Berrys & Andros Islands

Dec 21st
We left Lucaya at 4 am in route to (Berry Islands) Great Harbour Cay ( as they are pronounced key) 54 Nautical Miles. The cold front had finally passed and we had our next window to finally head south a bit further and get away from marina’s. The last one we stayed at was called Sunrise as it use to be Running Mon. Marina. At .65 cents a foot being a boat US member it was hard to beat for a few days. We were at anchor up in the Grand Bahama lagoons with 3 other boats and the police came and rousted us out of there. What we were thinking is that the marina’s are so slow and very few boats in them that they were trying to help them out for business. The trip over to Great Harbor was of little excitement as it was a slow motor sail over. Great Harbour is between Little Stirrup Cay and Great Harbour Cay and both cays are leased by Norwegian Cruise lines. We were anchored on the other side of where the cruise ships were but we could still see the tops of them anchored on the other side. During the day we sat and watched many jet ski’s and kayaker’s tool around the islands.


Dec 22nd
The next day we were off to Devils Cay with the same 4 boats that we were anchored by. This was one of the first days that we have actually sailed. Yes know it is hard to believe and we got our first fish. One of 2 actually along with many hits that we missed. Not like the Great Lakes where I know what most fish are. Here it is OK get the fish book out and try and figure out what the hell we got. Even then we still had not a positive idea. Taking a few pictures of it does help but our friends on Polar Pacer were not sure either. Some of the fish have what is called Ciguatera poisoning which will make you very sick or death even. So we were thinking it was a Crevalle Jack. But not sure we chucked the meat overboard.

Dec 23rd
Devils Cay to Frazer Hog cay. It was almost a repeat day of the 22nd but Randy had come down with a cold that we have both shared now and was very run down but we decided to move further south as we had great sailing weather again. Only thing we did not do was fish as he did not feel like cleaning fish today. The new main sail is finally working great and we notice a big difference. Running a constant 6.5 to 7 knots fully loaded was not to bad we figured. We finally felt yea this is what we came for. Sun great weather and sailing in blue water. This was totally different then when we got beat up coming out of NY along the NJ coast line. It is funny what a few months and few thousand miles under your belt will do. We have learned so much over the last few months and thankful to many cruisers that have guided us and gave us many tips and hints.

Dec 24th thru 28th
We have taken up a mooring ball at Berry Island club for a couple of days as listening to Chris Parker on the ssb in the mornings. We are in for quite a blow as it is predicted that we could have gust up to 50 knt as this will be our first real bad weather that we have encountered. There are 8 mooring balls there and 4 were taken. Xmas eve night a couple of the boats decided to go into Berry Islands club and have a few drinks. Well you know how that goes. We ended up staying around 4 hours as there was a party for a man that was leaving to become a custom officer. So we ended up playing domino's and talking with many of the locals and just having a great time. Xmas day We had a potluck with 3 boats outside the Berry Islands Club with Telisa ( a British boat) Polar Pacer (Canadian Boat) and Mutual Fun. Later Julie (Canadian) came in to join us. This was the first Xmas that Jeannie and I were away from family and it was sure different.

With the cold front upon us all we could do is listen to xm radio and hear how it was impacting the states. We had no wifi and I was dyeing to see how big the cold front was. We knew it was massive as it was affecting people down into the Caribbean as well. The days prior to the storm coming we a few of us dove down to check out the mooring blocks and how well they were. Lucky us they had just put in 8 new 3000lb concrete blocks and new line. But a few of us added an extra line to the block just for more safety encase something broke. The highest we has seen wind wise was just over 40kts. For a few days all we did was just talk and listen on the vhf and ssb radios seeing how others were faring.

