Captain’s Log

On the way to our anchorage yesterday, we did an exercise called "chase the buoy" - where each crew member gets an opportunity to retrieve a buoy tossed over the side, completely under sail. William started it off, stopping Geronimo alongside the buoy in just a few minutes. Everyone did a great job demonstrating their understanding of sail handling and maneuvering under sail. CJ got quite close, but not as close as Annie. Lauren called an audible, and started with a gybe before rounding up next to the buoy. Daphne and Colin both delivered solid technical performances. Claire demonstrated adaptability, and brought us up to a stop right next to the buoy. Catherine was methodical, slow and steady, while Lilly had near flawless execution. The mates and I were impressed. Resuming her JWO duties, Claire tacked us up to the anchorage near Crawl Bight on Great Guana Cay. We enjoyed dinner under the stars, a dish called whitehouse chicken that we got from one of the crew on the treasure hunting vessel Ahti. William also baked some bread, with the help of Lilly, without a recipe. 

This morning, we made our way over to Fowl Cay Preserve for our last snorkel. We dropped the anchor near a large coral head and set out to explore. Lauren spotted a large loggerhead turtle, sounded the alarm (more of a startled scream through her snorkel), and everyone converged to get a view. We also saw a hawksbill turtle, a large Nassau grouper, lots of sea fans and corals, and even a fish cleaning station. Aboard Geronimo, Lilly organized the group to get underway and did a great job sailing off the anchor and navigating through some shoals.  Just after lunch, Daphne took over the JWO responsibilities and did an excellent job tacking us up to the anchorage off Elbow Cay. Once settled in, the crew took their final exam and then we were off to explore the island. The first stop was the iconic Elbow Reef Lighthouse. Built in 1863, it is still powered by kerosene and a counterweight system, with the four-ton Fresnel lens floating in a circular tub with 1200 pounds of mercury. It is amazing, and you can climb up the spiral staircase for a expansive view of the Sea of Abaco. From here, we walked around town, found some ice cream, souvenirs and I met a couple who knew the boat and daughter graduated St. George's in 2004.  Back on board for our final swim call. Lilly did some picture perfect front flips, and the boys wanted me to acknowledge in this log that they completed the three climbing challenges. I am presently late for dinner. Claire and Annie just put out cacio e pepe for dinner. 

Tomorrow is our last full day, and we plan to do a cleaning of the boat and explore Great Abaco. The crew all departs on Wednesday. We have had a great trip, with an excellent crew and have packed a lot into these last three weeks. 

We woke up at anchor in Spanish Cay. After breakfast, Daphne sailed us off the anchor and led her watch halfway to Manjack Cay. From here, William tacked us up into the anchorage in the lee of the south end of Manjack. Both JWO's (Junior Watch Officer) did an excellent job. Upon arrival we had lunch, and a class on mangroves and sea turtles. Manjack is one of my favorite anchorages. We landed on a coconut palm fringed beach, complete with an in-water palapa with swings, then hiked through the forest to the windward side beach. We returned and explored the art trail, made of flotsam and various pieces of trash found on the windward beach. It has grown every year, and is now quite extensively filled with various simple art pieces. Bird, Annie, Lilly, Daphne, and Catherine made a piece to contribute, and placed it on the trail the next morning. CJ made chicken curry for dinner, that was interrupted by a little rain squall - probably the first we have had in weeks. 

Yesterday morning, we made our way to explore the creek in Manjack. It is not a true freshwater creek (that is just what the locals call it here) but a mangrove-lined inlet of the ocean. This is an area that we have historically tagged turtles (pre 2021), and we saw many of them ranging from dinner plate to pizza box size. We also saw a few spotted eagle rays and lots of fish in the mangrove roots. Back on board, we got underway for Green Turtle Cay. Lauren sailed us off the anchor at Manjack, and brought us halfway there. CJ led his watch tacking us into the anchorage off of New Plymouth. We went into town to explore, met some of the locals, and found some ice cream, drinks and snacks. It had been over a week since we last got produce, and we were getting low on bread and eggs too. A stop at Sid's Grocery remedied that. It is a small family-run grocery store that has been around since the 1960's. The family that runs it go back at least eight generations, and likely are descendants of British loyalists that left the United States during the revolution. The anchorage off New Plymouth was not suitable for an overnight, so Annie sailed us off the anchor and led her watch most of the way to the north part of the island, before handing off to Colin we tacked us up into the lee of Bluff Cay. We settled in for a nice evening that was capped off by a lasagna feast. 

