Dec 4
Today we are headed around Whale Cay. The wind has been low for two days, and Hurricane Epsilon, which has been responsible for the large NE swell has moved away some. We listened to the 08:15 cruiser's net and the reports were that it doesn't get any better than it is today. We and three other sailboats waiting to move all leave within thirty minutes of each other. Even though it was high tide, and I theoretically knew where the channel was now, I was very cautious as we left White Sound and passed the place where we spent four hours aground a few days ago. We made it out fine, without ever seeing less than eight feet. We headed west a mile or so to clear a shoal that extends out from the harbor entrance, then south a couple of miles, then turned east to go outside Whale Cay.
We started feeling the ocean swell as soon as we were out from behind Green Turtle, but it was only a couple foot swell, with a long period between them, so it was not uncomfortable. At least we didn't think so. The cat on the other hand started making his evil howl that is the precursor to hurling. Barb went below to try and make sure he hurled somewhere where it was easy to clean up. After a couple of hurls, and an episode of the runs, he came up to the cockpit and laid down to endure the rest of the trip.
Once we had turned east, it was only a couple of miles until we passed through the break in the reef and were truly offshore. We were in forty-some feet of water when we turned south again to pass Whale Cay. Once past it, the other boats continued south, because they are going to Marsh Harbor, while we turned west again to go into Treasure Cay.
Treasure Cay is really part of Great Abaco Island, and not a stand-alone cay. It is on a point of land sticking out on the east side of Great Abaco. It was originally just a hotel and marina on the beach, but has been developed into a good sized vacation community with many homes and several resorts. The marina has fifty or so slips and a couple of moorings. There also is an area to anchor. As you come in the well marked (which is unusual in the islands) channel, the whole inlet is bordered by a cement bulkhead. Once in about a half mile from the entrance, there are several canals which go off the south side of the channel which have homes or vacant lots with docks, and the cement bulkhead lines them also.
We chose to use one of the mooring balls, since they are $10/night. We could have anchored, but at that price I'd rather have the security of not worrying about the anchor holding when the predicted wind shift comes overnight, although the wind is very light. We got tied to the mooring, and then launched the dinghy and headed ashore. The marina office was closed for lunch when we got there, so we walked over to the beach. Several people had told us that the beach was one of the most beautiful they had ever seen, and we were not disappointed. It is a crescent shaped beach, about three or four miles long, facing east towards the Atlantic. We could see Green Turtle Cay and Whale Cay where we had just come from, and the breaking waves on the reef. The Coco Beach Bar & Grill is a bar and restaurant right on the beach that is part of the marina/hotel complex. We ordered beers and sat on the deck overlooking the water. Again, the place is deserted. There were three people on the beach, and about ten people having lunch who left when they were done. We sat there for an hour or so just enjoying the view.
Being Sunday, the shops are closed and there doesn't seem to be much activity going on. There are quite a few construction sites visible, but no work today. We stopped back by the marina office, paid for two nights on the mooring, and went back to the boat. Alongside the bulkhead just down a little from us, there is a big tugboat with a raggedy old barge. Tied to the barge on one side is a smaller barge with looks like it's made for installing pilings. On the other side is another small work boat that should have sunk years ago. On the barge itself, there are several shipping containers, a crane, and another twenty-some foot boat. The shipping containers are one long one, with two short ones on top if it and a five hundred gallon plastic water tank on top of them. There seems to be six to ten men onboard and they seem to be doing some minimal amount of work painting the small barge. At dusk, a fairly loud generator was started on the tug, and lights came on. I think the containers are the living quarters for the men. I'm not sure if they are here to do work on docks or the bulkhead, or if they are just parked here.
On our way back to the boat, we took a dinghy ride up the canal. It goes much further than we thought, and there are a lot of nice homes back there, as well as some vacant lots. When we got back to the boat, I sent my daughter an e-mail suggesting that she and her husband buy a house here for vacations or as an investment, and dear old Dad can take care of it for her. Or even just a vacant lot where I could tie the boat. I know we are just starting our big adventure, but I could see just living in a place like this.
Back at the boat, we read a while and had dinner onboard. Another sailboat took the other mooring right about dusk. We had heard them on the radio earlier in the morning talking to this marina about checking in with Customs. They are just coming into the country from somewhere. After dark I enjoyed a starlight shower on the stern. We actually stayed up until almost 21:00.
