Turks and Caicos to Florida Part 1

Right Turn
Mike Goldsmith & Kate Richmond
Tue 31 Mar 2015 02:21

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos to Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

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We get in to Mayaguana too early in the morning to get through the reef satisfactorily so we hove-to for a couple of hours to wait for the sun up. The anchorage gets a bit uncomfortable during the morning as we start to pitch. Decision made to move on and try our luck at Plana Cay, having crossed the Tropic of Cancer. We’ve started wearing our fleeces again! Paul has hurt his shoulder so we will wait till tomorrow before making plans, maybe a lay day is overdue. 

Crooked Island

Paul seems to be fit enough to move on as, now, this anchorage is getting a bit rolly. We leave  for Crooked Island, apparently it has shops so Norma can buy her next nicotine hit! If not, we have some cigarettes we bought as baksheesh in Tunisia 8 years ago!!

clip_image004  Spectra trying to overtake us!                                   

Sundowners while we watch Spectra anchoring! That done, they head over to us for beers, milk and cigarettes!

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Georgetown

We arrive in quite strong winds although the wind has been fickle overnight. As Spectra are anchoring 3 dolphins wander round our boat and then over to theirs to check them out.

clip_image012       Spectra                                                                         

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Dinghy excursion ashore to check out the markets, not a lot going on and, what there is, is very expensive! Back to Spectra for sun-downers.

 

We all go ashore in Arty Too, our dinghy, with empty gas containers to drop them off and lunch at the EYC (Exuma Yacht Club)

 

Its “Repair the Sprayhood again Day!” (whenever it goes back on, another seam opens!), staysail cover, dinghy cover and various flags repaired, including the RTYC pennant which is disintegrating and I’ve repaired with some fabric left over from Spectra’s lee-cloths. Also lots of repairs to Spectra’s staysail sacrificial strip – patches on patches, but, hopefully, these should last them a while.

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2 months use a few years back and 3 weeks this season!              Repaired, kind of!

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                            How the OCC do it!                                         Spectra’s sail, ready for collection

The live-aboard Americans here fill up VHF Channel 16 with mindless chatter but today was a classic. Little girl calls up her friend to see if she can go to play. Friend’s Mom answers, sorry no, she’s doing her schoolwork. Then, obviously decides that little girl is a bit dejected, launches into cheery mode. “What’s your Mom doing?” Child mumbles something. “Sorry, what did you say?” Child replies “she’s shaving her legs!” Mindless, all on a channel where someone’s possibly trying to get a “Mayday” call in because he’s sinking and can’t get heard because Mom’s shaving her legs!

 

Little Farmer’s Cay

We were out of the anchorage by 8.30 but a slow start even with strong winds as the lazy jacks chose this moment to detach themselves. Cracking sail, spoilt only by losing a very large mahi-mahi as it flipped itself off the deck and back into the water taking our last hook with it! Mike had spent ages and a lot of energy getting it in so we are very glum! It’s always a bit of a challenge coming into the cut at Little Farmer’s Cay and we rolled hugely on big seas to get in. I thought it would be a great pic of Spectra following us in rolling heavily but, looking back out, the sea looks very benign. They were doubly hampered by catching a large barracuda as they came in which we’ve told them to chuck back in – it’s a reef fish and may have ciguatera. Not sour grapes, honestly Paul! Commiserations all round but sorrows drowned over sundowners on RT!

clip_image024  3’ mahi-mahi gets away        

 

Big Major’s Spot

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Leisurely morning ashore at Little Farmer’s Cay, reintroducing ourselves to Terry from the Ocean Cabin. Not a bad view from his bar where we managed a beer! (He used to live in Hythe with his 2nd wife Ms Moneypenny!)  

 

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     Terry with his new sign afer hurricane destroyed the last one!

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              Old dinghy dock                                 New dinghy dock                           Odd couple in dinghy!

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                                   Some sort of ray                 Go get a couple of notions for supper, darling!

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             Preparing conch supper on the beach                  Picked up from the beach (Shop charges $30!)

