Monday, February 19, 2018 - Layover at Big Majors Cay (Staniel, Exumas)

One of the things that's making my trip to the Bahamas more enjoyable is that I feel like my learning curve is leveling out.  The number of "unknowns" is getting smaller all the time.  For example:

1.      I'm getting to be more comfortable with navigating the shallow areas of the western side of the Exumas,

2.      Getting and feeling I can rely on weather forecasts

3.      The routine of anchoring

4.      Communications (voice and data)

5.      The boat and boat systems.  Things are working well - no breakdowns recently and I'm getting to know what to expect (water, power usage etc.).  I'm now at the "fine tuning" stage.

Today was an outside boat work day.  I had a number of deck fittings that still had the butyl tape that had ozzed out from when I bedded them 2 years ago.  I cleaned all those off and they look so much better.  I lubricated the zippers I had not done a couple weeks ago. 

As forecasted, the wind blew all day.  I'm at anchor behind a long shorline of fairly tall (40 to 50 foot) bluffs.  When wind is obstructed by land, it makes it much more variable in strength. In stead of getting a steady 20 knots, you will get 10 or 15 seconds of 10 knots followed by 10 to 15 seconds of 25 knots.  It's actually nice to get some periodic breaks in the noise caused by the rigging. 

The other day, I was on the phone with Bruce and he asked me how many boats were in the Black Point Anchorage (this is a huge anchorage that will hold 50 boats, easily). I counted and told him 10.  He was surprised since the number is usually much larger.  The next morning, at around 10 am, there were only 4.  Now, I know why the numbers were so low.  The boats are all up here at Big Majors.  Big Majors is a pretty large cay (maybe a mile N-S and 3/4 mile E-W).  Like Black Point, it has a very large anchorage (on the West side).  The pig beach is near the south end and there are two smaller beaches at the north end.  Off all three beaches and in between, there must be 50 boats.  About 3/4 are trawlers or large motor yachts.  The remainder of them are sailboats.  When I first arrived, I anchored off Pirate's Beach - the south most north beach.  I realized quickly that I was near a number of "party boats" and moved south a little.  Where I am now is much better.  Also, as I look around, I'm surrounded by Canadian boats - every single one. So much for demographics.

We had some (for me) welcome rain yesterday afternoon and evening.  Nothing major - just 3 or 4 squalls that came through over a 2 o3 hour period that did a nice job of washing some of the salt off the boat.