This morning, fueled by eggs, bacon and toast, Catherine made preparations for us to get underway. She led starboard watch this morning, and did a great job sailing us off the anchor, navigating past shoals and executing many tacks as we sailed through Whale Cay Channel. This was probably one of the hardest JWO assignments, and she did a great job. Moments ago, she just passed the watch off to the capable hands of Claire, who is tacking us through Loggerhead Channel on the way to Great Guana Cay. William is in the galley cooking lunch, which includes some of his homemade bread. 

Just before sunset, William had the watch sailing us up into the lee of Grand Cay. It took us a while to find a deep enough spot, since the full moon was going to bring a lower than normal tide overnight. We did a good job sailing us up to the anchor, and then Claire and Catherine made personal pita pizzas for dinner, and we called it an early night just after Lauren’s brownies came out of the oven.

Yesterday morning we moved to the anchorage at Double Breasted Cay, and soon after were picked up by boat from Seafari Adventures from Grand Cay. The brought us over to Walker’s Cay, as the guests of Allen family, set up by SG alum Russ Matthews.  We learned about Allen Exploration and got a tour of their vessel that they use for maritime archeology. They were also very generous in setting us up with Craig and Tico from Seafari Adventures, who took us on an adventure. Our first stop with them was to get some conch – Colin and William each grabbed a half dozen or so. Next, we dove for lobster. With Tico’s help, Annie, Lilly, Colin and William help harvest 9 lobsters. From here, we sped out to the reef in search of a fish. Tico was joined by Lilly, William and Colin, and got two good-sized hog fish. Tico got the first one, and Colin got the second one. Next stop was Double Breasted Cay, where we beached the boat and Craig made a delicious conch salad from our catch. Back on board we had a relaxing afternoon swimming and rope swinging, Catherine had an ambitious dinner plan – including pasta, vegetables and hog fish, followed up by her grandmother’s pound cake. It was all delicious.

This morning, Lilly made what she calls bullseye toast, but others may know as egg in a basket, pirate’s eye, one-eyed jack, or other names too numerous to mention. Soon after, Colin, serving as the first JWO of the day, assembled the crew on deck and sailed us off the anchor – bound for points east. He tacked our way to the southeast, making good progress before handing off to Annie, who continued tacking our way to the east in between shallow banks and islands. By 1500 we had made over 25 nautical miles, and Claire took over JWO duties and tacked on another 12 n.m. to windward. Meanwhile, in the galley, Daphne and Lilly were busy making lobster mac and cheese, and before that making Parker House rolls, and long before that, Claire helped to make a carrot cake. William even elbowed his way in to make some bread dough. Back on deck, Catherine did a great job navigating and tacking us past Crab Cay, then Lilly took over the watch after dinner and sailed us up into the anchorage just off Spanish Cay. It was dark and the wind was up, but she did an excellent job orchestrating her crew to anchor Geronimo under sail. It was a long day, but the crew really stepped up to lead their watches, steer full and by, handle sails and cook with the boat constantly heeling.  It took us 22 tacks and over 72 nautical miles of sailing to make it 43 nautical miles to windward.  With the deck stowed, we gathered in the main saloon for some delicious carrot cake.

Post breakfast we departed on the longest passage of the trip. William sailed us off the anchor, past Egg Island, and on our way toward the West End of Grand Bahama close to 150 n.m. to the west. It was a beautiful day for a sail. Halfway across the NE Providence Channel, cruising along on a beam reach – Lilly took the next watch and brought us to the north end of the Berry Islands past Great Stirrup Cay. Colin and C Watch took the watch at 1600, during which Lauren made a delicious pasta, pesto and chicken dish for dinner and Colin spoke to a cruise ship on the VHF radio.  We saw an amazing green flash as the sun was setting, with the full moon rising to the east. Claire and A Watch had the 1800-2000 watch, and made our course for the west end of Grand Bahama. With much boat traffic to negotiate, Annie and B Watch had the 2000-0000 watch, where she called a ship on the radio to arrange a passing agreement. By midnight, we were in the lee of Grand Bahama and scooting along in a flat sea. Lauren had the 0000-0400 watch, leading C Watch past West End before passing off to Catherine, who led A Watch from 0400-0800. Past the out-of-service lighthouse at Memory Rock, Catherine guided us onto Little Bahama Bank through a narrow channel of deep water. As we were doing this, we could see the lunar eclipse in between passing clouds. By 0545, the moon was a dark red color and nearly total. Morning came, and the turquoise water over the bank was all we could see as we tacked our way east. CJ led B Watch on the 0800-1200 watch, making good progress and sailing past the low-lying Mangrove Cay. Post lunch, Daphne took the lead for C Watch for the 1200-1600 watch. We are making fast progress in the relative calm of the bank. She just tacked us over to a starboard tack, and we are making 7 kts on a course of 130° PSC. Plan is to be anchored, likely at Double Breasted Cays, before sunset.