Ruins Cove

         We’ve been in Ruins Cove for almost a week now, long enough for me to contemplate the visible ruins of a cement plant that was briefly operational and a marina that never was built.   The Bahamian cays are littered with many projects that were begun and then abandoned.  It seemed to me that naming this cove after them was unusual.  Similarly, the sunken sailboat marked by a buoy that we’ve explored several times is also too new and not that unusual to earn this area a name. 

The wreck is covered with growth and has been stripped of nearly everything usable - including the teak handrails that Dan and Joe salvaged the last time we were here.  What remains is a winch that stubbornly won’t be budged, an anchor so wrapped in its own chain that it not liftable without a crane, and what appears to be either a large canvas bag or covering bunched up in one of the cockpit holes.  Fish have made this boat their haven.  When you swim around it, you can see them hovering over the galley stove and moving from one compartment to another.  There are three very large Atlantic Spade fish that live underneath as well.  

I did some sleuthing about Ruins Cove on the internet today and found another blog with pictures of the actual ruins up in the dense woodsy hills.  Back in the late 1700s a loyalist named Sir William Walker built a small plantation here on Crab Cay, trying to capitalize on the thriving cotton trade.  The remains of several stone walls, pillars, and at least one fireplace stands as testament to one man’s conception of living in paradise.  Centuries later there was an aborted attempt by Sedona Resorts to build a resort marina and gated community, accessible via a private stone bridge from the main island; the bridge still stands and pilings and cement building blocks decorate the waterfront, but the homes and marina were never built.  It appears the cement plant was built to help build this resort.  When the project was abandoned in 2009, the cement plant was no longer needed.  

We did not even think to go ashore to look for really old ruins.  It’s on our list for the next time we are here.  Tomorrow (Sat Feb 25) we have our weather window for heading down to the Ragged Islands.  

part of the Walker plantation - photo from Russ & Lori of s/v Ortolan

Two weeks with Joe and Jo

       We are currently in Ruin Cove, between Crab and Little Crab Cays, one of the many anchorages in George Town Harbour.  There are only six boats here.  It’s the perfect spot to decompress for a few days after several weeks of guests.  Not that we don’t love having guests!  We very much enjoyed our time with cousins Veronica and Maddie and we had a wonderful two weeks with our son Joe and daughter-in-law Joanna. They arrived the day we said goodbye to Veronica and Maddie.

We spent a couple days in the George Town area and then took advantage of a short weather window to cruise over to Long Island where we spent a week exploring the reefs and wrecks of Thompson Bay off the town of Salt Pond, in the middle of Long Island.  Seven years ago we found lobsters under nearly every rock, but this year they seem to have moved on.  We walked the beaches on the ocean side, joined fellow cruisers for a very lively Happy Hour hosted at a local liquor store, and enjoyed a night out at the Sou’Side Bar and Grill.  The wind kept up a steady 20 knots from the east or north east the entire week.  We did managed to cruise up to Calabash Bay in the north end of the island for a change of scenery.  Joe and Jo found a trove of starfish at low tide at the beach there while Dan and I explored a man-made rectangular cove.  Joe tried his hand at fishing both on the way to Long Island and the way back to George Town Harbour, but even with multiple rods out, he didn’t get a bite.  

Our days fell into a routine - we’d have a leisurely breakfast, work on crossword puzzles, work in a snorkel or at least a swim either before or after lunch, discuss supper plans, and do more crosswords or play some other game in the evenings.  One evening Joe and Jo made supper for us: tacos with homemade tortillas!  

Joe at the stove making tacos.

Jo making tortillas.

Our time together was low key and comfortable as we played, swam, cooked, or just hung out reading.  

NY Times crossword puzzle app.

        Dan made two conch horns for sunset taps, and Joanna, a French horn player, even managed to get more than one note out of one of them.  Each conch has a different base tone, and when blown at the same time, they harmonize!  I was the only one untalented at conch blowing, not having learned to play a brass instrument like the others.  Joe and Dan both played trumpet.  

Sunset ritual

We took Joe and Jo to all the good snorkeling places:  the blue hole near Chat n Chill, where we saw the same great big barracuda that was guarding the place when Veronica and Maddie were there, and I saw a shark quickly leave its resting place under a nearby dock and glide into the hole and out of sight.  We went to the reef off Fowl Cay where Joe spotted all sorts of fish we’d missed on our last excursion there.  And on their last day with us, we went to the reef in the middle of the harbour where we all saw many different kinds of fish as well as turtle.  Joe and Joanna declared it was the best last day of their vacation.  

