Cat Island and Eleuthera. Thank you God for our group's safety. Feb 19- March 6

On Sunday Feb 19 we topped off fuel ($4.40 per gal...please do not complain about US prices!) and left Emerald Bay Exumas with Job Site headed for the New Bight anchorage on Cat Island. Putz’n Around stayed as they are flying home for their granddaughters 2^nd birthday celebration.  They hope to catch up to us later sometime before we cross back to the Abacos. Heading out into the ocean the waves were pretty confused and on our beam so we throttled up to level things out a bit. It makes for a quicker trip, but a lot more expensive for diesel fuel.  But we will burn some fuel for comfort. The 57 mile trip was done in about 4 hours and we awaited the winds to shift from the west to the north to make our anchorage more comfortable.  Well, the wind did shift but the swells from the west did not subside.  Here we are at sunset waiting for the two foot rollers to subside.

This made for a rather uncomfortable night as the boat turned north/south with the wind and the rollers were thus on our beam.  They weren’t dangerous, just an uncomfortable rolling and we did not sleep all that well until the waves calmed around 4 AM. 

On Monday we dropped the dinghies and joined DeVere and Carole to explore the island a bit.  We hiked up to the Hermitage, a retirement home built of stone by Father Jerome, an Anglican who arrived in the Bahamas in 1908.  He later became a Catholic priest and built 4 other Catholic churches on Cat Island and 5 on Long Island.  This humble dwelling, built in the 1940s, has a Stations of the Cross and a tomb of Jesus replica on the stony hillside heading up to the Hermitage.  He died there in 1956.  It is a very impressive stone structure on Como Hill, the highest point in the Bahamas at 206 feet above sea level.  Fr. Jerome called it Mount Alvernia. The humble sleeping quarters and small daily devotions chapel are really something to see and imagine living that lifestyle. 

Signing the visitor log in the chapel.

The view from the top.

We also discovered Hidden Treasures, a local restaurant right on the beach.  We talked to the proprietor, bought some of her freshly grown tomatoes, tomato sauce and ordered 4 lobster dinners for that evening.  Her family was there, some washing beer bottles so they could “can” fresh tomatoes, her mother was the “smoke pot’ tender (the smoke pot is a smoldering fire of tree droppings that helps keep the no see ums away), others attending to a baby, others working various restaurant duties.

We later learned her husband lives in Nassau and is the executive chef at Albany, a very upscale restaurant on Paradise Island.  This helps to explain why the food was fantastic, even out of the small maybe 5x10 foot kitchen with cooks, waitresses, etc. scurrying about..  In fact, fast forwarding to later in the week we stopped by car for lobster dinners again!

Tuesday Julie and I went ashore and walked around the beach loop and out to the local grocery store to see what was there.  We ended up very impressed with the organization, cleanliness and selection at the small store.  So we came back with a couple bags of groceries. We were even asked if we needed a ride by the local school bus!  This is a good representation of how friendly the communities are here.  Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.

Our boats anchored off New Bight, Cat Island.

We turned on the underwater lights that night and this 3-4 foot barracuda could be seen just on the outer edges of the light awaiting a snack.

On Wednesday we moved eight miles north to Fernandez Bay.  We read about the resort there and how the bay is only large enough for a couple boats.  Well, some of the reviews say the resort does not like you to anchor there, others said they were very welcoming.  So….what to expect?  We launched the dinghies, went ashore to look around a bit and were greeted by a resort employee. Hmmm, what is she going to say to us?  Well she said “Welcome, here’s the honor bar and the gift shop...just write down what you drink or have purchased along with your boat name and come to see us to settle before you leave.”  So that was our super friendly greeting.  We did not use the facilities but would not hesitate to recommend this place for anyone that wants to get away at a wonderful facility.  We did return by car later in the week and had lunch there. 

What a great spot. Sum Escape anchored off of Fernandez Bay Resort.

A big guy anchored outside the bay.

A sign at their "honor bar".

Well the winds were forecasted to increase substantially for the next few days and will have a westerly component, so anchoring would not be an option. One of the drawbacks to cruising Cat Island is lack of protection from any westerlies.   Hawk’s Nest Marina is on the SW corner of Cat Island and is very protected.  A small 24 slip marina, but they had space for us for a few nights.  It was only a “back track” of 15 miles and was ever so secure. And what a pleasant surprise.   It is part of Hawk’s Nest resort, about ½ mile across the airstrip. It is the second time we’ve walked down runways after heeding the “watch for aircraft” warning signs. 

