Ship’s Log | S/V Dea Latis | We're Underway!

Georgetown

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Dave

You can track our location by clicking on the position report tab.

Clicking on the pictures should open them up to full size.

So we are in Georgetown Great Exuma right now, anchored off of monument beach. There are 282 boats here in the harbor which is why we are leaving tomorrow! Georgetown is nice and there is every amenity you could need and there is a large cruising community but it’s a bit crowded for us. We provisioned, enjoyed the community, spent money, met up with friends, made new friends, but it’s time to go!

We are the third boat in the row of four starting with the large catamaran:

Looking south in the harbor:

West:

North west:

Celebrating our arrival. Chips, salsa, sour cream, and even broke out the guacamole:

Sunrise:

Stopped at Chat N Chill for cheeseburgers and beer:

Had my tank filled at the local dive shop:

Bought a huge carrot that was delicious. This thing was huge, if you swung this around you could hurt someone:

Met up with friends on their brand new 48 foot sailboat. John and Denise are awesome and included us in their superbowl party also!!

They travel with their two dogs Bing and Bella:

And then we found out about this. Why do they make whisky that tastes exactly like my favorite candy? You know those little red fireball candies? Ugh….

Superbowl party, at least ten people so we had to break out the big bag:

Five dinghys tied up:

Great party:

After recovering the next day, we headed to the beach for a hike. The Queen’s dock:

Up the hill:

To the monument overlooking the anchorage:

We are “caught up”. Our plan is to do some last minute shopping today and depart for Long Island tomorrow morning.

Categories: General | Tags: Exuma, monument beach | 2 Comments

LSI

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Dave

I missed these pictures from the anchorage at Lee Stocking.

We met some really nice people there and we all got together aboard Escapade, a 45 foot catamaran. Our hosts were wonderful generous people and we had a great time.

Tanya praying to the rum gods…

Mike and his wife Linda in the background, our hosts. Mike is extreme in every sense. If there is an activity that is dangerous, or you can be injured, or that increases adrenaline flow, he has done it, has been injured doing it, or is still doing it. They were wonderful fun people and we hope to cross paths again.

Happy hour on Escapade:

Categories: General | Comments Off

Catsup

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Dave

After leaving the Staniel Cay (key) area we headed south to one of our favorite spots, Lee Stocking Island. LSI used to be home to the Perry Institute’s Caribbean Marine Research Center. The CMRC has been closed for several years now and their website has not been updated. www.perryinstitute.org We spoke with the caretaker who told us the institute had leased the island for years but it has since been returned to its owners. The island has beautiful beaches, great hiking, lots of coconuts, and the decaying remains of the CMRC. It is sad to see such a beautiful place with such a meaningful mission die and fall into disrepair. The caretaker told us that until he is instructed otherwise, he will continue to allow people to explore the island as long as they stay out of the buildings and respect the owner’s property. So off we went!

There is quite a bit of history here that is connected to the United States. I believe this island was settled by colonists who were loyal to the king of England, around the time of the revolutionary war.

So we hiked the loyalist trail:

The trail, which is getting quite overgrown, winds across the island:

Fun:

Wall built by the loyalists to keep their livestock from wandering too far. The wall runs almost all the way across the island. I can only imagine the effort it took to build that during that era:

So the loyalist trail runs along the loyalist wall out to the…loyalist runway…? No…wait…

Paved loyalist runway…maybe I’m mixing up periods…

Loyalists left a lot of trash, and a John Deere Gator:

Respecting the caretaker we did not go in any buildings, just walked by. These were along the runway:

We walked across the runway and took another trail to this amazing beach:

Then back to the runway, headed to the southeast end and onto the:

View of the overgrown (loyalist) runway from coconut beach trail:

Down the trail back to our starting point:

Coconut beach:

Coconut beach, so named because:

Soooo goood:

Then we walked the road to the north end of the island:

This is the lizard lounge, the former cafeteria, so named because of the abundant population of curly tail lizards on the island:

Road continues to the north end:

View is amazing:

Buildings at the north end:

Another beautiful beach:

Not sure if this is loyalist trash:

Then we took a shortcut back across the runway:

Down the road back toward the former lobster building:

Lobster pens:

Continues to the former main administration building:

Dock:

Former admin building of the CMRC:

Then we went back to the boat and had some awesome Mahi Mahi:

Categories: Cruising, Destinations | Tags: Bahamas, CMRC, Exuma, Lee Stocking Island, Perry Institute | Comments Off

Back Up

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Dave

I found some pictures of another spot we visited while waiting for parts, Pipe Cay. Pipe Cay is actually one of the larger islands in this cluster but it is does not have much elevation, it’s kind of marshy in areas and has some mangroves so it’s also buggy when the winds die down. The cay was used as a navigation station years ago but has long since been abandoned. The basin was dredged to accommodate construction and supply vessels but it’s pretty small so not a place to anchor in my opinion. There is a strong sea wall about 100 feet long, a couple of huge bollards and remnants of some infrastructure. The navigation system was called DECCA and it’s actually quite interesting, it predates loran. DECCA was first used days before the allied invasion of France in 1944. The system was used to guide minesweepers so they could clear a path for the landing ships that crossed the channel. It is a very interesting read, google it. This cay was nice but the surrounding area is breathtaking and it was a great spot to stay while exploring. We passed this place several times on both trips assuming that there would be no room to tie up. Well we decided to poke in see if there was any space, and we lucked out! There was a large power boat tied to the sea wall that looked like a research vessel or something official but we went in anyway, all they could do is tell us to leave. As we approached, two people came out of the boat and caught our lines, it turns out they are from New York. They refitted an old fishing boat into a yacht, they were wonderful people. They had been tied up there for a while and told us we were the second boat to visit in six weeks. They were actually quite happy to have visitors! We spent the next several days, hiking, fishing, exploring, chatting and playing dominoes, it was a blast.

Dea Latis on the sea wall:

Sunrise Pipe Cay:

Dea Latis:

One of the abandoned buildings:

Beautiful beach and in the lower right corner is Kiwi, their two year old yorkie:

The water is so clear here:

Many of the islands around Pipe are privately owned. This is Little Pipe Cay which is about forty acres I think, it is beautiful with amazing homes. I’m guessing it is a private resort for the very wealthy.

This is Hatties Cay, also private, which is a little crescent shaped cay just north of Little Pipe Cay:

This is new construction on the privately owned Joe’s Cay, south side view. There are several buildings/homes going up and a breakwater was put in to shelter the private marina:

Entrance to north side, breakwater and marina:

North side view of the homes:

Private marina:

Arched walkway over to the marina:

Another home being built:

Also found time to do some fishing. I was looking for fish and found this…it was the largest shell I have found. It was in use so I made sure to put it back quickly right where I found it:

I was aiming for a nice snapper but missed it. When I pulled my spear back I had these two on the end. They’re delicious!! Two for one!!

Categories: Cruising, Destinations | Tags: Bahamas, DECCA, Pipe Cay | Comments Off

Ketchup

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Dave

As mentioned in the last post, we traveled to islands we had not visit on our previous trip. We heard nice things about Farmers Cay and the Yacht Club so we headed south for a visit. There was yet another weather front coming through, it was quite cloudy and cold so we picked up a mooring and went to dinner.

Dressed up for a change:

Farmers Cay Yacht Club:

Dea Latis moored in front, view from the dining room:

Grouper, peas and rice, salad and rum punch, it was delicious:

We had a nice time at Farmers Cay but we got a call that our parts were arriving so next morning we put up sails and headed north:

Back to Big Majors Spot, pirate beach, to meet up with friends:

Everyone shows up on the beach at some point. (The following will mean nothing to the random reader but our friends and relative back in Maine may find it funny) The lady on the far right (who we met randomly on a beach in the Bahamas) spent years growing up in Brunswick, has relatives in Dresden, her name is Tanya and her husband’s name is David. Twilight zone….