Nassau

We are in Nassau, we didn’t plan to be here this year but circumstances dictated the visit.  We are having transmission problems.

On Friday we were anchored at Big Majors with a lot of other boats working on a plan of action.  All symptoms lead to a faulty transmission.  It would run in forward if the engine was running and would not shift into neutral and if shifted to reverse it would kill the engine.  There was nothing for us to do about this problem so we made a run to Staniel Cay in the dinghy.  We were going to the fuel dock when the transmission acted up and I still wanted to top off the fuel tank.  We carry two five gallon jerry jugs with us so we poured that into the tank and took them to town to be refilled.  Now I knew we had enough fuel in case we had to motor all the way.  We also needed to go to the phone company to buy more data for Cori’s phone.  We also checked out the grocery store, closed over lunch and dropped off a bag of garbage.  Back to the boat we got things ready for the trip.  In the afternoon we got a call from Selah that they were on their way with our laundry.  We did a little exploring with the dinghy and in the evening joined Selah on Willamia for drinks and snacks.  At sunset Les, Allison and Cori blew their conchs, the first conch trio we have heard.

Saturday morning we were ready to head out for Nassau.  To add to our headaches when I tried to use the windlass to pull up a little anchor chain to adjust the snubber on Thursday it stopped working.  Now we were sitting without a windlass and no neutral gear.  To pull the anchor we drive the boat up to the anchor as the windlass pulls in the chain.  Without being able to shift into neutral we would overrun the anchor and pull more chain out.  Pulling the anchor by hand was the only option and it required that we motor up to the anchor and kill the engine as I pulled in the chain.  Bo and Allison came over with their dinghy to see if they could help and it was good they did.  What we attempted to do was to pull the chain until it went tight and attach the snubber to keep it from pulling out more chain.  It didn’t work as well as I had hoped and all of the chain I pulled in was pulled back out before we got the snubber hooked.   On the second try we got it right and the motion of the boat broke the anchor free.  From there we started the motor again and I pulled the anchor the rest of the way in as we started out of the anchorage.  Our plan was to go back up to Shroud Cay and pick up a park service mooring for the night and continue to Nassau on Sunday.  The wind was on the nose so we ended up motoring for the day.  We were not sure how picking up the mooring would go.  Normally we maneuver up to the ball slowly and when within reach pick up the pennant line and tie one or two of our docklines to it.  Usually it takes us a couple of tries.  This time went better than when everything is working in our favor.  We pulled up to the ball and killed the engine just before reaching it.  The boats momentum carried us up to it and when it was alongside Cori was able to hook it with the boathook.  We then got a line through it and got it cleated off.  While we were doing this a neighboring boat was coming over in their dinghy to give us a hand after being alerted that we had engine problems.  He gave us a hand getting the second line on it and we were good for the night.  The winds were still blowing in the 20’s as they had all day so the seas were built up.  We were secure for the night but the waves and wind caused us to roll violently, almost enough to throw me out of bed a couple of times.  Anything sitting out got moved or knocked down during the night.

By morning on Sunday the wind had shifted to the northeast which would be a little better for sailing but it was still blowing from 15-20 knots.  At sunrise we dropped the mooring, no anchor to pull today, and headed out for Nassau.  Of course not everything was going to go well; I got my heading wrong and aimed us for a shallow area.  As I caught the depth sounder showing less and less depth we went aground.  Not a good felling when you can’t back off.  I made a sharp turn and hit the throttle pushing through the sand until we got back to deeper water.  We were lucky that it was sand and not rocks and the tide was coming up so we would have gotten off eventually.  After changing our course we tried to sail.  The wind was still too close to the nose to sail efficiently, 2.5 knots is not efficient, we started the motor again and motor-sailed.  We had one course change planned for when we got to the Yellow Bank waypoint and that put us at a better angle to the wind, still blowing in the 20’a.  The Yellow Bank is an area of large coral heads near the surface so it was necessary to keep a good look out.  Vic had given us the coordinates of where to make our turn and where we would see the fewest heads and get through them the fastest.  Once through we turned off the motor and had an exciting sail for the rest of the afternoon, 6-8 knots which is about as fast as this old boat will go.  The seas had been building all day so we were dealing with 4-5 foot seas, just under the 6-7 that had been forecast.  We had water coming over the bow all day with some splashing into the cockpit.  Where was salt water everywhere.  The pounding we were taking shifted everything below deck also.  The v-berth was a complete mess and anything loose on the starboard side was on the floor.  We were planning on going to the Nassau Harbor Marina but they wanted us to wait to come in on Monday.  We proceeded to Rose Island, a couple of miles from the harbor and anchored for the night.  The wind continued to blow but we were somewhat protected but the seas were still causing us to roll.

