6/01/08 - "The Tour Guide Cruise"

Click on pictures to enlarge!

Before I go on with the story, let me tell you a little about Vick and the boat Jazzman.  Vick laid the keels (Yes, plural, because it is a cat.) for the 55' Jazzman about 10 years ago.  This was after having sold the 33' sailing cat that he hand built and cruised through the islands.  Over the years, I would see him a couple of times a year and catch up on his progress with the boat, always shaking my head as I left...  "What a huge undertaking, I would never..."  Well, finally this year he got the boat to the point where she was livable and cruisable so back in January he took off for the Keys so here we pick up the "story" again....

Vick's phone call, that had just put a halt to my work upgrading Felix, was an inquiry as to whether I might be interested in being the pilot/tour guide on a quick trip through the Bahamas and then help bring Jazzman back to North Carolina.  The answer to the question was an easy and resounding "yes!" and now I just had a week to prep for my departure and then go.  Ahhh... spontaneity IS good!

By the time I reached Marathon, I was a bit weary. My day started  early filled with numerous flights as I took a cheap, but circuitous, path to Key West. After arriving in Key West, I grabbed a cab for the Sears Town bus stop where I caught the bus to Marathon.  When I arrived at Marathon, Vick and his friend Ed picked me up at the bus stop and took me to Ed's Tuscan style home where Jazzman was docked.  After putting my gear on the boat, Ed's lovely wife Caroline served up a sumptuous Italian meal complete with a nice Italian red and finished off with cappuccino.  Ed, Vick and I then retreated to the movie theater on the first floor and watched a Phil Collins and Genesis live concert.  Very nice!

Over the next few days, Vick and I were busy doing some final work on the boat and getting fuel, groceries and spending (Vick)thousands on toys from West Marine.  Finally, the boat was ready and the weather forecast looked promising.  This was a good thing since we only had 3 days left to get to George Town, Great Exuma, in order to pick up Vick's sister and my girlfriend. 

We left early morning and spent the day motoring up the inside of the reefs to Key Largo.  After a near grounding while trying to get into the old Angelfish Creek, we decided the weather was nice enough to spend the night on the East side of Key Largo with only the reef for a lee.  Besides, this would make our early morning departure for Bimini that much easier and quicker.  When we anchored and I backed down on the anchor, the slack came out of the chain and the boat stopped so hard that Vick nearly fell off and I thought that I was going to tear the bow off of the boat.  Wow!  I have never seen an anchor grab with such force in all my years!  I hadn't expected much from this anchor because it looked just like my Manson Supreme which hasn't set well once in the Carolinas.  This anchor though, was not the copy, was the original Rocna.  Our anchoring experience throughout our month long trip was a repetition of the first anchoring experience here in Key Largo.  By the end of the trip I had learned to back down on the anchor s-l-o-w-l-y until the chain was tight and then give it some more power.  Amazing!

At sunup, we weighed anchor and headed out towards the Gulf Stream.  What few ripples were on the water sparkling in the early morning sun dissipated only a few miles out leaving us with an oily slick Gulf Stream.  Perfect!  Couldn't have asked for a nicer crossing.  Before noon we cleared into the Bahamas in Bimini, had bacon cheeseburgers at a bar across from Immigrations and then headed out for the NW Channel marker where we planned to spend the night on the Bank.  The Bank was as benign as the Gulf Stream so we made good time running at 9 knots using just one engine.  Just before reaching the waypoint where we would anchor for the night, I heard someone on the VHF call my friends Cariba.  Too cool!  I had just read an email from Cariba that I downloaded in Bimini.  It was postmarked 2 days prior and said that they were in Nassau and getting ready to head out nonstop to Charleston so, of course, I figured I had missed them.  I called them on the VHF and talked to Donna. They told me they were in the "Tongue of the Ocean" headed in our direction so we agreed to meet at our anchorage, SW of the NW channel light. Close to midnight Cariba came alongside Jazzman and rafted up.  When Donna and Toby came aboard, they brought me a 12 pack of Toby's boat brewed Pale Ale.  (There's more to this story, but I'm taking some artistic liberties...  The beer... some of Toby's best!)   We enjoyed a few beers and did some quick catching up on the happenings (including much silliness in "Camp George Town") in the Bahamas this last season.  After way too short a reunion, we waved goodbye to my friends as they headed off for Charleston.