GPS N 26-40.258 W 77-16.898 Miles made good this leg 19. Total miles covered 3677.
Dec 5
We had a good nights sleep since the wind had died down. We did turn around 180 degrees since what little wind there had shifted. The barge ran it's generator all night, but it really wasn't too annoying down below, even with the windows open. We still hear local people complaining about how cold it has gotten, but the lows are probably around 70, so it has been perfect sleeping weather with no heat or a/c on.
About 10:00, we loaded up our books, towels, camera, and a couple bottles of water and dinghied ashore. We walked across the island to the beach, which is only a quarter mile, maybe. There was nobody on the beach yet, so we took two of the lounges under a thatched roof palapa and sat down to enjoy some reading on the beach.
I think I mentioned before that I am finally reading books. Most of my life, it seems I never made time to read much and barely kept up with the couple of magazines I subscribed to. Well now I have time. A book I have been looking forward to was Jimmy Buffett's newest book, A Salty Piece of Land. Yes, if you're not a Parrothead and didn't know it, Jimmy is also an author. He has written three novels and an autobiography, and co-written two children's books. He is one of only six people to have been on the New York Time's bestseller list for both fiction and non-fiction. Anyway, I bought the latest book almost a year ago when it came out. But, I hadn't made time to read it yet. Furthermore, the main character in the new book is one that he introduced in his first book, Tales From Margaritaville. Since I read that one fifteen years ago, I thought I would re-read it before reading the new one. So, a week ago, I re-read Tales From Margaritaville in two days. Then I picked up A Salty Piece of Land. They say things happen for a reason, and there must have been a reason I put off reading this book until being here in the islands. I'm not going to retell the story here. You can get the book and read it for yourself, which I highly recommend. Let's just say though, that it is set in the Bahamas, and it's about a man living his life in an unconventional way. It meant much more for me to read it at this time and place in my life than it would have any other time.
Back to the beach, after an hour or so there, I finished my book. For another hour I just sat looking out at the sea while Barb read her book. Then we took a walk about halfway around the beach and back. I thought about going all the way to the end, but Barb's broken toe was starting to bother her, so that was a good excuse to turn around. By the time we got back, it was after noon, so we went into the restaurant and got sandwiches and beers. While there we struck up a conversation with a young woman who had been sitting at the next palapa on the beach. She is from South Hampton, NY on Long Island. Right near where Jimmy Buffett spends his summers. She and her husband own a house here on the canal we are moored by. Once she said about where it was, I remembered seeing her in her backyard reading when we dinghied by yesterday. She had waved to us. I'll have to send my daughter another note that my idea is not so far-fetched after all.
After a little more time on the beach, we headed back to the boat. The boat which had been moored next to us had moved to the dock just before we left the boat this morning. They were still there and on deck, so we dinghied by to say hello. The boat's hailing port was Wisconsin, so we were curious if they were really from WI or not. (You can put anyplace you like as your hailing port. It doesn't have to be where you really live nor even a real port. We had a boat near us back in TX that had Phoenix, AZ for it's hailing port.) Turns out Jim & Rosie on Libelle, are from Madison, WI, and they had come offshore from Georgetown, SC. That is where we made the wrong turn a couple months ago and almost went offshore when we meant to be in the ICW. We chatted with them a few minutes and then came back to the boat.
The barge contraption has moved a couple hundred feet back towards the main channel. I can't see that they have done any work on the bulkhead or building a dock, so they must just be parked here to work on their boat. I have no idea why they moved today. We are running the engine a while to recharge batteries. The wind has been light, and the wind generator doesn't keep up anyway. I've pretty much made up my mind that a diesel generator is in our future when we get back to the States. A few other boats have arrived and anchored near us this afternoon. One is a large power cat that we have seen at two other stops.
GPS N 26-40.258 W 77-16.898 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 3677.
Dec 6
We elected to stay another day at Treasure Cay. That's the nice thing about this deal. We can make most of it up as we go. We spent the morning reading, and running the engine a coupe hours to charge batteries. One boat task we did was to rig the riding sail that I bought before we left, but have not used. When a boat is at anchor or on a mooring, it tends to swing back and forth when there is a wind blowing. How much it swings varies from boat to boat, but this one swings a lot. This means the wind generator has to pivot to stay pointed into the wind. Well, due to an installation problem (I think) the wind generator does not pivot as freely as it should unless the wind is really howling. So, the boat will swing one way, the generator will pivot that way, then the boat will swing back and the generator stays where it was and stops spinning. A riding sail is an idea that I read about in a magazine a year or so ago. It is a small sail that attaches to the backstay and points forward. The clew of the sail is tied to the mast. The idea is that this small sail will keep the boat from swinging nearly as much.