So refreshing on how trusting people really are here.  Oh, and of course there was another honor bar…J. 

Nice pool and beach area.

We talked to the owner Jerry and his wife Jane.  Their children are now running day to day operations.  And this too is another get away from everything destination on Cat Island.  Look it up on line.  Pretty cool. 
http://www.hawks-nest.com/
They run some fishing tourneys here as the Tarter Banks, a noted fishing ground, is only miles away. There were some pretty nice boats here…..which two don't really "fit"?

A sportfish came in and had 4 Mahi-Mahi, a tuna and a small wahoo.  But he was cleaning them in one of the air conditioned fish cleaning stations and we were able to purchase some mahi from him.  Our fish hanging before filleting.  The fisherman's children are checking them out.

We learned he is a 10,000 acre farmer in Ontario in the summers and brings his wife and children to Cat Island in winters.  The children are home schooled here.  And speaking of children, his 3 year old son loves to help. Dad says this is the highlight of the boy’s day.  He feeds the scraps and carcasses to the local sharks and sting rays.  Check out this video.  Note how the lemon shark rules the place.

  https://youtu.be/fo5opu3di40

Well until the tiger shark shows up.  The dock master was telling us that occasionally a tiger shark comes to feed on the feast.  He said all the other shark leave until the tiger is done.  Quite the pecking order.
We had a lunch and a dinner over the 4 nights we spent there awaiting calmer winds.
The "Reverend" as he is locally known, delivered produce and bread two of the nights we were there. 
But we also had great on board dinners prepared by Julie with fresh local produce and fresh mahi.

But the beach was great, the food pretty good, employees friendly and the facility very secure for the wind and waves.  We rented a car for one day and covered the entire island.  We left at 9 AM and returned at 9 PM.  We covered the island well (about 50 miles long) and discovered many things we would not have seen by boat.  We checked out two marina sites, one under construction and one site proposed by another local business owner.  Our assessment is they will never see a return on their investment.  There are just way too many beautiful spots to anchor for free.

Here we are negotiating Dicky Road, three miles of rough rocky road out to the Atlantic side to gather the "abundant sea glass" the brochures said was there.  All we found was plastic trash that had washed up on the beach and rocks.  But I had a great co-pilot (DeVere) for the day!

The highlight of the day was coming across a seaside bar called the Da Smoke Pot (clean it up, it isn’t about Mary Jane but the pots used to generate smoke to ward off the bugs) where local knowledge says the “rake and scrape” music is the best. 

We arrived around 5 PM had heard it would not start until 9 and Julie remarked how we really wanted to see it.  Well in about 15 minutes the proprietor had two of his friends join him for a jam session while we enjoyed a cold beverage.  He even had Julie and Carole try the saw and screwdriver instrument.  Really cool. 

Well on Sunday the 26^th the winds had died down and we departed for Davis Harbor in Eleuthera, a 63 mile trip. 

It was a beautiful day on the water for the crossing.  We came within 7 miles or so of Half Moon Cay (Little San Salvador) where Holland America has their “private island” beach facilities for their cruise ships.  Yes there were two ships there. 

Later, on the southwest coast of Eleuthera we passed within a couple miles of Princess Cay, the Princess cruise line similar facility (no ships).  Julie and I have been to both of these cruise ship destinations aboard a ship.  While it was a fun thing to do, we now prefer our own small boat and the freedom it brings.  They did pick awesome spots for their facilities though.

Davis Harbor boasted of their on site restaurant and recommended reservations.  We made reservations, arrived early and the staff was surprised we were there.  We were the only customers and it took two hours to get our meal completed!  Bahama island time I guess….   But the food was good and there were certainly no other options in the area.

The next day we rented a car and explored southern Eleuthera.  We passed the Princess facility and a ship was there this day. 

We explored the south end of the island as far as we could drive the rental car (wish we had rented a Jeep) and walked the rest of the way to the abandoned lighthouse and Lighthouse Beach.  Wow!   What a beautiful place.  Next visit we will rent a Jeep and spend the day at this beach.  Pinkish sand, awesome rock formations and hardly anyone around.  What a great spot, but about a 4.5 mile round trip hike over some pretty rough trails.  We were all pretty tired but it was well worth the trip though. 

We knew we needed to park the rental car when we saw these...

Great scenery once we hike the almost 2-1/2 miles there...almost a 5 mile round trip.  A good workout this day!

