Apr 17
Today we need to go to the grocery store, and I need to talk to the marina general manager to confirm what the bill will be for the damage done to the dock box. We took showers first, and then I went to the office to meet Doug the manager. Ericka the office girl told me he was out on the docks, and stepped outside with me to see if we could see him. He was way down at the opposite end from us and she pointed him out to me. I walked down and introduced myself. He was very pleasant and almost apologetic that the problem happened, even though it was not the marina's fault in anyway other than due to it's design there can be a strong surge. I explained to him that if he thought the amount would be less than $1000, I would rather just pay them instead of filing an insurance claim. He said that was fine with him, and would be easier for them as well as me. We discussed the amount. I had looked up a similar dock box in my West Marine catalog and found they sell in the States for almost $400. He said they get them direct from the manufacturer and he thought it would be closer to $300. Sounds good to me. Luckily for me, they are planning to extend the dock we are on in the next few weeks, and will be taking apart the existing dock to do that. So the labor to replace the box will be absorbed by that work. The plumber they had to call to repair the water line is an unknown, but that can't be too much. Unfortunately, the water line break was after the meter, so we know how much water was lost, and it was about two thousand gallons. The normal rate for water is $.15/gal, but they knocked it down to $.10/gal, so that was $200. So, all in all, it will cost about $700. The thing that still puzzles me though is why it all happened. Our dock lines are getting a little ragged, but where this one broke was not in a place that was showing any wear already. It seems to have chafed through on the dock cleat itself, which is not normally where you expect chafe to occur. It's also a mystery why even when the stern line broke, the knot on the cleat apparently came undone by itself allowing the aft spring line to come loose. It was the same physical line, but even once it broke, the knot should have stayed on the cleat. Also, the fact that two of my large fenders blew out is an indication of just how hard we must have been slamming the dock before the line broke. At least they were Taylor Made fenders which have a lifetime guarantee, so I can replace them when we get to Florida.
Next we went to the office to get the shuttle bus to take us to the grocery store. We were told that the grocery store was closed for Easter. Apparently, pretty much everything shuts down Friday and Monday surrounding Easter. We had experienced things being closed in St. Maarten on Good Friday, but it never occurred to us that Monday would be the same. So that may throw a kink in our plans to leave early tomorrow morning.
We went back to the boat an weighed our options. On one hand, what's one more day in the marina, but on the other, we've already spent an awful lot of money here and want to get going. We found out the store opens at 08:00, so maybe we can get up there early and if we still are out of the slip by 10:00 we can easily make Black Point Settlement before dark. With the days getting longer and daylight savings time, our options are a little better.
Since we are paying for a couple thousand gallons of water anyway, I got the hose out and rinsed off the boat. Even though it rained while we were gone, it is quite dusty from all the nearby construction. I can't really say we scrubbed it, but just rinsed of the dirt. We did attempt to do a good job inside the cockpit though. The cockpit has a teak grating that sits on the floor, and lots of stuff gets under it. Like sand, cat hair, crumbs, etc. It had not been taken up and cleaned well probably since we were in Marsh Harbor in January. We took out the cockpit cushions and washed them on the dock, and washed all the stuff collected under them down the drain. Then we pulled up the teak floor. Without actually taking the floor out of the cockpit, I rinsed all the sand and stuff from it. I then rounded up a huge blob of wet cat hair and threw it overboard instead of letting it go down the cockpit drains. We could have built a whole new cat out of the amount of hair that was there. After it was all washed, we put it back together and enjoyed how much better it looks. It's one of those things that you don't do often, and since the stuff collects slowly, you don't notice it as it builds up, but once it's clean it looks so much better.
The rest of the day was spent reading and refreshing my memory on the charts north of here. Our plan is to run in the deep water on the east side of the Exumas up to Dotham cut, which is just north of Black Point Settlement. The wind is forecast to be from the west, so that will be perfect, although we pretty much have to always motor sail these days since the batteries are dying. If we don't have the motor on, our voltage immediately drops to 12.3 or less, and the autopilot doesn't like it that low. I know, the big wheel in the cockpit is for steering, and I shouldn't need the autopilot, but I'm lazy.
GPS N 23-37.809 W 75-55.033 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 4140.
Apr 18
We were up early, listened to the weather, had coffee, and were ready to go to the store on the first shuttle bus which runs at 08:30. It didn't take long to shop, and it seemed like several other big boats we provisioning here too. We ended up on the same bus back to the marina with all of them. We stowed the groceries and got ready to leave. I went up and checked out with the marina and by 09:45 we were underway.
Our trip north was very nice. The wind was from the west at about ten knots, so we had the main up for show and motorsailed as expected. Since the wind is from the west, which puts us in the lee of the islands, the seas are quite nice with just a one foot chop. Inspired by all the all-over tans we saw in St. Maarten, Barb decided to expose some skin that hasn't seen the sun in almost fifty years to get a little color. Of course the color turned out to be red, not tan, even though she wasn't out very long. I guess that will be a very slow process.
