Murray and Heather participated in the Staniel Cay New Years Race this year and Windswept IV placed third in the monohull division. Check out this article for some more details.

Hello everyone,

We hope that your winter is going well although we have heard that snow and cold is the usual forecast. Currently we are at Hog Cay, Ragged Islands or Jumentos at position N 22 15.68 W 075 45.26 and the temperature is cooler today as a cold front came through last night bringing north winds.

Last Saturday, Miss Maxine from Duncan Town, Ragged Island threw a party on the beach at Hog Cay. Approximately 15 cruising boats made their way down here to celebrate with her and the local children. Maxine had cooked a turkey, a ham, made peas and rice as well as macaroni and cheese. Someone else from town baked two cakes. The cruisers all contributed something to the feast. Everyone brought cold drinks as the day was hot with little wind. The children had a super time in the water and running
on the beach just like children everywhere. It was great to see them. Quite a few of the locals attended the party as well. One of the gentleman was Cletus, the original Captain C which is now the name of the mailboat that delivers supplies to the island. The party started near 1:30 with the food served about 2 or 2:30. There was so much to eat, we didn’t need any dinner later! As the sun drew lower in the sky, the boats loaded up the kids, the pots and our hosts, heading back to town before dark.
The cruisers remained on the beach for the green flash and then separated to their various vessels, tired from the sun and fun.

Miss Maxine had ordered some supplies for us, to come in on Captain C. But, the ship was late and didn’t arrive until late Friday. Early Saturday morning ( 0700 ) we headed to town in the dinghy. The water was flat calm and we flew the four miles, the last mile and half through a dredged cut. Maxine was busy preparing for the party and didn’t want to take the time to calculate our bill. As well, she had misplaced her glasses and couldn’t see her notes. “You’re not going anywhere for a bit” she said
“Pay me later”. Where else can you get a couple of bags of food and walk out with no money changing hands? She is a very special lady. On Monday, we tried to go in and pay her but discovered that she had gone fishing! Oh well!!

The last few days, we have shared meals with Fran and Mort from Aloto, John from Zafu and Karen & Klaus from Lucky Touch. On Sunday night, John had everyone to his boat for a lovely fish dinner. Then last night, Karen & Klaus invited us all over for paella with lobster,conch and fish. She had made a lobster bisque ( from the meat left in the heads and antennas ) as well. Fran brought along a blueberry crumble and I contributed some homemade bread. It has been very nice to share meals and I have been
racking my brain for something that I can make that will feed 7 people. It has to be something that I still have all the ingredients for in my depleted stores!

Speaking of which, our time here in these remote cays is limited. There will be a brief respite from the wind this week and we will run to shore and get some more supplies from Miss Maxine. Then, we will look for the right winds to head further north. A good part of the Port Stanley crew will be in George Town on the 25th and we will try to get there as well. Our general plan is to head to Long Island, re-supply, do laundry and then go to George Town. Once the visiting is done, we can head off again.

To where? Well, it will be early March by then and we will work our way north in the Exumas, then to Spanish Wells and on to Abaco with plans to cross to the US before the end of March. By Mid April, we will be back in Tillsonburg.

Until we see you, take care. Hugs to all,
Heather & Murray

About 10 days ago, we used the tail end of a cold front to enable us to sail down here to the Ragged Islands or Jumento Cays. Since then, we have had two more cold fronts with high winds and few places to hide. The islands are mostly low and north-south facing, thus offering little shelter from the west to north winds that accompany a cold front.

Initially, we anchored at Buenavista Cay for a few days. There we dove on the coral heads located right in the anchorage and found fish and lobster for our dinner. From a local fishing boat, we made a trade of some Canadian whiskey for 2 fresh hogfish. Man, are they delicious!

