We are officially in the Bahamas!
We cleared Customs and Immigration at Morgan’s Bluff,
Andros, on Thursday, September 10, 2015.
Andros is a unique Bahamian island. It is the largest Bahamian island at
120 miles north-south and 20 miles east-west, with a sparse population of 8,000,
because much of it is swamp and there are 3 big bights through the center;
North, Middle and South Bights, isolating each part. Most of the population is Black, but there is
a Haitian community, Mennonites who farm, Black Seminoles, and others,
according to our local guide, Solomon Roberts.
We left Marathon, Florida, Wednesday, September 2, 2015,
about noon and motored out of Boot Key Harbor and sailed to Key Colony and
anchored at Grassy Key. The winds were
very light and from the south east so we didn’t get far. That’s sailing, and it’s ok! The next day we motored past Channel 5 where
we planned to anchor, and anchored offshore at Lower Matecumbe. Because the air is so light we are able to
anchor offshore instead of finding anchorages inside on the calmer gulf side
which takes more time.
We stay and play for a day at Lower Matecumbe to see two historical
islands that are now state parks – Lignumvitae Key and Indian Key. But first we have lunch at Robbies. We dinghy
into Robbies dock and the first things you notice are the charter boats for
fishing and snorkeling and jet skis for rent, it’s a happening. But then, you see huge tarpon, over 5 feet
long, everywhere, and people are feeding them from the dock – huge fish leap
from the clear water to grab little fish held by tourists. We wind around to the
outdoor restaurant and all kinds of Keys’ paraphernalia abounds. There are
artist booths for painting, aluminum artwork, weaving, t-shirts,
everything. For lunch we have excellent
mahi-mahi and fries. We head out to
Lignumvitae Key on the Gulf side. The
water is beautiful shades of blue and green and lots of lobster traps to avoid.
We circle it, see one sailboat at anchor on the north side and come to a dock
on the east side. There is a kayak
landing but we use the dock. It’s a short path to a well-groomed yard with coral
stone building and 4 canons spaced precisely across the grounds. By the time we reach the building we are
swarmed by mosquitoes and have to run back to the dinghy doing the mosquito
dance. It was terrible! We had been
warned to take bug spray and they were right! We hopped in the dingy and ran
out to Indian Key, a smaller round beautiful little island on the Atlantic
side. We tied to the dock, but I told D
to go ahead, I’ll wait here. I didn’t
want to experience mosquitoes again. He
found a family on the dock who had kayaked and hiked across the island, no
mosquitoes. I am so glad I went. The island is the well preserved ruins of a
town that had a hotel, hospital and homes.
Streets were named and the paths were clear. There was no mention of the famous Indian
uprising and massacre but I guess that story was for another time in its
history. Also, no mosquitoes!
The next day we motored in light air to Key Largo. We crossed over some beautiful reefs in clear
water along the way. We anchored
offshore by John Pennekamp National Park and the boat traffic was busy and
steady. Lots of charter boats for
snorkelers on the reefs and lots of go-fast private boats. We hopped in our dinghy and followed the
traffic into Largo Sound through a mile or so of mangrove canals – it looked
like a Nicaraguan river that I fished in Costa Rica! It was amazing and wild. Through Largo Sound we find the Canal that is
a manmade canal cut through to the gulf side. The sides are blasted out coral
some 10 feet high and big homes above it and US 1 crosses over it.
The canal is deep and constant two way traffic. We get to the gulf side
and I watch the dinghy as D goes ashore to get a pump for the water system at
West Marine.
On the way back a thunderstorm sweeps across the area so
everyone is now racing to beat the storm. We are one of the few headed out, and
people yell at us that we are going the wrong way! As we emerge from the
mangrove canal we see Fly Away about 1 ½ miles away and the storm is bearing
down. Can we make it to the boat before
the storm? We push the dinghy hard but
the storm wins. It’s raining so hard
it’s hard to see the boat and the rain is blinding us, too. But all is well, we reach the boat and safely
get on board. The rain cools the evening
and we have a nice night – except, mosquitoes! They have been bad nightly even
though we are offshore they swarm the boat attacking us in our sleep. So we fight them off and go below and put our
mosquito screens up. Then you hunt the remaining mosquitoes because you cannot
sleep with even one buzzing your head!
