Caribbean Adventures Aboard Kalalau: June 2013

Georgetown, Great Exuma Island, The Bahamas

Friday, June 14

We left Rum Cay and sailed to Georgetown on Great Exuma Island. We were running extremely low on fuel and Rum Cay hasn't had diesel in years, so we were forced to move on. We had a beautiful sail to the Exumas, passing Long Island along the way. And we happened to catch a blackfin tuna and a mahi (unfortunately, the mahi had worms so we threw it back).

Blackfin tuna! Just in time for lunch.

Lunch time - Tuna Sashimi

Approaching Long Island (half way to Great Exuma Island)

Gene's cutting open the Mahi and notices the worms in it's belly

Finally arrive in Great Exuma. Here we're entering Elizabeth Harbor.

Sailing south down Elizabeth Harbor

We dropped the anchor in Elizabeth Harbor just outside of Exuma Yacht Club in Georgetown and headed off on the dinghy in search of a good restaurant to get some conch fritters.

The Chat N' Chill, a little restaurant on the small island just off of Stocking Island in Elizabeth Harbor. They weren't open this evening, but Gene and I went back on Sunday for the Pig Roast party.

The sun was quickly setting, so we headed into Georgetown.

Kalalau looking pretty in the sunset

Little channel that leads to Lake Victoria where we parked the dinghy

We ate dinner at one of the local fish frys on the bay.

The table next to us had picked up these soup mixes - haha.

The next day, Gene noticed this seagull standing on the owl which is supposed to scare away the seagulls. Nice try!

Rum Cay, The Bahamas

Thursday, June 13

We spent Thursday in Rum Cay to relax from our crossing and explore the island. Aside from a small marina (no power or water), a tiny grocery store, and a small bar/restaurant, Rum Cay doesn't have much. We took the dinghy into the marina and heard from one of the boaters there that the mail boat hadn't been to the island in 3 weeks, so they were completely out of beer, most provisions, produce, etc. The mail boat was scheduled to come to the island Thursday night, so there was so excitement from the locals in anticipation of having supplies.

Clubhouse of the marina

An old restaurant at the marina, no longer in business. Used to be a big party spot for fishing boats and sailboats before the Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy wiped them out.

The main square and public park

The main dock

This is where the locals await the mail boat carrying all of their supplies. There's Kalalau anchored out in the bay.

Government building

Flush canal - flushes the marina

We had a BBQ on the beach Thursday night, inviting some other cruisers that we met at the marina and a couple of locals.

Here's Gene on the back of Harvey's 4 wheeler going to pick up some ice for the beers.

Crossing from Puerto Rico to The Bahamas - 5 Days Way Offshore

Saturday, June 8 - Wednesday, June 12

After one night in the marina in San Juan and a fun night out with Keith and Billy, we set sail early Saturday morning. Luckily we had Billy with us for the crossing because 5 full days in open ocean 200 miles off shore would be really tough for two people alone.

The crossing was pretty calm most days. We had one day of stormy weather with a few squalls with winds up to 36 knots, but aside from that, the weather was really mild, without much wind. The little wind that we did have was almost directly behind us, so we had to push our heading further east (further off shore) to keep up some speed. This prolonged our crossing by a day and a half more than we originally planned, but we managed to make it to the Bahamas by Wednesday evening with just enough fuel, anchoring in Rum Cay just as the sun was setting.

Leaving the harbor in San Juan, Puerto Rico, several US Navy ships docked in the cruise ship area.

We actually caught a few fish during our 5-day crossing!

Gene preparing to fillet the first mahi that we've caught since January

Billy caught this huge wahoo. I think it's almost as tall as he is!

Crazy guys with the wahoo. We'll have wahoo on the boat for weeks.

Gene reeling in what we think is a big yellow fin tuna... unfortunately, it turned out to be a bonita.

Billy & Gene with the Bonita

Land Ho!

We arrive in Rum Cay on Wednesday evening around 6:30 pm.

Spanish Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico with Keith!

Wednesday, June 5th - Friday, June 7th

We set sail from St. Croix on Wednesday morning and headed north west to the small island of Culebra, part of Puerto Rico. We met up with our friend Keith who lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Keith, Gene, and I spent the next few days sailing around and exploring a few of the gorgeous islands of the Spanish Virgin Islands.

We caught a huge barracuda on the crossing from St. Croix to Culebra.

We arrive in Culebra - just in time for happy hour at Susie's where we picked up with our friend Keith.

Culebra

We left Culebra on Thursday morning and sailed over to the beautiful Isla Culebrita.

Isla Culebrita, a tiny deserted island with nothing but an old 1880 lighthouse and the most stunning white sand beaches.

Here's Keith snorkeling around the anchorage where he befriended a sea turtle that followed him around for a while.

Playa Tortuga on Isla Culebrita

Some of the sea life around Isla Culebrita

A couple spiny lobsters hiding under the rock!

Lunch? Maybe?

Sea Turtle

We left Isla Culebrita and sailed west to Cayo Luis Pena, another tiny deserted island. We anchored here for the night and snorkeled in the reef around the boat.

Gene speared this Hogfish Snapper which made for a perfect dinner.

Friday was a full day of sailing as we headed north to San Juan, Puerto Rico to drop Keith off and pick up our friend, Billy, who planned to join us for our long off-shore crossing to the Bahamas.

This is the fort in Old San Juan, La Fortaleza, at the entrance into the harbor