There is a trail across the island to a small beach and, donning our crocs, we went exploring. The trail is well marked with beach debris such as shoes, floats, toys etc. The trail started out sand-covered and easy walking but deteriorated rapidly to razor rock. This rock is limestone that has been covered in peaks of sharp rock. Murray’s crocs are very worn and some of the rocks penetrated through the sole of the shoe into his foot! Scattered around were sink-holes varying from 1 foot to 6 feet
deep. Not a pleasant “walk in the park”. In the centre of the island was a salt pond that was mostly dry. There we saw some of the resident goats and heard a rooster crow. After skirting the salt pond, we continued along the trail until we finally reached the beach. The beach itself was very small but there was a lot of debris thrown onto the surrounding rocks. Searching through the flotsam, we found many heart beans and some hamburger beans for our collection. Murray also got some more fish floats.

After a few days, we sailed on south to Hog Cay and met up with friends. A beach cook-out/bonfire was arranged and enjoyed by all. Then, a cold front was coming and, following a vessel with shallow draft, we ducked into a bay near Duncan Town. It protected us from the south and west but exposed us to the north-east. As we needed to have a rising tide to get out of there, we departed before the north wind had subsided and got our butts kicked. The bay where we anchored was safe but the waves were
quite high and we spent about 20 hours thrashing about.

For Super Bowl, a friend had arranged for a local boat to come out a pick up those interested in the game. We are not football fans but needed a diversion about then. Silvertail Lodge, a bone fishing lodge in Duncan Town, put on a party with lots of food and a big screen tv. It was great to meet some other cruisers and some of the locals as well. An exciting game followed by an exciting trip back to the boats in the dark.

Another cold front was coming and we needed a different strategy. This time, we sailed to Johnson Cay to a pretty u-shaped cove with protection from the south and south-west. But, we rolled most of the night due to left-over wave action. As Johnson is open to the north, we moved, shortly after dawn, 1 mile across to Man of War Bay, on Raccoon Cay. This spot soon filled up with seven or eight other boats. Another beach walk gained us more heart and hamburger beans. We also found a fire pit and organized
a beach party for later that night. The afternoon was spent checking out the nearby coral heads where Murray bagged another lobster and several fish. Our freezer is bulging! The beach party was fun as usual and we met some new people. While getting back into the dinghy later, I was tossed by a wave and smacked down hard on the sand onto my knees. Ouch! They were sore for a day or so but the fake one seems to have survived, thank goodness.

Last night, the boat rolled again. I am starting to get used to it and even can sleep some. Today we must move again as we are exposed to the north-east and the wind is due to shift there. But, the anchorage that we want to move to is exposed to the north, so we can’t move until it shifts and the waves die down somewhat. Between a rock and a hard place, the price of paradise.

Probably you can tell from these last few days that the Jumentos Cays have their pros and cons. They are remote so the anchorages are not crowded. The fishing is good. But, there are no places to hide from a cold front with all around protection. The anchorages tend to be rolly and/or rough. You need to have your tanks full as fuel and water are hard to get. The supply boat comes weekly but cannot reach the town due to shallows. All supplies are ferried in by small skiffs, including fuel in barrels.
The one grocery store has very limited supplies, mostly canned dry goods.

The wind is expected to blow hard for the next 4 or 5 days and then the next cold front may not reach us here. Calmer weather is predicted for next Wed/Thurs. We have one tomato and a partial cabbage left. My sprouts are growing and we have canned vegetables. How long can we stay? We are not sure… but will keep you posted.

Stay warm and look after each other.
Heather & Murray

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the lack of news from down here but it hasn’t been too exciting lately.

We have had cold front, followed by cold front followed by high winds. Here the weather systems are extremely predictable. The prevailing winds are easterly. When a front is headed our way, the winds start to swing around to the south and west and then increase in velocity. The fronts may bring squalls which have rain and/or higher winds for brief periods. Then the winds clock further into the north-west and north and then increase again. They may stay in the north-east for several days before dying
down and swinging into the east. As the islands offer us protection from the prevailing easterlies, we can go up and down the chain of islands freely during those times. When the wind goes around to the south and west, we have to find somewhere to hide. For vessels with 6 foot draft like we are, those places are few and far between. And,last year the Exuma Land and Sea Park put mooring balls in at Cambridge Cay which was one of those protected places! They charge $20 per night and have not left
any room to anchor. If we really wanted to go there, we might be able to get around it by requesting a “harbour of refuge”.

