Xanadu

Xanadu is an interesting place with good boat rates and it’s a very good hiding place from the weather. It offers a very protected harbor from storms as long as you get into the channel before the weather hits. The channel is narrow and we were watching the waves crashing over and into it the evening before the storms hit (Friday night). Exiting the channel this morning the water was pretty benign. The depths at the entrance were in the 7-8 ft range and there’s a rock that’s visible near the entrance so you need to hug starboard exiting the channel. Anyone wanting to come into the harbor should note that the marina does not monitor the VHF though, so you need to call ahead or just take a slip and go to the office and let them know you’re there (but if it was like us – everyone will know that you’ve entered the harbor).


We released our dock lines at 6:30am during twilight and are transiting the N.W. Providence Channel, heading for an anchorage in the northern Berry Islands. Sunrise was beautiful. It was a whispering shimmer of red and purple veils. It’s said by the cruising books that the Northern Berry Islands, aside from cruise ships that do day trips, are untouched little Cays. Some of the older movie stars used to hang out here (Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley MacLaine, etc.) but those days of grandeur have long since passed for these little Cays. We’re looking to put in to an anchorage this evening behind Great Stirrup Cay or Little Stirrup Cay depending on how much daylight we have. Both are supposed to be lovely. We have a 60-mile day so if we can do 6 knots an hour we should be able to put into the anchorage in 10 hours.

Not only is today Valentine’s Day, its also Chinese New Year. This is the year of the Tiger. In particular, this is the year of Gēng-yín (Metal Tiger). Gēng is the seventh of the ten celestial stems and Yín (Tiger) is the third of the twelve terrestrial branches, thus February 14th 2010 marks the year of the Tiger with its association to bravery. The fact that the date of Chinese New Year varies within a lunar month is a clue that it's linked to the new moon. A rough, and almost infallible guide is that the Chinese New Year date falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The winter solstice always falls on December 21st, the next new moon is January 15th, and the second new moon February 14th 2010. So Happy New Years to all you brave hearts and Happy Valentine’s Day to all lovers!

Blue Pearl was the first to spot a group of dolphins this morning! The dolphins were amazing! Jumping, splashing, and swimming along and under our boat, it felt like we had a vanguard of sea mammals escorting us out into the N.W. Providence Channel! It was exhilarating and wonderful to stand on the bow trying to film them as they swirled along and under me!

We decided to fish and put the Cuban Yoyo out using a silver cedar plug with a yellow hula skirt. We didn’t get a nibble. So, we switched to the pink lure that we caught the barracuda with last year. No nibble. So Wayne put out his fishing pole too. We heard that if the fish see more than one lure that they’re more likely to bite. Sometime when we weren’t looking, Wayne’s pole disappeared. So, yup. I’d say that they’re more interested when there’s more than one to pick from. We’re now out a purple plug and a fishing pole with 60 lb line… Are we the fishermen or what! No fish for dinner and some fish is saying look what I brought home for you honey! Wayne says that he invented a new form of catch and release.

10 miles or so off of Little Stirrup Cay, you could see large cruise ships before you could see the trees on the island. It seems bizarre to me that the cruise ship dwarfs the island. I’ve heard that the cruise ships like to anchor off of the island and drop people off for a day of sun and fun there. The islands are so lovely that the cruise boats use them in their advertisements. “Come to the Bahamas Mon – for pristine, unspoiled beauty”. They have their own little beach side resort just for the cruisers on their ships complete with personal watercraft, etc… and the sailboats become part of the scenery and entertainment for the tourists to buzz and snap pictures. Someone made the comment that we’re doing what they’d like to do. Hence we become fair game for the passengers. I don’t think I’d mind the pictures, but I wouldn’t like the wake from the little buzz boats and PWCs coming to close to our boat. It looks like we’re heading for the other Cay – so we shouldn’t have to worry about the Slaughter Harbor crowd.

About 5 miles away from the anchorage Mary called to say their engine quit. We hung back and Blue Pearl went on to scout out the anchorage. Azaya’s fuel filter was clogged and/or their fuel gauge wasn’t working correctly. After a clean filter and some new fuel, we were both on our way again. It’s funny because right after we got going again we’d pulled in our fishing line and we came up to a circle of birds in a frenzy. We could see could see tuna jumping out of the water. I was fit to be tied because we couldn’t get our lure out fast enough to do any good. Se la vi. Pulling into the anchorage was problem free. We just checked out the depths around both sides of Blue Pearl then dropped the hook right before dark. It’s very scenic here. I made a conglomeration of beef, chicken, mushroom and onion spaghetti for dinner. It was actually tasty.