Note the Warbler description on the lower right of this.  They migrate from Michigan here for the winter.  Smart birds.

We left Davis on Tuesday and headed for an anchorage at Rock Harbor.  We took a walk to the Ocean Hole in town, visited a couple shops and made a trip to the grocery store which was very nice.  Hmm, making comments about the grocery stores.  I guess that is what happens when one finds a store with good produce in the Bahamas. The Ocean Hole, a blue hole right in town.

There was a sign with a brief history.

Wednesday we went 24 miles to the Ten Bay Beach anchorage.  Job Site's AIS image beside our anchor spot.

It is a very nice beach, especially at low tide.  Approaching the beach

The view from the beach.

Our anchorage was a bit tricky as we needed to be in the sandy area near the beach as holding was not good further out.  But it also became pretty shallow at low tide.  At one point we only had less than a foot under the props.  I even tested the depth sounder by swimming around the boat and touching bottom.  It was only 6 foot at our stern and that was a foot before low tide.  OK maybe 6'4"

Shortly after arrival we heard “Sum Escape, Sum Escape, Job Site here” in a rather quick paced delivery on the VHF.  DeVere had lost a grip on the dinghy line and it was drifting away from his boat.  So he asked that we launch our dink and retrieve his.  A much better choice than swimming for it or un anchoring the big boat to retrieve it.  This is yet another example of why we like travelling with others…we have each other’s back.

We spent some nice beach time here and also dinghied over to South Palmetto Settlement and walked the small town over to the Atlantic coast.  First a seaside cemetery on the west side of the island.  It is interesting that all the cemeteries seem to be on the seas.

Then, the Atlantic beach.

Here is a local block manufacturing facility….well you get the idea. 

We also stopped at Nate and Jenny’s Pizza shop for lunch on the way back.  Nice little restaurant. 

On Friday we headed for a mooring can at French Leave Marina in Governor’s Harbour.  The forecast calls for strong easterly winds to 40 knots for three or four days, so a secure mooring seems like a good solution (there are only mega yacht slips at this marina…very high docks set up for up to 180 foot yachts) instead of an anchor. They list stainless steel moorings installed in mid 2015 so they should be secure (according to Active Captain as well).  
Upon arrival we checked in at the facility which is a Marriott Autograph Collection Resort.  What a beautiful property.  All three boats moored peacefully at the resort.

They are still working on the beautiful stone walls.

We signed up for the day pass to the resort and went over to the Atlantic side beach as this will be our only good beach day with the easterlies coming tonight and Sat.  What a great walking beach.  Again some pinkish sand that the photos do not likely capture. Very, very nice.

Another glorious sunset from the pool at the Marriott after the beach.

DeVere and Carole have family coming to stay aboard for a week so they got busy getting a rental car etc to pick them up at Rock Sound International Airport.

We learned that the local party is a Fish Fry starting at 7 PM near the town beach.  We planned to dinghy over but as forecasted the winds kicked up and it would have been a very wet dinghy ride.  So we stayed aboard.  The wind started to howl with gusts to almost 40 knots (37.7 was the max registered on the anemometer). 

We rented a car on Saturday along with Brigitte and Scott who have now caught up to us. We explored the island a bit.  We found a produce stand along the way and stocked up on fresh home grown veggies.  The gentleman actually went out in the field to cut us some kale and get a fresh cabbage.  Can’t get any fresher than that.

We drove up to the Glass Bridge.  This is a bridge over a small channel that cuts through the island.  We were warned that this is subject to closing in high seas conditions so we proceeded carefully.  It was still mid tide when we went over and the waves were splashing over the rocks and one needed the wipers on for all the salt spray in the air.  A police vehicle was monitoring the conditions.  So instead of being trapped on the north side of the bridge at high tide, we came back and worked our way back south.  Here are some photos that do not do the reported 13 foot swells justice.  Unbelievable power in those waves. 

We stopped in Gregory Town and checked out a small surf shop, gift shop and the wonderful Bakery.  Oh, and I did find a cup of strawberry ice cream for a snack too!  OK, gotta give a shout out for the bakery.  They make pineapple tarts.  I would call them small pies.  They only charged $1.25 per tart and they were fantastic!  We bought extras and put them in the freezer for the kids when they visit us in the Abacos later this month.  It will be all I can do to keep them in the freezer until they arrive…..these things are just awesome.  The lady at the bakery said these and the coconut tarts are the top sellers and she was already out of coconut for the day.  Well, next trip to try those I guess.

