01/14/09  Jumentos, friends, great diving... what more can one ask for?

Money! Please send lots of $$ so we can afford to keep on cruising like this!

Overview - A few days after Christmas, the winds died down and the weather got really nice... "road trip!"  We were in George Town and only about 35 miles from the Jumentos, which has some of the best diving in the Bahamas, so what the heck.  We got Oliver and Pam committed, went shopping, got fuel and took off.  The sail down was a very nice broad reach with 8 - 12kts of wind.  DeJarlo ended up having to go around the end of the Exumas, Hog Cay etc. because they had missed the high tide that would have let their 5.5' draft through Hog Cay Cut.  With Felix's shallow draft, we of course, had no problems passing through Hog Cut at mid-tide.   We made it to the Water Cay Anchorage just before dark and scouted out a good space for DeJarlo to anchor when they arrived an hour later.

We had a great time diving and hunting.  While lobstering wasn't as easy as years past, we still got our limit.  New Years Eve, Pam and Oliver celebrated with us on Felix, with one of Deb's delectable dinners and many wonderful "234" Magic Bullet Margaritas.  I had been telling Oliver that the best margaritas were made using my "234" recipe - 2 parts Grand Marnier, 3 parts Good Tequila and 4 parts sour mix.  Oliver, in turn, had been telling me about his Magic Bullet drink mixer.  So we combined the mixer with my recipe and all got a bit DeJarlo'd that eve!  Rumor has it that Oliver had a hard time diving the following day which is really unheard of!

Near the end of the week we came back up to George Town and discovered that our good friends Dan and Ann, on Borrowed Horse, had arrived in our absence.  They were talking about heading up the Cays to do some fishing and diving, so of course they had no problem getting DeJarlo and Felix to join them on a short trip to Rat Cay.  We fished on our way up the Cays ,and caught a couple Mahi.  While there, we dined aboard Borrowed Horse one night and did appetizers on Felix the next evening.  Fish and lobster were speared and much fun was had by all.  We then parted ways, with DeJarlo and Borrowed Horse heading back to George Town, while we continued North to Staniel Cay.

In Staniel, we did some boat maintenance and shopping.  After completing our chores, we had a few days before Deb's friend, Emmie, was due to come in, so we sailed back up to the Exuma Land and Sea Park for some quiet time.  Had great fun and plan to do the same this week when Emmie gets here.

Enjoy!

Click on pictures to enlarge! 

Anchored off of Water Cay, in the Jumentos, in 8' of water you can still see most of our chain streched out ahead of us.

I love these these pictures where the water is SOOO smooth and blue that it just melts into the sky!  

Another Jumentos Sunset...

Steven, the owner of Charlie's, is a talented musician as well as a renowned  cook and bartender.

Borrowed Horse and DeJarlo anchored in Rat Cay's northern anchorage.

Anchored off of the coconut palmed beach midway up Lee Stocking.   The Exuma Sound was calm, so it made for several great diving excursions.

Our favorite anchorage for updating the Web Page.  A couple nice Wifi signals and usually one is free.

The view from the anchorage out to Sandy Cay.

Yup, full moon.  Time to eat dinner then pull up the anchor for a night sail.  Very nice!

Diving shot...

I had this picture enhanced so you could make out the school of 2' Crevalle Jack.

A picture of the ~12lb Grouper that stars in this weeks video "Dinner by any name..."

Diving shot...

Anchored in the arms of Fowl Cay.

Deb didn't like for her food to look back at her.  She's getting used to it though.  Pretty good with a spear too.

And again... "youhoooo, Mr. Grouper, would you like to come over for dinner?"  "I have a nice butter cream sauce for you."

Yup that's me going up the mast.  Deb's limit so far, is the second set of spreaders that you see below my feet.  I had to change out the VHF coax terminal fitting below the antenna.

Water Cay's "Fishermen's Anchorage"   with DeJarlo and Felix.

Just another clear water shot... what can I say?

When in George Town we often go for dinner at a group of small restaurants called the Bahamian "Fish Fry."

Dan sailed over to the boat to check on our plans for heading up to Rat Cay.

Rat Cay is uninhabited and has this nice beach on the northern side to anchor off of.

Is Oliver REALLY picking his nose at the table!

Our anchorage up Island, west of Little Halls Pond Cay.

Sandy Cay has a sand bore that heads off to the SW.  Except at low tide, the sand and hundreds of Conch are covered by the water.

Uhhh... a Cay...  Yup, that's the ticket!

Diving shot...

Diving shot...

This Trunkfish looks more like a cartoon character than a fish!

Deb looking for fish and lobster...

Diving shot... yeah, well, I like it...

Deb looking  for another lobster or grouper.

The End

Enjoy!

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As we were leaving George Town on our way to the Jumentos, we passed the tall ship Mystic.

We had a large 3' Ramora hanging out under the boat.  Deb kept it well fed.  

New Years Eve enjoying "234" Magic Bullet Margaritas!  I can now see why Oliver had a hard time diving the next day...

Tonight the harbor was calm enough to dinghy over for an evening at "Charlies"  at the Fish Fry.

Passing Emerald Bay we always catch something.  We weren't disappointed this time either.  Borrowed Horse caught a matching Mahi just minutes behind us.

Felix get's to play Mama duck, leading the 5.5' draft boats through a shallow passage behind the Cays.

Yup, see I got it here, on the end of my finger...

It's a joke everyone!  The pictures DO lie.  We had everyone over on Felix for appetizers and sundowners.  I have no clue what Oliver was talking about to get everyone's attention.

The view of the boat from a small neighboring Cay.

Full moon nights are especially beautiful in the Exumas.  The water is so clear that you can see the bottom in the middle of the night.

Diving shot that requires little explanation...

Hmmm this plane looks too old  to be Dennis and Debbie's.  Guess I should call them and make sure that they got home OK...

Diving shot...

And again...

The latest in private island beach landscaping.

Diving shot...

Deb again...