Bonus post — Cupcake Afloat

Now that we are away from Georgetown and the marina (both lots of fun) we are back on our own in quiet Exuma anchorages. That situation means afternoons are calmer and quieter. So I figured I would reward all three of our loyal readers with a bonus posting today.

We had another splendid day. The sun was bright and hot, the water is clear and warm. After filling up the diesel tank on our way out of the marina we headed northwest on the Exuma Sound and hoisted the asymmetrical sail. The wind was light so we didn’t move very fast, but we thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Ultimately the GPS told us if we maintained our stately pace, the arrival at the anchorage wouldn’t happen until something like 4am. Not ideal. So we motorsailed the remainder of the day. Once again we pulled fishing lines behind us but caught nothing. Hope springs eternal.

Some time in the afternoon I was just about to read in the shade the headsail cast on the bow when Ellen spotted a plume of black smoke coming from a boat about five miles farther out to sea. We radioed to see if they were in distress, all the while watching the plume become an obvious fire aboard the sailboat. Nobody answered so we altered course to see if there was anything we could do to assist.

As we approached, we could see someone in a dinghy near the boat which was fully engulfed in flames. The smoke got thicker and thicker, even several miles away we could make out the flames coming from the boat. At some point the mast came down. In the meantime, another sailboat diverted course and followed us east. But a big power yacht sent its go-fast tender to the scene and at 40 mph+ he arrived well before we were closer than a mile away. He radioed that the captain, a singlehander, was unharmed in the dinghy. The tender and its mother ship took the captain aboard but kept their distance from the burning sailboat out of fear that the gas and propane aboard would explode. Our services were not needed so we went back to our course, all the while watching someone’s sailing dream go up in thick ugly black smoke.

In addition to being eagle-eyed, Ellen was very productive during the sail today. She made a big loaf of bread, tortillas, quesadillas, and granola bars. She’s the best.

Shadow of the jib in 9’ of crystal clear water.

She also anchored the boat under sail today. We coasted up to our anchorage under just the jib (you can see its shadow in the picture). At the last minute, Ellen and I furled the jib, then she hustled to the bow, waited for us to coast to a stop, then dropped Pablo to the sandy bottom in 9’. Textbook. And what a gorgeous calm spot. We love the Exumas.

Our anchorage at Galliot Cay is one we’ve wanted to revisit since we were here in 2012 because we remember it as having fantastic snorkeling. We arrived too late this afternoon to check out the snorkeling at the cut (it’s shark hour) but were still early enough to jump in and check the anchor (well set) and the bottom of the boat (nasty…looks like a patchy beard on a high school boy).

Disgusting. Gotta get that cleaned up soon.

Saw a bar jack (caranx ruber) hanging around with a southern sting ray (dasyatis americana). The two of them were together for at least the 20 minutes I spent half-heartedly scrubbing the boat. It’s an example of what the right was worried about when they opposed same-sex marriage. What’s next, interspecies relationships? Slippery slope.

Cruising math problem of the day: the marina charges $0.40/gallon of fresh water (we declined). Our electricity bill for the stay at Emerald Bay was $5.10 and we made 35 gallons of water using that electricity. Was it cost-effective to use their electricity to make our water or should we have just filled our tanks using the marina’s water? Moss knows.