Sampson Cay

The holding was very good as we didn't move at all, but we had the GPS set just in case the anchor tripped at night to sound an alarm to wake us. We slept well even with the strong winds and we were much more protected than in Warderick Wells because we weren't bouncing around even with the stronger winds here. We are glad we left Warderick Wells to come to this anchorage at Sampson Cay because we are much more comfortable. After having some breakfast we headed into shore to use the internet at the Sampson Cay Marina. We were there all morning and I checked out the store to compare prices of food. The Bahamian bread cost $7, the chicken cost $10.29/lb, steak was $14, shrimp cost $38/bag, and the French wine we got from Nassau for $5 was $9 here. They also didn't have any eggs which we were looking to purchase. I snapped pics of wildlife and scenery while JR was on the computer and then I got on my email long enough to reply to a couple people and quickly updated my blog without attaching any pics due to time. Then we headed back to the dinghy and we saw a nurse shark right on shore in the shallow waters! This is the first time I have seen a shark on my trip and it was really cool. I was able to snap a few quick pics with my camera phone and then we headed out to Frodo. On our way back we saw several nurse sharks swimming at the bottom of the water very close to the marina. Then we pulled up our anchor and headed out of Sampson Cay around 1pm and headed for Staniel Cay. We took the inside passage during low tide and it got a little rough when we approached the opening into the Atlantic where we could see white caps. The wind was blowing 15 knots from the southeast and we motored the entire way not bothering to put out our sails. We got to the anchorage near Club Thunderball around 2pm and saw the Hungarian family anchored here. The current is very strong here and we had to get through some rapids to enter the anchorage. We threw down a second anchor to help pull us out of the strong current and then went inside to eat some much needed lunch. Then we looked at the charts and decided we didn't want to back track to get into a better anchorage so we pulled up both anchors and got closer to shore so we wouldn't be in the strong current area. Then we rested and read for a short while before heading into shore looking for the general store and the dinghy dock. We took the dinghy all the way past the small bridge to Isle's General Store and found that they had their own dinghy dock, which is nice. We looked around and saw there wasn't much as far as groceries so we asked if they had bread and eggs, but they didn't stating the supply ship would be in the following day and to come back. The lady did suggest for us to visit a yellow house for some bread and so we hopped back on the dinghy and headed into town to search for this yellow house. It really is too bad she was not more descriptive because there were several buildings painted yellow around town. So after wandering aimlessly we went into a BATELCO building and asked for directions. They gave us directions and we were off... we walked and walked until we passed the yacht club and saw some new development so we asked the man walking from a house and he informed us that there weren't any shops where we were and we were far from the bread house. So we listened and followed his directions bringing us back to the dinghy parked on the beach, which we made a pit stop to get some water as we were dehydrated by this point in the hot sun. We continued walking down the main street and eventually saw a yellow house, which we didn't think was the right building because it just looked like someone's house. JR kept walking down to the Happy People Marina and I saw that the yellow house we just passed was indeed the place of the bread. So I got his attention and we made our way into the kitchen asking for some freshly baked bread. We were too late in the day and there was no more bread so we would have to return the following morning around 9:30-10am when they are finished baking the bread. We found the Pink Pearl Grocery store up the hill from the bread house so I decided to check it out since we were here. We bought a couple of Kalik's and drank them at the counter while chatting with the old woman working the store. She was quite delightful to talk to and we discussed all sorts of topics. We finished our beers and walked back to the beach to cool off in the nice cold water. As we got in our dinghy we saw a couple nurse sharks swimming near the shore line. Then we decided to stop by Thunderball Grotto to check it out. We set our anchor and tied a stern line to some rocks on shore and gingerly stepped off the dinghy onto the sharp, uneven rocks. I wore my wet Crocs sandals (bad idea) to climb up the sharp, craggy rocks with the assistance of an old rope to see the Thunderball cave from above and snap a few pics. My sandals slid out of place and my big toe got a small laceration from a protruding rock while I was walking around the top of the big rock taking some pictures. JR found the top of the cavern and it was really neat to see how big the cave was inside and to see the blue water below with the light on the other side of the rock shining through the water because it was high tide. Then we hurried carefully off the top because we saw all the stress cracks from the top of the cave around the opening we were looking through, which we never know when it will give out. So now we knew more about Thunderball and we would return the next day at low tide to explore the underwater area. We headed back to Frodo for some dinner and a movie because with all the wind we have been getting our batteries were full from the wind generator. I completed a sketch and read to end my day.