I bought the sail before we left, but had not taken the time to attach lines and figure out how to rig it. Well, this morning we did. I need to do a little refining on the attachment to the mast part, but it is up and it indeed does what it is supposed to. We still swing a little, but only a few degrees, whereas without it we swung a good ninety degrees. We'll see how this helps the wind generator.
We then went ashore. We told the marina office we were staying another night and paid for the mooring. We then walked over behind the marina office and found the rest of the stores that we had missed the other day. There are a couple more gift shops, a dive shop, a small convenience store, a real grocery store with fresh meat and produce, a liquor store, a BATELCO (phone company) office, the electric company office, a bank, and the police station. We will stop back here on our way from the beach.
Over at the beach, we stopped in the Coco Beach Bar & Grill for lunch again. We ran into Jim and Rosie from Libelle and enjoyed a nice conversation with them while we ate lunch. After lunch, we went out on the beach and read for another hour or so. We then headed back to the boat by way of the stores. We picked up a few things in the grocery, and some more rum, since it was reasonably priced. Since we were just a few minutes from the boat, we treated ourselves to a pint of ice cream for later.
Now that I finished reading A Salty Piece of Land, I am re-reading A Pirate Looks At Fifty, which is another one of Jimmy Buffett's books, but this one is not fiction. It is about a trip he took several years ago in celebration of his fiftieth birthday. The first leg of the trip had an overnight stop in Grand Cayman, where the first people he met were James & Adela White, who we also know. I had never heard the story from James of how he had met Jimmy.
GPS N 26-40.258 W 77-16.898 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 3677.
Dec 7
Last night was one of the nights where you pay the piper for living in Paradise. The cold front that was expected came through right on schedule. The winds turned around to the north, and then the northeast, and picked up to about 20 knots. With the addition of the riding sail, and duct taping the wind generator so it always pointed at the bow, we had a plethora of new noises. Anybody who has spent much time on a boat, especially if you are responsible for the boat and crew, will understand how in tune you are with any unusual noises. Being a windy night, we had noises we are use to, but are annoying nonetheless. The little waves slapping against the hull and slapping up under the dinghy which is tied right outside the bedroom window were quite loud. Then there was the noise from the wind generator. The KISS wind generator is known as one of the quieter brands on the market. Some brands sound like a helicopter hovering over you at fifty feet. Outside, the KISS makes a whirring sound of the blades as they spin through the air. Inside, since we have an aft cabin and are directly below where it is mounted, it has more of a hum sound, kind of like a truck in the distance. As the speed of the blades changes, the hum varies, as if the local garbage truck was making it's rounds a block or two away. Well, we had that usual humming going on. But, there was a new noise that I couldn't identify. It almost sounded as if something were sliding across the deck over our heads every few minutes. I attributed it to the riding sail and thought perhaps the line attaching it was vibrating, or the sail itself was luffing as the wind angle changed. I got up after just a few minutes in bed to try and see what was making the nose. I sat in the cockpit for several minutes and could not hear the same noise. That's one of those things about boats - it's usually impossible to correlate noises on the inside with their cause on the outside. I went back to bed and tried to just assure myself that everything was alright.
I did fall asleep for about three hours. I woke a little after midnight to answer a nature call, and then could not get back to sleep with the noise. After half an hour of trying, I came up to the main cabin, where it was much quieter, and laid on the settee. In the main cabin, I didn't hear the water on the hull or dinghy, nor the new noise that I couldn't identify. The hum of the wind generator was still audible, but not that annoying. But, even with less noise, I couldn't fall asleep. After another half hour or so I started to have some very strange dreams, where it seemed I was awake, but obviously was dreaming. After one of these dreams, where I thought somebody was standing over me and I yelled out and woke myself up, then I finally calmed down and fell asleep again. When I awoke, I found I had been asleep about four hours. The wind seemed to have diminished some, and so had the noise, so I went back to bed where I belonged for a couple more hours.
