Bahamian Rhapsody

Another month of shakedown cruising spent moving in slow incremental sailing hops from island to

island, trending south in order to reach Cuba.

Entering Exuma Sound Through Current Cut

Leaving Bimini with Lizzie my stalwart crew, we crossed the Grand Bahama Bank to Eluethera. Those 48 hours would have to be some of the most unusual I've spent cruising thus far – ghosting along in barely 10 feet of aquamarine water, the light changing constantly with the seabed - dark grasses, ominously black coral heads, shimmering white sands and shoals -or was it just a cloud. Many an hour spent on the clipper bow in an almost meditative dreaming.

When it became too dark to read the water we dropped the pick and settled in for the night, in the

middle of an endless sea. Our free time on the banks was spent reading about a colourful history of

pirates and wreckers which added to the wonder of these strange shallows. Well into the afternoon of

the second day we crossed over, into the 'Tongue of the Ocean” and the depths plummeted to 2000' in

moments.

After a snug night in Royal Harbour we called in to Spanish Wells for two days and had our first

experience of getting stuck on a sandbar right in the harbour. The locals enjoyed the show as I rowed

out a line to a pole and winched us off. The locals are apparently of pirate stock, but the language they speak is hardly ooh-aars and the like, in fact its the most weird sounding thing I have heard, to be sure.

Lizzie was keen to add a notch to her navigator's belt and negotiate “The Devils Backbone” across the top of Eleuthera. I begged off and we compromised on employing a pilot, who went ahead in his

Boston Whaler, as I laid down a track for a later return. It is a beautiful but breathless transit through

reefs past stunning white sand beaches, and at times you are within 50 metres of the shore with waves

breaking to the outside. The bleached carcasses of boats on raised coral outcrops are testimony to the

fate of the foolhardy in this place.

Tall Ship in Exuma Sound

Eleuthera, so named for the Lutheran settlers
who sailed here.
 (at the northern end we found Preachers

Cave, where they sheltered after being shipwrecked on the reef at the very end of their journey) is a

long long island stretching to the south, forming barrier to the Atlantic and creating the Exuma Sound.

While Lizzie took a shore break in famous Dunmore Town, Annika flew over from Florida and we set about exploring the island.

We had a gorgeous night at Man Island with a full moon (where we met a young French expat with his motor boat, two dogs and a Go-Pro toting remote control helicopter -not sure if he'll ever send us the aerial video he took of Whakaari) then back around the Devil's Backbone and across to Current Cut to access the Exuma Sound. Current Cut flows at 9 knots so timing your passage with the tide is essential.

Its an exhilarating few minutes, flying thru the gap with sails trimmed and engine on just in case.

Then suddenly its back to focused navigation and reading the water as we entered the Exuma Sound,

and marvelled at the intense colours that would be our normal surroundings for the next week.

The seas were almost flat calm allowing us to come in very close to the cliffs that we planned to deep

water solo. It was easy to drop anchor anywhere and go ashore by dinghy or paddleboard to eyeball

climbs on old limestone platforms of 10metres. Ancient caverns exposed by erosion had left stalactites open to the sea, offering some good free climbing when everywhere else the corals are too sharp and brittle.

The next day brought onshore winds to the climbing walls so we sailed south to Governors Harbour

and after a day of searching, found a rental car. There had been a double funeral and everyone had

converged on Governors Harbour, using up all the cars to do so.

Later we would come back to Stalactite Wall in ideal conditions and have a great session there. But our arrival day was almost done, so we entered another amazing cut through rock and anchored in Hatchet Bay and went ashore for provisions. This little town seemed to be in its last death throws. The dock was a mess of rusted hulks, most businesses were closed, and everywhere the vegetation was taking over, the normally brightly painted houses were peeling & faded. But the people seemed happy, and friendly towards us – children sent to show us the way, a lovely chat with a little girl showing off her new bike, men gathering around the “bar” ( a broken house) smiling their welcome.

New Dinghy Dock for  Hatchett Bay a town that's falling down

Happily we found a rental car with lots of local help.

So we started our highlights of Eleuthera tour, beginning with The Glass Window, a natural land bridge to the north, and ending with getting a tooth extracted in South Palmetto (something I had hoped would bring relief but instead the pain continued as an infection set in, and I wasn't to be free of that discomfort for another 2 weeks)
A highlight was Surfers Beach where they get pipelines forming on both right and left hand breaks, and an annual comp is held there drawing internationals. There's a great resort with cheap rates, and the coastline is gorgeous. No waves on our visit, and a lot of plastic on the beach, but still a lovely place.
Then it was back to drop off the car and prepare for some deep water soloing as the wind had died and the waters the climbing walls would be a mirror.

