Pics from Last Year's Exumas/Eleuthera Adventure

Since I didn't post a blog last year during the "2011 Mass Family Exumas Adventure", I thought maybe I would put up a few pics from THAT wonderful trip.

"Viking Funeral" AKA "Two-Million-Dollar Signal Fire"

On the crossing from Little Harbour, Abaco to Eleuthera, we were startled into action by a MAYDAY! call from a burning 52' Viking Sportfish boat.  Fortunately, all aboard were able to escape to the 32' center console they were towing.  Boat burned to the waterline and sank in 2,000 fathoms.

In the infamous Current Cut  where there can be 10-knot currents - depending on tide.  We were lucky enough to have it only running against us at 3 1/2 knots - so we chugged through at 4 knots!

Governour's Harbour, Eleuthera.  Nice enough stopover on the way to the Exumas.

Leaving Eleuthera early, the girls are still asleep on the bridge.  On clear nights, there is no place better to take in the beauty of the Bahamas night sky than Spoonbill's flybridge.

Finally in the Exumas, Spoonbill is anchored at Allan's Cay.

Dinosaurs (iguanas) on the beach at Leaf Cay.  All three of the islands in the Allan's group have these indigenous lizards.  They are very happy to come beg for lettuce or apple slices!

Sarah and Anna at Highbourne Cay, Exumas.  An incredibly beautiful marina at the northern end of the Exumas chain.

Highbourne Cay.

From our anchorage on the west side of Shroud Cay, we motored (and pushed) the skiff through the shallow tidal creeks all the way across to this beach on the "ocean" side.  The Mass's were keen to explore while I managed to take a nap on the skiff!

Back on the other side of the island, we spent the afternoon exploring and enjoying a beautiful, secluded Shroud Cay beach.

Spoonbill at Warderick Wells, Exumas.  This is the Exumas Land & Sea Park.  Just fantastic.

Anna & the Whale.  Warderick Wells

Boo Boo Hill, Warderick Wells.  Cruisers traditionally leave some kind of memento on this hill.  Not really sure why - but we did too!

Bananaquit enjoying...well, a banana.  This little guy joined us for breakfast one morning.

Lauren (Bizzy) at Staniel Cay, Exumas

Nurse sharks feeding on scraps thrown by the fisherman at Staniel.

Feeding the swimming pigs at Big Major's Spot, Exumas.  These big sows can get very aggressive, so we just toss them apples!

Inside Thunderball Grotto, Staniel, where they filmed part of the James Bond movie back in the 60s.

Spoonie leaving Staniel Cay under threatening skies.  Headed south and anchored at Black Point, where we explored town and endured a pretty major thunderstorm.

Cave Cay, Exumas.

Tubing in the Cave Cay lagoon.

Caves at Cave Cay

Sarah & Anna in the caves at Cave Cay.

Anna with a nice Queen Helmet Conch on Three-Mile Sandbar

Compass Cay, Exumas.  One of my favorite spots in the islands.

Compass Cay, Exumas

Swimming with the sharks at Compass Cay. This nutty Italian ended up getting nipped (not too badly - no stitches) while trying to hand-feed these guys.

Back in the Abacos - Tahiti Beach, Elbow Cay.  Home.

Docked at the Sail Shop in Man-O-War Cay, Abacos.  The Mass's have to get their annual supply of sail bags!

Biz with a giant starfish - Great Guana Cay, Abacos.

Lighting the Elbow Cay Reef Lighthouse.  The girls really enjoyed helping this third generation lighthouse keeper perform his nightly ritual.

Sunset on a fabulous trip.

Mass Family Pics

Well, after two wonderful weeks, the Mass Family left Spoonbill and climbed aboard a CraigAir plane back to the States.  This was the 3^rd year in a row that they have done a captained charter aboard Spoonbill.  Their girls are always delightful, respectful of the boat, and very helpful.  Sarah and Anna became adept at piloting the skiff during the trip and even 4-year-old Lauren spent a half day with a polishing cloth cleaning the tops of all the drawers and cabinets for me!

As we were getting the boat organized and all the Mass Family’s gear ready to be loaded into a taxi, my next “charter” group arrived at the Conch Inn.  My wife, Cinda, and friends Glen & Peggy Willumson and Jeri & Laura Banta.  So, I will try to continue to post irregularly to the blog as this very crazy group heads out with me for a whirlwind week in the Abacos - but no promises.

The night before the Mass’s left, Larry downloaded to my computer the three hundred or so pictures he took on the trip.  So, I thought it might be fun to post a few of these.

Nice people.

Larry & Jennifer Mass

Bonefishers

Towing in the giant tuna

Sarah Mass

Anna Mass



Lauren "Bizzy" Mass



Sarah & Anna Paddleboarding at Cat Cay

Wreck of the Sapona

Great Stirrup Cay

Fun in the...sun?

Well, today dawned bright and...stormy at the Green Turtle Cay Club as we contemplated the day's travels.  Our plan was to head to the north end of Guana Cay for some snorkeling, but the winds were rapidly clocking around from south to west - and more storms threatened.