We crossed the harbour back over to Kidd’s Cove in front of George Town and had lunch at the Island Boy Cafe while we waited for their departure taxi with our new favorite driver Vencil.  Two weeks went by really fast!  

Saying goodbye - Joe, Jo, and Vencil

Blog by Maddie Baricevic: A week aboard the Wille Dawes | Exuma, Bahamas

Willie Dawes

10 things I’ve learned during the week

1. You can live without refrigeration, you just have to be creative. 

2. A slower pace of life should be practiced and appreciated more.

3. Get in the water any and every chance you get.

4. An afternoon drink with ice is a must. 

5. The sun is harsher and hotter than you think (yes, even in January). Reapply sunscreen often or wear a sun shirt.

6. What may look like a coral head or reed, could actually be grass. 

7. Snorkeling feels like you are a character in the movie ‘Finding Nemo’.

8. Spit in your snorkeling goggles to avoid them from getting foggy.  

9. Always have a free hand to grab onto the boat.

10. Spending time with family you don’t see often is one of the greatest feelings and I am forever grateful for this week. 

Once we landed in Georgetown, we had a welcoming ride from Vencil and a fast water taxi ride from Elvis to arrive at the boat that was anchored at Sand Dollar beach. Since we arrived a couple hours before sunset, we had time to test out snorkeling gear to figure out which goggles and flippers would fit best. One of the most helpful tips Kathy shared was focusing on breathing through your mouth and using your flippers more than your arms to swim.

We quickly fell into the routine of having breakfast and then spending the morning paddleboarding, then spent the afternoons snorkeling and swimming around the boat. Another part of our morning routine was listening to the net while we ate breakfast. The net started at 8 a.m. and was on a designated radio station where all boats in the harbor could listen and share anything and everything. From the weather report for the day, asking for assistance with boat issues, trading or giving away boat items to sharing new arrivals. It was always cool to hear where people came from and listen to all the interesting boat names! The first full day was pretty windy so we decided to walk to the ocean side on the island and go for a beach walk in the morning. We did a lot of catching up and looking for seashells. In the afternoon, we snorkeled over to a small coral head that was pretty close to the boat. This was my first one I’ve ever seen so I was blown away with how close up we could get. It was amazing! On the boat they had a book and different one pagers of the fish and coral life we would be seeing while snorkeling. By the end of the week I could tell you what fish I saw without referring to the one pager. It was a pretty cool feeling being able to recognize the fish while I was still under water! The next day was just as windy so we decided to dinghy over to the monument island and hike to the top to take in all the views. We started on what we thought was a marked path for visitors, however we quickly learned that path was not. We continued up the very, very steep path and made it to the top, the journey was well worth it. The views were beyond beautiful and of course pictures never do it justice!

Maddie & Veronica on the climbing up Monument Hill and at the top.

Another afternoon adventure was visiting a blue hole. A blue hole is a passageway to the ocean side of the island. Once we got there the blue hole was a lot larger than I thought with a lot of fish swimming out of it and around it. It was cool to feel the water temperature change once you got closer to the blue hole, it was colder than the water in the harbor. While we were snorkeling we saw a great barracuda fish! It was the biggest fish I saw all week and it was also the scariest. It is not a pretty looking fish to begin with and while it was swimming around us it would open its mouth and show its many and scary teeth. I cannot believe we got so close to a barracuda!

We cruised over to Red Shanks for two nights where the water was a lot calmer. We didn’t find many coral heads but we did snorkel around the rocks and see coral forests! Kathy picked up a sand dollar that made it safely back to NC. While paddleboarding, my mom and I saw starfish and since the water was pretty shallow near the rocks, we saw them pretty clearly with the help of the looky bucket.

