Rum Cay

Rum Cay (February 25-28, 2013)

We were faced with a few challenges when arriving at Sumner Point Marina.  We came into the Marina with 5 other boats.  When the first boat ran aground at the channel marker, it caused a domino effect and we found ourselves aground as well.  Some 15 minutes later, we were free and headed on into the Marina only to find ourselves once again aground in front of the dock.  Several of the boats went aground, the last of which was stuck for 45 minutes before breaking loose.  No worries though, it is a sandy bottom and is only a matter of patience to get moving again.

Dockage at the Marina is free this year as Hurricane Sandy took quite a toll on the island.  Even so, it is still a beautiful place to be.

Bobby, not sure of his position at the Marina, but he keeps everything running, is a great artist and creates sculptures from coral.  They are not simple carvings, every detail is intricately carved.

Welcome to Rum Cay!

Lots of goats roam the roadways

Rope swings?

New construction of Hurricane Shelter/Community Center

A local cemetary

Rachel Ellen (1867 - 1888)

Ocean View Restaurant

You know  you are on "island time" when at 10:00 a.m. the grocery store is not yet open.

"Last Chance" - The local grocery store

We met Kaye at the Last Chance grocery.  A super sweet lady, who appears to be quite an important figure in town as there is also a restaurant and bar named for her.

Our new friend, Kaye, tending the grocery store

 

Kaye's Restaurant & Bar

Due to weather windows, we were only here a few days and did not find time to enjoy many of the activities, especially the exquisite lobstering and fishing that many of our friends did.  As such, this is definitely on our repeat list for our second trip around.

Long Island/Calabash Bay

Long Island/Calabash Bay (February 21-25, 2013)

Jim closely watched for a good weather window and decided it best to make a stop at Calabash Bay to wait out some high winds and surge before heading on to Rum Cay.

We sailed into Calabash Bay along with 3 Canadian sailing vessels: Hali, Vivachy and Trudy Mae and were met with a coastline of beautiful homes, Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort and Stella Maris Resort and Marina.

In keeping humor with our respective roles, the men a/k/a "Hunters," spent the day lobstering while the women a/k/a "Gatherers," hitchhiked into town to while away the day gathering beers and plantains at a local restaurant/bar.  Who had more fun?  We all did.

While the women were quite successful in gathering what we needed for our afternoon happy hour, the Hunters also had a successful day hunting and brought home several lobsters for dinner.

Dinner!!!

Oven roasted veggies

Jim grilled the lobster to perfection, while I prepared what has become my signature dish of oven roasted vegetables.  We then joined our fellow cruisers for a potluck dinner on the beach, which turned out to be a remarkable evening of great food, laughter and great memories.  

This is living!!!

Valentine's Day

Red Shanks (February 14-February 19, 2013)

As we feel couples truly in love find it natural to tell each other "I Love You" many times everyday, neither of us buys into Valentine's Day, what we deem a Hallmark Holiday created as a marketing strategy merely to boost sales and force men to rush to the corner store after work to thoughtlessly grab a bunch of flowers, candy and a card before wearily arriving home only to worry have they done enough.  

On this Valentine's Day, I felt Jim was up for some much deserved extra TLC so I put an extra unexpected loving touch to his lunch and served him heart shaped sandwiches with a salad and cookies.

 

 

The little things in life make it special

Most of our time at Red Shank's was spent in the water, snorkeling.  Close to shore we came upon a large area of beautiful coral, fish and other marine life.  It is quite amazing to be surprised with such beauty.

We would have liked to have spent more time at Red Shank's; however, we were merely waiting for a weather window in which to head to Rum Cay.

Accordingly, as soon as the weather improved, we pulled anchor and headed back up Elizabeth Harbour to Kidd Cove for a day to provision and continue our journey.

More of Georgetown/Stocking Island

With the length of time we spent in Georgetown, I managed to miss some high points worth coming back to mention.

No sooner than we docked the dinghy at Queen's Dock and stepped onto shore, we met a couple who gave us a rundown of the path and all it had to offer. 

Queen's Dock

Dock is inscribed:

“QUEEN’S DOCK
BUILT IN 1975 BY NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES
REBUILT YEARLY BY BOATERS”

So, off we go on the path from Monument Beach to the Atlantic coast.

On the path to the Atlantic Coast

 

"Which way do we go, Jim?  South Beach Monument it is."

"Jim, where are you going?"

Jim is obviously on his own path, so, before heading up to the Beacon at South Beach Monument, let's take a few steps back to an unmarked, yet well-traveled, path leading to the "Bum Tree."  Bum Tree, you say?  Yes, a tree resembling a naked person with their head stuck in the sand.  BWAHAHAHA!

The "Bum Tree"

Back on the trail to South Beach Monument, we find ourselves trekking a few miles of overgrown paths, obviously not recently traveled, leading us on stretches to the top edge of cliffs and other times deep into the forest.  Eventually, we lose the trail altogether so we make our own way.

The path ahead of us

A confident Jim ready to tackle the challenge

Though, not exactly unscathed, as Jim has multiple scratches and blood trickling down both arms from pushing through the underbrush, we make it to the top and land at the South Beach Monument.

The Beacon at South Beach Monument

What was there to see at South Beach Monument?  Although the Beacon was not much to look at, we had a spectacular view of the hurricane holes and all the way across Elizabeth Harbour to Georgetown.  The same one-mile dinghy ride we take pretty much every day, and some days multiple times, to take our garbage to shore and bring water and groceries back to the boat.

South Beach Monument overlooking the hurricane holes
and across Elizabeth Harbour to Georgetown

We came upon a nicely engraved marker, memorializing someone obviously much loved and missed a lot...

"In Loving Memory
of
Barbara L. Hart
You Will Always
Be In Our Thoughts
Love
Kim, Doug, Donald, Duncan"

It was time to head back so we began the steep trek down the hill.  We came across an older couple heading up the hill, who seemed to find it much easier getting to the top than we did.

We climbed some steep hills to get to the top
and they we no less steep on the way down

We get back to Queen's Dock in no time only to realize we had been told how to get to South Beach Monument, via the "LONG ROUTE."  Had we taken a closer look while coming past Hamburger Beach on our way to Big D's for lunch, we would have had a much shorter walk to the top.  We will just say we took the scenic route.

Hamburger Beach

 Did you notice that little sign on the tree?  Obviously, we didn't!

Jim at the Flintstone's playground

Big D's