We did another interview with Radio Margaritaville today, while we were actually underway. That's a first. When the phone rang, I shut off the engine so we wouldn't have that background noise. Barb watched where we were going while I went below to answer the phone. We did the interview, and just as we were wrapping up, I was aware that the boat was making a sharp turn. I got off the phone and came above to see what was going on. Barb said the autopilot turned it, and she was in the process of getting us back on course. It occurred to me later that it was because I was on the sat phone. The sat phone antenna is right next to the GPS antenna, and I was warned when I installed it that way that the sat phone could interfere with the GPS. I didn't worry about it because I figured we would not usually be using the phone while underway, and if we did, we'd just make sure one of us was at the helm. Well, in a year, this is the first time we used the phone while underway, and sure enough, it interferes. We'll have to be more careful about that if we do it again.
We got to Black Point Settlement about 16:15, and found just one other sailboat there. This may be due to the fact that Black Point is totally exposed to the west wind and not a good place to be anchored during a west blow. I'm not worried because the wind isn't blowing that hard, and it's expected to lay down and clock to the north this evening. We dropped the hook near the Government dock in about eight feet of water. The ride was no rougher than many of the windy days we had spent in Georgetown, so it wasn't bad. Before dark it was getting noticeably calmer, and by midnight it was fine.
I stayed up until about midnight because tonight is the first Jimmy Buffett concert of the season. Unfortunately, it's in Phoenix, so it doesn't start until 23:00 Eastern time. I was curious to see how it sounded with the band changes he made over the winter. It was hard to tell though, because they were having technical difficulties with the audio feed, so it sounded like you were listening to it from somebody's cell phone out in the audience. I gave it up after about eight songs. I did think from what I could tell though that the horn section being gone was noticeable. He also played mostly old songs, which is fine, and it's probably because he doesn't have a new album to promote.
GPS N 24-05.994 W 76-24.088 Miles made good this leg 41. Total miles covered 4181.
Apr 19
We slept in this morning since I was up late and I don't really care what the weather is going to do. It's supposed to be very calm for a couple of days. We did check in with the Cruisehiemers Net this morning. We haven't done that in a while, but since we are on the move again, we'll do it regularly. After that was done, I turned on Radio Margaritaville. I had sent a note to my list that we would probably be on this morning, but I don't know the exact time today. Right after I turned it on, I got an e-mail from my brother that he had just heard me. So, we missed it.
Since we missed the RM broadcast, we launched the dinghy and went into town. One of the reasons for stopping here was to have dinner at Lorraine's Cafe. We did not do that last time we were here, and want to try it this time. I have been unable to raise her on the VHF, so we are going to dinghy in and check. We noticed last night and this morning that the kids appear to be out of school this week. There was a large group of them playing around the dock last night until almost midnight, and they are all over again this morning, so they obviously aren't in school. We walked down the street to Lorraine's and found it closed. Maybe she is taking the week off also, since there are no boats here and it's spring break.
Back on the boat, we decided that if we weren't going to eat at Lorraine's, we might as well move on up to Staniel Cay. It's only about eight miles from here. We weighed anchor (it's still heavy) and headed north. Northwest actually, as to get to Staniel, you have to go out and around Harvey Cay. The eight miles we traveled is probably twice as far as the distance as the crow flies. We are not going to use the marina this time, but rather we anchored on the west side of Big Majors Spot. This is where the beach with the swimming pigs is. We dropped the hook just a couple hundred feet offshore in about eight feet of water.
The demographics here are quite different from our last visit. On our way south, this anchorage had about fifty sailboats in it, and the only large motor yacht was at the marina. Today, we are in the Big Majors anchorage with seven very large motor yachts, and zero sailboats. There was one here, but they left after we got here. The marina is also full of motor boats, with only one sailboat there. Several sailboats are anchored just off the marina, in what I would consider either the marina approach channel or too shallow. The large motor yachts around us all seem to have lots of people and lots of kids and lots of water toys. I'm guessing this may also be a spring break phenomenon.
Another change we have noticed over the last couple of weeks is seagulls. On our way south, we did not see any seagulls at all. Not in the Abacos, not in Spanish Wells, and not in the Exumas. When we came back to Georgetown from our side trip to Rum Cay, we did notice about thirty of them hanging around Exuma Market. They were very noisy and we commented that they had not been there when we left a couple weeks earlier. When we got to Emerald Bay we also noticed a flock hanging around the docks. Again in Black Point and here in Staniel, they are everywhere. I guess it's a migration thing, but I would have thought they would stay here year-round.
We hopped in the dinghy (we had towed it since we weren't going far and it was calm) and went over to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club (a.k.a. the marina) for lunch. We took the computer just so we could surf the net for free while eating. The marina was totally full of boats, and the restaurant was full as well. We got a table near an electrical plug so I could plug in the computer, and sat back to watch the show. The difference in the crowd was commensurate with the difference in the boats. But, the old drunk at the end of the bar was still there. (He may own the place for all I know.) We had lunch and several beers and stayed for almost three hours.
