Calabash Bay to Rum Cay

Wednesday 12 June





The weather was calling for calming wind the next couple of days, so I headed around Cape Santa Maria for distant horizons... Rum Cay.







The seas were on my bow, and I bucked a current of over a knot that was from the SE. It was a nice trip, and I met one catamaran sailboat enroute.







When I arrived at Rum, the wind was picking up, and the swell was wrapping around on the reef. I sure was glad to see breakers on the distance that would cut the swell, which was on my beam at that point.







As soon as I got behind the breakers, the swell was gone, and I could shorten the tow for entering the harbor. There were buoys out, all to starboard going in, and I entered the great little hidden harbor of Rum Cay.







This marina was hit hard with Hurricane Irene, which shoaled the channel to about shin deep. At considerable time and expense the channel was re-dug, and is not in the same position as the latest Explorer charts show. In the Bahamas, its all about reading the water, anyhow.





The marina does not have electric, and some of their piers were damaged in Irene and Sandy, and they are allowing free dockage. It is the first dock I've been at overnight since I left the house!





Bobby has been here since the late 60's. His family had bought some land, and he built the facilities, and worked as a pilot for a now closed dive resort on the island. His real passion though, is for sculpturing. He carves gorgeous sculptures out of dead coral, and the property is surrounded with his works of art. Some of his art is on sale in Georgetown, or you can buy directly from him at Rum Cay.







The mailboat hasn't been to Rum Cay in several weeks, and the island is out of pretty much everything. I don't need anything, but, I've heard the locals about discussing it. Something about Rum Cay being out of rum...







Rum Cay is famous for its sportfishing, and when some of the boats returned in the evening, the area around the cleaning table came alive with sharks. I'm used to seeing big nurse sharks, but there are a lot of big lemon sharks here, too. I saw one BIG bull shark make a pass by, but only saw him once. There were over a dozen 8-ft plus sharks, and I didn't count the smaller ones.







I put the little GoPro camera on the PVC pole and stuck it in the water. Every time I'd put it in the water, the sharks would think I was feeding them, and I'd have to yank it out. It was fun trying, anyhow.





Bobby and Gro hosted a potluck pizza party, and I rounded up cheese, pepperoni, and a can of diced tomatoes, and everyone pitched in incredients. Gro cooked fantastic pizzas! It was fun visiting with the folks here.





Gro is from Norway, and originally came here by sailboat. After she left by boat, she flew back. Rum Cay is that kind of place!





Mercy met their dog, Ashley, who we had been cautioned about. Fortunately, Mercy gets along with everybody.