ActiveCaptain

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Conception Island- almost paradise, 2/13-2/14

This beautiful island nestled in the Far Bahamas is described in our Explorer Chartbook as”…paradise within paradise in that it is preserved in its primitive natural state as part of the Bahamas National Trust. As more “armadas” of boats escape for a sojourn from the fleet at Elizabeth Harbor and discover the beauty….” The island lays 15nm NE from the tip of Long Island and 50nm from Elizabeth Harbor. The only anchorage in prevailing easterlies (NE – SE) is West Bay and it can hold a generous quantity of boats. Your typical cruising vessel is not the only creature to be drawn in by the magnetic pull of remoteness, crystalline waters, mangrove creeks and long-tailed tropic birds. We were very surprised to find two mega yachts and a stealth-like dark-colored boat the likes you might see in a Bond movie or a futuristic flick. Kinda ruined the primitive natural paradise view of things; until they all departed.

It's a stealth machine, but what's it doing in paradise?

It’s a stealth machine, but what’s it doing in paradise?

The island is perfect for dinghy exploration with miles of interior mangrove creeks to poke around in and simply lose oneself in Mother Nature’s beauty.

We diverted off the central creek to this crystal clear branch

We diverted off the central creek to this crystal clear branch

West Bay faces a long, sandy white crescent beach, ideal for a beach stroll, tented beach party (if you own a mega yacht) and to land your dinghy anywhere you so desire.

Ortolan anchored in gorgeous West Bay, Conception Island

Ortolan anchored in gorgeous West Bay, Conception Island

The day held true to forecast and Ortolan and crew enjoyed a lovely sail at 6kts, two fishing lines out but no bites even though we altered course through the contour lines north of Long Island. About two miles out the watermaker began her job and made us a steady 7 gph for a few hours. That’s our usual M.O. when we can’t run it underway. Have I mentioned we really like our watermaker and don’t see how other cruisers manage without one? Even though we can’t always make water when we want, having the ability to and not having to rely solely on marinas or local water spigots, is a huge plus and allows us more flexibility in planning our itinerary.
Thursday morning we launched the dinghy, checked the anchor like a responsible boater should – heck it’s easy in clear water, impossible when we are not in the Bahamas – and zoomed along the 1 ¼ miles to the mangrove creek entrance.

Just inside the entrance to the interior of Conception Island

Just inside the entrance to the interior of Conception Island

Much of the interior creeks are deep enough to dinghy through any time, but the entrance as well as a few important stretches are best attempted within a couple of hours of high tide. This assumes you know when the tides change. Perhaps I’ll delve into that hot topic another time.
Top priority was to get in and find the green turtle area. A reviewer on ActiveCaptain gave good directions, saying that once in the lagoon one needs to follow the left branch into the deep green section. That sounded simple enough and we only almost messed up once! Sure enough toward the dead-end section to the left, the water was much deeper and greener; best of all, filled with at least a dozen green turtles. Shy ones though and they don’t give you much time to photograph them. We drifted and paddled; using the outboard just enough to keep us off the rocks. One guy was more curious, or just not paying attention because twice he surfaced within 10ft of our bow, looked up at us and dove back down. As if to say, “hey I see you and no you can’t take my picture, so there!” And right he was, but I did manage to track another and caught him as he surfaced.

My best green turtle shot. Good thing the camera is digital!

My best green turtle shot. Good thing the camera is digital!

Green turtle hangout territory

Green turtle hangout territory

A better weather day I could not have wanted; sunny with a high of 80 and just enough breeze to keep me comfortable but not so much that I felt windblown. Another piece of info gleaned from ActiveCaptain was how to get to Babbies Bay over on the ocean side. Now, our chart showed nothing called Babbies Bay but the directions appeared to guide you to a lovely crescent beach that would be ripe for finding sea beans.

Two teeny problems. One, Russ twists his knee as we pull the dinghy up on to the beach. (sure sounds like we need a better method, uh?) Solution: he goes back to ice his knee, leaving me to beachcomb. Second problem: the beach I am on after I cross from West Bay beach to the ocean side, is NOT Babbies Beach. As I get to the southern end of the beach #1 I see that a path continues up some rocks (with a rope for help up) and that must lead to Babbies Beach. (could that be a made up name?) Solution: have water, camera, Tevas- will hike. Yes, me alone.  Another dinghy was beached near ours and I didn’t see anyone nearby so I figured they’d trekked to Babbies and maybe I wouldn’t be totally alone. (wrong)

The path pretty much wound its way close to the edge of the rocky cliffs and one wrong step and I’d be history; a broken shell on the stones below. In places it moved far enough away from the edge and for that I was very happy. Around every bend I hoped to see “the beach.”  Alas no.  After a bit I got to a section where the path was simply the rocky edge, very crumbly and most assuredly one wrong step and I’d be a goner. With someone, maybe. Alone, no way.  The land past there jutted out just enough to prevent my seeing what lay beyond- that darn beach I bet! Hopes dashed- but not my body thankfully, I made my way back-stopping to snap a few photos and thinking I was getting too much sun!

Looking north along the path less traveled- by me!

Heading back north along the path less traveled- by me!