As we were leaving, we saw some guys cleaning fish. Barb counted fourteen large sharks swimming around the cleaning table where they throw the entrails. When I got in the dinghy, Barb reminded me to check and see if we needed gasoline. I picked up the can and was amazed that it was almost empty. So empty that I'm not sure we would have made it back to the boat. So, I took the can out and got it filled. Gas here was under $4/gal. In Georgetown last time I filled the dinghy can it was $4.50/gal.
We went back to the boat and called Exuma Park on the radio to put our name on the list for a mooring tomorrow. We heard a couple of boats we know are up there and we haven't seen them in a couple months, so maybe we'll hook up again.
I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing Don't Stop The Carnival. It was a fun book. It was written in 1965, and there are a lot a parallels in it to what Jimmy Buffett did himself in the late 80's. The basic premise is to run off to the Caribbean and buy a small hotel to run in paradise. Of course there are some pitfalls to that, not the least of which is the way things work in the islands. Having experienced the island laid-back way of life for the last six months, it was funny to read how it affected Norman Paperman, the primary character. It was also interesting to read a book that old and remember some of the things of the sixties. One that stuck out frequently was how blacks were perceived, and what we called them back then. I had to keep reminding myself it was written in 1965 and that was the vernacular of the times. Also, a recurring theme was the politics of the characters and their lives in New York, which centered around the cold war and the fear of a nuclear disaster. It was quite spooky when in that vein one of the characters says "We build giant highways and murderously fast cars for killing each other and committing suicide. Instead of bomb shelters we construct gigantic frail glass buildings all over Manhattan at Ground Zero, a thousand feet high, open to the sky, like a woman undressing before an intruder and provoking him to rape her." That was written in 1965 with the threat of Russian missiles in mind.
As evening approached, we could here the sound of goats coming from the island. We have never seen goats here, but why not? The pigs can't use the whole island. We showered off the back of the boat once is was almost dark.
GPS N 24-11.048 W 76-27.474 Miles made good this leg 8. Total miles covered 4189.
Apr 20
We listened to the radio this morning to see if we can get into the park today, and we can. I guess that extra $20 we paid last time to join the Support Fleet paid off, because there were others on the list ahead of us who did not get in today. Barb cooked a nice breakfast and we took our time getting underway. Boats leaving the park have until noon to be off the moorings, so there is no sense hurrying.
We weighed anchor about 11:15 and headed north. We are on the Exuma Banks now, so the water is never more than about twenty feet deep, and often under ten feet. Today is dead calm so the water is like glass, and you can clearly see the bottom as we go. There is not a lot to see on the bottom here. It's mostly sand with the occasional clump of grass. There are starfish around, but not nearly as many as we saw between Georgetown and Long Island a few weeks ago. Even when there is nothing to be careful of and the autopilot is driving, I always keep a pretty good eye out where we are going. I noticed a fairly large dark spot coming up just off our starboard side and leaned over the side to see what it was. It was the remains of a wrecked car sitting in about twenty feet of water. We are a couple of miles offshore here, so I have no idea how it got here. On of those little island mysteries. About the only other excitement on this trip was when a large 100'+ motor yacht came out of the Staniel Cay area and passed us going north. Of course, he couldn't be bothered to alter his course because of a little sailboat, so he passed us within about a hundred feet, going full speed. As soon as he was past, I turned all the way around and went south so I could take his huge wake bow first. We splashed through the wake and turned back on our original course. Of course we thanked the captain of the big boat.
We got to the park about 14:30. We are the last of four boats coming in all at the same time. Remarkably, without planning it, we are coming in in the correct order so that we won't get in each other's way as we pick up our moorings. We are mooring number four, which is really the first mooring inside the protected water. It's a little far to dinghy to headquarters, but it is also a little more private if we want to shower off the back or anything.
After an arrival beverage, we dinghied in to register and say hi to Judy, who runs the place. We signed in, chatted with her for a few minutes, and got a bag of ice from her. In the office we also met Les from Yankee, whom we had met in Georgetown. They are leaving in the morning on their way back to Florida. We learned that they have been out cruising for five years, and now have to go back and make some money. So they are selling the boat when they get back, moving ashore, and saving until they can do it again. On our way out we ran into Larry, one of the "permanent" volunteers here and said hello. I asked him if Vic was still here, as he had solar panels mounted on his boat in the same manner I want to mount my new ones. Turns out Vic left yesterday to return to the States. Missed him by one day.
We did see that Robin Lee and Montana Mar, two boats we have been around since this point of our trip southbound, are still here, but nobody is aboard. As we were dinghying back to the boat, we saw Robin & John from Robin Lee, and Gregg and Suze from Montana Mar coming our way in their dinghies. We stopped and chatted for several minutes. They had been out diving a reef, and will be leaving in the morning. When they leave here they are working their way north and then to Nassau and back to FL, so we may not see them again. We told them to keep in touch and perhaps we'll see them next year. Back at the boat, we relaxed and had dinner. We'll start exploring tomorrow.
