Catching Up... Now in Provencalies

[Jim Jackson]

Ok, so a great deal of time has gone by since my last post. We have been on the move most of that time. We spent 20 days in George Town, Exumas where we finally got our dingy repaired using a bottle of sealant. That worked much better than the patches that were applied in Nassau. They started to come off and I used goop to stick them back on but they really didn't get the job done as there were many tiny holes due to chafing. The sealant works like the stuff in fixaflat and under the right circumstances and following the directions, it really works.
So, we set out from George Town for Calabash Bay on Long Island. We had a good sail, arriving early in the afternoon. A boat named Hello Texas was already there and they were headed for Conception the next day, just like us. We talked on the radio and made plans to get together the next evening.
Spent a quiet night in the bay with just a little rolling from the Southern swells. Left for Conception on the tide the following morning. A beautiful day with light winds so we motorsailed and we did a little fishing. Caught a beautiful 4-5 ft Mahi but couldn't get it all the way onto the boat. Very sad, we were looking forward to fresh fish for dinner. Found our friends on Euphoria when we got to Conception. Had a great get together with Rick and Carla of Euphoria and Richard and Nicki of Hello Texas. Conception is a land and sea park with no people living on the island. Spent some time there exploring and snorkeling. Amazing that the water is still kind of cold in places. This has been one of the coldest winters in the Bahamas in a long time, according to the locals in George Town. I was expecting to swim in bath water by now but it just isn't happening.
The reefs around Conception are beautiful, huge Elk coral, very impressive but the number of fish is not nearly what I expected. Nothing like in the Abacos. Makes me wonder what is going on with the fish populations in the reefs. Also signs of bleaching and dying coral formations. Even here in a remote and protected place like Conception that is really disturbing.
After a pleasant several days at Conception, the three of us headed for Rum Cay a nice day sail to the south.
There is no real sheltered bay at Rum so we decided to slip into the Marina for a couple of days. Sumner Point Marina is a little funky, but the people are very nice. Rum Cay is very outback. not much going on, just a few people living there, a couple of bars and a very small grocery store. Met some great people had a nice pot luck supper one night at the marina complete with a whole bunch of fresh fish provided by Bobby and dishes from locals and cruisers.
Well, that's all for now.
Talk to you all again soon.
Fair winds and Smooth sailing
Jim