Back on the water again, finally.......off to the Bahamas

[sparky]

Sum, So glad you are beginning to experience the cruise lifestyle. Thanks for the update posts!

[Sumner]

Hi everyone, I haven't had good Internet connections lately so have just been putting up additions to the trip report on my site when possible. If you go to the link below you can see them. I've posted up to getting to Georgetown and still need to fill in the narrative for some of the early days of the trip.

They are suppose to have some races here today with the traditional Bahama sailboats with the different islands competing against each other. They have been out practicing and the boats are really cool with long planks that go out over the sides and guys hike way out onto the planks. I'll have pictures later but Google it.

I'll probably leave in the morning and start working back north up the Exumas and then jump up by Nassau and then the Berry's. From there hopefully to the Abacos and then around the first of June back to Florida.

I'll post when I can on here but you might also want to check (bookmark) my site for updates also,

Sumner

============================
2015 To the Bahamas and back -- I hope

Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Chinook]

Hi Sum,

So glad you'll be able to see part of the Family Island Regatta. It's really a kick, watching the locals sail those boats. They have 3 classes of boats, and they're all fun to watch. They bring their boats in by interisland freighter from all over the Bahamas. The competition is fierce, and at times it looks almost like a destruction derby. Impressive amount of sail on those boats. And the way they climb out on those boards, and then switch to the opposite side when tacking. Not one lifejacket on the entire crew. The boat name I saw which I liked best: Ants Nest. Enjoy!

[Chinook]

Hi again Sum,

I just finished scrolling through your most recent posts. Brings back lots of good memories. Wish we were there with you. I think those parallel lines in the rock near the beach were cuts from a quarrying operation. They use coral rock for construction down there, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone set up a rock saw to cut and split blocks of coral rock, possibly to build that big abandoned house or maybe the big stone wharf down below it. Story I heard was that that British bloke was actually a German sympathizer, and he build the wharf for German U-boats to tie up at. The British actually did sink a U-boat near there, during the War. The Bahamians finally ran the guy off, and his house sits abandoned to this day. Your account of exiting Rat Cay Cut was dramatic. Glad you were able to get past the rough water without mishap. You definitely earned post graduate credits and a couple Boy Scout merit badges with that passage. Hopefully, your run back north will be more uneventful. Here's to favorable winds, gentle seas, and slack currents.

[Ixneigh]

Hi Sumner. Enjoying the write up. What is your opinion of exiting rudder cut and sailing out into exuma sound overnight, and hitting the Georgetown entrance about 11 am the next morning?
I had considered that when I was there, but had less winds and was able to motor most of the way.
Seems to me there should be little if any traffic out there at night.
Are you doing much navigation by reading the water?
How closely do the GPS plotted positions match, last time I was there I did not have a chart plotter.
Thanks
Ix

[ris]

I like your writing and pics. Glad you are having a good time. Thanks for taking the time to write.

[fishstalker7]

Sumner,

Thanks for the great trip log! Enjoyed a little coffee time today at the office catching up to your adventure!!

Have fun, be safe and fair winds!

[Starscream]

Sumner,

The coolest looking boat you saw on your Highborne to South Sampson leg was the 156 ft. yacht Vajoliroja, owned by Johnny Depp. Believe it or not it was built in 2001 and Depp purchased it in 2007. Not much history as I'd hoped, but still a very cool sighting. Full credit to Google reverse image lookup. I believe Depp owns one of the cays in the Bahamas so maybe that particular yacht's not such an unusual sight in those waters.

Looking forward to the next postings: you are an inspiration to us all.

[Chinook]

The island Johnnie Depp owns is called Little Halls Pond Cay, and it's a lovely little island a bit south of Wardrick Wells. When we were down there we cruised slowly along the shore, admiring the nicely designed house on a scenic hilltop. There were lots of attractively landscaped trails, and a great looking beach with a bar, tables and seats, and decorated so that it could have been a set from Pirates of the Caribbean. Overall, the development seemed tastefully done and enhanced rather than detracted from the scenery. It's cool that Sumner got a look at Depp's yacht.