Leaving Warderick Wells

We woke up and listened to the weather to determine if we were able to leave with the wind and waves. We decided with 15-20 knots winds and waves from 2- 4 ft. was alright to leave so we pulled up anchor and headed out of Warderick Wells at 8:40am. We were traveling at 5 knots with only sails when the wind was coming from the east, but then of course the wind shifted to southeast and we were beating against the wind for the rest of the trip and we had to put down our sails because the wind was too strong and we couldn't reef in time with the short period waves hitting us. It was the roughest passage we have had in a really long time, but I didn't get sea sick so that was good. We got tons of sea spray on deck and even our anchors were dipped into the water when it got really rough. We were digging into the water and we were heeled over a lot, to the point where stuff literally flew out of our cubbies even with the cushion covering them. We were only traveling about 1.2 knots at this time and so we turned on our engine and put down the sails. We decided to anchor at Sampson Cay because there was more protection than Staniel Cay. We anchored in front of the beach to the right of the yacht club because there was a sandy bottom with good holding and we would have coverage from the wind with the land. We arrived at 1:30pm and dropped our anchor not too close to the beach because there were people on it. We jumped in the water and snorkeled to check the anchor setting and enjoyed the cool waters for a few minutes before our hunger got us back on the boat and me into the kitchen cooking up a hearty meal of tuna salad, sweet peas, and mashed potatoes. JR signed up online and paid $10 (200MB) for a day (you have 24 hours to use it) of internet service but as soon as he got into his email and was about to respond to one he was kicked off and wasn't able to get back on. This deal is better than Warderick Wells because they charge the same amount but only give you 100MB and they require you to pay for a mooring ball to get the wifi access and because you have to sign up at the park office for a user name and password. We determined we were too far from shore and we would have to get closer to use it. It is strange how we could use it for a few minutes and then just getting kicked off and never able to get back on with either computers. But we will try again tomorrow on shore to check our emails. Then we read and I took a nap until it began to rain. We hurried to grab some bowls and pots to catch water as we haven't gotten rain since Nassau and we haven't refilled our water tanks since Miami. Our water tanks are running low and I am not sure how much longer they will last, but we still have our jerry jugs of water on deck that we haven't touched yet so I am not worried about running out. We only use our freshwater supplies to drink, cooking, and brushing our teeth. We do our best to use salt water for everything else like doing the dishes or washing our hands. We ended up catching about two gallons of water because the rain wasn't very long or very heavy, but it is better than nothing. I cooked dinner of rice, creamed corn and Chinese sausage and ate while watching a movie. We chatted for a little while and then JR went to bed while I began a new sketch and later read myself to sleep.

Another Day at Warderick Wells

Today we stayed on the boat during the morning while it was very hot outside and I read and did some sketches. Then we ate lunch and finished watching the movie from last night. Then we chatted with Dan for a little while and then we headed out to Emerald Rock to do some snorkeling and we got to see some fish that we haven't seen before. :) At the second dinghy mooring we got to see a bunch of fish and it was like an aquarium. Then we headed to the park head quarters to park the dinghy and then we hiked on Boo Boo Hill trail to the top of the hill and it was very hot so we consumed almost all our water by the time we reached the top. We snapped some pics and read a few of the many boat signs left at the top of the hill and then we were on our way back down to Powerful Beach. We were going to hike over to the blow holes, but it was low tide and we wouldn't have been able to see them so we didn't bother. When we returned to the trail we saw that the tide was rising and Banshee Creek was filling up so I had to remove my shoes to get across the trail at that section. Then we snorkeled around the beach and the mooring field, which I got to see several young conchs, a flounder and a few yellow fin tuna under a boat. Then we just stayed cool in the waters by shore for a while and we chatted with Fred before leaving to return to our boat. We made an early dinner of yellow rice with beans, onions, and celery. We watched a movie while eating dinner then I sketched a drawing, cleaned up the boat and strapped everything in the cabin down for departure and before bed we spent some time under the stars on deck.

