Chartering a house (I mean, a catamaran)

A year ago, Leigh proposed to JP and Susan that we charter a catamaran with our (only current) friends who sail, Pam and Jim.  Both are Navy vets (Jim was on ships) and in recent years have chartered a few times.  They were all in - Susan especially has wanted to test out a cat - and though we targeted our 20th wedding anniversary in February this year, the first workable date for the Exumas turned out to be 1-9 March.  The weather in the Bahamas, as in Florida, has been cooler and windier than normal this year, so later might have been better but we got pretty lucky.  We flew into Nassau on Friday the 1st, and were picked up by a driver sent by the Moorings.  

Captain JP and his two first mates - Jim and Susan - stayed behind and Pam and I went with the driver to provision.  I completely missed key ingredients for the two dishes I planned to prepare, but overall we did pretty well.  There were some good things remaining for the housekeeping staff the next week, but we consumed all of the perishable proteins, one way or the other, and most of the other fresh produce, not to mention a copious quantity of snacks and booze.

We motor-sailed to Highbourne Cay on Saturday the 1st, a little more than half way to our southernmost target, Staniel Cay.  The marvel of that turquoise water in the Exumas never gets old.

The yacht is unbelievably comfortable, as one might expect.  Livin' The Dream is a Moorings (Leopard) 400, so the same length as Raconteur, but...Raconteur has a beam of about 13.5', Livin' The Dream? 23'!  One of the two pods contains the primary (owner's) cabin and head; the other contains two full-size cabins and two heads.  The galley is really a full kitchen; the table and banquette inside big enough for the five of us, the table and banquette just outside, below the helm, even more generous. 

 Above that outside space, just above the helm, another seating area for enjoying happy hour and sunsets. 

We left Highbourne for Shroud Cay (in the Exumas Land and Sea Park) on Sunday.  We lucked into the one free mooring ball and wound up enjoying the tranquility so much we stayed two nights before heading on to Warderick Wells on Tuesday.  Warderick was a challenge - I should have called the day before to reserve a mooring, and we wound up anchoring a bit of a ways from the Park office and therefore the hiking trails of Warderick.  So many boats there!  

Jim had a GoPro and he is in charge of producing the video record of the trip - I've already seen the first preview, of this guy, but underwater and moving and it is sensational.  I'll do a follow up and post a couple of his offerings, with permission!

This is a nurse shark who came to investigate the very minute we dropped the hook at Big Major, around the corner from Staniel, on Wednesday.  We had seen several on our 2011 visit to the Exumas on our way south with Raconteur; this one stuck around quite a while, until the rest of the party headed off to snorkel the Grotto (think Thunderball, the Bond film with Sean Connery) and I went to take a dip, shark-free.

We dined out for the first time since setting off (we ate at the Pink Octopus at Palm Cay, the Moorings base, our first and last nights), at the "fancy" restaurant at Staniel.  They do a nice job, though we were a little disappointed in the drinks at the bar.  The setting is so perfect - tucked into the palms - but the drinks could be better.  Only game in town, perhaps. Dinner was excellent, however.  You have to reserve and pre-order, which is funny, but I'm sure it cuts down on waste in a place where absolutely everything has to be brought in.

On our last night out - we had decided to head back to the base on Friday, with a mid-day stop for a final swim and snorkel en route - we stopped at Norman Cay, totally ready for "cheeseburger in paradise" at MacDuff's.  It's been spruced up a little since our last visit in 2011 - perhaps with the help of a hurricane? - but it was a great way to (almost) end our week.  You have to land the dinghy on the beach (wearing a linen dress is always interesting) and sink an anchor into the sand.  There are now some very nice rental "cottages" at MacDuff's (you can check out the very nice photos at  http://www.sanctuare.com/portfolio-item/macduffs/)

As for the catamaran experience?  For living: A+.  For sailing: C-.  In fairness, the wind was from the south when there was enough of it, and when we were heading back north, the airs were too light for the 400.  JP says sailing cats that go to the weather exist, but of course - the living space would not come close at the same length.  Still, for chartering in turquoise waters (some of it pretty darn thin, even for a cat), it was a terrific experience and one we would happily do again.  

It's more or less the first time we've sailed with anyone else - we could never entice visitors all those years Raconteur was in the Caribbean - and we can't think of anyone we would have been more comfortable sailing with!

When we were hanging out at Shroud, we went on a dinghy excursion through the mangroves, from the west side to the east (sometimes called the Dinghy Highway?); these were my best photos.  It's hard to believe that turquoise can be present in the roaring surf, but here's the proof.

Pam and I were abandoned for a bit while the others went back to the boat to shut off the generator (oops). Pam went for a swim (it was full sun, and pretty warm on that desert island).

The mangroves along the route are flourishing, it seems.  The waterway is very shallow, and we were there on a rising but still pretty low tide.

This was the view looking back just before we arrived at the place you can pick up the path to the beach.

Doesn't this look like Robinson Crusoe might be just around the corner?  In fact, that brown stuff in mid frame had a quicksand kind of quality.  I went ahead to find a way from the dinghy to the walking trail to the beach, and nearly panicked when I hit some mud and felt stuck.  I backtracked and found firmer ground and it was fine.

Our reward - no temptation to swim that day, but so gorgeous.  We walked the beach a bit, picking up some of the flotsam or jetsam that washes ashore there and taking it above the tide line - you can find a few piles of it and we are guessing the Park service comes by from time to time to take it away.
 

The Exumas are mostly inaccessible except by boat or by very small planes from Nassau - at Staniel we met a guy at the bar who had left his home in Maine at 1 am, flew from Portland to Atlanta to Nassau and then on a puddle jumper to Staniel.  It means that they are pretty unspoiled, protected by the Land and Sea Park, and a treasure.  We hope not to stay away quite so long next time.

Pooh also had a blast; here he is, ready to assist at the helm.