GPS N 24-23.893 W 76-38.034 Miles made good this leg 17. Total miles covered 4206.
Apr 21
After a leisurely morning, we headed to shore. Quite a few boats left this morning, and we listened to Judy assign moorings to every incoming boat that wanted one. We learned later that this was the first day this season that they have gotten every boat in and not left somebody on the waiting list. When we were in the office, we chatted with Judy and her husband Tom about the difference they see during the year in the boat demographics. Tom explained that from November to the end of April, it's almost all cruiser's and primarily sailboats. About this time of year, they taper off, and then it becomes mostly large powerboats for a couple months. Then in the summer, it is almost exclusively big sport fishing boats who buzz over from FL on a week or ten-day trip. Then in Sept and Oct, they pretty much close. They don't even bother unlocking the office, unless a boat calls in. That's their respite from working seven days a week the rest of the year.
We hiked up to Boo Boo Hill to make sure our sign was still there. It was right where we left it. We noticed lots of other signs that we now knew the names of. Some were new since our earlier visit, and some were old, but we had met the boats in Georgetown. While we were up there, we noticed a sailboat coming in from offshore, under sail, which turned into the park entrance. The deep water where the moorings are is pretty narrow, and I've never seen somebody sail in. We then saw he went wide of the entrance towards some very shallow water, and seemed to run aground. He turned around quickly and seemed to slowly bounce back out into deep water, but it was a mystery what he was up to. I had my handheld VHF, so I turned it on and caught the very end of his conversation with Tom. All I heard was Tom saying they would be right out in the park boat to get him. He slowly sailed away from the entrance and west towards the banks side of the park. Tom & Larry hopped in the park patrol boat a raced out there to meet him. I learned later that his engine had quit, which explained why he tried to enter under sail, but thought better of it. Tom towed him to one of the outer moorings and got him secure. Later we heard him on the radio again telling Judy that he had fixed his engine problem and would be coming in to get his regular assigned mooring. Just another example of how great Tom, Judy, and the rest of the staff here are in taking care of the boaters.
As we were about to leave Boo Boo Hill, another couple came up the path. We started to chat with them and learned this was their first visit to the Exumas and the park. We introduced ourselves to Ken & Bambi, explained a little about Boo Boo Hill, and showed them our contribution to it. Turns out they are from Denver and are on a five week charter out of Miami. They have chartered for many years, but their last kid just went off to college this year, so they are doing this long charter to see if they really want to buy a boat and cruise full-time. They were very interested in hearing our feelings on the subject after our first year.
From Boo Boo Hill, we walked a short way to the blow holes. They were not spraying water, but the blasts of wind that come out with each incoming wave were impressive. From there we went down a different path to Careen Beach where there is a picnic table. This beach is near our end of the mooring field, so we sat at the table in the shade and just watched for a little while. There was another sailboat coming in, so we watched to see where they went. They came to pick up the mooring right off where we were sitting, and they put on quite a show. Even though we did have a mooring challenge once, when we broke the boat hook, in general picking up a mooring is not a big challenge when the current and/or wind is predictable. It just amazes me to watch some people try to do it. The most common error seems to be approaching too fast and then the person on the bow has to scramble to snag the mooring pennant. When we do it, we approach so slow that when I see Barb reach for the pennant, I just put it in neutral and don't even have to reverse. If you are coming at the mooring into the wind and current like you should, the boat will stop by itself when you are going slow. The other entertainment of watching others is that when they almost always screw up on their first attempt, then the screaming and the maneuvering to try it again starts. This particular boat finally got hooked up on about their fourth try.
We went back to the office, picked a book out of their book exchange (we had dropped six off yesterday) and headed back to the boat. We relaxed and read until dinner time. A little before dark, we decided to feed the fish a few slices of bread that had gotten moldy. I stood on the stern and started breaking off little pieces. We immediately had a dozen or so large yellow-tailed fish swimming around the back. In a minute, a seagull also approached, then another. There seems to only be two seagulls here today, so that was it. I was throwing pieces of bread up to the gulls and in the water for the fish, when I suddenly had a horrible thought. The wind generator was spinning quite nicely in the fifteen knot wind. I remembered a story I read on another cruiser's site about bird vs. wind generator, and yelled to Barb to quickly turn off the generator. Even though seagulls are generally pests, I would hate to whack one. Besides, it might damage the fiberglass blades of the generator.
After dinner we read until dark, and then were just sitting in the cockpit enjoying the evening, when Barb noticed a spotlight in the distance on the banks side of the park. It was scanning the area near the park entrance and seemed to be approaching pretty quickly. We thought it must be a powerboat, and maybe they were going to pick up one of the outer markers, but they were still coming in very fast. They turned in the entrance, and did not seem to be slowing. They had their searchlight trained on us and were obviously coming in. They did slow down some, and by now we guessed maybe it was one of the Royal Bahamian Defense Force patrol boats, which do spend the night at the dock here sometimes. As they passed us, we saw that indeed that's what it was. They went around a tied up at the headquarters dock.