In the morning, I was determined to identify the noise. I had Barb shut the wind generator off, so I could watch the riding sail from the hatch in the aft cabin and see if the noise coincided with it luffing. The noise didn't happen. I watched for at least five minutes, and there was no noise. So, we turned the wind generator back on. Sure enough, after a few minutes, there was the noise. I think what is happening is that even with the riding sail, we swing around a little. With the generator taped so it cannot pivot at all, it gets to a point where the wind is not hitting the blades right and the whole thing shudders. So, the tape comes off for tonight to see how it acts.
We listened to the daily cruiser's net on the VHF at 08:15 and the reports were that the Sea of Abaco is pretty sloppy given the high winds. It is also overcast and showers are forecast throughout the day. Sounds like a good day to just stay put. We had planned to move to Great Guana Cay today, but it will still be there later. Instead we just sat on the boat all day and read. I finished A Pirate Looks At Fifty, and Barb is more than half way through A Salty Piece of Land. About 15:00, I hopped in the dinghy and went to the marina and paid for one more night on the mooring. When I got back, we hoisted the dinghy back onboard. I expect we will leave tomorrow even if the wind is still blowing, and having the dinghy out of the water will be one less source of noise tonight.
Since we stayed here an extra day, we have changed our plans of what to do next. I am finding that I am just not comfortable when weather happens and we are not at a dock. So, since we have a month before having to be in Nassau for our trip to New Orleans, and Marsh Harbor is pretty much the end of the road before Nassau, we are going to go there and see about getting a slip for a month. During that time, if we want to take a couple of days to go over to Great Guana Cay, or Hopetown, we can and still comeback to our slip. So that's the plan for tomorrow.
Marsh Harbor is the "big city" of the Abacos. There are about 5000 residents there, and lots of boats come for the whole winter and just stay in Marsh Harbor. There are real grocery stores, many restaurants, several marinas, and pretty much any service you could need.
GPS N 26-40.258 W 77-16.898 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 3677.
Dec 8
Noises, noises, noises. I went to bed last night with the idea that since I knew what the noises were, could tune them out and sleep. Not gonna happen. I decided that since we are up on voltage due to the big winds we have had for two days now, and running the motor a couple hours yesterday, I would just shut the wind generator off for the night. Well, after doing that, there was still a noticeable noise. I decided that it was the riding sail after all. The metal clips that hold it on the backstay must vibrate enough to make noise, and that noise it transmitted down the stay to where it attaches to the boat right by my head. So, I got back up and took down the riding sail. Noise be gone. Just for grins, turned the wind generator back on. It now ran with it's normal hum, which is tolerable. So, I left it on overnight.
I ended up sleeping quite well, even though the wind was howling all night. When I got up in the morning, I checked the battery voltage, and we actually had more than when we went to bed. That is a first. Too bad the howling wind is what you need to spin the generator enough to keep up.
About the time we got up, it also started to rain. The forecast was for scattered showers, but the sky is a heavy overcast. We listened to the cruiser's net on the VHF, and got our morning weather e-mails, and it looks like we will be staying put one more day. My decision was made when I heard an interesting comment on the cruiser's net. The cruiser's net is a structured hour or so which includes the weather, news headlines, local announcements by various businesses, an open mic session where anybody can ask a question or make an announcement, etc. One of the regular spots is where the dive shop on Guana Cay gives a report on the sea state of the Sea of Abaco, based on his visual observation. Hs report this morning was that it was so rough that he did not put his kids on the ferry to Marsh Harbor to go to school. Kind of like a snow day in NY I guess. That made up my mind that I didn't want to go out there. The rain has just given the boat it's first fresh water rinse since we left Florida, so no sense going out and getting salt water washing up over the decks.
We spent the whole day again reading and staying on the boat. I called the marina on the VHF and convinced them to give me a five-nights-for-the-price-of-four deal so I didn't have to re-launch the dinghy and go in to pay them for another night on the mooring. It rained and blew all day and we were glad we stayed put.
GPS N 26-40.258 W 77-16.898 Miles made good this leg 0. Total miles covered 3677.
Dec 9
Today we are moving. The wind died overnight and it has been calm since about 01:00. One brief shower blew through early this morning, but now the skies are mostly clear and it looks like it will be a nice day. About 10:00, we dropped the mooring and headed out. We are leaving at the low side of mid-tide, so we went out very slowly to make sure that if we touched bottom, we wouldn't be stuck. We got all the way out of the channel without ever seeing under seven feet, so no problem. We motored south, into the wind of course. We plan to get a slip in Marsh Harbor, but I figured it would be good to motor anyway to charge the batteries, just in case we have any trouble getting a slip and do need to anchor out.
