He Can Catch Them, Just Not Land Them!

 We left Hog Cay in 17-20 knot winds apparent and sailed 7.7 knots which for our non- sailor friends is a nice sail!  Sailed 57 miles in 8 hours to Water Cay.   We had some problems getting the genny in due to the block on the furling gear broke down.  Al replaced it with a slightly smaller block and hopes it does the trick until we get back to the states.  Then we discovered the alternator wasn’t charging but Al’s magical touch of jiggling the inline fuse solved that problem.  Yeah!  It is nice to have a “handyman” on board.

All you need to basket weave.

We were the last of the 7 boats anchored in Water Cay to leave by 7AM.  We had a very pleasant sail, which I define as being able to work on my baskets while sailing, back to Georgetown. 

 We even got through Hog Cay cut which can be quite shallow.  We went straight over near town to anchor so that we could go get groceries, rid of trash and get water.  Since we were near a cell phone tower I was able to get the blog done and sent.

The next duty was to get laundry done.  We had not done laundry for 2 ½ weeks so there were 4 loads.  We found a laundry a bit out of town, but the owner picks you up and takes you back to the main part of town.  It is less expensive, cleaner and quieter so we like it.  After lunch I ordered on line a new pocket camera since mine stopped working. Our friends on Cookie Monster are going back to the states for 10 days and are going to bring it with them.  We also needed a new fan for our refrigeration which they will bring also.

We moved the boat to the other side of the harbor to Monument Beach again.  The winds started to pick up to 25 knots.  Our neighboring boat started to drag anchor when they were not on it so we got on the radio and announced that it was dragging.  They quickly made it back and got it reset.  We were to go to our friend’s boat called Escapaid for happy hour but due to the strong winds and unsettled boats we decided it was best not to go.

Super Bowl Pie

The next day while the winds were howling still, I made a cherry pie for our Super Bowl dinner.  Al continued working on the refrigeration problem between reading his book.  After lunch we braved the strong winds to get to shore to go for a walk on the lee side of the island.  We headed toward the nude beach knowing no one would be there today due to the weather.   

                                                         

The only nude on the beach.

We did meet a nude ghost crab that wasn’t afraid of us which was highly unusual.  Maybe the high winds were getting to him too! 

Bar at the Flip Flop Shack

We continued on to the Flip Flop Shack which is a cute place the cruisers made and just refinished due to the hurricane this fall.  They have a seating area, bar, and path to the head which of course is just Mother Nature’s bush. 
Since the winds were still gusting, our friends from Kathrian backed out like us the night before on coming over for Happy Hour so it was a quiet night on board.

You can see how interested they were in the Super Bowl!

Notice our Ravens sign for our Super Bowl Party!

Super Bowl Sunday dawned with some very dark clouds so instead of crossing the harbor to go to church we went to beach church on Volleyball Beach.  It is all done by cruiser volunteers and it is complete with choir and song books.  It is very well done with a social time afterwards.  Worked on my baskets and prepped my salad for our dinner with Irene, Jim and Jim’s sister, Judy.  They are from Vermont so for some reason they were not as into the Super Bowl as Al and I.  Maybe it was when I said how glad we were when the Ravens beat the Patriots!  After sharing some rug hooking samples, Irene is the only other rug hooker I have met on a boat, and talking about some of the places we had been on the charts, we had a wonderful dinner.  We had baked ham, potato salad, craisin apple walnut salad, fresh broccoli and cherry pie.  What a feast which made it even better when the Ravens won!

Since the weather guru predicted a mild week without any fronts, we decided to leave to see Conception and/or Cat Island tomorrow.  So we headed over to town with Blue Heaven to get rid of trash, get some groceries, and buy Regatta tee shirts that went on sail today.  Afterwards we went to Sand Dollar Beach to anchor for the night.  I went to the beach at low tide but did not find even one treasure.  The cruisers anchored there were having a pizza party so Al and I went over for a short time just to meet the people.

We planned to leave after listening to the weather to be sure things had not change.  We tried calling our friends on Strathspay who were going to go with us but had no luck reaching them.  Finally, on the way out, I was on the internet and Mary sent an email saying that Blair who had the laundry done by someone yesterday in town, discovered they were missing towels and such and so could not come with us.  We headed out with about 6 other boats.  Most of them were going to Long Island.  The fast ferry which you don't see often, came out of the Georgetown Harbor headed for Long Island as well.  

The ferry in the islands- fast but not often!

 Once out there we decided to head to Conception.  Al fished and wasn’t catching a thing all day.  We finally had to put the motor on to motor sail and so I decided to charge the batteries in my camera.  I told him now that the batteries were out of the camera he would probably catch a fish.  I had no sooner got them in the charger down below and he yelled, “Fish!”  I ran up to take control of the boat while Al brought the Mahi Mahi in.  He got the fish all the way to the gunwale and once again lost it when the monofilament knot broke!    We could not believe it.  It was a beauty of about a yard long.  What a disappointment to say the least!  I did not even get a picture!

As our moods darkened after that, so did the clouds.  It really was dark south east of us but we ended up only getting a moderate rain with no heavy breezes as we pulled in to West Beach with about six other boats.  Once again the boat got a good wash down and my herbs got a good soaking which is the positive way to look at rain.

West Bay at Conception Island

We woke to sunshine, so over to the beautiful beach for exploring.  Conception Island is considered a national trust and is a “no take area on land and in the water.”  You would have thought with that we would see many beautiful shells and such, but unfortunately I don’t think the people follow the rules.  These land snails are seen all over the islands but I think they have a beauty all of there own.           

Land snails love the driftwood.

 

We met several cruisers enjoying the beach and going to hike the island.  We used the “Looky” bucket to view the reefs but there really wasn’t much to look at regarding plant life.  I saw only one fan but a variety of fish.  Later in the afternoon near high tide we went into the mangroves via our dinghy to look for sea turtles.  Unfortunately, there was a little too much wind which made the water have too many ripples to clearly see the turtles.  We would see these dark blobs swim by very fast as we drifted but never even got a good picture of one sticking its head up. 

Believe me, it is a sea turtle!!!!

To stay or move to Cat Island is the question of the night.