Old grain silos for a failed beef farm

The island was once destined for great things, in the farming sense, with cattle raising being the dream. But it wasn't to be – now derelict grain silos dot the landscape and are only of use to sailors navigating the coastline.

The population seems to rely on imported goods, with very little food production of their own. I read a two page article in the Eleuthera Times by a protagonist of self sufficiency who pointed out the great potential for agriculture, and the obvious increase in obesity and related health issues created by imported processed foods that had become the normal diet.

We bought some fruit and veges from a roadside stall that turned out to be a local co-operative advocating and demonstrating to locals how good food production was possible even with salty soils and poor water supply.

When the weather improved we sailed north again, eager to do some deep water soloing, and we

weren't disappointed.  Whakaari could be sited right alongside the walls, and we nosed up to each climb in the dinghy and paddleboard.

From up on the cliffs turtles, rays, tarpon and snapper were easily spotted in the crystal clear water,

and tho we knew there was plenty of depth, the clarity of the seabed gave the anticipation of a fall just that little extra edge.

My favourite memory is of a climb on Stalactite Wall. It started from the dinghy into a tight squeeze

then out onto a large column. I worked my way through some tricky moves to position myself under a ledge, then pulled over that easier than I expected. I called out to Annika to get a shot of me, and still enjoying the holds, went for a lunge to finish the climb at 10 metres. Oh no, I missed getting a secure grip and suddenly I was off the wall and shouting out in a curious mix of joy and anticipated shock.

The plunge was so satisfying, but no good for my chalk!

After maxing out the time we had at Stalactite Wall, we had to head for Current Cut to make the tide.

When we went thru, hitting almost 10 knots, we passed Lizzie on a dive boat who was drift diving the

cut, and had three fantastic dives there, seeing sharks and rays in the deep chasm as she glided through.

A third and final time across The Devils Backbone, and we were back at Man Island, and soon at the

end of our Eleuthera Exploration.

So much more to climb!

10-12 metre coral and limestone cliffs of Annies Bight

Annika returned to work, Lizzie wrapped up her shore time, and Whakaari was back in action,

heading out into the Atlantic, and a long run down the Bahamas to Great Inagua where we would clear out of the country. En route we stopped at many beautiful cays, visiting Deans Blue Hole near Clarence Town, Long Cay ( which is the worlds deepest, plunging 202 metres where a fellow Kiwi William Trubridge trains and holds the record for that hole), Little San Salvador (used by Cruise Ships for day visits, so we gunk holed around the estuaries instead) Rum Cay (where we stayed in a derelict marina called Sumner Point, now inhabited by grunge surfer sailors, large nurse sharks and one very intimidating tiger shark)

At Great Inagua, tourists are very rare as the island is fully employed producing salt -Mortens Salt to be precise, and the island is the second largest producer in the world. We witnessed freighters taking on 100 tonnes of salt each as we toured the island with the local park ranger.

Inagua has a resident population of 50,000 West Indian Flamingos, stunningly pink, and over 100

species of other waders, both resident and migrant. The Roseate Spoonbills are awesome to see in

squadron flight. (FYI - The plumage of birds that feed in salt marshes become pink)

Wasting away in Margueritaville
Some people say that there's a woman to blame.......

As has been Whakaari's way, she threw another curly one in Great Inagua, the propane controller going haywire, and leaving us unable to prepare hot food or drink. So I spent a fun half day with the locals finding the necessary bits and pieces to rig a temporary gas supply –Now the only plumber in town would apparently refuse to go out to my boat in a little dinghy as he couldn't swim, but everyone seemed to know that the book keeper for the Salt Company kept a brand new propane regulator in the bottom draw of her filing cabinet! And “Skinny” ,who wasn't, had a surplus 30' line with the exact sized fittings I needed at his workshop and happy to part with it for $80. Job done!

OK, so I staged it

Ah, the Everglades -when will they ever end?

What is it about mangroves? people tell you there's hardly any left, but I find them everywhere, so much I get lost in them for days.

Before leaving Florida for good, Annika and I chose to meet half way between her base of St Petersburg and my pushing off point, Key West, and that took us canoe camping in Everglades National Park on the west coast of the peninsula.

The drive there introduced me to the unusual mix of cypress swamp forest in fresh water flowing out to coastal mangrove estuaries, which we would soon be exploring by canadian canoe, our camping supplies aboard for 4 days of adventure.

( It also took me across large tracts of Indian reservation land, and the not so great revelation that the common notion of casinos and cheap tobacco outlets as "investments" by the tribes, is in fact true. But there was a heathy mix of tourist operations based around airboats, alligator shows, and feather head-dressed characters with chiefly names offering visitors 'Indigenous" cultural experiences.)