We stopped at a beachfront bar and grill for lunch.  A cute little place on the lee side of the island to keep us out of the wind for a while. We also got off the main drag and took a shoreline road.  At one point Scott remarks, well at least all the boats are still there as we spotted them in the harbor along the way back.  Yes, you can see them in the distance here from Rainbow Beach..

Saturday night we all dinghyed ashore and met around 6:45 at the 1648 Restaurant at the Marriott resort.  The food was pricey but all very good and the live band was great.  The Bahamian gentleman who sang had a very nice voice and our group of 8 had a great meal, a bunch off laughs and got to know DeVere and Carole’s daughter and son-in-law a bit. 
Around 9, we all got into the dinghies to go back to the boats for the evening.  Flying fish were dancing in the flashlight beams.  Really cool.  So Scott was giving Julie and I a ride so we didn’t have to take our dinghy down (He lost the flip of the coin, my turn to launch tomorrow in the wind and waves) and he says, wait, where is Job Site?  Only three anchor lights in the harbor and there should be four.  I thought he was kidding around and DeVere had not lit his anchor light before leaving.  But he was not.  We then saw a small anchor light far out to sea.  What a horrible sinking feeling that was.  And their dog Molly was aboard!
Remember, there are 30 knot winds and the further this boat gets out to sea away from the protection of the island, the more speed it will pick up drifting away and waves it will encounter will only get larger. So Scott drops Julie and I off on our boat and gets DeVere and family onto his. Scott and Brigitte focus on calming Carole, Stacey and Joe.   Julie and I start making phone calls.  First to the US Coast Guard in Nassau. No one on board?  No. OK, we cannot help due to the storm and no lives at risk.  They directed us to the Bahamas Defense Force.  They say they will contact local police and get back to us.  DeVere has dinghied to our boat by then to see what success we have had. Julie says let’s call the Marriott, it is their mooring who failed.  They say, we’ll get a local boat to take DeVere out to rescue his boat.  Meanwhile the local police call and say their boat is inoperable. USCG and Bahamas Defense will not launch as the weather is severe and there is no imminent loss of life.  We’ll check with you in the morning says the BDF.  So will the Marriott come through?  And remember some of the photos of Bahamian watercraft we have shared on the blog from time to time?  They aren’t always a new modern vessel, that is for sure. Will it be large enough, fast enough and seaworthy to take our friend with them?

We have now turned on our radar and have Job Site over 2.5 miles out to sea, drifting west at over 8 MPH.  Note the radar blip out past the two mile ring on the right.

We also still have a visual on the anchor light at this point. We did not realize it then, but it has less than 15 miles to go before it will drift onto a reef.  Can we make it out in a dinghy to get aboard Job Site?  We conclude that is not a good idea.  So will the Marriott come through with a suitable craft?

We made the first call at 9:12.   Around 9:45 (seems like a lot longer) we hear a boat roaring across the bay with no lights.  It goes to the Marriott dock while we frantically wave flashlights from Sum Escape.   He sees us and roars over.  It has two Bahamian gentlemen aboard and is approximately a 30 foot twin outboard center counsel, a perfect size and seaworthiness to handle the waves, small enough to maneuver close to Job Site to get DeVere aboard and fast enough to get to the boat before it drifts too far.  The pilot instills instant confidence as he backs near Sum Escape’s swim platform to board DeVere while we swing wildly from side to side in the wind secured to our mooring can.  We had DeVere in one of our offshore life vests with a light and also strapped our handheld VHF to the vest.  Julie said you need life jackets, they smiled, said they had them aboard and they roared out of the harbor with no lights, chasing down the anchor light getting smaller and smaller on the horizon.  I tracked the small boat on radar as it raced toward the bigger blip which was Job Site, flailing powerless, beam to the 6+ foot seas.  About halfway to Job Site the small blip disappears.  I hope that it is just the fact that the waves are shielding the boat from the radar.  Later I see a small blip behind the larger one and hope that this is them and they have arrived.  At about 10:15 we hear “Sum Escape, Sum Escape this is Job Site” on the VHF.  What a welcome sound! 

