a downwind sailing day so we decided to head for Farmers Cay, with a drop
out point at Staniel Cay if the wind didn't hold. It was a very nice
sailing day for me, Steve was having a little black cloud day (one where
things go wrong - the dingy was bouncing, I managed to get the rope tangled
in the winch when we were lifting the dingy out, there was just silence when
we pressed the starter button for the engine - it's a good thing he didn't
go fishing, who knows what would have gone wrong for him there!). After the
engine decided not to start as we were sailing up to Staniel Cay and after
Steve beat it back into submission with his hammer, we coasted into Staniel
Cay and found an anchorage that we just love.
We are anchored just a short ways off the entrance to Thunderball Cave, of
James Bond fame. Staniel Cay is famous for that and for being a haunt of
Jimmy Buffett. It is beautiful here with two large main cays with lots of
little cays dotted around. If you haven't Google Earthed any of these
places, this would be a good one to take a peek at. The island itself has a
few shops, laundries and restaurants. Today was mailboat day and everyone
on the island was in a tizz because it was so busy getting stuff off the
boat and onto the shelves. This is the only time you see fresh fruits and
veg, and if you wait, it's all gone. The green bags are doing a fantastic
job of keeping our veg fresh (still have crisp green peppers from Nassau) so
we didn't get very much. Our provisions are starting to go down, but that's
okay because we have to eat them all before we close up the boat for the
summer.
We had a wander around the island on foot and by dingy. Same gentle
Bahamian lifestyle, everyone says hello whether they are walking by on foot
or driving by in a car. We checked out the fuel dock, although all the Cays
seem to be completely out of diesel right now, everyone is waiting for the
boat - which has left Nassau we heard on the VHF this morning.
The VHF radio chatter is a very interesting thing. It's like an old phone
party line that everyone listens in on. Everyone monitors Channel 16 which
is the hailing and emergency channel. Once you've hailed and met someone on
Channel 16, then you go off to another channel to have your conversation. I
wouldn't say anything private though because everyone follows you to your
conversation channel. It's how the restaurants announce their specials, how
you hear about the mail and diesel boats coming in, and how you get the
scoop on what's going on. It's sort of like the local news, but without the
polish.
As we were coming back from the grocery store, I saw what I thought was a
long black rock in the water. However, it kept moving as we went towards
it. Steve got really close and IT WAS A SHARK! It was two feet from our
dingy! Wow, very cool. It was just moseying along and didn't seem bothered
by us at all. Needless to say, we did not pet it.
Lunch was at Club Thunderball, set up on a hill overlooking the bay and the
anchored sailboats. Great burgers! The burgers down here are really good
and Steve likes the Kalik beer too. The American owners bought the place in
December and seem to be working really hard to make a go of it here. There
are a lot of Americans running businesses or working down here.
Tonight is dinner at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club which is quite funky and
fun, but certainly not what you would think of as your typical yacht club.
You have to make reservations if you want dinner and that includes placing
your order for what you want to eat. They ring the dinner bell at 7:30 and
that's when you sit down to dinner. Should be very interesting.
Our criteria for the perfect anchorage is sheltered, good holding for the
anchor, groceries, restaurants and wifi - it's all here!
Tomorrow we're going to take a peek inside Thunderball Cave.
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