Long Cay, Crooked Island, Bahamas

 We were a bit tuckered after the overnite....it's just that your sleep is interrupted so the next day never feels quite right.....

 We anchored right in the middle of a vast amount of coral near the shore.  Time for a snorkel.  The coral was not the prettiest we've seen but there was lots of life.

 

A school of what I think are ballyhoo.

 

We're the only ones for miles....

 

One very nice lobster.

 After a shower and a nap....a pretty sunset.

 

Long Cay, Crooked Islands, Bahamas

 We went for one last hike on Hog Cay....enjoyed the pretty ragged scenery because we won't see much of that on Crooked/Acklins where we're heading.

 

Sojourn all alone in our little bay.

We lifted anchor in the afternoon and staged near the cut for a 3pm departure.  This will put us near Crooked Island a little after daybreak.

 

 

 Out the cut near the government dock...it was an outgoing tide against a small easterly wind so just a little swell tossing the boat a bit.

 

 

Light winds, one motor on...sunset.

 

And before we knew it, sunrise!

 

We'll likely take a nap to catch up and explore a bit later.

Once the sun was up, we had no problem anchoring amongst the many little coral heads.  Looking forward to some snorkeling here as it's new to us!

Just off the back of the boat looking into the sun reflecting the wavelets in gin-clear water.  That's looking thru 15' of water (deeper than we normally anchor but there are too many coral heads here to get safely closer to shore and shallower water).

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Last day in the Raggeds for a while!  Did some chores in the morning...washed a big load of clothes and tidied up the boat a bit.  

Maxine came over from Duncan Town with a bit of fresh veggies off the mailboat to sell to the cruisers.  Very nice of her!

I scored a $10 dozen of eggs and $10 pkg of romaine lettuce plus a few tomatoes and limes - yay!  

 

We sat around in the cruiser hut for a while chatting....our last chat for now in the Raggeds as we will leave tomorrow morning for Crooked/Acklins Islands.

Took a nice long walk in the evening.  I made some chili and potato salad to have ready for the overnight trip since I won't likely want to do any galley work at sea.  

The winds have lowered significantly and we expect that we'll probably have to have a motor on the entire 90 miles.

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 We had gotten a little tired of the constant wind-driven motion of the boat up at Buena Vista Cay so we pulled anchor and had a lovely sail south back to Hog Cay.

A couple of the other boats in the anchorage had the same idea.  This one used diesel, we did not.

The 13 mile trek with just the jib took over 4 hours.  Very windy - 26 knots of wind at times but we were sailing very close to the wind.  Fun outing and over 18 miles across the ground.  (yellow line is our actual track as we tacked back and forth).

We did have time for a nice walk....beautiful seas but it shows how windy it still is!

 

We're all alone in Lobster Hole....30 boats over in the main anchorages though!

 

Back to the boat for a calmer night!

Buena Vista Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 It was a windy day....and we didn't make it off the boat.  Just spent the day reading.  I'm currently reading Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout.  It's the 4th in a loosely related series - not sure I'm enjoying this one as much as the others.....

Only photo of the day - at sunset - the moon, Venus and Jupiter align!

 

 

Buena Vista Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 We made another loaf of bread in the morning and made almost 100 gallons of water.....

In the afternoon we went for a walk armed with clippers and saws to do some trail maintenance behind Edward's house.

The vegetation wants to grow into the open areas quickly, so trimming is necessary.

 

Better but still could use some work in places.  We trimmed for about an hour in the hot sun before calling it off.

Walked the windy ocean side for a while.

Nice day but will be windy for the next few.

Buena Vista Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 We got back in the water for a nice snorkel.  The seas were still pretty churned up with the strong east winds....but we made the best of it.  Good exercise swimming against a current!

 

I'm always trying to get a good photo of a parrot fish....they bend and curve and swim too fast though!

 

I just love the vibrant colors!

 

The reef was just teaming with life.

 

This green turtle was napping....but I woke him up swimming overhead.

 

Off he went...

 

 Duane speared 3 lobsters!

 

 

Back at the boat, I cleaned the antennae and legs.

 

Vacuum packed for later use in a salad or sauce. Very yummy part of the lobster.

 

Later in the day it was laundry time....breezy conditions dried the clothes in just a few minutes.

And late in the evening a US Coast Guard helicopter flew low over the anchorage checking out all the boats!

I made some yummy garlic-lemon-cheesy sauce for pasta.  I had mine with lobster and I sauteed some chicken for Duane's.  

Watched another quirky episode of the British series Vera, lulled to sleep by gentle waves slapping the hulls.

Buena Vista Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 We decided it was time for another change in scenery....so we pulled up the anchor and had a lovely sail 13 miles north to Buena Visa Cay.  As we sailed past the anchorage there were still 25 boats at Hog Cay!  Time to get a little seclusion.

There were 4 other boats at Buena Vista when we arrived mid-afternoon but a couple of them left - so there are just 3 boats here now - plenty of space!

Took a long walk in the late afternoon.  Edward's house appears a bit different since we saw it last year.  Looks like someone has been removing the roof.

 

And oddly, they've cleaned up some of the underbrush beside the house.  Strange.

 

We walked the pathway over to the ocean side and decided to walk back all the way around the southern tip of the island along the rocky coast.

 

It was interesting and took a while since we had to be careful with every footstep.

 

After about 3 miles on the hike, back to the boat!  Just beautiful here!

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 I forgot to show you the desert I made for the party yesterday.....just my normal cinnamon rolls.  I made them slightly smaller than usual because I assumed folks wouldn't want a big hand-sized sweet after a big meal!  Dough rising before baking.

 

All done and ready for a sprinkling of icing.  They were snatched up quick at the party!

 

We're slowly deciding where to go next.....couldn't decide to leave so we just took another nice long walk.  Walked up on a goat family on the beach.

 

A little one bleated and ran out of the bush after the family had deserted it.

 

We went out in the bush towards some rock walls.

 

No path so we just meandered where ever we could.

 

Once we were deep in the brambles, it took us about an hour to get back to the trail!

 

Back to the boat - the dinghy is in the far distance....it was threatening rain but just got a sprinkle.

We grilled some mahi and watched another episode of the British series Vera....after about 8 episodes I think we're finally getting used to the accents and can understand about 3/4 of the dialog!