Warderick Wells Staff

We were invited to have “dinner” with Fred who is the head of the Bahamas Defense here in the Exuma Land & Sea park. It is Father's Day and to celebrate we had a nice big hearty meal consisting of steak, barbecue chicken, ribs, potato salad, peas and rice, salad, and plantains. We ate while Micheal Jackson the movie was playing and everything was so delicious that we pretty much ate in silence. After eating until we couldn't eat anymore we chatted a bit with Fred and he had to leave to go on a fishing trip with one of the park wardens, Justin (?), so he left us with Saunders to keep us company. We got to talking with Saunders and found out he works in the IT department for the Bahamas Defense. He was here for a break from his regular post. Everyone we met here has been so friendly and nice except for the guy, Andrew (I believe) who was the white guy we first met here and also informed us that we couldn't pay to use the internet because we weren't on a mooring ball. We don't understand why this makes sense because they are only losing money by not allowing everyone access to their amenities by requiring certain stipulations, but maybe the guy recognized us and wanted to give us a hard time. The people from Moxie told us they went to the office to use the internet the other day and they were anchored out so I don't know. We didn't talk to them afterward so maybe they couldn't use it either, who knows. Fred was super nice and even gave us a bag of precious ice when we left. We were so full that we were practically waddling out of there. We haven't eaten so much food in a really long time. For me I think it was when I was back in California the last time I stuffed myself with food. We returned back to the boat and took naps and read the rest of the day. We had a light dinner and watched a movie because we had so much power from the wind generator keeping our batteries full. Then we went out on deck and did some star gazing enjoying the wind blowing in our hair. It is so quiet and peaceful here under the stars and with enough wind to keep the bugs away from our boat. :)