Maddie & Veronica paddleboarding

Maddie & Dan scope out Red Shanks

We also got to spend a morning in Georgetown to go grocery shopping and stop at the Post Office. My mom and I walked up and down the main strip of the island, we walked past a school, a hotel and stopped in a few shops. Top 2 Bottom was a funky store we walked in, it had everything from “top to bottom” that people would need - boat parts, toilet seats, kitchen pans to a birthday tiara. The grocery store was busy since a shipment had just come in. This also meant ice cream for lunch! After shopping and walking around Georgetown, we hung out in the dinghy and shared 2 pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Most afternoons, right before sunset we spent time chatting and sitting in the sun on top of the boat. This is where we also had an afternoon snack and a drink with ice. Once the sunset, dinner was being prepared and so did the conch shells sounding off, thanking the sun for another beautiful day. After dinner most nights we played a game, Phase 10 or Cribbage. On our last night, Dan showed us how to make Turk’s Head bracelets. It is made out of boat string and once completed looks like a triple braided bracelet. It was easy to catch onto however the hardest part was getting over your thumb and knuckles since you were creating the braids around your fingers. Being able to share this experience with Captain Dan, Kathy and my mom was one I will never forget and continue to talk about every chance I get. It was truly a trip that was good for the soul - filled with family time, sharing stories, good laughs and daily adventures. What more could you ask for?

Turks Head bracelets.

Hanging Around George Town

      Dan and I spent a week in George Town, re-familiarizing ourselves with the area.  Not much has changed in seven years.  We snorkeled all the surrounding reefs, hiked over Stocking Island to walk the ocean side beach, had dinner at Chat ’n Chill, and attended Beach Church.  Dan sat down with his sewing machine and made an awning for the foredeck to keep the fo'c'sl cool and to allow the hatch to stay open during light rains.  And every morning we listened to the daily broadcast on VHF channel 68.  

Dan's awning.

The cruisers’ net is still at 8 am every morning, run pretty much by the same people, and there is still a lively swap of goods and services going on. One boat will put out the call for help with their refrigerator, at least two people will come over to troubleshoot, and someone from another vessel will just happen to have the exact part they need.  Dan put the word out that he was looking to borrow a particular size hole saw and the people on the boat a few hundred yards away told him to come on over.  Someone needed a new outboard, and low and behold someone else was looking to get rid of one.  It’s a great network of people working together and helping each other.  

Someone's inflatable Hobie Cat! 

One evening we had dinner with our friends Tim and Tawnia, aboard their trawler Knot Quitters.  We brought food, they provided food, and we set up for a lovely meal on their back deck around sunset.  I take responsibility for the cloud of mosquitoes and midges that immediately descended upon us, driving us inside where we still spent the next fifteen minutes swatting the unwanted guests.  I am a bug magnet.  They love me.  If any mosquitoes or other biting insects are within range of me, they will come and find me.  The meal and the camaraderie were excellent, but the bugs made the evening unforgettable.  

Our first guests - cousins Veronica and Maddie - are coming in Saturday (Jan 28) and we slowly found new places for all the things we stored in the forward cabin, planned out some meals, and thought about activities.  We went through all our snorkel gear and partially inflated our stand-up paddle boards.  We’re ready and waiting to share our boat and the Bahamas!  

Squid hanging out with us.

I know this blog is several weeks overdue.  Maddie is going to write about their week with us.  Our son Joe and his wife Joanna are with us now and I will write about their visit later.  ~Kathy

Rudder Cut Cay To Georgetown

       After Big Farmer’s Cay, we moved to the next island - Rudder Cut Cay - and spent three nights there.  Rudder Cut Cay and its associated collection of very small cays were purchased by the magician David Copperfield, and it was he who installed the underwater sculpture of a grand piano with a mermaid lounging on the piano bench.  One of the first things we did was to go snorkeling over there, waiting our turn after the hovering tour boat with gawking tourists left.  

Dan plays the piano for the mermaid,

We did a lot of snorkeling in several different areas near our anchorage, often circumnavigating a small island in our quest to view the aquatic life.  We found a ledge filled with the exotic looking queen trigger fish and coral heads teaming with grunts and sergeant-majors. 

The striped fish are sergeant-majors.

        We have a Go-Pro camera now, and Dan is becoming adept at getting pictures of the fish.  We also did a couple of beach walks and picked up a few shells.  We already have quite a shell collection at home, but sometimes you just can’t turn away a really nice shell.  We’re not going to turn away any sea-beans either.  Dan has already found one hamburger bean.  