[Starscream]

Vajoliroja can be rented for $130,000 per week when Depp isn't using it.

The other superyacht Sumner photographed on that leg, Primetime, with the umbrella on the bow, goes for a relative bargain of $23,000 per week. Plus fuel and other expenses. Split with you and 5 other guests, you could spend a nice week in the Bahamas for 6 or 7 grand, about the price of a good used 26S.

[Chinook]

Nice point. When you sail a MacGregor down to the Exumas you're nearly always the smallest boat out there. However, the bit boys do gaze with a little bit of envy seeing a Mac tucked into a cozy shallow water anchorage while they wallow out in deeper, more exposed waters.

[Sumner]

... I think those parallel lines in the rock near the beach were cuts from a quarrying operation. They use coral rock for construction down there, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone set up a rock saw to cut and split blocks of coral rock, possibly to build that big abandoned house or maybe the big stone wharf down below it. Story I heard was that that British bloke was actually a German sympathizer, and he build the wharf for German U-boats to tie up at. The British actually did sink a U-boat near there, during the War. The Bahamians finally ran the guy off, and his house sits abandoned to this day. ...

The one set were definitely tread marks from Cat or something like it. I think you are right about the squares that were cut into the rock and that it was probably used for building like you said. I pretty much read that same about him being a German sympathizer and think the link I sent probably wanted to downplay that. I passed there yesterday and took another picture from the north.

Coming north from Georgetown 2 days ago was way, way different than the trip going south and no problem at all. The water was fine going in even though I didn't time it quite right. I had to delay departure a day because of weather and that moved the tides up an hour. I wanted to run the cut like before at slack tide and that was going to be about 7 pm. I left at 9 am and was sailing at 2 1/2 to 3 which was a good speed to get me in up there around 6-7. Well then the wind died a little more so I started to motor sail and could easily do 5 with the motor off idle. So now I'm going to get there probably at mid-tide and high current. I thought about maybe going in north of there, but nixed that idea. So thought maybe I could just hang offshore if it looked bad. Well I made good time and was there about 1 hour after high tide so the ebb had started.

I had none of the problems going in as the sound had laid down over the previous 24 hours so nothing like coming out. It was flat and no waves so in I went. No problems as the current wasn't too bad. I dropped from about 5 kts to a little over 2 for maybe 200-300 yards and then started to come out of it and speed increased. Ran up to that Williams Bay anchorage for the night and it was a good day. One should just be patient unless they want 'memories'. Actually speaking of that my memories of the day I went out have for some reason been pretty much erased from my mind now like how some experiences are. I just remember that it was fairly frightening and I hope to not go there again.

I'm at Little Farmers inside a cute little bay inside the larger bay and might hang here until Tues. as there is something that might be big coming according to Chris's weather and have some west wind and my next stop Rocky Point is all open to the west or SW or NW. I was really surprised to find internet here. Only 3 connections and this one was one and is much better than any I had in Georgetown so will try an finish updating the trip report (first part) and also bring it up to-date to here.

This morning I dove on the mermaid and piano that David Copperfield commissioned and is in about 12 feet of water off Rudder Cut Cay. I got some underwater video of it with one of the cheaper cams I bought to use on the race car. I'll post it when I have fast internet. Google it if you haven't heard of it. Pretty neat and I'll bet he spent a lot to have it done. You probably were within 100 yards of it on your way south.

Thanks again for your trip report it has been a big help. I finally did copy all the internet pages to a text file before leaving and glad that I did.

Sumner

[Sumner]

Hi Sumner. Enjoying the write up. What is your opinion of exiting rudder cut and sailing out into exuma sound overnight, and hitting the Georgetown entrance about 11 am the next morning? ...Ix

Personally I wouldn't do that as it doesn't take that long. In fact it isn't too hard to time it for slack tide at both, about 6 hours apart. The only problem there is when do those happen during the day you want to go and that will depend on the day you do it. I left coming back on the day I did because the next day the evening slack would of been too close to dark and I would of then been getting into an anchorage too late. I might of then been able to do the run in the morning instead of the afternoon.

