South Caicos (Cockburn Harbour)

South Caicos - Cockburn Harbour (March 7-14, 2013)

Another great day of sailing brought us to Cockburn Harbour, in South Caicos.

Sailing across the banks

s/v Golightly allowing us a great wing-to-wing photo op

We grimaced as we entered the smelly harbor full of abandoned boats and large fishing boats that were overcrowded with burly men.  Upon reaching the shore, we were met by a group of less than inviting locals.  That is, except for the local hooker with a baby on her hip offering her wares and coaxing us over to her "boys," a large group of men sitting on a porch, who upon her asking them to tell us about a local party we shouldn't miss the next night, proceeded to stare us down never uttering a word.  We turned and walked away deciding it best to not attend the Saturday night social event.

We then proceeded to walk through the town to see what it had to offer and found there to be nothing any more appealing than what we had already experienced...

A ghost town

The only sign of life was stray horses everywhere

A horse in every yard

Yes, a horse in every yard

Then, there was this stud trying to mate with every mare

Where were all the people?

Another deserted street

Someone had mastered the art of graffiti

Guns included

Success...I was "afraid!"

Overlooking part of the anchorage

Our cruising permits for Turks and Caicos ran out, effective March 11. On March 10, we contacted to customs to explain that we would not be able to leave on March 11th due to inclement weather, high winds and dangerously high seas.  We were told they knew of the approaching weather; however, they did not know what to tell us as to how to deal with the weather, but she (the custom's officer) was checking us out and we needed to leave within 24 hours.  So, the morning of March 11, we set out in the less than desirable conditions and, after fighting it for over an hour, decided to take our chances and returned to South Caicos, silently invoking our right of parlay (if there really is such a thing as parlay).  We laid low, didn't use the VHF and didn't leave the boat for the next 67 hours.

Our original plan had been to make it to the Dominican Republic in time to celebrate Jim's birthday.  Seeing that wasn't going to happen, I decided I needed to make a practice run with the oven before attempting to bake his birthday cake so I baked an apple dumpling.

 

Apple Dumpling

The apple dumpling was delicious so it was time to bake Jim's birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, Jim!!!
XOXOXO and Lots of Love!!!

The only man I know that drinks a glass of scotch with his birthday cake, but whatever makes him happy; it is his day. 

Finally, the weather was right to make our move and we headed for Luperon, Dominican Republic.  

In all of our travels, Turks and Caicos is the only place which we have vowed to never return.

Providenciales Turks and Caicos

Providenciales Turks and Caicos (March 1-7, 2013)

We were still blessed with beautiful crystal clear waters as we came into Providenciales, on the west side of the Turks and Caicos Islands.  And YIKES, also met with a maze of large coral heads to maneuver...

The shoreline was quite spectacular as we came through the channel!

Beautiful homes!

Lots of new construction!

Turtle Rock!

AND, our friends, Marco, Deborah and Nicholas on their beautiful vessel, Kiribati... We are here!!!

A lot of celebrities have homes on Turtle Tail.  This beauty below belongs to The Artist formerly known as Prince... (notice the purple driveway to the right)

We would have gotten a better picture of the purple driveway; however, we were being chased away by security as they thought Jim said, "We are terrorists!" when actually he said, "We are tourists!"

As beautiful as The Artist formerly known as Prince's home was, other than the driveway, I found it to be somewhat ordinary and was drawn to the property next door.  Could pink being my favorite color have had something to do with it?  No, this is a most BEAUTIFUL estate...I was in awe!!!

The lower entrance to the property...

Check out the staircase leading to the turret...my dream hideaway!!!

We stayed dockside at the Caicos Marina for a few days and rented a car for some sightseeing before heading to Sapodilla Bay to anchor and stage for our next move...South Caicos. We enjoyed some of the local cuisine while in Providenciales; however, were not sure the chicken was actually chicken as we have never seen chicken with bones that look like those you find in a steak.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed the fare and returned more than once.

The "potcake" dogs that find shelter at the marina would stand watch beside our boat during the night.  Each morning, we arose to have one of them faithfully keeping watch to be sure no one came near our vessel.  And, each morning, we rewarded them with breakfast.

Just after nightfall on our first night in the anchorage, we noticed green flashes of light all over the water.  Taking a closer look, the light would appear as if an eye were glowing in the water, a small worm would swim to the light followed by an intense eruption of bioluminescent streaks forming a somewhat circular pattern and then would disappear.  Fascinated by such a phenomenon, we did some research and determined them to be glow worms performing their mating ritual, which occurs 2-3 days after every full moon in the springtime.  Unfortunately, due to poor lighting, we were unable to capture this fantastic ritual, which is unique to the shallow waters of the Caribbean.  This is a must see for those visiting the islands.

As time came for us and s/v Golightly to head further south, we spent our last evening sharing a great bowl of Deborah's homemade risotto (yes, she made it from scratch) and saying our goodbyes to Marco, Deborah and Nicholas on Kiribati and to Gregory and Cristina on Whisper.

Marco and Deborah playing with Nicholas at sunset
the night before we departed for South Caicos

Marco, Deborah & Nicholas
Great people that really know how to live life, no holds barred!

Gregory, Jeremie, Marco, Deborah & Nicholas

Moving along to South Caicos...