Flamingo Cay - What do you do all day?

Eileen Quinn, sailor, singer and songwriter of sailing songs, sings 'What do you say when your friends all ask, "What do you do all day?" '

"Cruising life is a life of ease ..." that is the fantasy - the reality is that there is always something that needs to done, and most times, it's work stuff. D is a task master and has our list of work to be done and M has a list of fun to be done. D always wins! Jean and Gordy sided with me, though. Gosh, I miss them.

There are meals and dishes to wash everyday, 3x's a day - no restaurants, make up beds and take down beds, make water every other day, monitor power from solar panels and wind generator, monitor power usage from refrigerator and other electrical things, wipe down cockpit, clean the bottom of the boat, anchor up, anchor down, adjust anchor with bridle, sun shades up and down, wind scoops on front and middle hatches, are some the chores that you don't do on land.

Don't think I am complaining, I am not, because we get our fun in - exploring and adventuring, as you can tell by this blog.

"But... it sure beats the life I left behind."  Check out  Eileen for more fun songs! Some of our favorites are The Anchoring Dance, Tarpit Harbor, and Something Delicious ...  She gives you a sense of the cruising life. Thanks to Robin and Rick on Endangered Species for tuning us into her songs.

We start the day watching sunrises.
The lone palm on Flamingo Cay.

The lone palm at sunset.
The beach turns pink. 

We end the day watching the sun melt into the west.
Usually heralded by a conch horn, or bugle, whatever you have.  

D sets me up a shaded workshop on Flamingo Cay beach.
I refresh the dinghy's registration numbers.

D positions the dinghy to lubricate and
do maintenance on the outboard motor.

morning meditation and yoga
peace, mindfulness, loving-kindness
to carry me through the day

Fly Away with Great Bahama Bank and
tip of Flamingo Cay in background.

Fly Away with lone palm in back ground.
The red and yellow wind scoop helps funnel air through the cabin. 

Flamingo Cay, Jumentos, Bahamas

Flamingo Cay had it all - beautiful water, white sandy beaches, a lone palm tree, hiking trails, marine life, caves, sea birds, lizards, exotic plants. Plus we had it all to ourselves for several days.  

View  of Fly Away from the top of the hill that had a non working beacon.
The only boat in the anchorage.

Beautiful cactus in bloom along the trail to the top of the hill. 

The trail to the top of the hill was well marked and easy to hike

The fast blue runner skink on the trail

The friendly curly tail on the trail. 

We dinghied to this cave and drove into it at low tide.  It had holes in the top to let sunlight stream into the cave.  

The drive-in cave entrance

Inside the cave lit by sunlight streaming in from holes in the ceiling

Fascinating mushroom rocks at the south tip of Flamingo Cay.  Mushroom rocks are rocks that have their base washed away by continuous water erosion and gives the appearance of a mushroom top. We found an osprey on its nest, a shark cruising the rocky shoreline, and lots of conch, one which became a salad for lunch that day! Conch is scarcer than it was on our last visit in 2011, so we were happy to find conch in a grassy area on the south tip of Flamingo. I picked up a good one and Daryl cleaned it, not an easy task.  I chopped it, adding lime juice, chopped onion, tomato, and sweet green pepper, and then ate it.

Mushroom rock - a rock that has the base washed away
leaving the top overhanging the sides.

Mushroom rock at low tide

Profile of mushroom rock with large osprey nest and osprey guarding it.

Close up of osprey in large nest on mushroom rock

Reef shark cruising the rocky shoreline 

Conch salad from conch found at the
grassy area south of Flamingo Cay.

 Back at the boat we enjoyed the beautiful water, marine life, and solitude of a deserted island.  With wind scoop up to keep the breeze coming through the cabin and sun shades to keep the intense sun out of the cockpit, we enjoy good time on the boat whether it is relaxing in the cockpit or sleeping down below.  

Two remora play at the back of the boat under the swim platform.
Mostly they attached their flat head to our keel or bottom and just hung out.
They will attach to sharks and turtles to eat scraps. 

Wind scoop for the warmer days.
It magnified the breeze coming in the front hatch.
Colorful, too! Matches our spare fuel cans and water buckets. 

Sun shades on the windows and sides to keep the intense rays of the sun out. 

Here is my perch for morning coffee and writing daily in my journal. 

How about this water?!
You can see the shadow of our mast to the right.
I never cease to be amazed at the beautiful water.
The sun is rising behind us. 

Here the breath taking view of the sky above and water below the rocky shoreline.
You can see the shadow of our mast in the lower center.
The sun is setting behind us. 

Daily a barracuda visited and swam away. 

Bahamian mocking bird serenaded us morning and evening. 

You can see why we stayed quite a while at Flamingo Cay. Everyday brought new exploration and adventure. We never knew what the day would bring, so we would just be ready for anything!

Little Exuma to Jumentos, Bahamas

Early April we cross from Little Exuma, just south of GeorgeTown, to Jumentos, a little string of remote islands, mostly uninhabited until the Ragged Islands, another 60 miles south. We wait for a good weather window and soon a front passes giving us good wind to go.  Our first island is Water Cay, where fishermen clean their catch, and it had menacing looking, hungry sharks, disappointed that we had no fish guts.  Next we stayed in Flamingo Cay, Raccoon Cay, and finally Ragged Island.

Seas were still rough as the front passed and we rode it to Water Cay in the Jumentos

Dinghy had a wild ride surfing the following seas. 

Sunset at Water Cay, which is a fishing boat cleaning harbor, so large sharks greeted us. No swimming!!

The next day we continue to Flamingo Cay. I fell in love with Flamingo Cay and we decided to change our address and just stay for days and days! No other boats ... until Bahama Mama showed up, then 4 more catamarans!  We moved on ... 

What a different a day makes.
The seas were calmer the next day as we travel south down the Jumentos to Flamingo Cay.

Fair weather sailors, we enter the harbor at Flamingo Cay, love at first sight. 

Charts show 2 palms as a significant land mark.  Only one remains.
How about that water?
No sharks! Swim time!
 

Fly Away - the only boat in the harbor for several days.

We explore the island starting with a hike on the trail marked by flip flops to the north side that revealed a pristine cove and beach and another trail to the Atlantic side. We discovered oyster catchers, fishing nets, and red shrimp!

View from the trail to the north cove and beach.

The flip flop trail - people hang old
flip flops on tree branches to mark the way. 

Pristine north cove and beach on Flamingo Cay

The Atlantic side of Flamingo Cay

We spy oyster catcher couple 

The oyster catcher with a water fall 

from surging waves in the background

Huge fishing net washes ashore - this is 1/4 inch line and the net was 20+ feet long.
D so wanted a hammock. It weighed hundreds of pounds!

Holes on the trail inland are tidal and this one had hundreds of small 1-2 inch red shrimp.

Close up of the red shrimp in the tidal hole.

Next: More adventures at Flamingo Cay.