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After several months and to Thor's disappointment, we are finally underway again. We departed Atlantis on 3/3/06 and began the trek to the Turks & Caicos Islands.
First stop...Highborne
Cay, Exumas. Usually this is one of the nicest overnight anchorages
we've used...not this time. Thanks to the winds, we spent a very
rocky night at anchor. So much so, I actually thought at one point Fred
had pulled anchor and we were underway. Why do we do this again? Oh yeah, cause we
love boating! After a rather sleepless night, Fred gets Thor to shore for
his morning leave and NO playtime. It's still kinda dark and there's no
playtime???This is NOT looking good. Dingy loaded
and anchor hoisted, we're off! Next stop, Half Moon Cay off Little San
Salvador.
Little San Salvador is owned by Holland
America Cruise Lines and is a day stop for several of their ships. This is
probably the prettiest beach we've seen so far. Nothing but white, soft
sand both on the beach and under the keel. Easy to see why someone would
want to buy this little piece of heaven. We had checked the schedule
online before planning our arrival and fortunately, there is no ship
in the bay
today so we wander in and set the hook. Thor is a bit anxious to get to
shore and has located himself IN the dingy up on deck while we're setting the
anchor. Talk about being prepared! We have to convince him to get
out so we can actually launch the damn thing. Patience is not one of Mr.
T's virtues and we work as quickly as possible to launch his "chariot".
For those of you who don't know...we've renamed the dingy "Thor's Chariot". After all, it's all about the dog, right? With some extended shore time
under our belts, we settle in for the evening and thanks to the protection of
the anchorage get a decent night's sleep. Next stop...Conception Island.
4:40 AM...I can't remember the last time I voluntarily got up at this time of the morning. Thor has to be woke up for his morning shore leave and for the second day in a row, receives no morning playtime. Who ARE you people and what have you done with my parents??? With the sun just starting to peek out, we pull anchor and head south. We decided to skip Cat Island due to wanting to stay ahead of some weather and just go straight for Conception. We understand this to be a very out of the way and mainly unused anchorage. WRONG!!! After a rather rocky, rolly nine hours, we arrive at the west anchorage along with 15 other boats. Now, this might not sound like alot, but for this anchorage...that's quite a few. Certainly do-able sizewise, but we had been told that few come and stay here due to the remoteness of the location and the fact that it can be quite untenable in unsettled weather. Looks like no one told all these folks. No worries though. We set anchor and take in the view. WOW...what a view! We thought Half Moon Cay was the best, until now. Hands down, Conception takes the prize. Talcum powder beach, water so crystal clear you can see the tiny ripples in the sand 20+ feet below and when these little white birds flew overhead, their bellies, reflecting the blue off the water from the sky above, shone baby blue. Cool. Thor graciously lets us get the dingy offloaded today without having to haul his butt out of it beforehand and we take to shore.
The weather is cooperating and we are granted the privilege of staying another day in Paradise. After temporarily reattaching yet another lost crown on my tooth (yes, AGAIN), we suit up and head to Conception Wall for the first dive in over three months. Water is 78 degrees and running about 150 foot visibility. The mooring sits the stern of the boat right at the edge of the wall and when I jump in and look down, I see nothing but blue. It takes just a moment to find the edge of the wall and get my bearings. We finally have an understanding of what truly pristine diving means. There are no broken coral patches, fish are not fearful and we even get an escort from a reef shark who obviously has no fear of divers since this area is rarely dove. He swings in for a close look and then moves off only to turn around and as we discover later, follows us all the way to the end of our dive. Thanks for the tour!