GPS N 24-23.893 W 76-38.034 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 4206.
Apr 22
We spent the entire day aboard the boat today, reading much of the time. We, of course, had the VHF on and anytime somebody called the park we switched channels and eavesdropped on the conversation. The last boat to come in, about 16:00, was Veda L, a trawler whom we had met down in Emerald Bay. Judy reminded them that Saturday night was happy hour on the beach at 18:00. Since we have not been to the office today, we had not seen the notice they usually put up and had not thought about the fact that it was Saturday. So, Barb whipped up an appetizer to share, we fixed ourselves a couple of mega-drinks, and we went to the beach at 18:00. We met a few new people and enjoyed a couple hours of visiting with other cruisers.
GPS N 24-23.893 W 76-38.034 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 4206.
Apr 23
Today, we again spent the day onboard reading. I have read two 450 page books in five days now, and started another. I did make a dinghy run to the office to get another bag of ice, and pay our tab through tomorrow. We plan to leave in the morning and continue north.
GPS N 24-23.893 W 76-38.034 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 4206.
Apr 24
We are leaving the park today. Even though I got ice yesterday, it occurred to us that we will be away from anyplace to get ice for several days, and the freezer is only half full, so I went up to the office as soon as they opened at 09:00 and got another bag. I also used their computer for a minute as mine has bit the dust. Over the past few months I have had several keys stick, such that I really had to whack them to make them type. Well, now when I touch the S, (a very popular letter in the English language) it either does nothing or it starts typing random crap until I whack it hard again. So, I took care of one piece of business, and sent one e-mail from their computer and went back to the boat.
We were off the mooring and underway at 09:45. We are going all the way to Allen’s Cay today. We are going to bypass Norman’s and Highborne because the weather looks good to boogie all the way to Marsh Harbor in the Abacos in three days. Allen’s is a little more than thirty miles north, on the Exuma Banks, so it’s an easy trip in shallow water. There is not much wind, and with our weak batteries, we need to motor-sail anyway. We were passed underway by Veda L, a trawler we met in Emerald Bay, who was also in the park for a couple of days. They stopped at High-priced, I mean Highborne Marina for the night.
We anchored in Allen’s Cay, near the same spot we used on our way south. There are only five boats in the anchorage, unlike southbound when there were nineteen. Unfortunately, I misjudged where we were depth-wise relative to the tide when we dropped the hook. So, we were fine all evening until about 23:00 as we were headed to bed and we noticed an odd bumping. Yes, we had swung around and were in shallower water, and now it was low tide. We could not sleep with the bumping, so we both got back up and sat it the cockpit waiting for the water to come back. The bumping started just about forty-five minutes before low tide, so I figured within an hour of the tide change, we would be floating again and swing around to the deeper water. Well, it wasn’t quite that quick, and finally at 02:00 I started the motor and drove us out of the shallow water. It only took a minute and we were free. As soon as we floated, I cut the motor and let the boat swing around on the anchor and lie to the current now that the tide was coming in. Once satisfied that the anchor was secure, we went to bed.
GPS N 24-44.956 W 076-50.233 Nautical miles traveled today 31. Total miles 4237.
Apr 25
Unfortunately, even with the late bedtime, I awoke about 05:15 and could not go back to sleep. What the heck – three hours ought to be enough right? I got up, listened to the weather on the SSB, got things ready to depart, and then finally about 07:30 started the coffee, knowing that would wake Barb up. There are worse ways to wake up than the smell of coffee brewing.
After our coffee, we weighed anchor and headed north. We have a long day today, with two extra considerations. One is crossing Middle Ground, where there are lots of coral heads that you have to watch for and steer around. This should be done with the sun high in the sky and behind you. The other consideration is going through the Fleming Channel, which is best done with the tide and wind going the same way. As it turns out, we should accidentally have everything in our favor today. The coral heads are about an hour and a half from Allen’s, so if we leave a little after 08:00, the sun will be high enough to clearly see them. And, low tide is about 12:30, just a little before we get to Fleming Channel, so we will hit it on an incoming tide, with the east wind going the same way. Should be smooth and fast.
We got to the beginning of Middle Ground about 09:30. Barb went up on the bow and I drove. Since the sun was out, and it was not very rough water, the coral heads were easy to spot. I could clearly see them from the helm, even without Barb spotting. But, in this case, four eyes are better than two. By 11:30 we were through Middle Ground and could relax a little. We got Fleming Channel about 13:00. The Tide had switched, and there was no rage. The waters were no rougher than the rest of the trip, and we picked up to 7.7 knots with the incoming current. Once through Fleming Channel, we turned north again and enjoyed a favorable current the rest of the way to Royal Island, making about 6.8 knots all the way.
Once inside the Royal Island anchorage, we saw four sailboats and four power boats. One of the powerboats was the trawler Veda L. We had not seen any other boats all day, except one southbound sailboat, so I was surprised to see them. Turns out they left Highborne about 07:00, so they were far enough ahead of us that I couldn’t see them.
