February 2003 Log

Log of the Rantum Scoot

Saturday, February 15th, 2003 Nassau, Bahamas

So, Scott's back in the islands after two weeks back in "reality" very glad to be back! He has parts for the auto pilot and a couple of other systems that need repair along with Melissa's favorite shampoo! We wanted to get moving as quickly as possible but as often happens it took until the 21st to actually get away. We had to get the auto pilot hooked up and then we waited a couple of days for our propane tank to come back from being filled, re-provisioning, etc. etc.

Friday, February 21st, 2003 Allen's Cay Exuma Bahamas

There are these really cool Iguanas there that are up to 3.5 to 4 feet long they are only found here on Allen's cay. They are all over the beach and approach carefully looking for food when you arrive on the beach. We did a little snorkeling here before being pinned down for weather for a couple of days. Here we met folks that have turned out to be great friends. Stardust, Willard and Gail Welch from Mystic CT and the crew of Wings Don and Janet Loranger most recently of AZ. Stardust is a beautiful 49' Hylas and Wings an elegant 54' Hylas both only a year or 2 old. Wings and Stardust were already acquainted through the child birth like pain of boat building, we were added to the mix by chance (no wise cracks please). Wings was having some generator trouble and Willard stopped by to see if I knew anything about Fischer Panda generators. I said I had one and knew a little about it. I was up for a challenge and the weather was too rough to snorkel so I went over to Wings to see if I could help. Willard, Don and I worked together for most of the day and eventually got the generator going after finding melted wiring in the fuel pump circuit. That night as we were finishing Melissa, Gail and Janet put together a fantastic Spaghetti dinner complete with Pusser's pain killers for the three crews. Don asked what he could do for us for helping with the generator, Willard quickly named his price of a daily ice delivery. This was the start of what would turn out to be a great friendship. The kids became frequent guests on both yachts. These folks are great for the kids! Don is a retired 2 star Air Force General a pilot of course (despite his lofty rank he is class clown out here), Janet did a stint as a Major in the USAF nursing during Desert Storm. Turns out she is also a world class baker and appetizer chef!!! Willard is a retired chemist for Pfizer, primarily responsible for the drug Zoloft and Gail also was a Pfizerite in graphic design...

As the front closed in on Allen's Cay the anchorage got rough probably 2-3 ft chop and boats swinging every which way straining on their anchor rode. In the middle of these near gale conditions we saw Don set off in his dinghy. I thought what could be wrong that he would go out in this weather? Turns out he was only making his obligatory ice delivery to Willard!

Tuesday, February 25th leave for Norman's Cay

We split off from our new friends to push further down the Exuma chain to Normans cay. They went to Highborne cay for a couple of days on the dock. We found a great spot at Norman's and set out to catch fish and lobster. We did pretty well here in that regard, bagging some very nice lobsters and a big grouper along with some other fish, like grunts and red hinds.

We snorkeled a wrecked airplane which we believe to be a C-46. It was apparently part of the drug running fleet during the 70's early 80's. During that time this island was more or less off limits. Drug king pin Carlos Lehder had a compound here along with airport and storage facilities. It is said that anyone who got too close was not seen again. The Island is a natural gem but of course man has left some serious scars. There are abandoned buildings and an incredible amount of garbage left behind by thoughtless boaters (probably power boaters... (just kidding)).