Hey Dave,

…granted the shoreside amenities aren’t much, but the price was right…

Even just since leaving Miami last Tuesday, I’ve already lost count of the number of fronts that have passed thru the Bahamas… Everybody feels like they’re playing Dodgeball, they’ve been coming through just about every couple of days, another strong one to move thru tonight…

After leaving Fresh Creek, I sailed down the Tongue of the Ocean, then crossed the Exuma Bank via the DECCA Channel, which bernie had recommended on his return from Staniel Cay… Great route, if you want to get south as quickly as possible…

On the western side of Pipe Cay behind Pipe Creek, is the ruins of the old DECCA transmitting station, probably abandoned about 25 years ago… there is a dredged basin with this seawall, 9’ of water throughout. I’ve always loved ghost towns and ruins, so I figured I’d come in to have a look around… But after I was there for awhile, I decided to stay the night, it turned out to be a pretty cool place…

It’s open to the west, so not an ideal place to ride out a front. But the next one was forecast to blow hard before the frontal passage, not so much after, so I decided to stay put… Good decision, I was very snug during the strong squalls and SW preceding the front, and I hung here for almost 3 days…

Two of those days were beautiful, finally some tropical weather down here… beautiful little beaches are scattered near this basin, what an idyllic spot, never saw another boat during that time, as everyone anchors over in Pipe Creek itself…

I hadn’t been to the Staniel Cay/Pipe Creek area in about a dozen years, the changes are pretty striking… though this area is one of the prettiest sections of the Exumas IMHO, the natural beauty has really been compromised by the amount of private homes built on the cays, virtually all of which are now private… What makes it all particularly annoying, is the fact that NONE of them are occupied or seeing any use, unlikely most are used more than a few weeks each year, the sort of shit people own build and own simply because they CAN…

Pipe Creek at the moment I found pretty unappealing, with a massive marina/resort construction project ongoing on Overyonder Cay… I didn’t sail to the Bahamas to listen to the back-up warning alarms of earthmoving equipment all day… (grin) On Joe Cay, there is another private basin being dredged, the local scuttlebutt says the owner is making a hole for his 170-footer he wants to keep there…

Presently, I’m anchored in a beautiful spot behind North Gaulin Cay, just a couple of miles north of Staniel… This should be a good spot to ride out the frontal passage overnight… I’m hoping to ride the strong NW tomorrow further south, this area is a bit too crowded for my taste at the moment, perhaps I’ll linger a bit longer on the way back… At the moment, I’m simply inclined to get far enough south where these fronts won’t be quite as strong… Another one is coming through Saturday night, and then Chris Parker is saying the next one on Tuesday should be a SIGNIFICANT event… Gotta admit, I’m tempted to make for Georgetown for that one, just to witness the inevitable mayhem…. (grin)

This morning, I’ve amused myself watching a couple of my neighbors attempt to lay second anchors in anticipation of tonight’s weather… One couple on a humongous catamaran have been at it for HOURS, now… Another guy on a fully-enclosed center cockpit with the approximate windage of a small aircraft carrier has laid THREE anchors on 150-foot rodes in about 10 feet of water, and has been glaring at any newcomers threatening to come within hailing distance of him…. Oh, well, he’ll probably be here until June, untangling that mess… Personally, I really don’t see the need for a Bahamian moor in this particular spot, but a lot of these folks seem to want to make this stuff more complicated than it needs to be… Oh, well, we’ll see in the morning, perhaps I’ll be the one doing the crying, then…. (grin)

Doesn’t sound like too many boats are heading for Georgetown anytime soon, many people sound like they’re stuck here for at least another week…. Even though G-town is only a long day’s sail DDW after a frontal passage, seems like the megayachts have drained the fuel supplies at Sampson and Staniel Cays, and by the sound of the incessant VHF chatter around here, a significant portion the cruising fleet will have to wait for the next delivery sometime next week before they can proceed…. LOL!

Still, I guess I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else at the moment,… (grin)

Best regards,

Jon