Fortunately, the beachcombing goddess “Seabenia” took pity on me and I easily found several beans and one curious sand crab who didn’t know or care about the time.

Wasn't easy to get this guy and not my shadow too.

Wasn’t easy to get this guy and not my shadow too.

Russ’s knee was not a major disaster- thank goodness, or we’d be in Florida now.  I checked the chart and saw that my hike along the cliffs was at least one half mile. Maybe next time, if those rocks don’t crumble more…

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Trick or Treat

Treats for all!  No tricks, not after Ms Sandy; that was enough. We treated ourselves to a two-night marina stay at Morehead City Yacht Basin after moving from our hurricane hole.

Wednesday was a day of boats on the move; the radio was alive with passing arrangements and comments about swift currents. We kept the VHF on to listen for any problem areas, Coast Guard announcements and get a beat on the whereabouts of boats we knew.

Halloween night was our second night and not only did we treat ourselves to dinner at Floyd’s 1921, but we had trick- or-treaters come to the boat!  Of course I was not prepared, this being a new possibility in the lives of a boat seldom at a dock. We quickly put some of my (confession time) peanut M&Ms in three snack baggies and handed those out. M/V Makara, a captained ninety footer with one woman crew member, was docked behind us and they were prepared with a basket of goodies. The woman confessed that her mom had sent the candy to be sure they had some. Next year I’ll be sure to buy a bag of M&Ms snack size- just in case. 🙂

M/V Makara is way more prepared with treats!

Even cruising kids want to Trick or Treat

Thursday we headed out, hoping that the 65’ highrise bridges would not have too much water under them.  Storm surge and the recent full moon made for very funky tide ranges and currents; no one could accurately plan ahead. Lady Luck was your best bet. Usually, we prefer to make a coastal trip between Beaufort and Wrightsville Beach. Two good inlets and doable in 10 hours- roughly.  Jumping out here avoids having to time the scheduled opening bridges. Unless you want to get going at  o’dark thirty, the average sailing vessel won ‘t make it to Wrightsville anchorage via the ICW in daylight. Conditions weren’t right for a jump outside and we’d been hanging out in NC long enough; so ICW it was.  Using ActiveCaptain, we located a place with good depth (for us that would be between 5 and 10 ft), room for several boats and an easy approach; Sloop Creek.

A few hours into our trip, just north of Swansboro, NC, a monohull (Pearson I guessed) just ahead hailed us. A few seconds before I’d had the binocs on them to see the boat name in case we needed to call them about passing. I put them down quickly when I saw theirs were trained on us. Umm, odd.

The radio comes to life with, “This is the sailing vessel Lutra calling the catamaran behind us.” Did they want us to pass, or not to pass, or maybe they wanted to know what make of cat we were? “Can we switch to 17?” asks a pleasant-sounding female voice. Now comes the classic land neighbor question; you know, the one about borrowing a cup of sugar.  My face must have registered surprise, delight and confusion all in a 30 second time span. The woman on Lutra wanted to know if we could spare two eggs as this was her uncle’s birthday and she wanted to make cookies but realized had no eggs.  Luckily I had plenty, even though Russ had used three to bake Challah bread. How to make a safe transfer? I wrapped the eggs in paper towels and placed them in a plastic (non-zip style) bag leaving a bit of air and secured with a twist tie. Russ didn’t want to snug up too close, therefore an egg toss was out of the question. The boat hook was called into use and we wrapped blue tape around the neck of the bag and I went to the bow for the hook, wrapping the remaining length of tape just before the actual hook.

Eggs, set, go! I am so nervous at this point.

I even did a quick weight test to be sure the tape would hold the bag. The wind had other ideas and when I extended the precious cargo toward Lutra, halfway across the bag was torn off and into the water it went! OMG!   But the bag was floating and Lutra turned around to execute a masterful retrieval.  As this scene is playing out, a small sportfish behind us is being entertained.

Lutra (Sea Otter) goes back for the floating egg bag

A few hours later as we waited for a scheduled opening bridge (the great equalizers) Lutra caught up and passed a bag of chocolate chip cookies to us via boat hook. Lucky for us they approached our stern fairly close and the bag was hooked on to the hook part. Cookies for lunch dessert!

An ICW cookie exchange. Successful pass by Lutra!

Later on we passed along info on our anchorage for the night. A convoy of four boats entered together but all had plenty of room along with a lovely marsh grass view.

You may recall our friends on MoonTide, a beautiful Shannon 53 with a too tall mast. They need 64′ and inches which can be problematic in normal conditions with certain bridges, but post-Sandy was extra ugly.  We came upon them anchored before a highrise bridge that looked to be only 63ft- at low tide. We took it slow, MoonTide watched and reported we cleared with room to spare. That tells us we may only need 62 1/2 ft. Note to selves: next time Benj goes up the mast, have him measure the instruments on top.

After dinner we officially met Patti (Captain of Lutra) and her uncle, Don. Patti is a single-hander who occasionally has company and help along the way from family members or friends. Don’s leg will end in St. Augustine.  Overall, this was a memorable day and a much-needed reminder of why the cruising life is so special.