"2002 Trip Part 6 Before the Heart Attack" Exuma District Travelogue by grandmaR

We left for Allen's Cay which is the first cay of interest in the Exumas chain. It is uninhabited (except for a population of iguanas). As we left Nassau, I tried to send another email, but the phone was full of static. We had a windy ride (18-20 knots) down to Allan's Cay (sailed some). I had used the waypoints in one of the guidebooks to avoid the majority of the coral heads so we could sail in a fairly relaxed way. We anchored off the west coast after following a Nonsuch into the harbor and deciding there wasn't enough room for us to anchor (there were a lot of other boats in there) especially since Bob didn't want to use 2 anchors against current. The trip was 37.8 nm. We sat off of Allans for 2 days, but it was too windy for us to go in and see the iguanas in our little dinghy, or even to swim. I read the various guides and cataloged the weather report times and channels on the SSB. I found that we can get Armed Forces Radio (sometimes it is WETA National Public Radio) on the SSB so I programmed their frequencies in. The ‘two captains’ (from the Grand Bahama Bank trip to the Berry Islands) were anchored a bit north of us (still talking on the radio). A catamaran came in and anchored to the south of us on the 31st.

See also the pictures and tips on Allen's Cay

Batelco Tower

We motored 7 nm down to Highborne Cay and anchored. I found that the BATELCO tower was blown down in Hurricane Michelle, and was just now being rebuilt, so no email was possible. We dinghied in and I went for a swim off the beach - was too cold for Bob-about 77 deg. We were anchored at the north end of the beach, and could watch the guys building the tower from the boat. About this time, we realized that the weather from Nassau would be repeated on the VHF radio almost every day about 7:30. Someone would come up on Channel 16 and tell us what channel to listen to. I was by now also listening to Carolyn Wardle’s BASRA radio report (4003 USB) from Nassau at 0700, and the cruiser’s net also run by Carolyn on the SSB/ham at 0720 (7096 LSB).

RosalieAnn in Highborne Cay

Bob pulled the anchor, and had a little bit of chest pain, which he didn’t tell me about. We motored around into Highborne Marina (1.2 nm), carefully coming in on the two ranges. They had no phone service either and have to relay the radio messages down from Nassau and up from the Land and Sea Park. I swam off the beach, and then we went up to the store via golf cart. Bob bought a big bag of preformed frozen hamburger, and I got "Guide to Birds of the West Indies". The boat next to us gave us half of a big bull dolphin that they had caught already cleaned. Bob bought some bread from Janet. There is no restaurant here, but you can usually call on the radio, and Janet will deliver food to your boat. This evening, however, there was an all-you-can eat buffet consisting of conch chowder, barbeque ribs, mac & cheese, potato salad, tossed salad, homemade bread, choc cake & pineapple cake. $25@ and drink extra. Bob went back to the boat to get drinks for us. We had a good time talking to the guys who were putting up the tower, and also some folks with two kids on a boat named PISTACH. They were headed back to Miami to the boat show. The island is very pretty, but the marina has no toilets and no pumpout but they want no sewage. This particular day, there was also no breeze and we were eaten alive by no-see-ums, with a side attack by flies & a few mosquitoes. The marina had lots of bird feeders around which attract the bananquits. The birds also visited us on our boat (right in our slip).

See also the photos and tips under Highbourn Cay (There are several alternate spellings for this place)

Anchorage off Normans with plane

Because it was so expensive, hot and buggy, we left in the morning and went down to Norman's Cay, which used to be cocaine smuggling place in the 70's. The trip was only 11.3 nm and the water was like glass. We saw either the bitter end of the Norman Stake, or something else sticking up above the water off the sand bar. We also saw SEA WOLF (the dive boat we’d seen in Bimini), and ADELAIDE came out of the anchorage off the Highborne and followed us. There was a very big motor yacht named MARIE’S DREAM anchored off Highborne – too big to get into the marina. This time, Bob did not even go in to LOOK at the anchorage on the east side of the island where the airplane is wrecked. We just anchored west of Normans. We took the dinghy and went in to the beach, and then walked to MacDuff's bar. Bob had a Sprite and I had a rum revenge without the rum. (Pineapple, orange & coconut). There is an airstrip there. Afterwards we walked back to the beach and I snorkeled some on the way back to the boat and dived on the anchor which had dug in on one side. One of the planes from the airstrip flew over the boats anchored west of Normans Cay as if they were taking pictures from the air of the five boats anchored there. I took pictures of him.