Later DeVere shared a few details.  He said as they approached the boat he was watching the prop come out of the water as she rolled “beam to” over the 6+ foot waves.  They were not sure how they were going to get on the boat.  Boarding on either side was out of the question with the violent rolls.  The mooring ball and lines were still hanging from the bow and would have to be released prior to powering forward too much as one could not tell how much chain/line might have still been attached.  So the power swim platform was the answer.  Paul, the pilot of the center counsel, backed close and DeVere jumped aboard, hung on to the rolling swim platform, scrambled aboard, got the engines started, pointed the bow into the seas, scrambled forward to release the mooring can (which Paul and his son Richard retrieved), and then got back to the helm to bring her back to the harbor.  Our radar had him four miles from the harbor when he boarded.  He says seas were huge and spray/water was going over the flybridge (Job Site is a 48’ Sea Ray sedan bridge) coming directly at the waves on the way back. Scott and I met him in the harbor on a dinghy, I boarded to catch another mooring can line while Scott kept a flashlight on the target for us.  I will conclude saying thank you to God.  Lots of broken stuff and a mess inside, but no one was hurt and all ended well.  DeVere should be deemed an admiral, he is one brave man.   I won’t say how old DeVere is, but he was 30 years old this night.  Great job DeVere!
Here is the broken mooring on shore.  A stainless steel bolt was bent and cracked off.

You really had to hear the wind, see the seas and be here to truly understand how much God had a hand in this.  The right rescue boat and captain, a brave and competent boat owner who kept his cool, a seaworthy vessel flailing helplessly awaiting rescue and our group holding together to help one another were all part of His plan this night.

We all now have anchor alarm apps on our phones that will text another phone if the boat moves.  And we will all sleep with anchor alarms on, even on a mooring, from this day forward.  The lessons of this lifestyle continue to be learned.

This is Job Site on another anchor ball on Sunday morning.  The Hatteras to the right was ahead of us when we went to bed so it dragged anchor past us during the night. But our three moorings held.

Sunday we enjoyed the pool a bit and all processed what had happened the night before.  I ask myself if I would have boarded that center counsel to go rescue Sum Escape if it had been our boat adrift.  Tough call, not sure I would have been brave enough.  Markel Insurance might have been the answer for me.

On our fourth day here waiting for the winds to subside, we took a nice long walk along the beach, bought some lobster from a local to cook for dinner, and did some boat chores. 

I listen to Chris Parker weather service to help plan the next few days in addition to reviewing a couple other weather sites.  He says this was the longest wind event of the winter thus far.  We are glad we have 280 gallons of water capacity as we have not purchased water for a week.   And we still have about 140 gallons aboard. 

Here is some of the trash that washed up on the beach.  I certainly do not want to snag one of these ship lines floating along our route.

We also talked to Rudy, the beach attendant.  I shared with him that I worked summers of my college years at a beach as a caretaker, cleaning restrooms, emptying grills, raking the beach, etc.  He asked if it was a resort.  Well, maybe Grand Haven residents see North Shore County Park as a resort. J

So, on Monday evening we were just starting to cook our lobster dinner and a call from Putz’n Around came in on the VHF.  Unbelievable, another mooring ball has broken and they are adrift.  Here goes Tom to get DeVere to help Putz'n Around land at the dock while Putz'n Around drifts to sea.

At least they were aboard and it is still light.  So everyone fires up their boat and all three boats squeeze in to the Marriott unoccupied mega yacht dock.  It is actually set up for med mooring (stern to the dock) large vessels but we tie aside the docks. We actually disembark from our flybridge deck as the docks are so high to accommodate the much larger vessels.  You can see Sum Escape's step on the dock just below our fly bridge deck.

But we certainly sleep better tied to pilings and a dock, not mooring cans that are failing and breaking loose!  They advertised 5 moorings, only four existed when we arrived and now only two are left.  I hope they do not rent them to any other unsuspecting boaters!  The Marriott was very apologetic, had an engineer on site to consult on rebuilding the moorings and bought us all dinner and drinks tonight.  But that seems to be the least they could do under the circumstances.  We could have easily all dinghied in for dinner tonight and returned to another missing boat!  God was again protecting us from harm.  I do not believe a trip such as ours is possible without faith in Him.  Many of you know Julie's title on her email signature is "Adventure Coach" .  I have asked her to dial back the adventure part a bit.....  😀

We will start toward Spanish Wells next to wait for a suitable crossing day to Great Abaco.  We will re provision, water, fuel and find that window to cross.  We need to be in Marsh Harbour by March 16 to greet all our children who are flying in for a week’s vacation with us.  We cannot wait to see them!
Thanks for following our blog, more soon.