The mix of fresh and salt water provides ideal conditions for paddlers to view alligators, wading birds, dolphins, manatees, and osprey.

While the "trails"are accessible year-round, most paddlers attempt them during the winter months when it is cooler and there are less mosquitos - good for us! 

Paddling times vary from two to seven hours depending on winds, tides, paddling speeds, and which trails you choose.

These trails can be difficult for inexperienced paddlers or under certain conditions. Paddling against the tide, fighting a headwind, or being unprepared for the weather or mosquitoes can make for a very strenuous paddle. Well, we chose a longer route for a shorter time, didn't take a compass or GPS, tho they were littering our boats back in their snug harbours. We did take enough water and food to last the distance luckily, as it was hard work, especially out in the Gulf itself where you are more exposed to the conditions.

Our first night was quite special, staying on Sandfly Island due to our late departure, but it meant we had it to ourselves, ( and a few sandflies), and could walk the hour long interpretive trail before setting out the next day. Some would be farmer tried to grow tomatoes there but was driven off by sandflies, drought and hurricanes, doh!

One of the highlights of our trip came early on day two - a large flock of unbelievably white pelicans clustered on a drying shoal and yodelling with their huge floppy pink throats - with the sunlight showing through their skin, it was a sight to behold.

Manatee and alligators were scarce, but herons, cormorants, horseshoe crabs, and Ospreys at every stroke. Even a rabid racoon on a tiny mangrove key, sitting in the water opening mangrove oysters.

The next nights were in the company of other paddlers, and we enjoyed getting to know a group of 6 from way up north who knew their stuff. They'd been in the Everglades for 10 days and keen to get home. Our night with them on the "chickee" , an elevated camping platform, which we presumed were just as necessary to provide somewhere to actually camp in this flooded mangrove wilderness as they were for keeping snakes and alligator out of our beds.

Apart from one anxious "where the Whakaari" when we found ourselves off-trail and dead-ended in a lagoon of herons, and having to retrace our paddle strokes for an hour, we escaped the embarrassment of getting lost ( and the inevitable rescue and questions of why we had no navigational aids) 

The light/water play, sunsets, and sensation of gliding though endless interconnecting channels that flow and ebb was all sublime. Less so the moments when another fisherman in his Boston Whaler came by at speed and swamped us.

It was a well earned beer when we finally paddled back into Everglade City (true name, but more like a back water), and went our separate ways -Annika back to save lives in ICU, and me off to swan around the Grand Bahama Banks

Big In Bimini

Now when someone says to me - I was really outside my comfort zone - all I can think of is a recent dive I made with a Great Hammerhead and several "bad boys from the hood" Bull sharks.

When in South Bimini, entry point for us into the Bahamas, Lizzie & I thought a dive would be great as everything is 'Big in Bimini!" - manta rays, great hammerheads, turtles, but it just so happened that the dive operator had tied himself up with a film crew intent on recording close encounters of the shark kind. So the only choice was to join them, and their crazy burley feeding, shark prodding dive crew. 

After too many uncomfortable  jokes about using me, the newby, as shark bait in we went to have VERY close encounters. Never thought I would enjoy the sensation of a very large shark, mouth open in a kind of threatening smile, brush against my body as it cruised by for another look. The water clarity started out sensationally but soon clouded up as the action of the sharks, us,  the strong current (and reef fish after the burley) stirred up the fine white coral sand. I found myself rubbernecking trying to keep an eye on each of these monsters, but they'd catch me out, cruising past my head, or under my legs, and making my breathing more rapid than it already was. But I went up for another tank and rejoined the crazy film fest for another stint as it was all at once invigorating, beautiful, tantalising, and scary - you find yourself in awe of these graceful and powerful creatures of the blue.

Well as you now know it all ended happily, tho there was one moment when the six Bull Sharks got a bit excited, fighting over a large morsel of bonefish, and our dive master motioned us all up & out. Hate that anxious time of finning back up and climbing the boat ladder when you can't protect your rear!

The marina where we stayed, and the dive operation is based, is one of a growing number in the Bahamas that forbid shark fishing, or bringing caught sharks to their dock, and encourage protection of sharks. There were several huge Nurse Sharks cruising the marina everyday, seemingly quite happy with this notion. And it felt fine to swim off the boat there as well, in their presence.

And talking about BIG - Big news-well, news to me after being awol in Cuba for a month- Japan has finally been forced to stop it's "Scientific Whaling" - great news to big marine creatures everywhere!