Anchored in the lee of Shell Island

So, instead, we set our course back through Dont Rock Passage to Shell Island.  This is a small spoil island that was formed when they dredged the now-defunct cruise ship turning basin at Baker's Bay.  But it's a nice place to explore and go shelling.  So we anchored and Larry and the girls skiffed ashore to see what they could find.

When they returned, we weighed anchor and headed for Great Guana Cay - Home of Nipper's Beach Bar - and Grabbers Bar & Grill.  Along the way, lo and behold, the SUN came out!

Not for very long, however, as it was sprinkling again by the time we picked up our mooring in Settlement Harbour.  Not ones to have our enthusiasm dampened (pun) by a little rain, we packed off into the skiff and headed in to the dock.  The Mass family turned left at the end of the dock and walked to Grabbers for lunch, bocce, and swimming.  I opted to climb the sandy road up to Nipper's for some of their conch fritters and a coldie or two.

Nipper's Beach Bar

Afterwards, I skiffed around to Fisher's Bay to see how the Mass's were getting along at Grabbers.  They were having a great time, so I headed back to Spoonbill to type up this blog entry.  A bit later, when everyone has had their fill of Guana, we will drop our mooring ball and make the short run back to Marsh Harbour for our slip at the Conch Inn and a well-deserved farewell dinner at Snappa's Grill & Chill. 

Tomorrow morning, it will be time to say a reluctant goodbye to the wonderful Mass family and send them back to the airport for their trip home to North Carolina.  It has been an amazing adventure and we are already planning next year's trip.  Maybe the Florida "Mini-Loop" across Lake Okeechobee, up into Pine Island Sound, then down to the Everglades and finally the Florida Keys.  Sounds like fun!

I will get some pictures from Larry's camera this evening and post another blog entry later tonight or tomorrow with lots more pics from the trip.  Then, my next group arrives - tomorrow morning at 9:30.  This time it is my lovely wife, Cinda, and a group of friends:  Peggy & Glen Willumson and Laura & Jeri Banta.  The parties are just beginning - so I'm not sure if I will be in any shape to continue making blog entries!


Great Guana Cay - Settlement Harbour

Manjack Cay & GTC

We got up early and cast off from beautiful Treasure Cay Marina.  Although it was still overcast, there were no lingering thunderstorms or low clouds in sight.  Looked like it was going to be a hazy day - but hopefully a dry one!  First stop, Manjack Cay.

With a light southwest wind and a rising tide, we elected to run the very shallow Dont Rock Passage instead of going all the way east to Whale Cay.  No problems encountered as we passed Dont Rock and never saw less than 2' under our keels as we continued comfortably north.

Dont Rock (yes, that is a correct spelling, no apostrophe)

An hour later we rounded the north end of Manjack Cay and anchored in the beautiful little harbor.  The Mass Family quickly jumped into the skiff and headed for the beach to do some exploring and beachcombing.


Anchorage on the north end of Manjack Cay

After a few hours of fun, everyone returned to the boat where we cooked some burgers on the grill and relaxed a bit.  The kids were all excited about the many little lemon and blacktip sharks they saw swimming in the shallows near the beach - Larry was much more enthused about FINALLY finding a fishing float this trip.  Evidently, he has quite the collection of floats hanging on his back porch at home.  He found lots of them on the Exumas cruise last year...

Around one o'clock, we hoisted the anchor and moved back south towards our evening's dockage at the lovely Green Turtle Club.  The weather continued to cooperate (we even saw a bit of sun late in the afternoon!) and we tied up about an hour later.  The girls and Jen made a beeline to the beach to hunt sea glass, while Larry and Biz headed up to GTC's pool.  Green Turtle's internet was down due to a lightning strike the day before, so your intrepid captain climbed into the skiff and crossed White Sound to see if the Bluff House Resort had an internet connection.  Alas, no luck there (that's why this update is so late), however, the Bluff House's "Thirsty Thursday" special was in full swing at the bar.  Three Kalik Lights for ten bucks INCLUDING free conch fritters!  And, they were delicious conch fritters with huge chunks of conch meat.  So, I stayed there a bit...

Dinnertime came and we all went to Green Turtle Club's casual dining room for a fine meal. What makes it even nicer is the fact that the Club offers an "eat your dockage" plan, where your dockage is deducted directly off your restaurant bill.  SWEET.

The plan for Friday is (weather permitting) to head down to Great Guana Cay to see what kind of trouble we can generate at Nipper's and Grabber's.  Should be fun.

Into Each Life, Some Rain Must Fall

Yep, that's what Longfellow said - but enough already!  Today was basically a washout.  With a weak cold front being pushed south, we had a full day of rain and thunderstorms.  So, a lot of time was spent on the iPads and laptops.  I snuck over to the Coco Beach Bar for lunch between squalls.  We even watched a movie.  But that was about it.  Tomorrow is forecast for more of the same - I sincerely hope not.  Either way, we will be moving tomorrow.  So, since there aren't any exciting new tropical pics to post today, I thought I would post some shots from the past week and a half that didn't make it onto the blog already.  Enjoy!

Bonefish Sarah

Bahamas Sea Urchins (4 of them!)

Skiff Captain Lauren

Coming in to Great Harbour

Entrance to Bimini Harbour

The Old Chalk's Seaplane Ramp at Bimini

Leaving Cat Cay (Reluctantly)