Todays blog entry comes straight from the "pen" of our friend Dave Anderson .... hopefully this is the start of a new trend!
0640 Hopetown Harbor, Elbow Cay, Bahamas. Awoken by the smell of coffee brewing and Mike scurrying around with some boat chores. Breakfast (muesli and fruit) in the cockpit a half hour later as the Harbor wakes up, workers arrive on the fast small inter-island ferries, watching other boaters enjoying the morning on their boats. The harbor is snug and friendly but we let go of the mooring at 0816 to navigate the shallow tricky entrance on the last of the rising tide. The Bahamas serve up a classic day for visitors Kathy and Dave Anderson's last day and we go after it all. A short sail south using the Genoa and the diesel brings us outside White Harbor where we drop the hook. The dumb dog gets some TLC with scrub brushes, soap, and bleach, even some patches to repair slow leaks. The dog responds, depositing us on Tahiti Beach. We walk the beautiful beach, and then hike across the razor-sharp surface of the exposed reef around the corner in order to view Tiloo Cut. The cut is awesome. North Atlantic swells break outside on the barrier reef, remnants of yesterday's blow, and the bright sunshine lights up the aquamarine/ green shallows in front of us and also the deeper dark blue waters in the cut. Spray reaches 25' upwards to our perch above the cut as we gaze across the Atlantic. By now the falling tide has exposed the extensive sand flats that project southward from Tahiti Beach. We walk a quarter-mile out on the flats, struck by the shallow and flat topography that is the Bahamas. We search for beach glass, pick up sand dollars and sea biscuits, picking up and then returning the conches gently to the water. Farther south we see that the Ketch that passed us earlier is aground on a sand bank. We feel sorry for her predicament. They keep the mainsail up. The wind pushes her downwind onto the sand, and we realize that its early on a falling tide. She will probably be there from now (1300) to around 2000 tonight when the tide comes back in. With a 360 degree view from the end of the sandbar we appreciate the Bahamas- the narrow cut to our east, the boat aground to the south, gentle winds blowing across the sandbar. Cotinga lies about a half mile to the north, sheltered by Elbow Cay, her maroon hull illuminated by the sun. With all four of us in the dumb dog we head out into the cut to fish. Dave catches a small sand tile fish, but the bigger fish that roam the cut aren't home. The dumb dog takes us back to Cotinga around four. Kathy and Dave head to shore for some snorkling around a breakwater. The breakwater is inhabited by trunkfish, Parrot fish, beautiful but un-welcome lionfish, Angelfish, and schools of nervous fry. Dave finds a grouper-like fish lurking in between the rocks of the breakwater but cannot bring himself to shoot the shy dumb fish. The new Hawaiian sling will have to wait for another day. Mike stays on board for the sea urchin photo-shoot capturing the radial symmetry in the fading afternoon light. The sun sets, Mike prepares an incredible dinner (pork with a glaze of dried cherries and port), and the Kerosene lantern illuminates the cockpit. The rising tide floats the ketch, the moon rises over Elbow Cay around 2000, and another day in the Bahamas comes to an end.
26 30 30.5 N, 76 58 57.4 W
Sand Dollar
Sea urchin
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