Hamburger sea-bean

We met the folks on the s/v Full Circle when they came over to ‘welcome us to the neighborhood’ and let us know they bought their boat in Camden, Maine. Ted and Stacey were happy to give us the history and to explain the name of the boat.  It had been built and first owned by Ted’s father, and had been sold a couple of times. The most recent owner did some digging and tracked down Ted and ended up offering the boat to him.  It turns out that we have known that previous owner since he was kid.  Small world!  

We left Rudder Cut Cay on Friday morning, when the winds and seas were good for making the journey to Georgetown.  For the first time since we left the US we traveled through very deep water.  Dan set up two fishing lines and we did catch something, but as our luck would have it, the fish spit the hook before we could reel it in.  We’re getting very good at catching fish, just not very good at bringing them in.  We had a very nice cruise to Georgetown and found an anchorage off Sand Dollar Beach on Stocking Island.  Coincidentally this is the same date - Jan 20 - when we arrived here the last time we were in the Bahamas!  We are one of about ten thousand boats here (just kidding, it’s more like three hundred fifty) strung out all along the beaches of Stocking Island and across the channel in front of Georgetown on Great Exuma Island.  There is quite a social scene here, with concerts and Trivia Night and water aerobics classes and such.  They even have Beach Church every Sunday, a non-denominational Christian service run and attended by the cruising community.  We like this area because there are plenty of snorkeling areas, good beaches to walk, easy access to Long Island and the Ragged islands, and there’s a nice airport in Georgetown for our guests to come to.  We plan to spend the better part of the next month in this area.

Sunset in Georgetown

Nightlife in Georgetown Harbour.  All those lights are mast-head lights on the boats!

Four Days Between the Majors

        We moved from Bitter Guana Cay back toward Staniel Cay, and anchored with about thirty other boats between Big and Little Majors Cays to ride out a strong Northerly predicted to arrive Friday night (Jan 13-14).  This area is famous for being protected from the north winds, but it is not that protected from the current.  We rolled and bounced and pointed this way and that, as did all the other vessels here.  To get away from it, we took a dinghy ride around the area to see if there were any good snorkeling (not really around the Majors, unless you want to be in the very strong current near the oceanside reefs) and we went to have a look at the pigs, along with boat loads of tourists who were zipping over from Nassau and Highborne Cay.   

These pigs are big and they are semi-tame, unless they think you have food, then they can be quite aggressive.  The tourist boats call the pigs to swim out to meet them, and toss them food before daring their passengers to get in the water and swim with them.  (Dan and I shudder at the thought - not only do the pigs have sharp hooves, they are not particular about where they make their deposits, and their poop can be seen floating in nice big clumps all around.)  Pigs aren’t even supposed to be able to swim!  But these do. 

After a little pig and people watching, we went over to Staniel Cay for a walk and a rum punch at the yacht club there.  The restaurant there feeds sharks in the marina and there were around ten of them hanging around, waiting for food.  Last time we were here, the sharks consisted of nurses and bulls.  This time all the sharks were nurse sharks, or as one local put it “calm and friendly.”  We’ve heard of people swimming with them too, and again, we shudder at the idea.  

After our outing, we went back to the boat and prepared for the coming storm.  Dan lowered and unplugged antennas and threw out a second anchor.  The rain and lightning began in the night on Thursday, continued most of Friday, and then the winds built to 30 knots, which blew steadily all day Saturday.   The winds were strong enough to overcome the current, so things weren’t as rolly, and Dan pulled out the sewing machine to do some repairs.  Tommie supervised.  We also broke out a jigsaw puzzle and worked on that.  

Sunday (Jan 15) dawned sunny and warm, but was still pretty windy.  We finished that jigsaw puzzle and were pleased to have a clear enough sky for a sunset.  On Monday (today) we hauled up the anchors mid-morning and took our time picking our way through the shallow bank down the Exuma chain.  We had several destinations in mind and settled on Big Farmer’s Cay.  It’s a little too rough out for snorkeling, but we got ashore for a beach walk to stretch our legs.  Dan was hoping for some sea beans to bring back, but instead he inadvertently brought back a little gecko which is currently hiding somewhere in the galley.  Fortunately they eat bugs, not people food, and this one is welcome to as many of those he finds.  Tommie was neither impressed nor interested in helping Dan look for it.  

We had to do the puzzle in two halves because it wouldn't fit on the table.

Sunset over Big Majors Cay

The Exumas!

