a lobster. In the evening there was a pot luck so we went over and we got our blankets back from Calliope – remember? We left them in Oriental back at Halloween and Annie from Calliope picked them up for us!!
So now for the update on amazing technology. We are here at this little island with no power except what they get from the generator or the sun, no roads, no cars, no stores. They do have satellite though, and through the satellite hookup they can offer (for a small fee) internet to the boaters, so here I am, by this little island, sitting on our boat, sending this over satellite to update the blog. We were also able to call home using Skype. The kids have been using MSN. This is not the world that Christopher Columbus sailed in!!