A harbour of refuge is the term for protection from a storm in a place which might not normally allow a sailboat to anchor or tie up. Some years ago, friends entered Freeport Harbour which is a commercial facility and asked for a “harbour of refuge”. They permitted them to tie to one of the docks for several days while the storm howled. It wasn’t necessarily the best dock and there was no power or water but they were safe.

Anyhow, we have spent a lot of time lately in hiding. Not to say that we haven’t had a beach party or two, cocktails aboard other vessels, lunch ashore or even dinner ashore. But, the diving has been scarce with mostly sightseeing adventures instead of hunting for food. The wind has given us lots of power from the wind-generator and we have enjoyed some more of the movies that Steve gave us this year.

We did get to Black Point where I did laundry at the prettiest laundry in the islands. Ida keeps that place spotless but her prices are getting up there. To wash and dry one load costs $7. But, all things have gotten more expensive here. Eggs are almost $5 per doz! Bread is $6, so I bake my own. Wifi is $10 per day.

Yesterday, we helped our friends in the Sandcastle, on Little Bay. They had just flown in for the winter from California. The guys helped take the storm shutters off of the outside while Karen and I helped inside. I swept up the dirt and mouse droppings. We washed off the counter-tops and then tackled the frig. What a mess! A rat had crawled inside and died ( from the poison they left around ). Several cans of pop had been left inside and they had leaked and created a mouldy mass. Yuck! But, by noon
Doug & Jean were in pretty good shape and we all had to take off to hide from the west winds. We will see them later this winter.

So, right now we are hiding again. Back in Oz. But the best spot has been taken by a large motor vessel with lots of windage. We are staying a long ways away from him as he swings wildly on his two anchors. In a couple of days, the wind will die again and we may head off to the Jumentos. We will likely travel alone as High Stepper, Mystic and Flextime all headed to George Town last week.

Oh, and here is some exciting news. At least exciting to me. Before those guys left, we all took a walk to the ocean side across from Jack’s Bay, on Guanna Cay. There the waves bring lots of plastic junk into a cove along with sea beans, if we are lucky. And I sure was! I found a Mary’s Bean which is one of the rarest. It was sitting right in the open and no one had noticed it as it appeared to be a lump of tar. It is very dark, almost black, with the shape of a cross on one side.

So, that is our life aboard, when finding beach junk makes your week! Hopefully, your life is a little more exciting. Your fronts bring snow and cold weather. Stay warm, happy and healthy.

Hugs,
Heather & Murray

Written Dec 24th in Berry Islands

Hello everyone,

I did promise more details and now, as the wind is howling outside, I have time to write.

On the 18th Dec, we had arranged to meet Terry & Jeanne Persily at a nearby marina. They are friends from the Astabula Yacht Club in Ohio who spend the winter in Delray Beach, Together, we found a couple of marine stores where Murray got the last things on his parts list. The marina had a super outdoor thatched-roof restaurant where we had lunch and reminisced of races, parties and friends we shared. By 3 pm, we headed back to the boat to make final preparations for our crossing.

A dinghy approached the boat while we were working. They introduced themselves as Bob & Jane on Flextime, a Beneteau 40 from Toronto, and inquired when and where we were crossing. Murray answered ” to Lucaya and in about 20 minutes”. They scrambled to get ready and were hard on our heels going out of the West Palm Beach Inlet.

The inlet was ugly and I made a stupid mistake. I had opened the front hatch a bit while working below as it was very warm. And, I forgot about it. The wind was opposing the outgoing current of the inlet and created huge, ugly, crashing waves. The boat slammed up and down and the waves tumbled over our decks. Too late, I screamed ” the hatch is open!”. Murray ducked below and dogged it down. But the bedding, pillows and mats on the floor were all wet. With salt water. But, no time to worry about that now. We pour on the power and eventually get free of those ugly waves. But, it isn’t a whole lot better out in the ocean. And the breeze is bringing us the worst smell you can imagine. We have been using the holding tank because we are in the US but I have not put chemical in it. And it stinks. My stomach won’t let me go below so, Murray to the rescue. He goes down below, puts chemical into the toilet and pumps it into the system. In a few minutes, the air freshens and we can safely take deep breaths.

