My First Bluewater Passage and Being Fooled a Second Time.

(Backdated to late December)

Of course, the first thing I do as we leave Red Shanks is promptly run aground. Sailing does not leave much room for arrogance and I should have followed the path of the rest of the sailors, but I didn’t and I very slowly ran us aground. With very limited light we leave Red Shanks and leave Elizabeth Harbor via North Channel Rocks. This is our first real blue water passage. It will be around 50 miles – a good overnighter. We expected calm winds, psh, how the weather man lies. We got 5-8 ft waves on our bow towards Santa Maria, Long Island and then we had 25 knot gusting winds which made the trip quite uncomfortable. We finally get to Rum Cay early the next morning, with no autohelm as it had given up during the night. At 6 am we pass our Rum Cay waypoint and pull into Port Nelson, but after multiple attempts to hail Sumner Point Marina we give up and drop the hook in an anchorage which isn’t great, but acceptable when you are working on minimal sleep. After a far too brief nap we hear Spring Song bring up Sumner Point Marina, we hail them as well and soon we have a guide boat in. Very minimal buoys that don’t match the chartplotter, but the guide is more than helpful (not to mention the dinghy is full of dogs, love). The marina isn’t too full, but we do have a few neighboring boats. Spring Song owned by a Swiss couple, Walter and Ursula, and crewed by Rhiner and Mercedes (a German and Costa Rican couple). The second boat is a 37 foot Ferro-cement boat single handedly run by John. Finally, Three Amigos is owned by Brian and crewed by Eddie and Mark.

The Path for my Rum Cay hiking trip.

Finally being at an island that has some history, Rum Cay is famous for its petroglyphs which are basically ancient cave pictorial drawings. Something I would obviously love. I am so ready for an adventure! It is a miserable day – rain and cold, but never the less I set out.

Continuous looming storm clouds.

I walk north through the long main/only road. It is mostly paved with a few swatches of gravel. I make the five mile walk with the most breathtaking vistas of the north side. At one point on the top of a hill I am looking down on dense greens being misted by the huge breakers of the north side. I would have loved to take a picture of this, but it was still far TOO rainy. Even though my Northface rain jacket says its waterproof, it is definitely soaked through. A little rain and a five mile walk is nothing to a Red Wing girl especially when I have my IPOD and Girl Talk. I make it to the north beach, which is nice, but I am on a mission. Just past this beach is Hartford Beach and the cave with the drawings!

One of the many paths I took.

I take a little golf cart path over the next point to, what I believe is Hartford Beach, but this soon deteriorates to a walking path and soon becomes a cattle path (did I mention Rum Cay had wild cattle). It is a beautiful walk and since I left at 11 am I have plenty of time. Butterflies guide my path as I hurry along to a lean-to and what I again believe must be Hartford Beach.

Beautiful beach vistas with ominous skies.

Unfortunately, it is completely free of caves and I have to run along the beach and rocky sections. After this I sit and watch the breakers trying to decide if I should turn back now or keeping going. I am dedicated, but unsure where to find these caves.

North side Breakers.

I decide I should just go to the next point. By this point I have walked over 10 miles and am probably closer to the shore of the south side (where this is a town) than I am to going back to the north side. The next point leads me to a mud path with an ancient stone wall.

Ancient cattle wall which guided what I thought was an actual path.

Beautiful Bromeliads.

What starts as mud soon turns into a bulldozed path which is rough with freshly cut trees. I assumed this was leading to the new Rum Cay Marina, but after much walking, around 4 pm, the path ends. I climb the nearest hill and find that I am dead center of the island. Not near the sound or the north or any kind of road, but basically just screwed in the middle of the island. The only option is to follow my tracks back, even though that means I will get home around 10 pm – unfortunately I told Dad I would meet him at Kaye’s at 5 pm. I knew right then I would be in trouble.

I start walking back as fast as possible knowing that my daylight will soon be gone. Unfortunately, the first thing to go is my shoes. Yes, now I am barefoot walking on a freshly bulldozed tree path. I only have an hour of daylight left. This is the worst. I switch between screaming for help and blubbering to myself. The beautiful variating greens from before are now ominous. I can’t cry, because I am already dehydrated, but I am very hysterical and crazy. But unlike my shoes I cannot give up; I just have to walk these 15 miles back – so be it. I have never liked shoes and know how to look for the muddy spots and jump from branch to branch, but every once and a while I have to pull out a twig that is lodged itself in my foot. Since I am retracing my path I know that the path MUST get better. I follow my path and start to hear the north shore breakers, thank goodness. With light I am back on the beach, which is not better because my feet are very cut up by this point. The four inches of sand sink are killing my thighs and these beaches seem a lot longer than before! I am exhausted. It is dusk and I have been walking since 11 am. Back on the cow path I see fresh tracks and as I am trying to find my tracks when I see a large (three times my size) white apparition. I quick turn off my flashlight and the cow leaves; unfortunately my path is right where he just was. I quickly skirt by only to see a horse on the beach, who upon seeing me crosses my path.

I keep going. Keep pushing. I am in such pain! But I know that Dad is worried and that I must keep going. I know that the road will be better than the beach – it has to be. Unfortunately it is not. The gravel tears at my feet and soon I am screaming (literally) at myself to keep going. I have to keep going. I am so dehydrated that I am sucking rain water out of my jacket. I just focus and keep going. My body and mind are numb, but I finally get to Kaye’s Bar around 8:30 pm. I beg for a glass of water and everyone knows I am the girl who attempted to go to the north side (as I guess Dad attempted to start a search party). Thanks to a local nurse I get a ride for the last mile and find Dad sitting in the marina’s clubhouse with Spring Song and John from the Ferro-cement boat. Thanks to water, wine, and chicken alfredo I am finally feeling a bit better. Fool me once (Stocking Island) shame on you, fool me twice (Rum Cay) shame on me. I will start to limit my adventures from now on, especially since I can now barely walk.

For your appreciation: at one point the path turned to coral and it was so pretty, unfortunately on the way back when I was shoeless, it was NOT so beautiful.