Warderick Wells

Today we enjoyed pancakes with our second to last egg for breakfast and then we got our stuff ready to head into shore around 10am. We decided to hike some of the trails to see some nature on land. We met up with the Hungarian family on the beach as they arrive just before us. We ended up chatting and walking with them for a while until we got to Emerald Beach and we went into the water because it was so hot. Then we walked from Emerald Beach through the shallow waters at low tide to get to the other beaches on the way to the Exuma Park Head Quarters. It was much faster and cooler to get to the other side instead of hiking in a sharp, craggy rocks with low brush to avoid. We couldn't walk all the way to the head quarters in the waters along the coast because it became deeper and so we went back on the Sunshine causeway trail to get there. We didn't have to walk much further to get to the park office and when we finally got there we enjoyed the cool shade on the nice big porch. We sat and rested enjoying the beautiful scenery while chatting with Dan as they got to the office before us since we were hanging out at the beach for a little while. Then Fred came by with some ice water, which was excellent as we were parched from the long hike over in the searing sun. Dan filled our bottle completely and we consumed it all very quickly. We haven't had ice in a while and we savored it. Fred told us about a bonfire they were going to have tonight (Saturday) where the office would provide ice and we would bring our own drinks and snacks to share. It reminded me of a meet and greet with the other boaters around here. The office was closed from 12-1pm so we left around 12:45pm to head back to our boat. We saw the park offers kayaks to borrow for free and so we decided to take them up on their offer so we wouldn't have to trek back through the trails. We were able to kayak all the way back to Rendezvous Beach very quickly compared to walking the trails and we stayed much cooler with the water splashing on us. Luckily, I had a plastic baggie to put my phone into because it got pretty wet with the waves kicking up from the wind, which was still coming from the south. When we got to our dinghy we relaxed for a little while at the beach in the water to keep cool and then we towed the kayak back to the park office so other people could use it. The Hungarian family split up from us after the park office because they wanted to walk over to Boo Boo Hill, but we wanted to save that hike for another day. So after returning the kayak to the office we went back to Frodo for some lunch which was leftovers from last nights dinner and a can of pears. Then some park people came by and told us to inform the Hungarian family they needed to move 30 feet further away from the mooring field. I really wonder what difference it really makes when there is no boat on the mooring balls, but whatever. We read and napped until we needed a break from the bouncy boat and we got some beach gear to hang out on the beach until dinner time. We enjoyed being in the shade of our umbrella sitting in our chairs reading and cooling off in the water. Then we had some udon noodles with cabbage for dinner and headed out to the meet and greet or happy hour back at the park head quarters a little after 7pm. We didn't see any of the staff present when we got to the beach, but there were people already sitting around talking under the tiki hut. We began chatting with Tom & Brenda who happen to be from Roswell, Ga of all places! Tom was some kind of doctor and he was very friendly chatting us up. He told us about Harbor Island being a high roller place and how he plans to attend the July 4th celebration there because some guy throws one every year and you never know who might show up. It was funny he dropped some names like Cher and Katherine Hiegel, but we aren't really into that kind of scene so it was interesting hearing his stories about previous years parties. There were also people from South Africa (Gary was the only name I recall) who were traveling with Tom and they brought a very tasty cream cheese with sweet chili pepper sauce and crackers. It reminded us of the jalapeno jelly with cream cheese that we ate with Jen & Maxwell on the Baba, which was also delicious. We chatted with Fred, who we met earlier today and found out he works for the Bahamas Defense, which is their military to protect the people and the coast similar to the US Coast Guard. He is from Nassau, but has been stationed here for a year. He told us about this huge rat that is only found on this island and we saw them walking around after all the other boaters left the tiki when the sun had set. We had seen this animals droppings all over the island during our hike today and even on the beach. JR didn't know what is was and thought it was some kind of fruit, but I corrected him in the fact they were indeed droppings of some animal in the rodent family. I recognized it from the guinea pig droppings when I used to have one as a pet. I had never seen a rat so big before and it wasn't shy so I was even able to snap a couple quick pictures of it. After chatting with Fred for a while, he invited us over to eat “dinner” the following day at noon. We were happy to accept his invitation and were confused about the time of “dinner” with it being our lunch time, but we know the time so there is no misunderstanding of when to eat. The bugs were getting too friendly even after I sprayed on insect repellent so we hurried to get our dinghy back in the water so we could be on our way. We took a bit of a long dinghy ride back to our boat and we laid on deck to star gaze in the cool winds under the half moon until we were ready to sleep. The wind shifted more to the east so the boat was less bouncy and we were more comfortable inside the cabin. :)

Leaving Norman's Cay

We woke up and had a quick breakfast then proceeded to strap the boat down and put everything away to set sail. We pull up our anchor and left around 8:40am while the Hungarian family left earlier. We decided to wait longer to leave so the sun would be higher in the sky and allow us to see the coral heads and rocks more easily in the water. There was enough wind to allow us to not even turn on the engine to leave our anchorage, which is a first for us. The wind inevitably changed into our noses and we had to beat into the wind so we decided to turn on the engine and ended up running it for about 3 hours and when we got close to Warderick Wells we turned off the engine to only use the sails to get into our anchorage. When we got to a specified anchorage we noticed that they put moorings right where we were planning to throw down our anchor. We put down our anchor right in front of the mooring field and then noticed that there was a small bay that we could really get tucked into so we pulled up our anchor and moved into the area. We were quite happy with the anchorage and Pete & Lesley on Moxie came by to apologize for anchoring so close to us before and didn't mean to scare us away, but after chatting with them a few minutes we had a white guy come by on his power boat and tell us we couldn't anchor there because it was “marked as a no anchor zone”. We looked around and didn't see where we had crossed into the mooring field, but the guy said that those vertical standing buoys marked the “line”. We explained to the guy it wasn't well marked because we were outside of the 90 degree box the buoys made and was therefore technically not in the mooring field. He tried to tell us it was well marked and JR corrected him on where another buoy was needed to properly mark the area. So we picked up our anchor again and returned to our original anchorage where it is was more bouncy due to the southern winds that weren't predicted. Third times the charm. We finally got settled and jumped into the warm waters to get slightly cooler and before long the Hungarian family came to meet us and anchored next to us. This area has a sandy bottom, which is good holding and we are happy to sit through the weather here. Warderick Wells is also the location for the Exuma Land & Sea Park (the world's first marine park), which has lots of trails on land and good snorkeling sites. I was surprised at how large the island was when we arrived. We hope the wind will shift to the east (like it was predicted to do for a week) so we will be more stable on the boat and have much more protection with the land blocking most of the wind to allow us to have flat waters. Fingers crossed. We had chili with macaroni for dinner and watch a movie. Then we went to bed and it was rolling all night but not too bad.