We get the sails set and head off on our course to Lucaya. The waves are still quite large and hitting us forward of the beam. Because of the waves, the autopilot cannot hold a good course and so we have to hand-steer for the first eight hours. Flextime stays within our sight and we make frequent radio contacts. The new AIS receiver was excellent! On my computer charting program, it showed us the ships around us, their name, course and closest point of approach. It certainly made it much easier to determine if we were in any danger from them and relieved my mind on several occasions. Our radar wasn’t even on during that passage and it is almost impossible to read the screen now anyway.

By midnight, we had to turn on the engine and then the autopilot could take over the steering duties. Murray and I took turns catching a nap. By dawn, we were off of Freeport, Grand Bahama and arrived at Lucaya at 0740 on Dec 19th. Check in went well and I managed to get all of the salty things washed in the laundry at the marina. Then, time for a drink by the pool, a nice barbequed dinner aboard and bed.

Dawn found us departing Lucaya, again in company with Flextime. Our destination was Great Stirrup Cay, 56 miles away and we motored across a FAC sea ( Flat Ass Calm ). Murray’s fishing lines were deployed before we cleared the Bell Channel, the entrance to Lucaya, and he was rewarded with a 34 inch Mahi Mahi several hours later.

I marinated the fillets in olive oil with some tarragon flakes and we grilled them on the barbeque and shared dinner with Bob & Jane as the sun set behind Goat Cay. It had been a tiring few days and we soon sought out the vee-berth for another good nights sleep.

Our journey the next day was only a distance of 15 miles so we had a leisurely breakfast and departed by 0800. The fishing lines were out once again as we had heard reports of catches of black fin tuna nearby. The first catch was just another barracuda but… the line soon went zzzzing. Murray grabbed the pole and braked the reel down. He started to reel in and then the fish went zzing once more as he pulled line and took off. Slowly but surely, Murray reeled him in. “it’s just another barie” he said disappointed. I wasn’t so sure. “There aren’t any spots!” I dashed below for the fish i.d. card while Murray slam dunked him into the cockpit. He’s huge! And it is not a barracuda. It is a 17 lb, 36 inch long king mackerel and very good eating according to the fish card.

Very soon, we thread our way into the anchorage at Devil’s/Hoffman Cays and get our hook down in a sandy spot out on the banks. To the west there is nothing but shallow water as far as you can see. The islands are low but will protect us from a north or north east wind. There are three boats anchored here now – Windswept IV, Flextime and Intuition I ( with Wayne & Geraldine aboard from Nova Scotia ) and Murray cleans his fish and delivers some to everyone. Bob & Jane join us for some exploration as we show them the Blue Hole on Hoffman Cay and the resident groupers. As we are checking out the reef off of White Cay, a sloop powers directly towards us, heading for the small opening nearby. We speed out to head them off as that cut is not a safe passage and they follow us to the correct entrance between the islands. This is how we meet Vickie and Noah, a young couple on a vessel names Serenus headed for the South Pacific and New Zealand eventually. Their trip may have had a bad ending right here at Devil’s/Hoffman if we hadn’t intercepted them.

Once they are securely anchored, we all get together aboard Intuition to share snacks and stories as the sun sets. Later tomorrow the front and wind will arrive but the evening right now is lovely.

Plans were made to look for lobster in the morning and the guys are gung ho. The dighies converge near a reef we have check out years ago. Right away, I spot a black grouper and Murray heads off in hot pursuit. One shot and he has him. Yeah! First speared one of the year. Bob is determined to find a lobster and actually does, not only find one but shoots it right between the eyes. Noah spots some conch and brings them to the boats. Time to adjourn to a nearby beach for conch cleaning lessons. Later Murray makes conch salad for the gang as they gather aboard W4 for sundowners. The wind has picked up but so far all is ok.

