Leaving Sampson Cay Club was a little difficult as the
wind was pinning us against the face dock. With the help of the
staff, we walked Jule III to the end of the dock, and pivoted the
bow towards the wind. We made a clear escape (almost) from the
dock but did manage to scoff the hull a bit on the wooden pile. Travel
to the Park was uneventful and we arrived last Tuesday at 1500.
This time we picked the mooring up like pros. High tide made the transit
through the mooring field a little easier.
The long range offshore forecast predicted a
major cold front would pass over the area on Sunday or Monday.
We wanted to go to Eluethera but we felt that there would be
insufficient protection if the front produced gale force winds
as predicted. Further, NOAA was predicting squalls throughout the
area until Saturday. What to do? First, we decided to enjoy the park
a couple of days with Celena. The park folks had a bonfire (AKA burning
trash on the beach) and a group of cruisers agreed to host a sing-a-long.
Much fun was had by all, including the no-see-ums who had a field day with
the cruisers.
Judy is the Park volunteer who is a favorite with the
cruisers.
She is the one who cheerfully answers all of the cruisers questions on the
VHF;
assigns the moorings to arriving cruisers; makes killer cinnamon buns and
bread;
and is the local source of knowledge about the Park. She and her husband
have
been there for 8 months and plan to stay for another year or more. Other
regulars at the Park are Bella and Lucky, the two dogs that assist the Park
Warden. Bella has little tolerance with Harbormaster (the 6 foot nurse
shark).
She barks at the shark any time it hangs around the dinghy dock. Not sure it
does any good, but she feels better for it.
On Friday, we decided to head for Highborne Cay and
head for the protection of Nassau to weather out the mega front. We made
reservations at the Nassau Yacht Haven and left Highborne for Nassau the
next day. Everybody else in the Central Bahamas had the same idea as all of
the marinas were full or getting that way by Saturday afternoon. Our slip
assignment was between a runabout and a Fisher 46 (S/V Osceola) motorsailer.
Very tight fit and we are not sure how we will ever get out of it when it is
time
to leave. But that is another day.
;