We woke the next morning to quite a bit of rocking and rolling and saw that the current had us angled to the wind and waves.  After pulling the anchor, we headed through the NW Channel and turned south to travel down the "Tongue of the Ocean" between Andros and New Providence Island.  When we passed the sand bores south of New Providence Island, we left the "Tongue of the Ocean" angling across the Bank to Staniel Cay about mid point in the Exumas.  On the way, we crossed over the first nice coral heads that we had seen,so of course we stopped for a quick dive.  Alas, no fresh fish for dinner.  There were no groupers to be seen and only one very skittish and fast, large grey snapper. That night, we spent the evening anchored off of "Pig Beach" on Big Majors.

The following day we did the 6 hour trip to George Town, Great Exuma, where we got water, cleaned the boat and prepped for the girls' arrival. That evening, I went into Glenn's bar inside the Peace & Plenty hotel knowing I'd find a lot of my local friends hanging out, having fun on a Wednesday evening.  I had a big time that night with Lovie and many other friends. (All of whom asked not to see their names in print... please!  Hmmm... I wonder why they call them ex-pats????)

The morning after the girls flew in, we did a day trip up to the Northern Exumas to Allan's Cay.  This is one of my favorite stops when I have guests onboard because the large community of indigenous Bahamian Iguanas never cease to amaze.  Of course we did what all of the tourists do and went to the beach and fed the Iguanas carrots before we headed off for our dive.  We dinghied to the east side of Highborn Cay and went diving in about 15 to 20 feet of water.  During the dive, we saw several large lobsters just walking around on top of the reef. (We didn't bother them as they're out of season. We left the "summer crab" alone also!)  I shot and missed one large grouper and then speared a small ~6lb grouper that I cleaned and made into ceviche 

Our next stop was South Table Bay on the East side of Norman's Cay.  A beautiful and current free anchorage with deep sand and good holding.  The afternoon was spent watching Vick tracking down the illusive Spotted Ray. ("He was this big!") Our dive, the next morning off of the east entrance of Norman's cut, rewarded us with a good sized Black Grouper. (Not so big that we had to be concerned with the possibility of getting ciguatera, but big.) After the dive, we enjoyed the fresh cool ceviche with sundowners on the aft deck, followed by grilled black grouper with salad, rice and veggies...  Man, I love good food with a view! 

In the morning, we heard that a late season cold front was supposed to pass through the central Bahamas by late evening.  Since the anchorages in the Exuma Land Sea Park that have protection from west to east in the northerly quadrant are limited, we went down to the very protected Southern mooring field at Warderick Wells and picked up a mooring.  The cold front and the winds ended up being a "non-event," so the next morning we proceeded south to the "Coral Garden" and Rocky Dundas for another day of diving.  Most of the underwater pictures that I took on this trip were taken at these two areas.  The Staghorn coral in the Coral Garden is thriving and very beautiful.  There were fish everywhere - lobster under the rocks and a curious Southern Stingray floating over the sand nearby.  On our second dive, we enjoyed the stark beauty of the nearby Rocky Dundas.   These caves, formed in the edge of the limestone islands, are quite a contrast to the Coral Garden but equally enjoyable. Some of the caves are big enough to swim into and then climb around on if one is adventurous enough.

Continuing south, we stopped for the night in Staniel Cay.  The first thing that we did after securing the anchor was jump into the dinghy and race over to the Island General for some ice cream!  I think all four of us had been craving this treat.  Funny, though, as I rarely eat it in the States.  Later, while everyone was resting, (eating ice cream IS brutally hard work after all...) I made friends with Don and Mimi on "Mimi-B", a Gemini 105MC (#820).  They were anchored nearby so I dinghied over to say hi to fellow "Gem" owners.  We spent most of our time comparing notes on the upgrades we had made to our respective boats before finally heading in to enjoy happy hour and dinner at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  After dinner, Vick broke out his guitar and played a couple sets ending the evening on a good note.