We dropped the hook, and relaxed. Bob & Linda from Veda L came by in their canoe and chatted for a few minutes. I accused them of following us, except they always get there first. Turns out they have the same plans we do for the next couple of days to Marsh Harbor, so we will meet up again.
I put my mask and fins on and dove under the boat. I wanted to make sure the rudder was ok after being aground last night, as well as check the prop for growths, and check the bottom in general. The rudder seems fine, the prop had a wad of seaweed but no barnacles, and the bottom could use a good cleaning. Probably will get that done in Marsh Harbor. Barb made us a nice dinner, and after that I emptied the four jerry cans of diesel into the tank. (I didn’t want my hands smelling like diesel when I ate.)
Bed came early since sleep was lacking last night, and we will depart pretty early tomorrow.
GPS N 25-30.823 W 076-50.880 Nautical miles traveled today 48. Total miles 4285.
Apr 26
We have a relatively long day ahead of us today. Certainly the longest in a few months. So, we were up at 06:30 to listen to the weather, and then got underway about 07:15. Veda L left about fifteen minutes before us and is going to the same place. Our destination today is Little Harbor, Abaco. That means we will cross the Northeast Providence Channel, which is very deep water from Nassau to the northeast.
There is almost no wind today, and what there is, is coming directly from the south, so it will be astern of us. We motored out of Royal Island followed by Pirates Hideout, a Manta 42 catamaran. This is the sixth Manta 42 we have met since January. What makes that unusual is that there are only a hundred of them. There are a hundred boats out there like MoonSail, and we have never seen another. We turned north a few miles out of Royal Island, and were making great speed due to a favorable current. For the first two hours of the trip, we were making about 7.5 knots. After awhile, we settled in at about 6.7 which is about as fast as we can motor. The wind was about the same speed, on our stern, so the apparent wind was zero. That means we didn’t have a breeze to cool us, and we could smell the diesel fumes from the motor all day. The seas were behind us at first, but once we were out in the open water, there was an easterly swell left over from the east winds of the past few days, which caused us to roll side to side a bit. I had the mainsail up the whole way, just for show, and it helped with the rolling a little even though the wind was behind us.
Once we were out in the Northeast Providence Channel, we had some traffic. It still amazes me how boats can go for hundreds of miles and then meet one another. Well today, we came within a mile of five large ships. The first was a cruise ship bound for Nassau. I was surprised to see them still a couple hours from port at 09:30 in the morning. Usually they get into port overnight so the passengers can get off and spend their money on the local crap that keeps cruise ports alive. After the cruise ship, I spotted another large ship heading east. I looked through the binoculars and couldn’t make out what type of ship it was for sure, but it looked like a ship full of boats. I picked it up on our radar and verified it was coming towards us. It looked like it would pass about a mile in front of us. When it was about five miles from us, I looked at it again, and sure enough, it was a ship full of boats. It was one of the boats run by Dockwise Yacht Transport. It is basically a huge floating dry-dock that transports private boats long distances instead of you sailing them yourself. It looked like it had five sailboats on it, and about a dozen large (like mega-yacht large) powerboats. It probably left south Florida and was heading to the Mediterranean. Just to quantify the size of this ship, one of these ships carried the USS Cole back to Norfolk for repairs after it was bombed in Yemen. Big ship. The other three were your normal container/tanker ships that we used to deal with every day back in Galveston.
We did have a first on this crossing. We finally put out a fishing line. I should say Barb put out a fishing line. As those of you who know me well know, I am a bad luck omen when fishing. Witness the fishing charter in St. Maarten when we had nary a nibble. Well, Barb got the pole, tied on a lure, put it the holder on the stern and let it run out about a hundred feet. About four hours later, which was halfway through the trip, she had just said “we’re halfway there and no fish yet”. Before she finished the statement, the reel zinged with a hit. Unfortunately, by the time we slowed the boat and got to the rod, he was gone. But, we had a hit. We reeled it in to make sure the lure was still there, and it was. We let it out again, and never had another hit, but just getting our first hit was exciting. Of course, we don’t really know what to do when we do catch something, but we’ll figure it out if the time comes.
We got inside the Little Harbor cut, between the open ocean and the Sea of Abaco about 15:45. We would like to actually go into Little Harbor, where Pete’s Pub is, but we need almost high tide to get in the entrance channel, and that won’t be for another three hours. Instead we anchored on the west side of Lynyard Cay. Our friends on Veda L are not here, so I guess they were making such good time they continued to Marsh Harbor today. After anchoring we did talk to Pirates Hideout, who have been about a mile behind us all day. They are also moving on tomorrow and will run with us.