We return to the anchorage to discover that all but four boats have left...awesome!! Or wait a minute, do they know something we don't...uh oh! Not sure whether to be worried or delighted at the vacancy, we opt for delighted and armed with a batch of rum punch, snorkel gear and a tennis ball for T-Bone, we head to the beach for some fun in the sun. Now, I know most of you are thinking, geez...is this all these guys ever do?? But truth be told, these days are few and far between so when they present themselves, it's best to drop whatever else you're doing and soak it in. After sitting in the water long enough to prune and throwing the ball so long that Mr. T finally gives up and sinks into the sand for a rest, we head back. This has been nothing short of a picture perfect day. Later, in the bright moonlight you could clearly see the sandy bottom and the shadow of the dingy, but not the surface of the water on which it floated. It appeared to simply being levitating mid-air. Can't really describe it, but it kept Fred and I entertained for about 15 minutes "ooohhhing" and "aaahhhing" over it. This place definitely gets put on the top five destinations list! We will make the effort to time our return from Turks so that, weather permitting, we can hang as long as possible at Conception Island.
None of these pictures even comes close to showing how beautiful this place really is.
The weather is due to turn so we need to get moving the following morning. It's a short hop over to Rum Cay and our plan is to stay a few days at Sumner Point Marina to wait out some wind and weather before continuing on.
Unfortunately, after less than 24 hours, we decide we can no longer stay at the marina. Basically, there are several problems for us with the place. First, there is a pack, and I do mean, a pack of eight large dogs that have free run and roam the marina. Obviously, this is a problem for us with Thor. We had to get Gina, the dockmaster to lock up a few of them long enough for us to at least take Thor off to pee. At least four of them belong to her and she did tell us that a couple were very territorial and could be aggressive with another dog. She had also told us that they were locked up at night, however, when we took Thor off later that night, four of them were on us before he could even lift his leg. The following morning, we hadn't stepped five feet from the dock when five of them came at us full force. Fred had to scare them off with a tire bat and a lot of yelling. He looks pretty tough waving a tire bat around :-) There were several other "issues" but I'll put those on the Marina Review link on the site.
We pulled out of Sumner Point by 9am and made way to Little Harbor, Long Island. We had continuous waves of about 10 feet, so not a great ride. After seven hours, we arrive to the waypoint for Little Harbor. One of the guidebooks states that with prevailing weather, you can get stuck inside for as long as two weeks...yikes! We don't have enough vodka on board for that kind of internment. We take a good look at the entrance and with the breakers we're seeing and the knowledge that the weather is not going to improve we opt to continue another two hours to the south point anchorage on Long Island. Thor, who, seeing land after seven hours, gets a bit excited is quickly depressed when the engines rev up again to cruising speed.
We arrive without incident to the south point anchorage, set the hook, activate shore leave and call it an early night. We'll hang here for 24-48 hours before making our next leg. Only four more before arrival in Turks!
This
is a really pretty anchorage, unfortunately though, it proves
incredibly rolly. We are taking about 30 degree rolls, side to side, to
side, to side. Shit, I'm feeling seasick at anchor. We attempt
sleep, but it's not easy. At one point, I actually slam into the side wall
next to the bed. Ouch...that's gonna leave a mark! Somewhere around
1:45 am, I think I drift off to sleep.
3:30 am..."Babe...you awake?". Huh? In my awakening daze, I conclude that either a) the boat MUST be sinking for Fred to wake me and I need to get to the awaiting life raft, b ) my fantasy of being in bed with Tom Selleck has finally been answered or c) my husband has a death wish. Not surprisingly, it's Door #3. Fred has been up for the past 30 minutes doing whatever it is he does in the middle of the night to chart courses, read weather and basically keep us afloat. He's concluded that if we leave in the next 60 minutes, we'll be able to by pass one of our intended anchorages and get slightly ahead of our schedule. Yeah, okay, sure, no problem. I feel refreshed...don't I look refreshed????
Now, remember back in the early logs when we talk about dingy launching and retrieval and how you shouldn't try this at home? Well, this is no better and quite possibly worse. Getting the dingy back on in calm conditions is a snap anymore. Not so when it's pitch black, 25kt winds and yes, we're still rolling to beat the band. By God's grace we somehow get the damn thing back in the cradle and no one has taken a header off the deck. I believe in miracles!
