Eleuthra...so far....4/27/16

At the dock at Davis Harbor Marina

Sailing into Ten Bay

Pizza...

O beata solitudo

Father Jerome, architect/priest left his stamp in the Bahamas with hurricane proof church stonework at Long Island , Nassau, and Cat Island. He chose Mount Alvernia for his retirement hermitage. Mount Alvernia is the Bahamas highest peak. 

The hermitage living quarters and church are very humble and open to walk throughout. On the way up, on the path and stone stairs, are the Stations of Cross and Jesus' tomb replica. 

This is a worthwhile stop & experience,

regardless of your beliefs. These photos are meant to tap your interest but not spoil your own explorations.

Stone stairway up to the hermitage.

One of Jesus' falls -one of many Stations of the Cross

Bell tower, church and living quarters looking wesrward.

Narrow hallways linking rooms and church.

Iemanja seen through a hermitage stone archway

Hermitage White roof peaks seen atop Mount Alvernia. Ernie coming down.

Latin stone carvings and tiles make reference to St Francis of Assisi and the Canticle of the Sun, Father Benedict, and Pope Pius XII as voices of peace and reason. 

Peak Bagging the Bahamas

Stocking Island, Monument: 121.4 ft

Cat Island, Mount Alvernia (aka Comer Hill): 206 ft. Reported as the highest in the Bahamas.

Warderick Wells, Boo Boo Hill: 62.3 ft.

Lee Stocking Island, Perry's Peak: 128 ft. Reported as the highest in the Exumas.

Whew. These were exhausting!

Yet another first for Minnie....

Pineapple Air...Gotta love the name. 

A couple of weeks ago while at Long Island , Minnie the kitty came down with a uti. Urinary tract infection. We did a bit of investigative research and also with the help of some local knowledge and the cruiseheimers net on ssb, were able to get her on a 14 day course of antibiotics which we had on board. We thought we had it licked but 2 nights ago while on the northern end of Cat Island, (how ironic) symptoms returned. We had to do 

some quick planning as we sat in the lee of Pigeon bay. So the slight delay adventure began...up at 0600 on thursday morning for a brisk downwind sail to Eleuthra's south end where we had made arrangements at Davis Harbor Marina to take a dock. Brisk indeed were the winds...20-25 on the stern with 4-6' seas until we rounded the tip of Eleuthra at which point the seas calmed but wind stayed up. Truely a wonderful ride. Into the marina in time to get a rental car. Friday morning once again off we drove on the left side of the road for the airport at Rock Sound. A 0710 flight got the three of us to Nassau in time for the 0900 opening of the vet clinic. Dr Sands and her staff went out of their way to do some tests, make a diagnosis and have us back in the taxi by 1200 to the airport which is where sit now.... waiting to return to Iemanja. 

Minnie enjoying the view from before takeoff.  

With some weeks ahead of us before we once again make landfall stateside, we both felt it best to make sure Minnie was healthy enough to continue.  We hope to have it this time. 

Cat Island

We arrived here to Cat Island a couple of days ago now and have enjoyed a very quiet anchorage. There have been 2 to 3 boats coming and going but for the most part we have a very large and deep...9' consistent ...all to ourselves. 

We had departed GT at 1630 on a forecasted E to SE breeze, light and variable but with a GRIB outlook of overnight 8-12 so off we went. At around 2200' the wind indeed did not disappoint us and we enjoyed a close reach...winds at about 60deg off the bow....for 4-5 hours before it got light and squirrelly once again. On came the engine and we eased our way forward so as to arrive after sunrise. Once again there was no rush for us so we took our time, short watches for both of us.

Sunrise over Cat Island.

Anchor down at 0830 and a short nap before we enjoy the rest of the day with reading and puttering on the boat. Had a terrific hike in the afternoon up to the highest point in the Bahamas...Como Hill.

This is also the location of The Hermitage which was the retirement desire of Father Jerome. More on this incredible person and his impact on the islands of the Bahamas in the next post.

Today is Tuesday and we will pick up anchor to move 4 miles SE of our present location. Likely to be less than an hour sail in perfect trades from the east. Hope to enjoy dinner ashore tonight at a place called Rolleezzz Resort. Carl Rollee is well known for his warm friendly smile and amazing Bahamian hospitality.

 

Ok....been out too long...

......as I reply to Bette this morning...."check in my clobet for that".....

Ok what the heck is a clobet?.....why of course it's a closet which is a combination of closet and cabinet.....everyone knows that....lol...

Regatta time in Georgetown Exumas

It's been a few days since our last posting from Georgetown. While in GT, we had the fun of enjoying the Bahamas Junior Championship Regatta. All I can say is...organized chaos...lol. Everyone has such a fun time....kids, parents, race committee, spectators..that it's a wonder that they get off any races at all. Now any of you that have been involved in running sailboat races know that at best it's always a challenge to get off a bunch of good races to make up a regatta.  Well down here the word fun takes on a whole new meaning and when you add this to the mix....well you get organized chaos...

E class boats with the rules being 12' long, mast of 22' and boom of 8'....as long as those three things are met, anything else goes so there is a bit of difference...not much between the boats.

Also Sunfish one design. Well you can't mess with rules too much on these boats...

Skippers meeting

I think these guys were the ones to beat. There boat also looked slightly different but clearly within the rules.

The story behind this very entertaining picture. The officer on the bow of the E boat started out on his own police boat with a passenger.... Unknown if the passenger knew how to drive the boat. As the police boat slowly left the dock, he got his prop tangled in one of the E boats at anchor. To free the mess, he ended up crawling very carefully off his own boat and on to a very shaky bobbing 12' springboard. Now the guy on the powerboat was apparently not a boater at heart so here is the policeman on the bow of the sailboat patiently trying to direct his passenger back to him without A...not messing up the police boat, B ....not crunching the sailboat and C....not falling in the water which in front of the entire spectator group would not have been acceptable at all. True to form all did work out well and as you can see the officer did not loose his dignity or pride...