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Jumpin’ Jumentos! – Flamingo Cay Bight

Flamingo Cay bight- very protected from SE winds. You can barely see two sails off in the distance

Flamingo Cay bight- very protected from SE winds. You can barely see two sails off in the distance

Tuesday morning the “weather service deprived” vessel s/v Ortolan did a no-no; we asked another boat for a weather update. This is a request for that morning’s Chris Parker report on SSB which is heard on different frequencies at early morning hours such as 6:30 or 7am.  I won’t go into our convoluted and sorry tale of SSB receiver shenanigans two years ago, but let’s say that we aren’t without it for lack of trying, really, really hard.

We knew when we came down that we’d need to make this request once or twice and hoped that we wouldn’t be banished from the community because we needed a weather report. Fortunately, catamarans are well represented in the Jumentos and well, maybe a fellow cat would look more kindly on our request.

Umm, now who could that be since we didn’t really know any of the boats anchored at Water Cay. How about the cat in kilts, Sam the Skull?  We’d spoken briefly already and in this world that’s a great start. Of course he gave us the update. Of course he wanted to know if we were a Seawind. Of course we had to say we were a Maine Cat 41- but that’s ok. We agreed to meet up again in George Town and “talk catamarans.”

The forecast contained a few more days of basically SE 10-14, perfect for one or two more days and then return to Elizabeth Harbor. We are dangerously close to being in a condition of “heading north” given that we have gone as far south as we will go. Technically, once we leave the Jumentos we are heading back, but let’s blur the lines and not use those words just yet.

Vessel and crew enjoyed a pleasant sail 14nm to Flamingo Cay. Flamingo is shorter but fatter than Water Cay with an ample deep notch or bight at its north end; great place to anchor when the wind lacks a northerly component. S/v Free Bird had the choice spot right off the beach and we anchored a respectful distance away. Joanne and John greeted us via kayak and gave us the low-down on paths and snorkeling. I can’t be positive but I think Free Bird helped us back in Oct 2010 during our first lock experience at the Great Bridge Lock.

Getting ourselves ready and the dinghy launched seemed to take forever, but we wasted no time in getting ourselves to the beach.

The rest of this plane was in the water nearby but not much remained

The rest of this plane was in the water nearby but not much remained

Shells were in short supply but I picked up a huge purple sea fan; a perfect land-home decoration or a strainer in a pinch 🙂

The largest sea fan I've seen and being purple I had to have it

The largest sea fan I’ve seen and being purple I had to have it (note you can see bottom in 12ft of water)

A path of sorts- most of it requiring a youthful dose of balance on wobbly iron-shore boulders over to the ocean side where we were surprised to find shrub and grass-covered rolling hills. Maybe not equal to what you are picturing in your mind, but for the Bahamas, a reasonable facsimile.

I nearly ruined my sandals for this view

I nearly ruined my sandals for this view

Over at the west end of the beach was a path over to the anchorage and beach on the Cay’s west side. Free Bird told us we find several large ponds with red shrimp along the way. Apparently red shrimp are the diet of the pink flamingos who no longer reside on Flamingo Cay… or so my research indicates.

Paths are usually marked in a similar fashion; with sandals, cairns or plastic bottles and floats hung from branches

Paths are usually marked in a similar fashion; with sandals, cairns or plastic bottles and floats hung from branches

This path was well marked with cairns and flip flops

This path was well-marked with cairns and flip-flops

 

The ocean-fed red shrimp holes- the distant one was loaded, not so much the others

The ocean-fed red shrimp holes- the distant one was loaded, not so much the others

 

The sun did not co-operate for a decent photo of the red shrimp

The sun did not co-operate for a decent photo of the red shrimp

By afternoon we’d packed in beach and path walking twice, snorkeling (aka lobster hunting and where Russ was chased by a menacing barracuda) and make tentative plans with Free Bird to hunt for lobsters near the southern tip of Flamingo Cay. The wind picked up a bit which brought the nearby ocean waters in for an uncomfortable swell, so we opted to move over to the Two Palms anchorage on the west side, figuring the swell would be less. Stay tuned and find out.

 

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Jumpin’ Jumentos! : Perils at Water Cay

Heading west with Hog Cay off to the right

Heading west with Hog Cay off to the right

“Be Prepared”. The wise Boy Scout motto applies also to cruisers, travelers, and just about everyone alive I guess. When cruising outside the U.S. or Canada which for us means, “in the Bahamas”, one must think two steps ahead of today’s needs and desires. Chances are the ONE time you don’t plan ahead will be the one time you end up SOL, or close enough for a stinky whiff.

