Moving to Big Farmer's Cay

We spent a fun evening last night with a trio of sailors off EscapA, a 46’ sailboat that came and took a mooring along the south side of Big Major’s Spot. The three were simply in transit, hired to move the boat to Tortola for the owner, and while they had wanted to get a slip at Staniel Cay, the Yacht Club wasn't taking reservations because of the impending rough weather. Greg, Pete, and Chance were the three sailors; we had a great time chatting with all of them, and since we had made a big stew for dinner that evening, we invited them to join us. It was a nice bit of camaraderie, since the anchorage was pretty much deserted as everyone was battening down for the blow. (We had extra chain out and were well-prepared ourselves!)

This morning, after a rocking and rolling night on anchor off Thunderball Cave in 30 knot winds and ripping tidal currents, we’d both had enough of this anchorage! After a look at the forecast for more of the same through the next three days, we moved out from Staniel Cay on the high tide. Heading out around Harvey’s Cay was a bit rough, as 3’ choppy waves were hitting us squarely on the beam, but once we aimed south, we had a following sea and it was a smooth ride. Still, it was a bit startling to see such large waves on the bank here! We cruised a few hours south, covering about 30 miles, to Big Farmer’s Cay, near Galliot Cut. We anchored in the lee between Big Farmer’s and Big Galliot Cay, where it was an infinitely quieter lee than the anchorage at Staniel! From our anchorage vantage point, we can see out  to Exuma Sound, and it looks nasty: 6'-10’ waves, easily....and scarily enough, we saw a sailboat out there, heading south. (We wondered if it was EscapA; they had made some comments about moving farther south, but...in these conditions? I couldn’t believe my eyes!) 

We had a quiet day here...we played Scrabble and despite my opening play of using all my letters and gaining a 50-point lead, Ron still beat me soundly. We generally relaxed and read, then together we baked a spinach/bacon and onion quiche for dinner. Making the pie crust was the challenge, since neither of us are great pastry chefs, but with the two of us working in concert with the cookbook, it went well. It proved to be quite tasty as well!!

                              Ron ready to roll out the dough. Note our improvised rolling pin!                                                              

The finished quiche, about to be served!

It was an early bedtime, as we both were exhausted after the loud, rough night of fitful sleep last night at Staniel. While the tidal current is moving us a bit here, it’s much more secure, with more water under the hull and we aren’t rolling with the surge as we were before. By 830, our eyes were rolling up in our heads, and we both crashed early.