The rest of the first leg

The rest of this part of the trip went fast enough that I couldn't blog; also, there were technology issues, and it seemed like there were no good wi-fi places, but we just didn't take the time to stay anywhere long enough to get to them in some cases, anyway.

Or, they were really hard to find, like in Cockburn Harbor, South Caicos, where we never found one. This place was completely out of the normal tourist sphere. There were some cruising boats that came through, and a mailboat maybe more than once a week. We ate at the one restaurant a few times-- compared to the super-high food prices, the restaurant was reasonable-- for basic West Indian bar food. That means the meal of fish or chicken or whatever comes with rice and peas, mac & cheese (baked,) and cole slaw. All meals came this way for the rest of our travels to Nassau. OK, in some places, they would have plaintain or some other choices, but not usually.

We had some good times with Jens and Hanne on s/v Viau at Big Sand Cay and Cockburn Harbor. They are the couple who organized the radio contact list, and we spoke to them and the others on our way from Boqueron to T&C. When we arrived at Big Sand Cay, we asked them if they bounced around a lot like we did, and Hanne said oh, yeah, that's the washing machine experience; you get used to it/ [They sailed from Europe to the caribbean somewhere in 21 days, so they should know.] At Cockburn Harbot, Albert and Jens walked around the town together to clear-in. First, it was off to Customs, and then across the village to Immigration. Albert was too late to go to the Health Department for Tigerlily's final approval, but the lady at Immigration said it would be OK if we never got to them, so we didn't. Albert had to do the same rounds to clear out after the second day, so that part could have been easier.

The Boqueron trip ended at Big Sand Cay, where we just anchored and spent the night until we could go to Cockburn Harbor the next day.   Here's a video from the Boqueron to Sand Cay trip

Cockburn Harbor was quite a place, maybe a few hundred people live there. The fishing seemed to be very good, with many fisherman coming into the town dock in the afternoon, cleaning their fish, selling any they could, but then taking most of it to one of two packing plants in the town.

Abandoned resort near Cockburn Harbor, South Caicos

There were two humungous tourist developments that were abandoned, and I never got the full story, but much of the town had abandoned buildings, so it all had a feeling of being passed by, but it was OK. People were all friendly and helpful. 

Municipal water system in Cockburn Harbor, T&C

Making another great dinner

Jens and Hanne with Jenny in Cockburn Harbor

Hanne and Jens on Viau, leaving Big Sand Cay

Here is a summary of the most of this segment of the trip, with some dates:

Boqueron to Sand Cay (T&C) March 10-12 (50 hours)

Sand Cay to Cockburn Harbor, T&C March 13 (5 hours)

Cockburn Harbor to Mayaguana, Bahamas March 15 (about 20 hours)

Mayaguana to Clarence Town, Long Is, Ba. March 18 (about 24 hours)

Clarence Town to Calabash Bay, Long Is March 20 (a long 8 hours)

Calabash Bay to George Town, Exumas March 22 (a nice 6 or 7 hours)

George Town to Lee Stocking Is CMRL March 24 (about 5 hours)

Lee Stocking Is to Staniel Cay March 25 (about 8 hours)

Staniel Cay to Warderick Wells March 27 (easy 5 hours)

Warderick Wells to Nassau March 30 (fun 8 hours)

The whole trip, Salinas to Nassau, ended up being 920 n. miles. I had planned on 950 miles, so we did it efficiently, with at least one longer trip than I thought we might take, and that shortened the miles to go into other harbors. Lots of motor-sailing, just to keep moving, and shorten the time; also, to run the engine and charge the batteries every few hours at night.

Leaving Cockburn Harbor, we needed to cross the Caicos Bank during the day, and we picked a fairly deep route, so we didn't have to worry too much. Here's what the paper chart showed:

A coral head on the Caicos Bank

Abrahams Bay, Mayaguana, Bahamas

Mayaguana was even a more passed-by kind of place, but we cleared into the Bahamas there, and people were friendly, but in a more desperate kind of way... the Customs lady was saying you want a restaurant? I'll call my friend, make you dinner? Many of the buildings still had roofs blown off from last summer's hurricane. 

Pothole farming on Long Island, Bahamas

Clarence Town was more real, and had just the beginnings of touristy. We never made it to Dean's Blue Hole, because I made us leave after just one day, which was a day too early. On the day we were there, though, we met Cecile from Ontario, and she took us on a car ride halfway to the north end of the island, stopping at the bank, a couple of stores, and a couple of great little mini-farms.

In George Town, there was a full tourist service feeling, but it is still out of the normal tourist circles—plenty of cruising boats, and a few tourists who come to stay at one of the luxury or fishing resorts on the island. One of my favorite things here was buying some fresh grown produce from the farmer's pickup truck, with his kids running around. The barbeque at the Peace and Plenty resort was nice, and hanging out at the Chat-n-Chill on Stocking Island was fine, too. We left with a crowd of maybe 20 boats all headed north, on Saturday morning.

 

We thought we were going farther, but decided to stop at Lee Stocking Island, at the Caribbean Marine Research Laboratory. We had time to walk over to the ocean beaches, and check out the site. The gift shop was not open.

The next day was a mostly traveling day to Staniel Cay, home of the snorkeling grotto where the movie Thunderball and others were filmed. It's a bit over-visited, but we found some good snorkeling around the corner where fewer boats go.

We stayed a second day here, and then moved on to Warderick Wells, headquarters of the Exumas Land and Sea Park. There is some excellent snorkeling here, although it was blowing hard, so the visibility was down. Very interesting place, nice little store, had to stay on a mooring that cost a big $15 a night. This is because the anchorage is so small, and they packed it with moorings. It felt safe when the wind got strong for a day or so.

Warderick Wells, whale skeleton

Then one more full day sail and we were in Nassau. The place where we are keeping the boat is Bayshore Marina, that has mostly local boats, with no facilities of any kind. But we negotiated an excellent rate, and there is 24-hour security, and the guys on the boats at the dock are nice and helpful. We didn't have much time to see Nassau, but we still got around. For now, here are a few photos.