Thunderstorms behind us
The next day we make final preparation to cross the Gulf Stream. It’s a beautiful day, light air again so we
can only hope for a breeze off shore to sail, otherwise we will have to motor.
We have 6 miles to cross the reefs and get in to the Gulf Stream and 60 miles
to Bimini or Gun Cay (pronounced key) Cut – the pass just south of Bimini. We
plan to go to Bimini if the crossing is rough and we are tired. If the crossing
is smooth we plan to bypass Bimini and go straight through to Andros to check
into the Bahamas. The Gulf Stream was
flat with no air as we motored across. We crossed 2 cruise ships and several
container ships and freighters. We watched a huge storm behind us in the keys,
but luckily it never threatened us. It made for a beautiful sunset. The good
news was that the Gulf Stream current carried us faster across the stream than
we expected. We planned on 3 knots for
66 miles or 22 hours to reach Bimini around midmorning – the stream increased
our speed to 6 knots. So we arrived at Gun Cay, refreshed at 1:30 am,
in just 13 hours!
Calm water crossing the Gulf Stream
Gun Cay (key) light house
We anchored for the night offshore Gun Cay. We awake to the
most beautiful water in the world, so clear you can see the anchor on the
bottom at 17 feet. Brilliant blues of
all shades against the sky and the rocky coral islands with green palm trees
and a bright red and white light house.
It assaults the eyes with its dramatic beauty.
Anchoring in clear water off Gun Cay
We motor though the cut around the light house that has been
painted recently. The grounds around it have been cleared. Another sign of the
new prosperity of Bimini. We carefully
motor around rocks and shallows near the entrance to the Bank and go down the
east side of the next key, Cat Cay, to avoid shallow shifting sand. But after that it’s a straight 60 mile shot
to the Northwest Channel and then a choice of 3 islands – Chub Cay in the Berry
Islands, Nassau at New Providence, or Morgan’s Bluff, Andros. We like Andros and hope to see our friends,
Shonaray and Lavarette.
The first day on the bank is dead calm. We motor the
rhumbline and go 18 miles before we pull over off the main route and anchor for
the evening. The water is gorgeous. We’ve seen few boats and no marine life. You can turn 360 degrees on deck and not see
land, yet you are in only 12 feet of water.
It’s an amazing experience, an amazing place. There is no place I would rather be. I am so happy right here, right now. I dive in from the boat and instantly I am
cooled to the core and refreshed.
The Bahamas Bank
Day two the air picks up out of the south east and we are
able to sail, although we have to tack because the wind is in front of us. We sail 30 miles and advance 15 miles to the
NW Channel. It’s a great day!! We see
lobster fishermen on the bank. They make
lobster condos in the water and mark them with their GPS. Then they race out with their skiffs trailing
a long safety line, and when they get to a condo, one guy jumps off the boat
and dives for the lobsters. Once back on
the boat it races off to the next condo.
Once they have their haul, they race to one of the bigger mother ships,
and do it all over.
Day three the air eases so we start sailing, but once again
it’s on the nose so we must tack. After
8 miles of tacking and only 3 miles closer to the channel, we start motoring
and we get to the NW Channel and anchor off to one side. We see the first mail
boat of our journey. They are large
boats about 70 feet long with a large superstructure on the back and a landing
platform and forklifts for delivering goods and supplies to the islands, but they
are very slow. They also take passengers. D and I want to travel that way, at
least once.