I thought we could get the Super Bowl on Armed Forces Radio but it wasn't broadcast there. Some people went in to MacDuff’s to watch. The TV didn’t have a very reliable signal. I heard later that they lost the signal just as the final field goal in the last quarter was kicked. The barman at Normans had been warning everyone of a front that was supposed to come through and people were panicking and trying to get inside the Norman's harbor because of expected west winds. (The harbor comfortably holds about 6-8 boats, and there were 25 or so in there, and the same at Allen's Cay inside.) Bob didn't think it would be a problem, as nothing like that was predicted on the weather we heard.

After the storm off Shroud

We motor sailed to Shroud Cay. Bob had some more chest pain when he pulled the anchor that he thought was maybe indigestion, and again he didn’t tell me about it. We went about 10 miles down to Shroud Cay which was an uninhabited cay at the north end of the Exumas Land and Sea Park. We anchored where we were protected from the NE, E, and SE, but not much from the SW, W or NW. We have been 384 nm since we left Key West.
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Feb 5th. The front did come through, and it was VERY rolly, even on our big heavy boat. A French Canadian boat that anchored next to us couldn't stand it, and left. If we had any place we could have gone, we might have gone too. Neither of us could sleep. There was a catamaran that came in and went into the little shallow cove (much too shallow for us) in the interior of the cay. (The word “cay” is pronounced ‘key’ and not ‘kay’.) But the anchor showed no signs of dragging or anything, and morning did come. We rested most of Tuesday. By this time, I was regularly listening to Caroline on the BASRA (Bahamas Air Sea Rescue) radio. Caroline has a very distinctive English voice.

When we talked to Herb, we told him that the winds had been from the NW, N, NE between 15 and 23 knots the previous night. We could see the lighthouse to the west of us at night which was nice because a lot of the navigation aids aren't in good repair. I had been worried about not being in contact with my 93 year old mother. I had indicated in an email that I might be out of communication for a couple of days, but this was now a week, and the next BATELCO (Bahamas Telephone Company) tower was down at Staniel Cay, and we were planning to stay in the Park for several days. There was a little boat that had come in and anchored near us for the night, and he said he could send email via SSB, so I asked him to send one to our daughter saying that we were fine so that she could reassure mother, which he did.

The photo is the sunset after the storm. BASRA periodically sends out messages for cruisers to pass along. For instance, a 51 ft. boat named TAHOE with someone aboard named Steve was to call his sister. The emergency for VHF radio contact is 242-322-3877.

We took the dinghy in and explored the cay a little on foot, and I did a little snorkeling. I'm getting better about getting into the dinghy using the web ladder that Bob made. We also registered for a mooring at the park by radio. The catamaran left.

Bananaquit looking for a handout

I called the Land and Sea Park to see if we had a mooring. I knew they didn’t have any for that day, but I was hoping that if we went down to Hawksbill Cay today, that tomorrow or the next day we could get a mooring at park headquarters. Bob pulled the anchor so we could go another 10 or so miles. It was now late morning.

