Location:
Cambridge Cay, Exumas, Bahamas
Position: N
24 18.210 W
076 32.375
Wow!
It's been over a month since we last wrote. Guess it's true that
time flies when you're having fun!
We're
just finishing up a month-long stint volunteering for the Exuma Land
and Sea Park as mooring hosts at Cambridge Cay, one of our favorite
spots in the Bahamas. We did this for three weeks 6 years ago and
enjoyed it so much we decided to do it again this year for five
weeks.
It's
a great deal. We go around daily in our dinghy visiting the other
boats collecting mooring fees and helping to manage the anchorage.
We also organize the occasional happy hour, clear and maintain the
trails, and provide info regarding the island and the snorkeling and
diving opportunities nearby. We enjoy meeting and chatting with all
boaters and their guests who come here to pick up a mooring and
support the park. In exchange we are given a free mooring in
paradise, occasional rides down to Staniel Cay for shopping, a bit of
gasoline to cover what we use doing our rounds, and, very important,
trash pickups every few days!
Julie
even found time to learn how to collect palm fronds and weave
baskets! Her inaugural effort has earned her some well-deserved
praise from other veteran basket makers. We should mention here that she was given the palm fronds she used to make this basket by a friend who picked them outside the park. The entire Exuma Land & Sea Park Park is a "no take" zone.
The
snorkeling around here is exceptional, so we've been treated to
lovely fish and coral at one of the several snorkel spots here almost
every day, often accompanied by other visiting boaters.
 |
| Mark, Julie & Maureen after a swim |
An
old friend of Mark's from Copper Hill, Virginia, came to visit for a
week, too. We had a lot of fun with Maureen and enjoyed sharing this
special place with her. One boat lost their dinghy the night before
we took her to catch her return flight. We were lucky enough to spot
it drifting out into open water on the banks on our way to the
airport at Staniel Cay, giving her the opportunity to also
participate in a dinghy rescue! The dinghy owners were very
appreciative as you can see from their blog:
http://www.sailingkiawah.com/2014/03/ode-to-rachel.html
So,
here's a typical day as Cambridge Cay volunteer mooring hosts:
6:30
am – Listen to Chris Parker, our favorite weather guy on the SSB
(marine single side band radio), make coffee
7:30
am – Fire up the old Pactor modem and check our radio email, drink
coffee.
8:30
am – Listen to the Cruiseheimer's net on the SSB, eat breakfast.
9:00
am – Listen to the park mooring assignment net on the VHF, give a
10 second Cambridge Cay mooring status report, do dishes.
9:30
am – 3:30 pm – go for a walk, work on the trails, snorkel, swim,
eat lunch, nap, etc.
 |
| Cambridge mooring field |
3:30
pm – 4:30 pm – do our “rounds” in the dinghy: collect mooring
fees, provide local info, and meet the nice people who have come in
to visit us for the night. This sometimes takes 2 hours if a lot of
new boats have arrived.
4:30
pm – 6:30 pm – happy hour. Sometimes with friends on another
boat, sometimes with everyone in the mooring field and anchorage on
the beach, sometimes we do a “dinghy raft-up” where all the
dinghies off to each other off Rachel's stern and pass appetizers
around, sometimes it's just the two of us for a quiet evening on
Rachel.
6:30
pm – 9:30 pm – dinner followed by a game or movie, sometimes
both.
9:30
pm – Oops! It's 30 minutes past “cruiser's midnight”! Time
for bed!
You
can imagine the stress we've been under with this hectic schedule.
Just joking – we love doing this and really are enjoying ourselves.
There's
one occasional exception, however. Whenever the wind is forecast to
come from a westerly direction at more than 10 knots, the moorings
fill up early, and people come in to anchor because of the great
protection afforded here. Anchoring is allowed at Cambridge Cay, but
only to the west or the south of the mooring field – not to the
north or the east, and not within the mooring field itself.
 |
From the highest point on the island we could sometimes
pick up enough phone service to look at email |
We
make sure to announce these rules on the VHF whenever someone calls
in for anchoring info so that everyone else who is listening in can
hear them (the VHF is like a big party line – everyone listens in
on everyone else's conversations). But invariably a boat comes in
and tries to anchor where they're not supposed to. Sometimes they'll
reply to our calls on the VHF and will move before they get the
anchor down, saving them some time and trouble. Other times they'll
ignore our calls and anchor anyway. This means we have to get in our
dinghy (and the weather has usually deteriorated by this time so the
ride can be bouncy and wet) and go over to the offending boat to ask
them to move. This is our least favorite part of the job. Most of
the time they move without too much protest, but sometimes it can get
a bit painful.
 |
| Maureen chillin' at the beach |
We've
learned there are several distinct types of “bad anchorpersons”:
The
Clueless: this person pleads ignorance and moves readily enough,
albeit sometimes with a bit of grumbling. We usually give them the
benefit of the doubt as to whether they heard us hailing them on the
VHF, and generally end up on good terms with them.
The
Exception: this person thinks rules are for other people. Certainly
not for them. They usually try to browbeat us into letting them
stay, and will only move grudgingly.
The
Entitled: this person has “been anchoring here for 18 years and
it's the first I've ever heard of this restriction.” They will
also only move grudgingly, and seldom stay more than one night –
“If I can't anchor where I want to, I'm going to take my ball and
go home...”.
 |
| Maureen feeding the pigs at Big Major's Spot |
The
Confrontationalist (our least favourite): this person is usually also
an Exception and is sometimes also an Entitled. He will go out of
his way to create a confrontation. “What regulation is that?”
and “Where is it written that I can't anchor here?” and “Why
didn't you tell me BEFORE I got the anchor down and set?” (never
mind that we tried to hail you repeatedly on your way in and your
radio was “off”). Very little, if anything, will make this person
happy. Sometimes we drop a hint that the park warden will be coming
by soon with the Defence Forces guys – this is usually enough to
get them to move. Once, when a boat didn't answer us when we hailed
them, we didn't bother going by (our dinghy was up in preparation for
some bad weather). We just called the park office on the VHF, asking
them to send the warden down to talk w/ them. The offending boat
left right away and we canceled our call to the office – so much
for not having their radio on, eh?
At
any rate, here we are in paradise, having a ball. Our time here is
almost up and we'll be moving on to George Town next week to renew
our tourist visas.
Until
next time, fair winds, be safe, and enjoy!