The mail boat
Day four on the bank we motor carefully though rocks and
shallows hoping for a short cut past the NW Channel but we are unable to find
it. We make our way back around. I spot
on the bow and the coral are just beautiful – it’s a great way to sail. Out
through the pass we enter the Tongue of the Ocean where the water quickly
descends to 2000 feet! And on to 6,000-7,000 feet! We motor sail south east 20
miles to Andros with beautiful view of sparse islands and coral reefs to our
right. The forecast called for 2-4 foot
seas, but we find less than 1 foot calm water and are grateful for an easy
passage.
Morgan’s Bluff is visible from far away because of its high
elevation. Relatively high for a
Bahamian island. We raise our yellow Q flag to announce we are arriving from a
foreign country and will be checking in. We easily find our way into the harbor,
but all the marks are gone. The channel
markers have rusted and washed ashore and the range marks are damaged and the
taller range is gone. It’s just been 4 years since our last visit, but it looks
like it has experienced some harsh weather.
Also, it once supplied Nassau with over 50% of its water, now Nassau
uses reverse osmosis instead of importing water, so that leaves Andros with a
loss of revenue, and a major loss of activity in the harbor. The government docks are still the same, with
the same tug sunk on the south end.
There is a fuel barge and tug currently docked.
We see a 20+ sailboat on shore of their sandy beach, never a
good sign. But the brightly painted
regatta booths are still there giving it a festive look. There are the typical Bahamian boats wrecked
ashore also. There is no one anchored in
the harbor so we have our choice of anchoring locations. We drop the fortress anchor in a sandy hole
and motor over to drop the second anchor, a plow, in another sandy spot. D gets cleaned up and races in the dinghy to
the dock master to pick up the paperwork to clear us. He races back and we fill out 4 pages of
information, and he races back with the paperwork completed and signed and
$150.00 for the cost of a cruising permit that includes all fishing permits. I
set up the boat – cover the main, set up the wind scoop, prepare mosquito
screens, and general chores until he returns. He races up and says, we’re in,
and there is food if we hurry! So I hop in and we race to shore to a road side
stand where Sophia Loren, yes, has brought food from her restaurant, Café
Loren, in Nicholls Town. Fried fish heads
on, fried chicken, and ribs. There is
baked mac ‘n’ cheese, just the way I like it with bits of jalapeno. Rice and
peas – pigeon peas. So D loves it. I get
a small fried snapper and it is deliciously spicy. Now, can we slow down, mon?
Our boat is anchored in crystal clear water. It’s not
beautiful like Bimini or the Bank, but the clarity is the same. We can see immediately that neither anchor is
holding. When we dive down on them, we find coral rock topped with an inch of
sand! The anchors will just drag across
it if a storm hit! So we scout the whole
anchorage for better holding and find some grassy patches that hold well. Now
we can sleep well at night.
Daryl races to clear customs at Morgan's Bluff
The marina is though a short channel and opens into a wider
circle about 1000 feet in diameter.
There is a coral rock seawall around it and boats just tie up anywhere,
no organization, but it works, and it’s quaint.
There are several sportfishermen boats, some working fishing boats, and
skiffs. There are at least 2 boats sunk
in their dock. The mail boat comes all
the way in to make deliveries. Around
the rim, the most prominent building is the bar, Unca Harvey’s Water Loop, and
it is the social center for all information and entertainment. You don’t have to drink to go there; I go
there for wifi. Then there is the little
pink building that houses the dock master, Kadra, who is gone by now, so I
don’t get to meet her. D says she is
attractive and an energetic person.
There are bath cabanas behind the dock master, but they have been abandoned
and no longer work. There are tanks and
trailers for storage of supplies delivered by the mail boat. There is an ESSO station behind the bar for
diesel and gas. Everything you need,
right there. There are palms and
pines. You can watch the fish in the
clear water swimming. Every once in a while the bigger fish set on the smaller
fish and a feeding frenzy ensues, calling the sea gulls into play.
A sunset
We don’t know how long we will stay in this
paradise, but we are watching the weather, and while it’s clear of any
hurricane activity, the remnants of TS Grace is scheduled to pass by in the
next couple of days, so we will sit tight and decide our next island then.
Hope you are well!
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