Nearby on Little Harbour Cay is a small restaurant called Flo’s Conch Bar and the whole group make plans to have lunch there tomorrow. I have contacted Next Exit and Duet, who are anchored closer to Little Harbour and invited them to meet us there as well. By now, the wind is honking and we are all crazy to be going. But, we put on wet gear and jump into the dinghies with radios, lifejackets etc just in case. We all had a super time and enjoyed ourselves. The wind was even stronger on the return trip but all dinghies got back safely and we settled down for the rest of the day and evening. Intuition dragged anchor around 8 or 9 pm and were on a collision course with us. They got the engine on, hauled the anchor and managed to find a spot with good holding. All this was done is the pitch black night with the winds screaming through the rigging at about 30 knots or more in gusts. No one slept too soundly that night.

Christmas Eve day was spent quietly aboard. We filled the water tanks and charged every piece of re-chargeable equipment aboard with the power from the wind generator. According to Chris, the weather guy, we are stuck here for at least 4 more days. I will have to organize something ashore for Christmas Day.

Dec 28th

On Christmas Day, 12 people from the 6 vessels nearby gathered on a beach for drinks, snacks and games. Vickie, on Serenius, had written a variation on the Twelve Days of Christmas to make it into a cruisers Christmas and we each had a part to sing. It was a lovely afternoon and we headed back to the boats before 5 pm, to prepare our individual dinners. Later Murray and I shared a bottle of champagne until the stars. It was a wonderful day.

The wind has continued to howl and we have stayed put. Today the wind is down slightly and will continue to decrease. Tomorrow, Monday, we will haul anchor early, head to Nassau to re-supply and do laundry and then head out to Rose Island. Then Tuesday we will head southward to Norman’s Cay, to dive and explore for a few days. Flextime wants to continue to follow along and we will enjoy the company.

Meanwhile we will continue to watch for the green flash! We already saw one on Friday night as the sun set behind our boat. All of the best to everyone, stay well and warm and write when you have time. But remember to write to the winlink address as we will only be able to check this one on the rare occasion that we can get a wireless connection.

Murray & Heather
aboard Windswept IV

Hello all,

Well, it seems that we are pinned down here, in the Berry Islands, with high winds and waves. The islands are protecting us from the waves and the wind generator is making good use of the wind power. But, we will be spending Christmas here.

There are 7 boats anchored within sight and some of us have been sharing cocktail hour. Today we have reservations at Flo’s Conch Bar, in Little Harbour, for lunch. That is the only structure on Little Harbour Cay ( about three miles away and a wet dinghy ride )and they do a fair bit of business with the passing boaters. Each time we are nearby, we try to go for lunch to help support the business.

The turkey breast is thawing in the refrigerator but my vegetable stash is getting quite picked over. It may be canned veggies for Christmas dinner. But, there will be wine, good company and Christmas carols on the radio. It would have been nice to make a phone call or two, but that is not to be this year.

So, consider yourselves all hugged and given big Christmas greetings from both of us. Much love to you all,

Heather & Murray
windswept aboard Windswept IV in the Bahamas

Hello all,

Just a quick note to let you know that we have arrived safely in the Bahamas. We are at Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island and plan to leave here at 0400 tomorrow for the Berry Islands.

Will write more later,

Heather & Murray

Welcome to the new and improved www.Windswept-IV.ca website. I have moved all the content over but if you have links to specific pages, those are broken now I am afraid. Also, if you have subscribed to one of both of our old RSS feeds, you will have to re-subscribe to it again because that address has changed.

But enough of the negatives about the change. The look and navigability of the site should be much improved. Also, search is now much better and can be done without relying on Google to have a good index of the site. You can now post comments on stories or pictures on the site if you want. Just click “Login” on the top left and create a new account. Maintaining the site will be a bunch easier for me and best of all, Heather and Murray will now be able to directly create content on the website if they have the opportunity. Before, only I could publish content so they had to send me emails and often they would languish a bit for me to get around to it.

