FOXY LADY 30 January 2009FOXY LADY is anchored at the flag north of Fowl Cay which is near Staniel Cay in the Central Exumas.
We left our anchorage off Meek’s Patch outside Spanish Wells at 0300 Sunday January 18th. We Spoke to Roy Pinder aboard ATLANTIC LADY as they passed us on their way into Spanish Wells at the end of a crawfish trip. The run to the Berry Islands was beautiful in calm, clear weather. As we passed Great Stirrup and Coco Cays in the early afternoon our flat friends from North Eleuthera Primary, the Current Island Primary School, and the Spanish Wells All-Age School got to see two huge cruise ships. These cruise ship destinations are the major employers of the people in Great Harbour Cay.
We left our anchorage off Meek’s Patch outside Spanish Wells at 0300 Sunday January 18th. We Spoke to Roy Pinder aboard ATLANTIC LADY as they passed us on their way into Spanish Wells at the end of a crawfish trip. The run to the Berry Islands was beautiful in calm, clear weather. As we passed Great Stirrup and Coco Cays in the early afternoon our flat friends from North Eleuthera Primary, the Current Island Primary School, and the Spanish Wells All-Age School got to see two huge cruise ships. These cruise ship destinations are the major employers of the people in Great Harbour Cay.
Flat Bob from Current Island Primary SchoolAt 1400 we moored FOXY LADY in the Great Harbour Cay Marina. On Monday and Tuesday we visited the RN Gomez All-Age School in Bullocks Harbour. We spoke to primary students and the high school students about the Bahamas National Trust and sea turtles. Barbara also read Flat Stanley to the fourth grade.
In the marina we met an American cruising family with twin girls in the second grade, so they joined us for two days at the school and had such a wonderful time, they took the school bus to school and back on Wednesday.
Tuesday was a very important day for us and for Bahamians – the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States. After Captain Connett’s lecture to the high school, we stayed to watch the Presidential Inauguration with the high school students on a television set up for the occasion. The inauguration was impressive, and the enthusiasm of the students was overwhelming. They listened carefully to the ceremony and cheered and cheered when Obama was sworn in and gave his speech.
In the marina we met an American cruising family with twin girls in the second grade, so they joined us for two days at the school and had such a wonderful time, they took the school bus to school and back on Wednesday.
Tuesday was a very important day for us and for Bahamians – the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States. After Captain Connett’s lecture to the high school, we stayed to watch the Presidential Inauguration with the high school students on a television set up for the occasion. The inauguration was impressive, and the enthusiasm of the students was overwhelming. They listened carefully to the ceremony and cheered and cheered when Obama was sworn in and gave his speech.
Fourth Grade students at RN Gomez All-Age SchoolThe whole northwest Bahamas had strong westerly winds through Wednesday, so we were glad to be in a safe marina. When the wind died down on Thursday we got underway for Chub Cay where we anchored up outside the marina.
The northern part of the Tongue of the Ocean provides some of the best big game fishing in the world. In season, the Chub Cay Marina is filled with sport boats that fish every day for blue marlin, wahoo, tuna, and dolphin. There is a magnificent bronze statue of a 1,000 pound blue marlin (the national fish of the Bahamas) in front of the new club house in the marina.
On the south side of Frazer’s Hog Cay there is a good turtle creek, but the tide was too low in the middle of the day for us to get way up the creek in the speed boat, so we went shelling on Sanddollar Hill, a sand bank several miles west of the harbour. The water was cold wading ashore, but we found a beautiful flame helmet which had recently died, several large sand dollars, a tun, a sunrise tellin, and what we think was the test of a great red-footed urchin. We also picked up a cushion sea star so our flat friends could see all these beautiful critters together.
The northern part of the Tongue of the Ocean provides some of the best big game fishing in the world. In season, the Chub Cay Marina is filled with sport boats that fish every day for blue marlin, wahoo, tuna, and dolphin. There is a magnificent bronze statue of a 1,000 pound blue marlin (the national fish of the Bahamas) in front of the new club house in the marina.
On the south side of Frazer’s Hog Cay there is a good turtle creek, but the tide was too low in the middle of the day for us to get way up the creek in the speed boat, so we went shelling on Sanddollar Hill, a sand bank several miles west of the harbour. The water was cold wading ashore, but we found a beautiful flame helmet which had recently died, several large sand dollars, a tun, a sunrise tellin, and what we think was the test of a great red-footed urchin. We also picked up a cushion sea star so our flat friends could see all these beautiful critters together.
Our next stop was inside Morgan’s Bluff in Andros where we only spent one restless night in the rolly anchorage. On Sunday we moved on to New Providence for a night on our way to the Exumas. By noon Monday we got underway for the run from Lyford Cay, through Nassau Harbour, down to the Exumas. It was a rough trip in a 20 knot easterly, but we anchored safely in the lee of Highbourne Cay and spent the next day working on FOXY LADY. Boats, like houses, don’t take care of themselves, so we have to work at least one full day a week maintaining our home at sea.
In the afternoon we took a break to take our flat friends to Leaf Cay, in the Allen’s Cay group, to see the rock iguanas (Bahamian dragons). We were careful not to feed the iguanas, but the iguana’s thought we were offering our flat friends as food, so it was difficult to take pictures without our friends being bitten by the dragons.
In the afternoon we took a break to take our flat friends to Leaf Cay, in the Allen’s Cay group, to see the rock iguanas (Bahamian dragons). We were careful not to feed the iguanas, but the iguana’s thought we were offering our flat friends as food, so it was difficult to take pictures without our friends being bitten by the dragons.
Flat Friends with Bahamian dragons, Leaf CayWednesday we moved down to Norman’s Cay to make a turtle survey of the southeastern side and the Pond. We saw four green turtles and captured one in the flats of the southern anchorage. That was the first turtle we have ever tagged in Norman’s Cay.
On Thursday we moved down to the Staniel Cay area to get fuel and find a safe anchorage for the approaching cold fronts. We anchored between Fowl and North Gaulin Cays on Friday morning and got into the speed boat to look for turtles in Pipe Creek, one of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the Bahamas. Usually we see a green turtle or two, but not that day. In the late afternoon we made a drift dive on the eastern side of Wild Tamarind Cay and caught a hawksbill in the soft coral.
On Thursday we moved down to the Staniel Cay area to get fuel and find a safe anchorage for the approaching cold fronts. We anchored between Fowl and North Gaulin Cays on Friday morning and got into the speed boat to look for turtles in Pipe Creek, one of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the Bahamas. Usually we see a green turtle or two, but not that day. In the late afternoon we made a drift dive on the eastern side of Wild Tamarind Cay and caught a hawksbill in the soft coral.
hawksbill turtle, Pipe Creek
