Just happened to catch this rainbow in Blackpoint Settlement
More Fire is one of the C Class boats that Blackpoint races in the Bahamian Sloop Races.
Pretty Penny in Blackpoint Anchorage
One morning I woke up at 4:30 and could not sleep. I decided to get up and make jewelry, so I was up for dawn - a rare occurrence for me. I had to ask Bob what that strange "glow" was in the sky! Here is an early morning shot of the anchorage that morning.
Anchorage at dawn
Blackpoint is sort of the "bedroom" community of this groups of islands. Since I was up early, I was able to catch "rush hour" as several boats loaded with folks left Blackpoint before and shortly after dawn headed out to Staniel Cay, Sampson Cay, Fowl Cay, Over Yonder Cay, Bell Island, and Compass Cay. Some work construction, others work various jobs at local marinas and resorts.
The water was so clear you could count the blades of sea weed on the bottom.
Something you won't see many of on this blog - a photo to daybreak!
Our next stop was back to Sampson Cay to wait out another blow. I took this photo just because I liked it.
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Sea Doo at Sampson Cay
Pretty Penny at the Sampson Cay Marina before the wind blew - you can see the wind generator isn't moving at all.
Narrow entrance to the marina. Some really large mega-yachts come through this narrow channel.
One of the small houses for rent at the Sampson Cay Resort and Marina on the lagoon.
Bob enjoying the Gazebo at one of the lovely beaches on Sampson Cay
Bob's view from the Gazebo
We watched this little boat in the anchorage just outside of Sampson Cay get bounced around a lot through the wind storm. Glad we were inside tied up to the dock.
As I've mentioned earlier in this blog, our good friend Shirley on Cat's Paw is back in Florida fighting cancer this year. As several of Shirley's cruising friends were at Sampson Cay, we got together and met in the Sampson Cay Restaurant and did a Skype call to Shirley, including members of the staff that all know Shirley as well. We had a great time talking with Shirley.
Friends of Shirley and Mac lined up to talk with her over the computer.
Look close - it is a ray that was circling the boat.
Chickens fed behind the restaurant and Sampson Cay. You have to really look to see them as they blend in so well.
We moved out of Sampson to a spot known locally as "between the majors." It is a small anchorage between Big and Little Major Cays. While there, I got out my binoculars and spotted our friends from home, Mike and Polly on Chinook. Bob invited them to a happy hour on the boat with Rita-Kay and Clay on Carleigh and we decided to do it "topside" as it was cooler there. Turned out that they had mutual friends back in Virgina - it's a small world.
This year, Bob decided to add some dry deck mats on the aft deck. What we didn't realize was that the door would not open fully with the mats in place. We asked our friend Butch on Staniel that owns a home there if he could help Bob cut the door and make it shorter. Butch graciously helped Bob and even added some teak he had that finishes the door off nicely. Thanks to Butch we can now fully open our aft door again!
Our new teak bottom door!
We often take out dinghy out to Sandy Cay to spend the day with out lunch and books. Can't ask for nicer days than that.
Our dinghy at Sandy Cay - notice the new seats that Bob added this year.
We were also surprised one day to hear our friends on Pirate arrive in the anchorage. Jim and Janie live on the West coast of Florida and brought their Hatteras over to the Bahamas. Jim's sister was with them for a week with her friend.
Rita-Kay, Janie, Jim's sister, and me at Sampson Cay
Bob, Clay, Jim, and Jim's sister's friend at Sampson Cay
While at Staniel one day, a sailboat went aground just off the Staniel Cay Yacht Club on a reef. Anytime you see a mast at an angle and it doesn't move - that isn't a good thing. Luckily there were several boats that came to rescue the sailboat. Although this reef is marked on the charts, there is no marker in the water and boats often go aground there. The local company that does salvage does not want a marker to be put there as it provides them with plenty of business! The US Coast Guard would never let that happen.
Sailboat aground off the Yacht Club at Staniel Cay
One day our friend Sarah suggested I meet some women visiting her neighbor that called themselves the "Conch Queens." They all bought some earrings I make with a small conch shell!
Me with the lovely Conch Queens
I had to fly back to Northern VA for a doctors appointment. I take "Flamingo Air" a 10 passenger well-used airplane back to Nassau then US Air to National Airport.
This is the pilot on Flamingo Air. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get as many good photos from the air as I did last year. But those photos are still on the blog and you can locate them if you want to see the Staniel, Blackpoint, Farmers Cay areas by air.
Photo of Staniel from the air
I stayed with my daughter Mindy and her family while in Northern VA. They had just gotten a new Mastiff puppy they have named Guido. They are sure cute as pups - Guido will grow to be 200 pounds! He is 10 weeks old in this photo.
Guido
I also got a chance to see my grandchildren Becky and Jake at their Martial Arts practice. Both win awards for their efforts. Interestingly several of the girls in their class are redheads like Becky and we wonder if that occurs a lot.
Becky at practice
I got to shop and bring back more beads for jewelry-making while in the states. One thing I guess I didn't think about was how heavy those darn beads are! Plus Bob has several things on his list for me to get as well. I ended up buying a duffle bag (in addition to the rolling bag I had brought) to carry all the stuff back.
It was great to see family, but also good to be back in the warm weather away from the "frozen north!" I was also tickled to hear that our friends Dee and Ed on Sea Fox X had finally caught up with us and arrived in the anchorage just as Bob was coming to pick me up from the airport on Staniel!
Super Bowl Sunday, Janie on Pirate stopped by the boat with a great idea for earrings to wear to the Super Bowl Party at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Using yellow craft foam, we made several pairs of "cheese" earrings (obviously to root for the Packers).
Janie in her "cheesy" earrings!
Dee's cousin Donna, Me, Dee, and Rita-Kay, in our "cheesy" earrings!
Donna's husband Bill, Bob, Ed, and Clay at the Super Bowl Party at the Yacht Club - sorry I didn't make them earrings as we thought they were "cheesy" enough.
This is my candidate this year for "Most Unusual Boat." It appears to be one of those cruise ship life boats. Not sure I would have wanted to cross the Gulf Stream in that.
We are currently staying in the Staniel area as we await return of a bad solar panel charge controller and another shipment of mail. As soon as we receive those, we will look for a window and head south to the George Town area to spend the rest of February. In the meantime, tomorrow we will go to Blackpoint Settlement to do laundry and have dinner at Lorraine's Cafe with Dee, Ed, Bill, and Donna on Sea Fox X before returning to Staniel later in the week.
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