Black Point was our next stop.  Early in the day, we stopped at Lorraine's Cafe to get on her new WiFi and of course to buy some of her mother's wonderful coconut bread.  While there Lorraine, having heard that Vick was a musician, invited him to play music at the restaurant that night.  We then stopped by to see Billy and Betty at the Garden of Eden and checked out Billy's latest artistic creations before heading back to Jazzman.  When we returned that evening, Vick set up and ended up playing to a mainly Bahamian audience, one of which regaled us with his best Michael Jackson imitation.  The highlight of the evening was when Lorraine and her mother accompanied Vick in singing "Amazing Grace."

Onward to Farmer's Cay!  This is one of my and my girlfriend's favorite places in the Exumas.  Ali, Nikki, Debbie and the rest of the locals that live on Farmer's Cay; make any stop there a memorable one.  Ali's small bar at the bottom of the hill is the focus of the afternoon. Bahamian music blaring out of his new, larger speakers and the locals playing dominos in the yard.  Ali's wife has a store and "take out" next door where you can order up a number of taste treats, including her wonderful conch fritters and spicy chicken wings.  Vick and his sister aren't the partiers that my girlfriend and I are so after having dinner on the boat only the two of us went back to shore.  The Guinness and dancing went hand in hand, and the evening passed too quickly.  In fact, we missed our 10 o'clock curfew by 13 minutes!  Oh well, Vick and Ann took it in good cheer as they graciously put off their bedtime waiting for our return so that the dinghy could be hoisted on to the davits.

Bang, boom, bang!!  We awoke in the morning to a thunderous storm overhead.  Man, it's only 6:30!  This is no way to wake up after a night on the town.  We had planned to leave at 8am sharp but, with the weather conditions deteriorating, we ran inside past the Pimlico's to take cover at Lee Stocking Island.  That afternoon while on shore exploring the ocean side cliffs of Lee Stocking, we noticed a sailboat approximately a mile off shore that appeared to be turning circles??  Thirty minutes later, the boat was still making irregular circles.  We went back to "Jazzman" to try to hail the circling boat on the VHF.  After several attempts with no success and much talking of 'man overboard drills and heart attack' situations, Vick and I decided that we should take the dinghy out to investigate.  By the time we got out of the little cut at Children's Bay Cay, the boat was nowhere to be seen.  We assumed we couldn't see the boat because we were now in the dinghy close to the water in contrast to being up 30-40 feet on the cliff tops, where we first noticed the boat. We drove the dinghy seaward for a while stopping every now and then to stand up and look around.  Still no boat.  Not knowing which direction to go, we finally headed back towards shore into the cut and back to the path leading to the cliffs.  A quick climb up the cliffs and another look around, showed us that the boat had apparently left the area.  Hopefully, it didn't sink! 

Fish on!!!  We left out of Rat Cay Cut early that morning heading south to George Town.  As we got close to the edge of the Exuma Sounds drop off, we put out our usual scented bait on the line.  Just past Emerald Bay, we hooked a fish that we first thought was a Barracuda.  When we finally pulled the fish on board, we were pleased to see that it was in fact a Mackerel.  In celebration, I poured some liquor over it's gills and, once again, our dinner menu was topped with fresh fish. 

Back in George Town; our last few days were comprised of boat maintenance, waiting for a part that was being shipped in for the new Garmin radar, and, of course, stopping by Chat and Chill.  Chat and Chill's Sunday afternoon pig roast always attracts all the locals and boaters and makes for a relaxed, party-like atmosphere in spectacular surroundings.  I met several old friends there, and we caught up with everyone's latest endeavors while eating KB's BBQ ribs and drinking Kaliks.  We stayed in George Town for a couple of more days, after the girls departed, until the radar part finally arrived.  We then fast tracked it to Nassau for fuel and then continued up past West End, Grand Bahama for a Gulf Stream crossing to Cape Canaveral. 

