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Port Nelson, Rum Cay
Sunday, April 10th, 2011 /

Kaleo motored into Port Nelson, Rum Cay on Saturday afternoon in search of a laundromat, groceries and a smooth anchorage.

Looking out over our back yard

We found one of the three. A fairly smooth anchorage with a bonus, WiFi Internet accessible from the boat (a rare luxury these days). Rum Cay was named because of a legend that a cargo ship full of, you guessed it, rum crashed on the reefs surrounding the island. But, Matt said the water still tastes as salty as everywhere else. Another bonus was running into our friend Shane, on “Guiding Light”, who was already in the anchorage.

The only settlement on the island is Port Nelson, population about 100. We didn’t explore the town but stopped in the marina to inquire about laundry which was $12.00 per load. Housed in a dusty shed, with two working washing machines and one semi-working dryer, we opted out of trying to get our four loads done there. Instead, we took some time to catch up on all things digital and to clean the boat. One surprise about living on the water – dust – the boat collects more dust bunnies than we could have ever imagined so it’s a constant battle of dust particles vs. static cling pads. The static pads are winning this week.

Sunday we joined “Morning Glory” for boat church and listened to a service from their home church in Ft. Lauderdale. It was a thought-provoking service about where we put our ultimate value (Christ or anything else) and conversation eventually turned into lunch. Over lunch we made plans for dinner and then got to our respective assignments.

The guys speared some triggerfish, grouper and snapper and the gals cooked up all the accompaniments. Aboard “Guiding Light” we all enjoyed a feast of fish on a bed of butternut squash filled ravioli, steamed peas, and rosemary bread topped off with good conversation. Then it was time for goodbyes to Shane. We are sailing south to Clarence Town, Long Island in the morning and he is heading north to Conception.

With grateful hearts and full bellies, we buzzed back across smooth waters to our floating home silhouetted by the peaceful moonlight.

N 23° 38.73 / W 74° 50.70

Category: Bahamas, Boat Life, Cruising, Friends, Rum Cay  One Comment
Flamingo Bay, One Swell Of A Stay
Saturday, April 09th, 2011 /

Gentle enough conditions for pleasant sailing were forecast on Thursday morning when we set out for Flamingo Bay on Rum Cay, just a few hours away from Conception.

Flamingo Bay Beach on Rum Cay

The gentle conditions lasted about twenty minutes for as soon as we rounded the southern point of Conception, the sea state was lumpy and the wind was blowing about 20 knots. With six foot swell (large rolling waves) lifting and dropping Kaleo every few seconds, the boat rocked and rolled like a painfully long song. Imagine picking up your house and setting it into the seat of a giant Tilt-a-Whirl. Now, ask the carnie to throw the throttle on full speed and you have yourself a replica of our little sail from Conception to Rum Cay.

To add insult to injury, the wind was blowing straight from the direction of Rum Cay meaning we couldn’t sail a direct course and adding miles to our hobby-horsing journey. For our final challenge, we navigated over a mile through a tight maze of reef-riddled waters into the Bay.

There was no rest for the weary as our anchorage was so rolly we could hardly stand up without getting thrown from side to side in the boat. Picture our mast going from 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock, 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock. Flamingo Bay’s anchorage is open to the north and west with a large rock that protects a small corner from ocean swell. Our draft (depth of our boat’s keel) wouldn’t allow us to get into the more protected corner so we had to anchor right at the point where the swell wraps around the rock. 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock. 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock.

Once our anchor was securely set under the firm sand, we immediately made for the beach to walk around and regain some sense of balance. All the while, watching Kaleo roll wildly on her chain leash. 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock. 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock.

That night, we slept off and on for a couple hours while being tossed back and forth, even wearing earphones to drown out the clanking of everything shifting within the boat.

When morning finally arrived, it was off to the beach for a few hours of reprieve with plans to sail somewhere more comfortable by mid-morning. We dinghied to an unexplored-by-us portion of the beach and ended up spending nearly the entire day there. The reward for our sleepless night was the best shelling we’ve had yet along the mile and a half curve of untouched sand.

Ted and Mili offered refuge aboard “MG” for the night in exchange for another night’s stay. Slumber party, catamaran style!

That evening, sleeping aboard “MG”, we watched Kaleo’s mast top continue its wild dance. She sounded like an ocean bell buoy as her halyards and cables (though drawn taunt) clanged and reverberated in the mast. It was painful to see her taking all the wave action alone but very comfortable to have a sound night’s sleep.

In the morning, the gals hit the beach again for one final shell hunt then we packed up and pointed our bows for Port Nelson to explore the other side of Rum Cay.

N 23° 41.20 / W 74° 55.47

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Category: Bahamas, Cruising, Friends, Rum Cay  One Comment