Dec 29th thru Jan 2d
The front finally came thru and a high was upon us so off we went to Andros Island. It was a distance of 20.1 nm and it was the first time we had actually sailed off the mooring ball in a long time. We got to sail almost the whole distance to Andros. Which was a welcome change. Before we got out of the shallow water ( 6 to 10 ft) we had to get the fishing lines out and behind the boat. Down here I am learning a whole lot more about how to fish for salt water fish. Like little hook little fish, big hook big fish, Red & Black Wahoo attack, Green Green fishing machine.
So Yea I have been using blue squids and been doing very well on Snapper and Jacks. We had not had the lines in the water more then 10 minutes and fish on. 20 min later a 33 inch Cubera snapper. So we had to call Polar Pacer who was ahead of us just to brag that we had a fish on. Dang he had one as well that they were fighting. So fish it was for the next few nights. As we were arriving to Morgan’s Bluff one of the water tankers that services Nassau was leaving the harbor. Polar pacer had contacted him via vhf radio and as we listened in we heard that he was carrying 3 million gallons of water to Nassau. His turn around time was just over 24 hours there and back. Morgan’s Bluff supplies Nassau with a big percentage of there drinking water as it has one of the biggest natural aquifers around this area as they have been pumping this many and even more gallons for 10’s of years. In Morgan’s Bluff there is a inner harbor that is used by the mail boats and a ferry boat that is on weekly schedule kind of. It is a small well protected harbor where you could ride out anything. As Telisa, Polar Pacer and Mutual Fun coming into the inner harbor.
We all made our way one by one into the inner harbor and eventually ended up rafting 6 boats all med mor style. We found out that the harbor had been dynamited out to be made. Over the next few days we made some new friends with Kevin and Hazel from Australia and Willger from Sarnia Ont There is a local bar right here less then 100 yards from us called Wet Willies and if you like your music loud, this is the place. Telisa only stayed one night as the first night we arrived they were open till around 1 am with the same 20 songs playing over and over. Then one of the night was karaoke night. Not sure which night was the worst of the 2. But they were not driving us away that easy. We ended up splitting the rental on a car for 2 days to see some of the island and doing some laundry and a few other things. Now we are finding out that it is always a new experience here in the Bahamas’ in doing laundry. But we are very grateful for being here and able to experience this lifestyle that many here live. The thing that is very impressive to me is they all seem very happy and friendly. One of the stops we made while having the car was at the Pineville Motel. It had wifi for price, $5 hr or $10 for 3 hours. So we got the 3 hour package Yea I know we did not have any posting ready for our Blog either. Sorry, but we did manage to make a few skype calls and look over our bills and catch up on a few things. We had over 300 emails and no way can we get to them all being on limited wifi. While both of us got caught up on some of our needed wifi we found out that New Years night they had a rake and scrape band playing at the Pineville Motel as Eugene the owner told us he would come and pick us up if we came back that night. So off we went. It was slow night but Eugene is a very enterprising guy. He has owned the Pineville motel just about 8 years and he has done very well with. He does a lot of work with the young kids in the area and the schools and so much more.
He has a petting zoo that is used for the kids as a reward for doing well in school. It is truly something all has to see and experience. In good way to! He has a bar, and serves buggers and dogs as well. He has 8 rooms and each room is done in a different decor . Now remember your in the Bahamas’ mon! The whole place was very clean as we were both impressed as we went the Aussie couple, Kevin and Hazel and Tom and Chris The van that the 6 of us were picked up in has a set of big double speakers up on the roof for a PA system that Eugene of Pineville Motel uses to advertise.
Also it has a large sliding roof that opens. Now add beer and 6 adults and what do you get. On the way back home we were all singing on the PA and someone named Hazel was standing up thru the sliding roof going down the road. One of our other side trips we took was down to Fresh Creek which is on the eastern side of Andros Island.We had thought about sailing there but instead we took the rental car and looked it over. Good thing as there is not a lot of area to anchor and lots of current,6kts
Jan 4th
We are headed to the Exumas now as we are sitting currently on the s/w side of New Providence Island. We will be out of wifi for a while as it is getting hard to find. All is well and the fuel tank is holding up so far. On the way over to New Providence Island Polar Pacer landed a 40 inch Wahoo so we had fish dinner once again last night.Mutual Fun was fish less today. Now we are on the banks and will be in less then 20 ft of water for a few months now as it is very blue and and we are like kids looking all over the place as we cruise.