We arrived in Cape Canaveral to clear customs and immigration.  When we called, instead of giving us a clearance number, the customs official told us they would be "down to the dock in a little bit so stay on board." Approximately four minutes later, three armed officers boarded "Jazzman." For me, this was a first.  They were very professional and, after realizing everything was on the up and up, they explained that they boarded us because it was the Memorial Day weekend.  One of the officers confided that holiday weekends are very likely times for illegal or improper entries in private vessels. 

The rest of the rush to North Carolina was non-eventful with the exception of the stop up the Sapelo River, Georgia to visit two of Vick's friends.  His friends, Rick and Lee Anne, met us down river in their dinghy so they could lead us back through the shoals to their home.  Once there; we had a wonderful dinner of fresh Georgia shrimp, home baked French bread, a couple bottles of Pinot Noir and some great conversation.  In the morning, once again we had those fabulous Georgia shrimp but this time with slow cooked stone ground grits and homemade biscuits.  A great send-off breakfast before heading back off shore to North Carolina. 

All in all, a delightful, if not too quick trip through some of my favorite Bahamian islands.  A taste of things to come when I take off on Felix this fall. 

Thanks Vick!

Note: I've had some comments about my use of the word diving instead of snorkeling. (It's not legal to dive with tanks while spearfishing.)  I snorkel to 25' and 30' on a regular basis and have gone beyond 50' .  To me, that's "diving."  I'm certified but prefer to dive with a snorkel because I LOVE to spearfish.  Besides... "dive" rolls off of the tongue much easier than "snorkel".   Potato... potato...

Enjoy!

Use your browsers back button or click below to go back to the Logs Page

Jazzman docked in front of Ed and Carolyn's beautiful Tuscan estate on Marathon Key.

Crossing the Gulf Stream from Key Largo to Bimini couldn't have been any smoother!

The beach on Leaf Cay in the Allan's group is home to many of the indigenous Bahamian Iguanas.  When I first came here in the early 80's, the local fishermen told me that they tasted like chicken... hmmmm.

Heerrrrre  grouper... grouper... grouper...

The Staghorn coral in the Exuma Land Sea Park is some of the prettiest that I've seen north of the Jumentos (Ragged Islands).

Nice  Brain coral at the "Coral Garden."

I got to play with this guy till he got tired of it and buried himself in the sand.  Fun!

Inside one of the caves at the Rocky Dundas.  The ceiling has collapsed letting in the mid day sun.

Vick playing music at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

The anchorage at Black Point is... well... beautiful to say the least.

Billy and Betty's "Garden of Eden" is a nice break from reality.  Depending on the time of day and the lighting the sculptures transform.

The author, Debbie and Ali enjoying themselves at Ali's bar.  The smiles had nothing to do with Ali pouring shots of tequila all around... really!

Debbie coming out of Ali's bar, on Farmers Cay, with my Guinness.  The locals are wonderful, as is Ali.

Anchored in front of the Peace and Plenty made getting lunch and a Kalik way too convenient.

Sunday at  KB's Chat & Chill.  Great  friends, great food, cold beverages and a wonderful location.  What more can one ask for out of life?

We only caught 2 small Mahi during the cruise, but they were enjoyed immensely!  Grilled medium rare that is!

We anchored in Nassau harbor after filling up with $5.30+/gal diesel.  Ouch!

Just a few miles South of St. Augustine, I spied this spout over the St. Augustine Beach. 

Hard to see here but, there are a group of Memorial Day revelers partying on a small beach with no clue of what's a mile behind them.  Fortunately soon after this shot it dissipated.

The balcony at Sangrias can't be beat for people watching over Tapas and  a beverage.  A great band rocking in the next room made the experience perfect!

Mmmmm... A`friend of Vicks gave us these premium lamb chops fresh off of the farm.  Rolled in Garlic and Rosemary and served with buttery Garlic smashed potatoes and string beans... Yummm!

Pictures from this trip that didn't make it into the log but were worthy of posting can be found Here