Norman's Cay

We listened to the weather and talked with Dan to determine if we were going to leave. Since the wind would be on our noses we decided to stay another day in Norman's Cay. We lounged around and read until high tide around 11:30am. Then we went to the interior beach to meet the Hungarian family to give them a ride over to the submerged plane wreck to snorkel around. We found the interior section of Norman's Cay quite beautiful with the deserted island in the center with a single palm tree and on the east part of the island were some nice resort houses that reminded Dan of Scandinavia. We found lots of conch on the beach while waiting for Dan and family, but JR still wasn't up for eating any so we didn't take any. I found many beautiful colored living conch shells and returned them to their home. When they arrived we left to find the wreck and realized it was easy to see as the very top of the plane was exposed to the surface o the water. It was in the center of the bay so it took a few minutes for us to reach the wreck, which is why the Hungarian family couldn't row all the way there. We threw down our anchor and proceed to disembark the dinghy one by one to explore the wreck. The plane was a pretty good size and we saw tons of coral and fish around this man-made reef. Don't get me wrong, the plane missed the runway by a lot and crashed there instead of it being placed there on purpose. We saw a large barracuda casing the joint and making sure we didn't try to invade his territory or eat his fish. This was the first time we have snorkeled at a wreck and it was very cool. :) Some fish were very friendly and came up to us swimming around to investigate us while others were very shy and stayed in the shadows of the plane. We really enjoyed our time and then when we were all done we all piled back into the dinghy and were on our way back to shore. We passed by the typical deserted island in paradise and decided to stop by to check it out. We found the softest sand on the beach here it was wonderful wiggling our toes in the best sand we have encountered so far. The island was very small with one palm tree and rocks on one side while the soft sand covered the rest of the island. We enjoyed the cool waters and took a quick stroll around the island before heading back to the other beach to drop off the Hungarian family because the current was getting strong. So we left them at the beach and we headed back around towards our boat and due to the searing sun we took a break and soaked in the clear, cool blue waters on the beach before finally heading back to Frodo for lunch. We had some oranges on salad, the crab with butter from yesterday (it was so good), and JR cracked open the coconut we bought back in Nassau. We drank the water and ate some of its flesh, which was quite good and had a underlying sweetness. After lunch, I read while JR took a nap. Then we began our first attempt at making pressure cooker bread. We tried a recipe from the KISS Cookbook for Pressure Cooker Soda bread. We made the bread in about an hour and found the bread to be too dry and not fluffy at all, but it looked like bread with a crust and everything. We will need to tweak this recipe to determine the correct proportions of each ingredient or maybe even try a different recipe. This bread didn't call for any yeast so there was no time needed to for the dough to rise hence the soda bread using only baking powder and baking soda. Oh well, we made a valiant effort and just at a freshly pressure cooked slice of bread with some much needed butter and it was edible. We saw a ray swim by our boat and I took some pictures, but I am not sure how well they actually turned out because of the wind making waves in the water. We also saw a big fish swim by under our boat and we wondered what kind it was and where it lived. The mosquitoes were out at this time with the sun setting so I decided to retreat into the cabin into the safety of our mesh/screen. Then we proceeded to attempt our next culinary feat of the day and make some fish bouillabaisse from the Cruising Chef cookbook and we were enjoying a piping hot bowl of soup after 8pm. It turned out really well, but we didn't have any fish fillets to put in since we ate them all yesterday. We kept eating even though we were sweating up a storm. After we had our fill of soup we cooled down and I began the kitchen cleaning odyssey from the mess that was made from our cooking adventures. After a few hours of cleaning I sat down to read as JR was fast asleep for a while.