He came back to the cockpit, sat down and said, "We're going back to Nassau". I was a little confused and it was at that point that I heard about the chest pain. I had a quiet anxiety attack, and then said that we couldn't get all the way back to Nassau that day as it was too far with such a late start. I suggested we go back into the Highborne Cay marina, which was not too far away, and he agreed. I called the Land and Sea Park on the VHF to have them take me off the list, explaining that I thought Bob might have had a heart attack. Another boat came up immediately and asked the park if he could have our mooring. The park volunteer explained that we were just giving up our place on the waiting list and not a mooring. The trip to Highborne was 15.5 nm. When he heard about the chest pains Ian at Highborne wanted to fly Bob out in a seaplane (Ian thought it would be about $325), but Bob resisted doing that, as he still thought he might just have bruised his chest, because he didn't have any of what he thought of as heart attack symptoms. (I knew differently, but I didn't say anything.) Ian was able to make his phone work enough to call the Nassau Harbor Club and talked to Peter the marina manager. He got a place for us there, although it was almost full. I wrote them another check for the dockage fees. (They will take a credit card, but there's a surcharge for that. No surcharge for a personal check.)

I tried to talk to Herb on the SSB, but couldn't get through because we were down in a teacup valley. There was a boat at Normans who *could* talk to him. They were also returning to Nassau to pick up someone coming in by plane. Herb told them that he didn’t think there would be a window until Saturday. I talked to the other boat on the VHF afterwards, and they said if they could catch up to us, they would lead us into the harbor. I thanked them and told them I was sure they could catch us as we weren't very fast even if we were bigger than they were.

In the marina, I saw a sea turtle which was secured to a little skiff by one flipper. He was being taken back to the Atlantis aquarium. I didn't get a picture.

Feeders on Highborne

Bob apparently had a dull pain all night, but he didn't tell me much about it. We listened to the AM radio Bahamas weather, and the SSB BASRA weather in the morning, and since it seemed reasonable, we cast off right afterwards at about 7:30. We were following our previous track on the computer, and the wind was behind us, so Bob insisted on pulling out the sails and sailing. We even turned the motor off for a period. I was unhappy about this, as I felt that it took a lot of effort to pull the sails out and pull them in, but Bob was determined (aka pigheaded and in denial). As soon as we got within phone range of Nassau I called our daughter on the phone to tell her what we were doing. The boat from Normans caught up to us and gave us a lead into the harbor, forcing Bob to stop just sailing and crank the motor up in order to keep up with them. We got into a slip about 3 after 41nm at an average speed of 5.3 knots, and I cleared the cockpit of equipment very quickly, went up and got a splitter (to hook up the electricity - we have 30 amp and the marina has only 50 amp plugs), and hustled Bob into a car to go to the walk-in medical clinic. They took his history and symptoms, BP etc., and then the two doctors looked at each other with silent communication. Then they told Bob that they had no facilities to deal with this (would not tell him if he had a heart attack or not, but I could tell that they thought he had), and that while they could give him an EKG, they couldn't do the other tests, and that he should really go to the hospital emergency room. Could they call us a cab? We had seen the hospital on the way to the clinic, and Bob said he felt better standing up rather than sitting, so he thought we'd walk to the hospital. So we did. It was about 1/4 mile, a little bit uphill and the rest downhill. I think it was a little farther than Bob thought it was.

To make a long story short, after we found our way to the Physicians Hospital ER, Bob was seen immediately, and given the choice of having an angioplasty there in Nassau or going back to Miami. We picked Miami because Medicare does not cover anything outside the USA and our daughter lives in Miami.

Bob in air ambulance

So on Friday he was flown to Cedars's Hospital in Miami, and that evening he had the angiogram, angioplasty and a stent inserted in the one artery that was 90% blocked. He was released from the hospital the following Monday, and 3 weeks later we flew back to Nassau to pick the boat up and bring it back to the states. He has regained about 65-75% of his heart muscle.

But that was the end of our Exuma adventures and we also had almost $10K in bills from the ER, the ICU, the med-evac plane and the cardiologist in Nassau.

See the Rest of the Story

Or, if you don't want to see that section, start at return to Nassau

After which, we sailed back to the US by way of Chub in the Berries, and Grand Bahama (Lucaya and West End).