We're on the road and underway by 5:05 and are quickly met with strong head seas. The rest of the day is spent inside, hunkered down with Mr. T and me in the salon as we're taking 10-12 ft waves straight on the nose. I can hear everything in my cupboards crashing about and I once again congratulate myself on my choice of not having any glass aboard. Score one for the hometeam!
The next legs were pretty much the same...strong head seas and rolly anchorages. Not much else to report. They're all a blur anyway...
We have to abort our last anchorage at Mayaguana before we can even get settled due to surge conditions. We had planned to complete the last leg to Provo the following morning, but there's no way to stay here for more than 30 minutes, much less, overnight. So instead it's anchors up and away we go.
The trip is uneventful and we arrive at the northwest shore of Provo a bit before 10:00 pm. Fred selected this spot as it used to be pretty much abandoned with only a few tiki huts left over from a French game show site, so the chance of running into anyone was highly unlikely. Of course, as with all things, times change and the entire shoreline is lit up with what is obviously a resort. So much for sneaking in. As we later learn the tiki huts have been replaced with Amanyara, an Aman Resort. The dilemma??? We're not checked in to the country so we are not allowed to step foot on land until cleared. Mr. T needs to go to shore and there's no way to explain to him that he'll have to wait another 12+ hours. So, with all the efficiency and stealth of a special forces team, we engage covert action, "Operation, Potty Break". Under the cover of darkness, with nothing more than the moonlight to guide us, we launch the chariot and "Operation Potty Break" is successfully completed. Whew...no lights, whistles, alarms or armed guys in high powered speed boats materialize. Safe, sound and not in jail...that's good enough for me...nighty, night.
5:00 am..."honey...you awake?" You have GOT to be kidding!!! Why didn't I kill him the other morning??? Where's my special forces jungle knife anyway?Fred's paranoia is getting the best of him and he decides to take Thor to shore and get back so the dingy can be reloaded before sunrise in the event there are customs officials somewhere, nearby, hiding in the darkness, just waiting to pounce on us at first light. Now with all due respect, we certainly appreciate the gravity of our situation here, but only Fred and Thor went ashore and they stayed below the high water mark, so worse case, we'll plead for forgiveness and if we get caught, hope they're a dog lover.
Now, I have to say, the Bahamas have some beautiful water and beaches. To be sure, The Exumas are pretty much, hands down the prettiest cruising waters and beaches we've ever seen. But Turks...well, that's just an entirely different kind of beautiful water. When you look into the water in the Exumas you see all the beautiful white sand on the bottom, but that's about it. While peering over the stern this morning, to the bottom 40 feet below, I can see all the coral heads and actually see all the little "fishes" waking up on the reef...cool. There is simply no way I'm not going to get into the water. After a bit of convincing, Fred agrees that we'll take a 10 minute snorkel around the boat just to get wet. Hell, after 8000 miles and 18 months at sea, we deserve at least that much, right?
As it turns out we're directly over the dive site "Thunderdome" which was originally part of the French game show called Pago. There is a leftover metal cage on the seafloor, which at last visit in 2000 was still erect, but has since fallen and now lay scattered. At any rate, one of the game show tasks was for contestants to free dive down through an opening into the cage or "dome" to collect plastic pearls that had been released and then trade them for air from "mermaids" equipped with air tanks and regulators. Apparently, there was one mermaid who would offer you air, then swim away before giving you any. This was done to add a bit of excitement to the show. Sounds like fun, eh? Not sure what sadistic bastard thought this was a good idea. Obviously, this was a big problem as the contestants were forced to race to the surface for air causing several to suffer from air embolisms and had to be sent to the local recompression chamber. Needless to say, the show was cancelled after less than a dozen shows. Why it took that long, is beyond me. Of course, I never understood the attraction of watching people eat live bugs or whatever else they ate on "Survivor" either. Guess that's why there's several hundred TV stations for everyone to choose from anymore. Whatever floats your boat!
Begrudgingly, Fred calls "time" and we head back to the boat so we can get moving and get to Provo and get checked in. Just before getting out, I take one last look around and to my surprise and delight, a reef shark has cruised in under us. Welcome to the Turks & Caicos Islands !!!