After dark I went out on deck and noticed a few things. I could see the glow of Marsh Harbor to the north, even though it is still about twenty miles away. I could also see the intermittent glow of the Hopetown lighthouse as its beam swept around. I couldn’t see the light itself because it was right over the northern end of Lynyard Cay, but one of the few remaining man-operated lighthouses was still going strong. The coolest thing though, was the phosphorescence in the water. We have seen phosphorescence several times, but usually it is in the wake of the boat as it moves through the water. When the water is disturbed, the critters that light up put on their show. But this time, it was like there were lightening bugs under the water. Each time one blinked, there was about a four inch glow that lit up. There was not a pin-point of light like a lightening bug would have. It looked kind of like flashbulbs going off in the distance.
GPS N 26-22.003 W 076-59.031 Nautical miles traveled today 58. Total miles 4343.
Apr 27
We left Lynyard Cay about 08:30, in company with Pirate’s Hideout. They are going to Hopetown, which is a little before Marsh Harbor, but they were interested in following us since the route today is a bit zig-zaggy and they had not done it before. The weather this morning is not quite as expected. A cold front is supposed to come through the area late tonight, but a pre-frontal trough has developed which is spawning a lot of thunderstorms north of us this morning. We heard the Marsh Harbor VHF net this morning, and they were getting showers there already.
The trip was pretty uneventful until we got almost to Marsh Harbor when the black clouds finally caught up to us. I guess actually we caught them, but the result was the same. The town of Marsh Harbor is on a point of land which sticks out into the Sea of Abaco. As we approach from the south, we are looking at the town, but the actual harbor is around on the north side of this point, so we still have seven or eight miles to go around the point to enter the harbor. I hailed Harborview Marina, where we stayed last December, to see if they had a slip available. They did not. So, I hailed Boat Harbor, which is on the southern side of the point to see if they did. They were also full, so I guess we will anchor in the harbor.
This was about where the rain started, and it came down with a vengeance. The wind picked up to about twenty knots, and there was quite a bit of lightening around. We were motoring, and at first we were going straight into the wind, so it wasn’t too bad. When we turned east to go around the point, the wind and rain was now coming from the side, so I got pretty wet. I had my rain jacket on, but my shorts were wet. Barb hid out below and stayed nice and dry. When we rounded the point, the rain slacked up a bit, but we could see another heavy cell coming. We had about two miles to go west to the harbor entrance, so I slowed way down to an idle. I figured I would rather just slowly point into the storm than be in the crowded harbor trying to anchor in the height of it. We waited offshore there for about half an hour while it just poured. One bolt of lightening hit less than a mile from us and gave us a good scare. Finally, we were almost at the harbor entrance, and there was a break in the storms, so we powered up again and got inside. The harbor is very crowded compared to when we were here in December and January. The most boats we saw anchored here then was thirty-five. There are now probably a hundred boats anchored and the marinas are full. We spotted a boat we know, Diva, and there was room to anchor near them. We had just gotten secure when the next storm cell blew in. In the course of the next hour, several more cells came through, and the wind shifted a full 360 degrees, so we know we can swing in every direction without hitting any of our neighbors.
I said Barb stayed below nice and dry. She did notice however, that one of the side ports (windows) was leaking significantly. It seems every story I read about somebody else’s sailboat includes tales of woe about how every boat leaks. Well, I guess I have been lucky, because this boat has had very few leaks, and they all have been window/gasket related and easy to fix. I have not yet had any deck leaks which are usually next to impossible to locate. Anyway, this window has always dripped a drip or two if there was a heavy downpour, or you hit it directly with the hose, but not enough to even worry about. I guess since we have been away from air-conditioning and opening the ports regularly, we are inviting leaks more often now. Barb kept swapping rolled up towels under the port in the grab rail trough to soak up the water as it came in. You could clearly see a rivulet of water coming in where the gasket wasn’t flat, but there was nothing we could do while it was raining, because all the drainage from the deck ran right over this port so opening it would have really caused a flood.
Shortly after we got secure, Carson called from Radio Margaritaville. We did another interview which should air tomorrow.
By 16:00, it looked like the rain was all done, and the wind had just about died. The main front is supposed to come through about midnight, but it’s not supposed to have any more storms with it, just the wind shift. We joined Carl & Debbie from Diva and Don & D from Southern Cross at Snappa’s for dinner and drinks. We stayed there visiting for a couple hours, and then went back to the boat and hit the sack.
About 03:15, I was suddenly awakened by the wind blowing. The front was here. I went above to make sure everything was ok and the anchor was secure, then went back to bed.
GPS N 26-32.846 W 077-03.579 Nautical miles traveled today 24. Total miles 4367.
Apr 28
The wind is blowing pretty good this morning. The forecast for the next few days is a little unusual, in that it is supposed to keep blowing strong from the north or northeast for four days. This means nobody is leaving the harbor and even in the harbor the water is quite choppy, making for wet dinghy rides. We stayed aboard through the morning waiting to hear our interview on Radio Margaritaville. It was finally on a few minutes after noon.
After the radio broadcast we dinghied over to the public dock to run some errands in town. We have not been at a dock since we left Emerald Bay over a week ago. We have a large bag of trash to dispose of from the past week which went in the public dumpster provided at the dock here. We then walked down the road to Harborview Marina, where we stayed in December. Ronnie was at the desk and remembered us. They are full, and nobody wants to leave because of the weather, but he put us on the official waiting list to get a slip as soon as one is available.