Please let me know what you think of the new site by sending me email at windswept-iv@windswept-iv.ca especially if something seems wrong or doesn’t seem to be working.

Hello everyone,

Well, we have braved rain and fought bugs, deserted friends and met some new ones. But we have reached West Palm Beach and are anchored near the inlet from the sea. Chris Parker, the weather guru, seems to be giving a green light for a crossing later this week.

We left Vero Beach on Dec 12th and headed to Peck Lake to anchor for a few days. Peck Lake is just a wide area on the ICW but gives us a safe place to stay and watch the weather. The first few days were very windy but, friends who live nearby loaned us a car and we made final preparations for the winter. George & Nancy, who live on a canal off of Hobe Sound, are some of our oldest cruising friends as we met them in 1997 in Atlantic Highlands, NY. They still cruise but will not leave home until after Christmas. Once they set out, they travel long distances and will meet up with us again in the Jumentos or Ragged Islands.

Today, after a night of visitation by the dreaded no-seeums, we departed Peck Lake and headed on south. There was some light rain and seven lift bridges to contend with in the scant 24 mile trip. Along the ICW, many of the mansions sport For Sale signs as do some of the boats tied in front. But the size of these “houses” is amazing. They seem more like hotels than someone’s home or vacation home. To have that much money…..

Murray is making a last run for fuel, using the dinghy. We seldom take the big boat to a fuel dock as all fuel going into our tanks is filtered through a Baja filter, which will separate any dirt or water. This keeps our tanks and fuel clean and prevents other problems, such as clogged fuel filters.

Tomorrow we will try to arrange to meet some more friends for lunch and then will haul the dinghy and store it on deck for the crossing. I will do some meal preparation and some baking so that we can have easy meals underway. Just in case.

The crossing will not be too long as we plan to head to Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island to check in. That trip will take approx 18 hours and we will depart here at 4 pm to arrive there in daylight hours. Once we check in , we will sleep a while and head out again in the early morning hours for the Berry Islands.

So, that is the plans for the next few days. We will not likely have a wireless connection, so most messages should be sent to our winlink address. Remember not to send photos or jokes to that address.

We will write again when we are across. Meanwhile, have a wonderful time getting all ready for Christmas. Maybe after the crossing, I can even put my decorations up……

Hugs,
Heather & Murray

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update. It is Dec 9th and it is finally warm here. Daytime temps will be 26C or 80F. Some of the boats from Port Stanley have caught up with us and we made the cardinal mistake. We stopped in Vero Beach!

You might remember that we call it Velcro Beach and it lives up to its name. We stopped to help Tony & Diane on Vertigo 1 to get their SSB/Ham radio working. The plan was just overnight. Well, that wasn’t quite enough so… two nights. Now, we have met so many old friends and invitations to get together are growing like mushrooms. The third night will be tonight and I have a feeling that it may be a few more. Luckily it is only $10 per night on the mooring.

The best thing about Vero is the free bus that takes you around town to all the shopping areas. I can cross some of the final things off of my list. And then we are ready to go.

Except the weather isn’t quite ready for us to go. It is possible that there is a window this weekend but we will have to wait a day or so to be sure. The cold fronts are coming closer together already and the huge windows of the past few weeks have disappeared.

Oh well, as I said, it is warm and so it doesn’t really matter too much. The winds are keeping the boat batteries charged and I have signed up for internet access. I am a happy person. Murray is tink, tinking in the cockpit, working on the outboard engine. It seems to have a speck of dirt in the carb and doesn’t want to idle. It will go fast but they frown on that in the marina. Once he is done with that, we will get back on the bus and head to WalMart with my list. Maybe even pick up a Christmas present or two.

Have you gotten your shopping all done? And the Christmas cards all mailed? If we stay here long enough, I may even write and print out the three Christmas letters that I still send out.

Well, hugs to all and we will keep you informed about departures/crossings.
Heather & Murray