Balls

Where did I leave off with this blog? I have no idea. I can't see the blog so I don't know what I wrote. Your mind tends to get erased while out here. Out here is actually Shroud Cay, Exumas. We are on a ball. Sometimes we treat ourselves to a mooring ball and eliminate any stress of anchoring. The winds are picking up and we are probably under false sense of security with the mooring but what the hell. We have a manual windlass so its a nice break from lifting.

We left Highbrow Highborne Cay with about 10 knots of wind on a reach. Nice. We were towing the dinghy because, well, we don't make big hops right now and we're lazy. We are taking our dear old time to get to the moorings and I see a flotilla from the north coming way too fast. No way those guys are sailing even though I see all the canvas. We were doing about five knots and they kept getting closer. When I could manage I counted them, and then counted the number of balls. Hmm. If they all get there before us we would have to anchor. I trimmed sail and got another half a knot. No way were we going to turn on the engine. If we don't get a ball we anchor. No biggie. A cat passed us, sails up, and motor screaming. Three balls. We got to the point where the sails had to come down and this mono hull came ripping past. It was a slow canoe stern type at max RPM. Two balls. We stowed the sails and motored in. We lined up a ball. The Cat decided to anchor. Three balls. Mad Max RPM overshot their mooring and took ours. Ballsy move. Another monohull came whipping in behind us and grabbed the ball next to us at about 5 knots. Two balls. We drifted slowly to the right to get one of the last balls. Americans. So worried someone else will have all the balls.

We met one of the ball chasers on the beach and they told us how to secure a ball in the park. "You have to get on the list for a ball. We're on the list. These are the balls you want. Don't get any of those balls unless you like pitching and rolling all night. Did you call to get a ball? Winds going to pick up so best to get a ball. " Balls, Balls, Balls!

We did not see much of Highborne Cay as it's private. I wandered into the marina to get some gas for the generator. I'm coming in and I see dolphins. Lots of dolphins. No, those are Dolphins! Some dude was cleaning fish on the dock and there must have been about 20 bull sharks swimming around waiting for a taste. The whole scene might have been more interesting had we not lost a sailor to a shark in Rock Sound. We shared anchorages with a couple all the way down Eleuthera. Never got to meet them. Just a passing in the dinghy and a wave hello. Guy liked to kite board, and he did one day in Rock Sound. Just unlucky I guess as a shark found him and he bleed out after a bite. Very sad and disturbing. We can't imagine how the woman feels. Our hearts go out to her. One day you are living the dream and the next moment your life is shattered. Sounds so cliche to say he was doing something he loved, but we could see the smile on his face as he rocketed over the water nearby. Enjoy every day folks.

We are in the Exumas Land and Sea Park. Today we took a dinghy ride to a creek that runs through the north end of the island. Totally cool trip. We slowly put putted through the different shades of blue shallow water to the sound side where we beached the dinghy and climbed a hill to overlook the area. Stunning. I have no other words that could possibly describe it.

We had some fun today. Felt good. We hiked, climbed and explored a strange place. We were smiling like little kids. The Bahamas are a must see if you can manage it. We are already happy we came here. Doing it every year on a continual basis is not our style, so we are soaking it up. Might be a while before we are back.
Next big stop is Warderick Wells where we are on the list to get a mooring BALL. Tomorrow we will pop over to Hawksbill Cay and anchor there unless it's rocking and rolling. We will then go to Warderick Wells and anchor for a few days. If we get a ball in that time, great. If not, meh. We can still see all the stuff being at anchor.
Life is good, with or without balls.

Cheers!
PJ

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