This little ditty is about our intrepid cruisers, Russ and Lori, aboard s/v Ortolan, accompanied by water taxi m/v Bunting, as they take a chance and make it happen further south than they’ve ever ventured before.

Sunday and the 8:30am cruisers’ Net compliments of Mike, not only with weather and local events but always ends on a happy note with a great joke or funny story. After the weather checking ritual is complete and with at least four days of favorable winds and NO cold front predicted, the captain proposes a short trip down to the northern Jumentos. Time enough to stop at Water Cay and Flamingo Cay… and we know there be lobsters in those waters just waiting to jump in your dinghy.

So, you didn’t get those extra food items at the market yesterday, no cell service to get updated weather and the propane is dangerously low, but hey we can motor-sail and make water on the way. Me thinks that with half the boats having already departed for “somewhere” perhaps the captain felt a tad competitive …. I’m just saying. At 9:40 the 44nm trip to Water Cay commences. The first 15nm is heading back west toward the back side of White Cay and Hog Cay (not the Hog Cay on Long Island) which sit at the tip of the Exuma chain. At the Comer West way point hang a left to head SW toward the Jumentos Cays. The forecast was sun and clouds with rain showers likely. True enough, although more rain was seen off in the distance than rinsed the boat.

The Explorer Chart book has this to say about the Jumentos Cays and Ragged Islands: “Self-reliance is essential… go with plenty of food, water, fuel, medicines and weather-reporting equipment…there are no marinas, no BASRA help, little fresh water and few supplies…ocean swells come around the cays.. the only settlement is tiny Duncan Town with a population around 100.”

If that’s not enough to alarm even experienced cruisers then what would? So why come here? Pristine remoteness, abundant coral reefs, great shelling and well, lobsters. A bit of adventure just to prove you are not simply another chicken in the harbor.

Water Cay is the first place suitable to anchor and when we arrived at 4:20 two cats were anchored with just enough room for us. Virtually no ocean swell and the following day was odd as the wind was low and variable.??????????????????

The next morning the exploration began in earnest. First, we headed toward Little Water Cay which sits just above Water Cay with approx 1/10 mile of water separating the two. Low tide prevented a beach landing and a large swell kept us off a sandy spot further up. ????????????????????????????????

So we turned south to check out the cut through the island and low tide proved to be a blessing for landing the dinghy.????????????????????????????

The distinctive cry of osprey caught our attention; sure enough two osprey ruled their territory and became very unhappy that we’d invaded their space?????????????????????????????????

I took this photo as the angry osprey was intent on forcing us away from his home. They both flew over us, at times quite close. We read the message loud and clear; good thing the shells were on the beach further away from the nest.?????????????????????

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So much for a favorable forecast.  Silly us to believe that “sun” meant “no rain” and certainly no waterspouts!! Shortly after lunch we saw this one about 5nm to our east, moving north.?????????????????????

Two minutes later it had diminished and we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. Right as we spotted the spout (the most fully formed one we’d ever seen) another cat was heading into the area from the south. “Catamarans at Water Cay, water-spout warning” boomed the Scottish voice from s/v Sam the Skull (isn’t that a great name?)  We acknowledged and assured them the spout was heading north (not west toward us).

A short time later, the sky not making any promises, we jumped in our water taxi to check out further south along Water Cay. Not much to see, just an old fishing trawler wrecked up against the rocks, not even in enough water to make a good fish haven. As we turned back, guess what was visible between the island’s small hills? Wouldn’t you know it- another spout- this one closer and way more menacing. Zooming as fast as our puny 8HP outboard (with duo fins assist) could go, we covered the mile+ quickly stopping to warn Sam the Skull who was lobster hunting and had no way to see the spout. As fast as we moved, he beat us to his boat and raised his dinghy.

Oh boy, at this point I’m wondering do we raise anchor and move?  If our Scottish friend does, do we?  If a hard-core cruiser is worried, then I am too. Because of our nearness to shore, the spout was too close to see but we checked the radar to confirm it was indeed less than two miles away, heading north. I guess spouts travel in a straight line pretty much, plus we had land between the anchored boats and the spout. Positive thinking anyway.