It is really nice if you have tides that are running where you could go out about 9-10 in the morning and in at 3-4 in the afternoon going either direction. Also now the days are getting longer so more options. A month ago it would of been harder. As I mentioned above the trip north was easy the other day and yesterday and today I've gone by another couple cuts where I think I could of gotten our pretty easy and no waves on the outside of them. The trick I think is to let the Exuma Sound settle down and don't do it during or right after or the tail end of a lot of big wind days out of the East like what took place when I went south.

I did get to see the racing on the final day I was there and that was neat but otherwise Georgetown didn't do much for me. Most days the dinghy ride in and out wasn't enjoyable and I've really enjoyed some of the remote anchorages much more but that is just me. Lots of people love Georgetown. They said on the morning net that there were over 200 boats there when I arrived and more came for the races and when I left they said it was up to 240 but don't know where they get those numbers. I called the harbormaster and reported in and also did that on the net, but didn't do either when I left as the harbormaster didn't respond and I was busy getting out when the net was going on. Like I said lots of people do like it there and I'm glad that I went but probably don't have to go back ,

Sumner

============================
2015 To the Bahamas and back -- I hope

Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Russ]

This morning I dove on the mermaid and piano the David Copperfield commissioned and is in about 12 feet of water off Rudder Cut Cay. I got some underwater video of it with one of the cheaper cams I bought to use on the race car. I'll post it when I have fast internet. Google it if you haven't heard of it. Pretty neat and I'll bet he spent a lot to have it done.

Can't wait to see the video.

I recently stumbled on this underwater museum in Cancun that reminds me of the mermaid.
When you get some bandwidth, check this out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhn19Uya6xU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6fWCYkc4jA


--Russ

[Sumner]

This morning I dove on the mermaid and piano the David Copperfield commissioned and is in about 12 feet of water off Rudder Cut Cay. I got some underwater video of it with one of the cheaper cams I bought to use on the race car. I'll post it when I have fast internet. Google it if you haven't heard of it. Pretty neat and I'll bet he spent a lot to have it done.

Can't wait to see the video...--Russ

Well until I can put the video up here are some stills from it.







It is hard to tell from those but the piano and mermaid are life size. I tried to swim down once closer but evidently I didn't have the camera aimed right when I did. It is hard to tell what it is shooting as if just has a small screen on the back and I'm swimming and anyway I got a lot of 'not the piano/mermaid' .

Talking about the swimming I did use the 3 lb weight today and the day before. It still isn't enough. I bought some fish weights but maybe not enough of those either. Maybe I've 'bulked up' on all my great cooking . Actually I only cook about every 3-4 days and make enough that I eat cold left-overs the other days and actually like it better cold than hot.

Should I have the weight on the belt so that it is on my back or front side since I only have one? It does help some and I like the fact that with the snorkel and mast on that I don't have to worry about sinking. I'm out of shape. There was a little current over to the mermaid and swimming over to her and around and back wore me out. This is in the edge of a bay right next to where heavy current runs. The boat slowed from 5 to 2 1/2 on the same throttle setting the day before about 1000 yards before where this is and where the cut going out is.

Most people dinghy down from the anchorage in the next bay to the north, but since I didn't want to have to put the outboard on and off the dinghy I just took the Mac down. I had the GPS coordinates so found it right away and even took one video with my hand over the side of the Mac. I went in just a bit and put an anchor down and about 50 foot of rode/chain out and hoped to float back over the art but missed it and was about 35-50 north but could see it from the boat. I put a line off the back of the dinghy but left it tied to the Mac and swam the short distance over testing the current first.

Then when I didn't like my swim shot after loading it in the computer having already rinsed off I then paddled the dinghy over and took a third video with the camera in the water and me in the dinghy. I'll edit the three videos later an splice them together as there are some pretty good shots. You will have to send someone younger next time with more endurance .

Also thanks to the rest of you guys that have been reading and commenting. That is nice and I appreciate it ,

Sumner

============================
2015 To the Bahamas and back -- I hope

Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links