Our last post had us in Georgetown on Great Exuma Island in the central Bahamas.
After several days of strong winds we left heading to the Southwestern area called the Jumentos/Raggeds. We had moved the boat to an anchorage near town and made several runs in the dinghy to fill water jugs to top off our water tanks. By midday the winds were dropping and we headed out. We did a combination of sailing and motoring along the way. The route takes us through some shallow areas where we were our depth gauge was showing only 2-3 feet below the keel much of it in the dark since we were traveling overnight. There were storm clouds all around us with a lot of lightning but they all passed by without hitting us. It was interesting watching them on our radar. There are a number of small islands to stop at but this year we passed them by in order to get further into the Raggeds. We finally stopped the next afternoon at Double Breasted Cay which would offer some protection from the forecasted winds. Cori took the opportunity to kayak to shore to check out the beaches on the ocean side. After a couple of days we pulled anchor and continued on to Hog Cay, one of our favorite spots. This is about as remote as you can find. There is a small community on the next island with about sixty residents and is closer to Cuba then any other community. This will be our fourth time coming here and we want to spend as much time in the area as we can.
We started by hiking one of the trails to the ocean side to look for sea beans and to collect palm fronds to start weaving baskets again. The winds have been strong but we are protected by the island so it was comfortable. There was a forecast for a front coming through that would have winds from the west. We are not protected form the west. We moved with several other boats to an area between Ragged Island and Little Ragged Island. Here we were protected on all sides. We took the opportunity to spend several days walking the beaches on Little Ragged for more sea beans. I have mentioned sea beans in several other post and what they are is seeds, ranging from about the size of a quarter to a half dollar that float down the rivers in South America into the ocean and the winds and currents wash them up on the beaches in the Bahamas and further west to Central America. There are several types and this year we are limiting ourselves to the type called "hamburgers" which look like a small hamburger. They are rarer and harder to find. The more common are "sea hearts" which are larger and shaped somewhat like a heart. It quickly becomes an obsession.
After several days the forecast was for the winds to lessen and we moved back to Hog Cay. More boats were arriving and we started getting together at the tiki hut in the afternoon for sundowners and visiting.
Christmas Eve we spent at Hog Cay and Christmas Day we were included with several other cruisers to join the residents of Duncan Town for Christmas dinner. The cruisers brought deserts and the community provided everything else. There were as many cruisers as there were locals including the crew from the Defense Force boat After dinner there were fun games for the adults and children.
The forecast once again talked of winds from the west and we dispersed to a variety of protected harbors. This time we moved up to an area between Buena Vista Cay and Low Water Cay. We had never anchored there before but it was reported to be a secure anchorage in a west wind. We ended up having the anchorage to ourselves. When the front arrived the winds clocked around from SE until it was from the NE. When it was coming from the south we found we were exposed to waves causing a rolling motion but calmed when it shifted to west. We stayed for three days dinghying to the close by beaches to once again look for "treasures".
New Years Eve we pulled anchor and moved back to Hog Cay. When we arrived we found we were the only boat in the anchorage but the other boats came back from where they had been hiding over the next couple of days. Once again we all settled into the various activities of hiking the trails, walking the beaches, socializing at the hut and meeting in the late afternoon for sundowners and watching for the elusive "Green Flash" at sunset. On the 3rd we joined a group of cruisers have lunch in Duncan Town. While there we had a jerry jug filled with gasoline to keep the outboards and generator running and picked up a couple of items at the grocery store. All and all it was a very good day.
The days were beginning to blend together so for some variety we decided to pull anchor and move up to Double Breasted Cay for a couple of days. This gave us a couple of different beaches to search for "treasures". We spent four days there while the other boats came and went and on our last night we were the only boat in the anchorage. While there we were able to see another rocket go overhead after a launch from Cape Canaveral. We once again pulled anchor and moved back to Hog Cay.
The forecast is calling for high winds but not from the west so we will stay and ride it out here. We had plans to make a run to Duncan Town for gasoline before the winds kicked up. There is a local fisherman that has gas shipped in and we contacted him to be sure it was available. He offered to deliver some and today he showed up with five gallons and took our empty jug to refill and returned it along with two cold Kalik beers. We are still fighting a problem with our batteries and keep having to run the generator to keep them topped off.
It may seem like we are doing nothing but sitting at anchor and that is true. The majority of time spent cruising is just sitting in a location and enjoying yourself. This is our favorite area and we arrived early this year to just sit back, relax and enjoy the experience rather then keep on the move.