In about two and a half hours, we were in Marsh Harbor. There are probably twenty boats anchored out here. I hailed the Harbor View Marina on the radio to inquire about a slip. As was the case everywhere else, they are nearly empty, so it was no problem. Ronnie, the dock master on duty, met us on the dock and directed us into a slip between two other sailboats, one occupied, one not. Ronnie took our lines and secured the bow as I secured a spring line. He then came aboard to secure the stern lines to the pilings which were a good fifteen feet behind us. While I watched, he lassoed each one and secured the lines back to the boat. He got a nice tip and earned every bit of it with that nice lassoing job. The long-term (month or more) rate here is $.60/ft and electricity is metered instead of a flat rate. Also, water is $50 for the month instead of $5/day or $.20/gal, so we can wash the boat, etc. We also have a free wireless internet connection most of the time, and can get cable TV if we want it for an additional fee.
The only problem we found though, comes at low tide. Turns out we sit on the bottom at low tide. I will inquire tomorrow about changing slips to a deeper one if a deeper one is available. It's not a big deal to sit on the bottom. It doesn't hurt the boat any. It just feels odd to us to not be floating, and we don't sit exactly level.
The first order of business after checking in was a good long hot shower. We had been on the mooring for fives days, doing sponge baths since the wind was too chilly to do an aft-deck shower. So, I was ready for a real shower. The facilities here are very nice, since the whole place has been rebuilt since the 2004 hurricanes. After showers, we went up to Snappa's bar and restaurant which is right next to the marina. We had lunch and a couple of beers, then took off to explore a little.
The primary purpose of exploring was to find the office of Out Island Internet. I am getting their wireless signal on the boat, but the automatic re-direct that should take me to their website to sign up for service doesn't happen. We found their office, and the guy told me how to get to their website. Said my computer probably was too secure with the firewall, etc to have it happen magically. Their rates for a month's access s $120. I thanked him and we went back to the boat thinking that was a little steep. I found that if I put the wireless antennae outside, I can pick up somebody else's network and get on for free. That takes care of that.
On the way back to the boat, we found the liquor store. Have to scout out these important locations when you first get into a new port you know. I decided since we would be here a while, to get a case of Kalik beer. Kalik is the Bahamian beer and is similar to Corona, but cheaper. Not that beer is cheap. A case of Kalik was $36, and that's the cheapest beer they have. A case of Bud was $52. In the liquor store, I recognized the guy from two boats over from us. We introduced ourselves. He saw we were on foot and buying a case of beer, so he offered to carry it back to the boat in the basket of his bicycle. We graciously took him up on that offer.
We heard an announcement for a block party this evening at a couple of gift shops down the street form us. They said there would be refreshments, so a little after 17:00 we headed down there. We immediately ran into Tom & Linda from Tomlin Too, who we had met in Green Turtle Cay. There were three stores participating in this deal, and they had free wine and a nice free buffet which provided dinner. We also found that one of the stores carried the brand of shorts I like, and they were on sale at a price comparable with the States, so I bought two more pairs. Since it's all I wear now, the few pairs I have might not last until we're back in the States, so now I'm set. Quite a crowd gathered after a while, and through Tom & Linda, we were introduced to many other cruisers.
One of them was the Commodore of the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club. He asked if we were members of any other yacht club, which we are not. He then briefly told us the benefits of joining their club. For $125 first-year dues, and $30/year after that, you are in. Every month they have a dinner, and the annual Christmas dinner is this coming Tuesday. You get a burgee, and you get some discounts around town. They also have chapters back in the States that we may have contact with on our way back north. Well, I figure the dinner for two, with an open bar will justify the $125. Besides, it will be a cool way to meet other boaters.
That party broke up about 20:30, and we headed back to the boat. Right after we got there, we heard the band at a bar across the street play Margaritaville. So, of course we had to go back up there. The band never did play any more Buffett, but we sat and chatted with Philip and John who had just gotten here after seven weeks at sea delivering a new Moorings catamaran from South Africa. They were both South Africans, and we enjoyed chatting with them for almost an hour.
Back at the boat, we found it sitting on the bottom and about a foot of bottom paint showing. We went to sleep that way and went through the next high tide and the next low tide without feeling any bumping right at that point where it's barely touching. We'll see if we bother to move or not.
GPS N 26-32.806 W 77-03.207 Miles made good this leg 16. Total miles covered 3693.