  We had planned to spend most of our time in the Exuma chain of islands in the Bahamas.  The Bahamas are made up of several ‘families’ of islands - the Abacos, the Exumas, eg - and several larger islands such as Eleuthera and New Providence (where Nassau is located).  Our favorite remains the Exumas.  After we left Rose Island, we headed for the top of the Exuma chain, and anchored off Allen Cay where we caught up with Canadian friends Mandy and Steve on 2 Outrageous.  This cay is a favorite day stop for tourists from the resorts and cruise ships in Nassau because it is one of the islands that is a haven for iguanas, which are a protected animal here.  Small fast boats bearing half a dozen people zip in and out of the anchorage all day, to let people gaze or get up close and personal with the iguanas who gather on the beach in hopes of food.  (Feeding is not recommended, but some people do it anyway.)  We did our snorkeling away from the the go-fast boats and the iguanas.  

From Allen Cay we made our way down to Shroud Cay, which is part of the Exuma Land and Sea park.  This cay is mostly made up of mangroves, with several dinghy channels cutting through the island from one side to the other, but as we quickly found out, they aren’t navigable unless the tide is between mid- and high.  Dan and I set off in the afternoon to take a meandering dinghy ride through the mangroves to the beach on the ocean side of the island and ended up spending quite a bit of time poling with an oar or just slogging through the creek on foot while dragging the dinghy along between us.  Eventually we just tossed the dinghy anchor into the sand and trudged through the creek to the end where we found a path through the scrub to the beach.  We only had about fifteen minutes to walk the beach, before we had to head back if we wanted to reach the Willie Dawes before sunset.  Fortunately the tide was coming; our way out required only poling once or twice.  

Shroud Cay sky

We spent two nights at Shroud Cay.  Here we met up with Tim and Tawnia from Knot Quitters, whom we’d first met a few years ago in Maine.  They live aboard their trawler full time and have cruised the East Coast extensively, but this was their first excursion to the Bahamas.  it’s always fun to see familiar boats in different places!

From there we moved on to Sampson Cay.  This was a new-to-us anchorage, in a little cove off a private (and quiet) island and we had some excellent snorkeling nearby.  The only fly in the ointment here is that this is a pass-through place for those go-fast little tourist boats zipping people over to Big Majors Cay where pigs (instead of iguanas) great people on the beach.  We discovered we could tuck way up into the cove and not be bothered by those little boats, but we had to be careful snorkeling - we anchored the dinghy with a dive flag flying and stuck close to shore while in the water.  Among the many fish we saw, we were treated to the sight of a line of fourteen squid equally spaced, just hovering.  

After our night at Sampson Cay, we moved past Staniel Cay and on to Black Point on Greater Guana Cay.  This was also new to us and what a fun place it turned out to be!  Black Point Settlement is a small, very laid back community that welcomes cruisers.  It’s famous for the laundromat run by Miss Ida, a white building with its own dock and gorgeous views of the anchorage.  The small town also has several little restaurants and bars, a couple of small grocery stores, and a post office.  Everyone who works in any of the establishments lives just a house or two away, and if they aren’t in attendance, such as when I needed tokens for the laundromat or when I wanted to buy stamps at the post office, someone else either tells you which house to go knocking on, or they’ll call them on the phone as ask them to come help you.  It was wonderful. The laundromat sells souvenirs, plumbing parts, oil for your engine, and snacks.  They also offer haircuts, hot showers, and occasionally sell hot dogs or baked goods.  And if you’re lucky, you’ll be treated to Miss Ida’s gospel singing while you do laundry.  Dan and I had a drink at Lorraine’s, ate dinner at Scorpios, and did two large loads of laundry in Black Point.  

Killer, the bartender at Lorraines.

Corner booth at Scorpios

This morning (Weds Jan 11) we moved over to Bitter Guana Cay.  This is another iguana refuge, and there are tourist boats that come here from Staniel Cay, but it is nowhere near as busy as Allen Cay.  We are only one of two boats here.  We walked from the beach across the narrow island to the ocean side, which has some impressive limestone formations, and later in the afternoon we snorkeled along the island.  Since much of this cove is just sand, we really didn’t expect to see much, and we were delighted to find several large coral heads teaming with fish of all kinds and sizes.  It was the best snorkeling we’ve found so far.  We’ll definitely keep Bitter Iguana Cay on our list of places to revisit.  

Limestone beach, Bitter Guana Cay

Sunset, Bitter Guana Cay