We then walked back into town and picked up a loaf of fresh raisin bread from Da Bes Yet Bakery. We haven’t had any of the good Bahamian bread in several weeks. From there we hit the beer store and then back to the dinghy. We got a bag of ice from the boat rental place right by the dinghy dock, and then went back to the boat.
After all that work, I took a two hour nap while Barb read. A little after 16:00, we joined a number of other cruisers for the Friday happy hour at Snappa’s. The happy hour deal is a dollar off drink prices, and free appetizers. Of course, cheap cruisers can make a meal out of free appetizers, so that was dinner.
GPS N 26-32.846 W 077-03.579 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 4367.
Apr 29
Today was primarily a reading day, as the winds are still blowing a consistent twenty knots making the bay a little choppy to be out in a dinghy if you don’t really need to be. I spoke to Troy at the marina on the radio, and he said given the winds, nobody seemed to want to leave, so we won’t be getting a slip today.
We did have one unusual event in the afternoon. Because it has been so windy, we have gone all day without having to run the motor to charge the batteries. The wind generator was almost keeping up with our usage. Early in the afternoon though, I noticed that the amp meter did not seem to vary as the wind gusts hit. This would indicate that the wind generator was not working. Barb asked me if the control box was warm. (It gets quite warm when the winds are high and it’s really putting out the amps.) I touched the box, and it was cool as could be, indicating to me that we were not making electricity. However, as soon as I touched the box, the amp meter started indicating output. So, I popped the cover off the control box and found a loose wire. I tightened it up and all is well. Now what makes this so unusual is that: 1. We noticed the problem within a very short period of it breaking. 2. We found the cause within seconds. 3. We fixed it with a simple effort and didn’t break anything else in the process.
Tonight is steak night at the Jib Room restaurant and we have reservations. Dinner is served about 19:00, so we headed over there about 17:30 to enjoy a few beverages first and see if anybody we know is there. We met Jan & Cecil from Patriot who were only there for happy hour, and chatted with them until dinner was served. Once dinner was served, we enjoyed our huge steaks, baked potato, steamed vegetables, and salads. We’re looking forward to rib night next Wednesday.
GPS N 26-32.846 W 077-03.579 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 4367.
Apr 30
Being Sunday, most things ashore are closed, and it is still quite windy, so it’s another stay-aboard day. I spoke to Troy at the marina again, and the answer was the same as yesterday. Hopefully when things calm down tomorrow some folks will pull out and we can get in. We only have another three days or so of water aboard, so I hope we get in so I don’t have to carry some in jugs.
We read most of the morning, and both finished the books we were reading. I was reading one my brother gave me years ago, but I had never gotten around to reading. It was called The Cuckoo’s Egg, and it’s about computer hackers. It was written fifteen years ago, so it was funny for me, having worked all my life in the computer industry to read this stuff that was so technically dated. The whole concept of hackers and viruses was new then as large networks like the Internet were just coming of age. I really had to laugh out loud when the author mentioned “obsolete programming languages like Assembler and Cobol”. For those of you who are not my old co-workers, the computer industry has been proclaiming those programming languages and mainframe computers obsolete for twenty years now, but there isn’t a company in the Fortune 500 who’s business still doesn’t depend on mainframe computers and those languages.
While we have been anchored out here, we have been entertained every day by a large turtle. I’m actually not sure if it is always the same one, or if there are multiples. But when we are sitting in the cockpit reading, we constantly see the heads pop up to get a breath. One was quite close to us this afternoon, and he seemed to be about eighteen inches in diameter.
I took advantage of the clear, dry day to see if I can reseal the leaking port that we discovered the other day. I carefully pulled the gasket out and since I don’t have any new gaskets, I just ran a bead of Marine Goop (a silicon seal kind of stuff) around the port frame and then put the gasket back in place. Then I carefully closed the port to let it dry. This has worked on a couple other ports. I think just the extra thickness of the Goop behind the original gasket is enough o make the seal tight. Perhaps when we are in the States, I’ll look into replacing the gaskets with new ones.
We also entertained ourselves by making up stories about a couple of other boaters near us. There is a small, old, beat-up looking sailboat near us that has no fancy equipment. It only has a small outboard to power the sailboat when you need it, and no engine for the dinghy. It is crewed by a guy who appears to be in his thirties. The next boat to him is also a relatively small sailboat, although it appears to be in much better shape. However, it also has a motorless dinghy. It is crewed by a young woman who also appears to be in her thirties. We heard second-hand at happy hour the night we got here, that these two single-handers did not know each other, and just by chance anchored next to each other. We thought that was cool, and in the morning, we noticed that both dinghies were tied to her boat. So, we have spent the last couple days watching their visiting back and forth, and making up juicy stories about what’s going on. The things we do for entertainment.
GPS N 26-32.846 W 077-03.579 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 4367.