Rum Cay, according to the sign painted on the building by the government dock, is the "unspoiled jewel of the Bahamas." Which is a marketing ploy if ever I saw one, because so far we haven't found much gemlike about Port Nelson, the island's only settlement.

It's platted out with a grid of roads, most of which have nothing but brush along them. The tiny "Last Chance Grocery" is aptly named. There are about a hundred residents and a hundred million mosquitoes. The small marina quoted us some terrifying rates - would you believe $25/load to have laundry done? (And here I was feeling bad about the $15/load in Marsh Harbour!)

The anchorage has a reputation for roll and surge, which wasn't bad with the north wind we came in on but built up as the wind shifted SE. For some reason it's worst at about 5 am - oog. The snorkeling so far has been okay but not great - some excellent structure, but a lot of dead coral and very few fish.

Fortunately, we don't have to depredate those few fish, because on the way over, we caught a huge mahi-mahi, second only in hugeosity to the one we caught in the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico some years ago. We'd had a pleasant day of snorkeling at Conception Island, followed by a cocktail party aboard one of the other boats in the anchorage. The next day, north swells and a cold front were expected, courtesy of the huge storm off the Carolinas, so we all left in the
morning to our various destinations.

We were sailing slowly in very light wind but saw the clouds building, and we were not far from the anchorage when the first squall hit. It was a real boat-washer, but didn't bring much wind. On the radar we could see a whole line of squalls, heading for us, so we decided to turn on the motor and head south, then east for Rum Cay, rather than trying to sail southeast and getting hammered by the squalls. (We don't mind the rain, but the lightning scares us!)

This ploy worked well, and we had just started turning on a more direct course to our destination when the light-tackle rod (of course!) bent double and line started whizzing out. We slowed the boat and Britt started reeling. And reeling. It seemed like no sooner did he make some progress, than that fish would run out the line again. By the time he got the fish to the boat, I don't know which of them was more exhausted.

While Britt had been fighting the fish, the breeze started filling in, and as soon as we got the fish gaffed and hung by its tail next to the dinghy, we put up sails and cut the motor. It was a nice broad reach in light winds, fast and smooth and not leaned over much, and we sailed all the way into the anchorage, putting on the motor only for the final upwind approach to the spot we picked out among the boats already there.

Maybe part of the reason I'm feeling relatively bummed about Rum Cay is that the other boats here are all traveling south, mostly together, and they are all socializing together while we're sitting alone. Admittedly, we have done a poor job of trying to socialize, and I've vowed to do more to reach out and meet people; the party at Conception reminded me of just how nice it is to mingle with others.

Another part is that we were actually here at Rum Cay in 2001, at uninhabited Flamingo Bay on the north coast, and it was spectacular - a lovely beach, nice coral heads, lots of big fish. (And no roll!) But with the north swell from subtropical storm Andrea (!) it's untenable - we thought the swell might have dissipated, but when we motored around the island yesterday, we could see it continuing to roll in, crashing and breaking on the reefs of Flamingo, so we returned here with our tails between
our legs.

Dunno what we're going to do now. We're both kind of grumpy and hot and mosquito-bitten. The choice is to be stuck here for a few days, or motor all day to San Salvador, which might be no better.

I guess we're just spoiled. We like perfect weather, wind when we want to sail, calm when we want to snorkel, and of course lots of big fish on those vibrant reefs - and a couple of boatsful of nice people to have rum drinks with afterward. Now, that's not too much to ask for, is it?

Alas, we have to cruise the conditions we have, not the conditions we wish we had (to paraphrase a certain politician!). At least we have the rum drinks!
- posted by S/V Windom @ 5/10/2007 [link]