At 1124, I spotted Walker Cay about 6 miles to the north. At 1136, I spotted the first bird since leaving Palm Beach 2 days earlier. A little over an hour later, I snaked my way through the shallows leading into Walker Cay and saw a large monohull sailboat tied up to the sea wall. The owner waved me over. So, I pulled along side and threw him my dock lines. His wife and he tied me off to the wall. It was low tide, and the top of the wall was at my shoulder level. I put my hands on top of the wall and with all of my strength, I launched my body onto the wall - terra firma!
It was about 1300, and I just wanted to get checked in. The couple was from Switzerland, bought their boat in La Paz, Mexico, and had been out cruising for several years. They had already checked in at Bimini. They didn't know what the deal was to check in at Walker Cay. So, I went in search of somebody to figure it out.
Walker Cay's primary asset is a landing strip from WW2 but now allows sport fishermen to fly in and then head over to Grand Cay to pick up a BIG sport fishing charter. Walker Cay used to be a grand destination, but a couple of hurricanes in 2004 pretty much wiped it out. I found a local working on the immigration building, and he said I needed to go to Grand Cay to check in. Great! 4 more miles to go to check-in, I headed out immediately.
Along the way I noticed that a sport fishing boat was right on my stern. I surmised that he had lame charts and was following me in to Grand Cay Rosie's Marina. The entrance to Grand Cay is fairly depth sensitive. I saw 2' on my depth sounder at one point on the way in, We basically landed on the dock at the same time, and I met skipper Rusty walking down the dock.
P: Were you following me in?
R: Yes, I only have The Cruising Guide to the Abacos.
P; No worries, Glad to help.
R: Let me pick up the taxi fare to Immigration.
P:"OK, let''s go.
If you are thinking New York City yellow taxi, you'd be way off. The vehicle of choice in this corner of the world is a golf cart. The main road down the middle of the town is only wide enough for one golf cart. What happens if someone is coming from the opposite direction? It becomes a game of golf cart chicken! So fun especially when you are standing on the back of the golf cart ducking to miss roof top overhangs and power lines! Crazy! It is hard to believe from a US perspective the state of this place, but the locals have an awesome lifestyle. There's no poverty here. I talked to one of the locals and asked him how many people lived on the island - 430. And they are all jovial, friendly, and helpful.
I noticed I had a Bahamas TeleComm signal. So, I thought I would try to connect to home. I was able to text Carmina and Alex. It was great to exchange some basic messages to let them know that I was OK.
Walker Cay's primary asset is a landing strip from WW2 but now allows sport fishermen to fly in and then head over to Grand Cay to pick up a BIG sport fishing charter. Walker Cay used to be a grand destination, but a couple of hurricanes in 2004 pretty much wiped it out. I found a local working on the immigration building, and he said I needed to go to Grand Cay to check in. Great! 4 more miles to go to check-in, I headed out immediately.
Along the way I noticed that a sport fishing boat was right on my stern. I surmised that he had lame charts and was following me in to Grand Cay Rosie's Marina. The entrance to Grand Cay is fairly depth sensitive. I saw 2' on my depth sounder at one point on the way in, We basically landed on the dock at the same time, and I met skipper Rusty walking down the dock.
P: Were you following me in?
R: Yes, I only have The Cruising Guide to the Abacos.
P; No worries, Glad to help.
R: Let me pick up the taxi fare to Immigration.
P:"OK, let''s go.
If you are thinking New York City yellow taxi, you'd be way off. The vehicle of choice in this corner of the world is a golf cart. The main road down the middle of the town is only wide enough for one golf cart. What happens if someone is coming from the opposite direction? It becomes a game of golf cart chicken! So fun especially when you are standing on the back of the golf cart ducking to miss roof top overhangs and power lines! Crazy! It is hard to believe from a US perspective the state of this place, but the locals have an awesome lifestyle. There's no poverty here. I talked to one of the locals and asked him how many people lived on the island - 430. And they are all jovial, friendly, and helpful.
I noticed I had a Bahamas TeleComm signal. So, I thought I would try to connect to home. I was able to text Carmina and Alex. It was great to exchange some basic messages to let them know that I was OK.
The rest of the evening was spent cleaning and drying out the boat. Three days crossing The Stream and The Bank took quite a toll on Ama Mama. She relished her fresh water bath.
Today's route:
Today's route:
Total Distance = 33 nm
Elapsed Time = 7 hrs
Average Speed = 4.7 knts
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