Safely tucked into Joe’s sound, I set anchor and enjoyed a beer after my adventure. One beer has a way of making me very social. A couple sips in and I had lowered the dingy and headed over to my neighboring sailboat. Moments before, I’d seen them arrive in what seemed a dingy parade. Two dingies going to the other two sailboats, and one headed to a houseboat tucked away in the prettiest spot of a stunning anchorage. I was social but not too ambitious so I went to the closest sailboat. They were French Canadians and they explained in broken English that they had just come from town and that the man in the houseboat had shown them the way between some tricky shallows. We talked a little, I gave them some Mahi. The best line of the night was that they were told anyone going through Joe’s sound cut was either very experienced or crazy… so after drinking to the fact that we were all crazy I bid them adieu and went home to Heritage.
The next morning I had to meet up with Alyssa, if all went as planned, she would fly into Long Island and I’d meet her around ten. I just had to find my way into town and pick out a meeting point a cab driver could find. Not knowing my way, I set off in the dingy but made a call to the houseboat before I left the sound in hopes of some good directions. As I approached on my dingy through the aqua blue water, a voice boomed out good morning. Slowly the shape on the two story houseboat came into focus and I was introduced to Patrick,
“I heard you might know the way into town, my fiancé is flying in and I’ve got to find a spot to meet her, some directions would be great!”
“Say no more” Patrick replied.
Patrick disappears into his houseboat only to emerge a moment later hopping into his dingy, he pulls the motor to life and starts off, “follow me!”
It’s all I can do to throw the motor to full throttle and catch up to the wake Patrick is throwing. He expertly weaves through the shallows he must know like the back of his hand… the water is so clear that in 2 ft of water it appears your motoring through the sandy bottom and 6″ of water looks all the same, so easy enough to leave yourself high and dry hitting bottom. Weaving through the shallows, the water gives way to 5 ft of depth and Patrick slows down.
“See the hill about a mile away, on the right side is a dock you can tie up to, its deep till you get there. About a ten minute walk from there to the MGS store, biggest spot in town, have your girl tell the cabbie to meet you there,”
“Can’t thank you enough, was just hoping for a kick in the right direction, that was way more help than necessary!”
“No worries, as the unofficial mayor of Joe’s sound I consider it my duty and when I heard it was for love, I had no choice!” Patrick states.
I tip my cap and take off for town knowing that a couple drinks was in our future between the mayor and myself. His directions lead me to the mgs store, a fine grocery store about 30ft long x 20 ft wide that even had a couple pieces of fresh fruit!! A rarity for us this past month. I bought some $12 grapes, chatted with the friendly locals and waited for Alyssa.
My lovely fiancé arrived once more, two and a half days somehow had seemed a long time. The cabbie gave us a ride to the dingy and I impressed with my newly acquired knowledge of the shallows on the ride back. Weaving in between the white sand banks, and ending with a whoosh as the dingy came off plane into the turquoise water of Joe’s sound. If this anchorage didn’t impress Alyssa I knew I should give up then and there but luckily the look on her face told me I wasn’t dreaming and that we were anchored in paradise.
We spent the day catching up on each other’s adventures, napping between paddle board sessions and getting the boat ready for the storm that was coming late that night. Earlier, I had paddled to the houseboat and invited Patrick over for Sundowners, now he made the 30 second commute to our boat just as the sun was dipping below the tree line blocking our proper view. He clamors into our smaller cockpit with a gift, “try a swig of this, the game warden makes it!” Can’t say no as he passes the small bottle of moonshine. It burns going down but better than expected for an out Island concoction. The moonshine sets the tone for the night as I find myself cracking into nice whiskey for myself and Rum for Patrick. As we toss quite a few back he tells us of his writing for the NY Times, his summer work sailing an 80 ft wooden ship and how he came to find himself in Joe’s Sound on a houseboat. Alyssa makes some wonderful spaghetti squash and the storytelling goes on well into the night. It’s not until a strong gust reminds us a storm is coming and that it’d be best for Patrick to get while the getting is good.
It’s not ten minutes after Patrick leaves that the front hits full force, cutting rain and enough wind to heel Heritage over while she’s sitting at anchor. Safely tucked in at Joe’s sound we don’t even feel a ripple in the water as the winds reach 45 kts and it’s easy sleeping as the storm rages!
As the sun came up the next morning the wind was still howling outside and thankfully our anchors (three to be exact) had us planted in the deep water as the current came racing through the cut. Alyssa went up to have her coffee and watch the sunrise, her shrieking woke me fully and I hopped up to see what all the commotion was about. Up on top she spotted a little “stow-away”, a small manatee that was taking refuge in the lee of our boat. As the current ripped through, the manatee floated along using our boat to cut the current. He must’ve had the same idea to wait out the storm in Joe’s sound and we were happy to have the friendly company. He hung around a half hour before the intrepid explorer (Supposedly only about 15 manatee in the Bahamas, so he must be quite the adventurer to get all the way out here) left for other waters. We pass the rest of the day playing board games and baking fresh bread, not too exciting but nice to have a storm day to recoup every once in a while.
We spend a last day in Joe’s sound enjoying the calm after the storm. Patrick’s girlfriend has arrived from Norway and he invites us over for some fresh Conch and sundowners. The houseboat has windows everywhere and must’ve been a hell of a view for the storm or any day for that matter. On the second floor, standing on the picnic table, we were just able to see the sun setting over the pine trees, catching a green flash as the last of the sun hit the sea! We say goodbye and it’s only been three days but Joe’s Sound has left a hell of an impression and can’t help but think of all the windows on the world. The mayor of Joe’s sound has certainly found himself one of the most beautiful.
At high tide the next day we navigate the very tricky cut without incident and are off for Conception Island. An uninhabited island protected as a national park. The conditions are just right and we enjoy an easy sail and afternoon exploring the shell swept beaches of Conception. Not much I can say about the island that pictures can’t do better so I’ll let them tell the story.
The next day we’re off to San Salvador to meet my friend Mike who is flying in for a chance to spear the giant Wahoo out there. Tune in next time to hear about our sharky adventures!