     

We get back to the boats to try and catch the high tide over the bank so we don’t have to go back out into the ocean through the scary cut. Spectra follow but it soon becomes apparent there just isn’t enough water to get through. So we both turn round and head out through scary Farmer’s Cut, wallow about in big seas for an hour and enter through the next, even scarier (wind against tide), Dotham Cut. Sail in very shallow, very turquoise, water round the bank for another hour and encounter a pair of dolphins playing round the bow.

  clip_image046  clip_image048                                Play-time!

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Lovely clipper raises it’s sails by hand and, without the engine, leaves the anchorage. We anchor right next door to another British boat, Carousel, we’d met earlier this season somewhere. Bill & Sarah from Moonlight Serenade call by to say hello as they are fellow OCC members and see our OCC flag.

 

8.30 dinghy start to go to see the swimming pigs before any of the tourist boats get there and stuff them so full they won’t swim. As it is, only one is going to brave the water responding to the rustle of the plastic bag full of scraps.

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 Action shot: bit of pineapple flying through the air!

 

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  Staniel Cay Yacht Club cottages for rent, yes please!                     Their bougainvillea wall

We find a couple sitting on benches by the roadside getting free Wi-Fi, so that job’s done. There are now 2 grocery stores so we did a bit of expensive provisions shopping. Back to the dinghies to go home but a certain someone, ran out of fuel! Luckily they are highly valued members of Goldrich Tours tow service! Also very lucky we hadn’t done our usual thing and forged on ahead otherwise we would never have spotted them. Sundowners on RT with Spectra and Steph and Andrew from Carousel. Amazing coincidence, they had tried to buy Spectra at the time Norma and Paul bought her! Great evening.

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 Dark blob in the water is a small sand shark         Goldrich Tours tow service in action.

 

Full of good intentions, we head over to Thunderball Grotto to snorkel inside but, once over there and in the water, it proves too difficult for me to swim against the current and it’s also too strong for either Mike or Paul to get inside the grotto. Hilarious getting Norma and me back into the dinghies though!

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We’ve finished our boat name sign ready to leave on Boo Boo Hill with a bit of wood rescued from the skip from San Juan Marina’s new dock. The idea is to only use reclaimed wood and no paints on a pile of other boat names in the Exuma Park. Shame I wrote RIHGT in marker pen! Lots of rum punch aboard Spectra for farewell sundowners as they leave to get their visas in Nassau tomorrow.

 

Highlight of the day, a sea-plane landing in the anchorage to take privileged guests to see the swimming pigs!

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New friends made on the beach for sundowners with Nimue and Blue Beyond while we watch the green flash sundown. We do the Temple Net on the SSB with Norma at 8am (they’re safe in Norman Cay) and then set off to the Thunderball Grotto as it’s pretty much low water. Great snorkel in the cave but, sadly, pics were mostly blurred as I can’t have my glasses on under the snorkel and mask!

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The new rope ladder works well to get me back into the dinghy, not quite as undignified as Mike hauling me in by the bikini bottoms! Thanks, Paul, now we have a ladder each Mike has made from your bigger one. Followed by lunch ashore at the “Yacht Cluband a lovely Mother’s Day set of photos from Hannah on Facebook, made me well up! Thanks, darling.

 

Pipe Cay

We left at 8.50am for Pipe Cay, hardly any wind so gentle sail with just the headsail gets us anchored by 11am. Met Nimue there and Karen and Dave from Blue Yonder and a couple of other boats and we all joined up for sundowners on the beach. The Temple Net is not working very well! We could hear Norma but she can’t hear us. Tried both channels, no luck. Will email tomorrow as there is a shortage of petrol for the dinghy here and they might want to fill up before they leave Nassau.

 

8am start for a walk up to the highest point of the island (not very high!) with Nimue and Val and Lisa from Pearl.

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Ospreys nesting on top of the defunct nav mark for the Decca radio station that used to be here.

 

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         Very unlikely on this deserted island!                                          Massive lobster skull

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   Pipe Cay Yacht Club!     View up to roof of PCYC!                   RT from the roof of PCYC

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The view from the roof of the PCYC

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