Monday morning was still blowing 15-20 from the east and when we called the marina to enquire about coming in they were not too sure about it.  We thought it over and decided to wait until Tuesday to go in since the winds were supposed to drop.  The marina agreed with us.  We spent the day rolling with the waves as the wind clocked around giving us even less protection with some real ugly rocks behind us.  We had another night rolling and getting up several times to check to be sure we are not dragging our anchor.  We had a couple of rain showers go through helping to clean the salt off everything.

Tuesday morning at 7:30 we got a call from the marina telling us they were ready for us.  We pulled anchor again, it went better this time, and started into Nassau Harbor.  The winds were still around 15 knots but out of the south.  We called and got permission to enter the harbor and made our way to the marina.  The plan was to line up and come straight into the dock and the dockhands stopping us with the lines we would throw them.  Killing the engine to drop our speed in time was important.  Well I would like to say everything went as planned but it didn’t.  We were still going too fast when we got to the dock and one of the dockhands dropped his line before he could get it around a pole.  Our plan on stopping before hitting anything was gone.  All we had in front of us was a concrete dock which was effective in stopping us.  Had the tide been lower we would have run our headsail furling gear and forestay into it, if it had been higher we would have some fiberglass repair.  It actually lined up with our Rockna anchor on the bowsprit.  We actually broke off some of the concrete as the anchor went under it.  It appears that the roll bar on the anchor is bent back a little and the bowsprit is bent down a little.  Not much damage considering the impact.  Once in we called the mechanic Vic told us about to report we had arrived.  He sent a man over and after a couple of tests he agreed that the transmission was the problem.  He removed it and took it to the shop.  Later in the afternoon they called us to report what they found.  The transmission was toast, possibly not in good enough condition to use as a core trade-in for a rebuilt unit.  Working the numbers it was evident that our only option was a new one.  We got directions to the shop and walked there to place the order (make a down payment).  They placed the order and it will be shipped from Ft. Lauderdale in about a week.  Day one in Nassau was done, but we slept well not rocking anymore.

Wednesday was a project day.  On the way here we made a list of projects that need to be done since we will be sitting for so long.  We were able to check off several but it looks like several more have been added to the list.

In the Exuma's

We have not updated for a while because we have been having problems with Internet access.  Our connection this time is slow so no photos this time.

We spent a week at Rock Harbor moving from one side of the harbor to the other depending on what the winds did.  We did have several opportunities to go to town and check things out.   One of the features in town is an ocean hole, which is a large hole filled with water that is fed with salt water from the sound.  Outside of town, but still within walking distance is another hole and close by it was a cave.  Touring the cave was interesting since there were opening above letting light in and there were what looked like trees growing through them.  In reality it was root feelers that connected to the bottom of the cave and helped feed the tree above.  While we were there Lee and Cheryl on Shalaylee came in.  They planned to stay for one night but stayed for several.  All of us went out for dinner at Rosie's which is on the other side of the island.  She offers pick up and drop off service and we all had a great time and great food.  On Tuesday Phil on Sea Ya rented a Cadillac Escalade and eight of us toured the island.  We started by trying to get to Lighthouse Beach on the south end of the island.  There is no real road to get there but there is a rough and narrow path that we drove along.  By the time we got back on the highway the vehicle had some pretty bad scratches from rubbing against the brush on both sides.  The beach was ok; I wouldn’t advise trying to go there again.  From there we turned north and worked our way north eventually turning around at Gregory Town to return the car before closing.  Along the way we checked out the towns and harbors.  We arrived here on the 21^st and on the 30^th we pulled anchor the final time to move on.

We moved out of Rock Sound Harbor and set course for Ships Channel Cut in the Exumas.  The wind was off the quarter but not enough to sail efficiently so we ended up motor-sailing all day.  Once in the Exuma Banks we moved down to an anchorage just off of Ships Channel Cay.  In the morning we pulled anchor and motored sown to Allen’s Cay.  The main attraction of Allen’s Cay is the native iguanas.  They are used to people and come out to the beach to see if they are going to be fed.  They are about a foot long and very prehistoric look but are not aggressive.  While there we started talking to two couples that arrived in their dinghys.  It turns out that they both have the center cockpit version of our Pearson.  We had a mini Pearson Rally among the iguanas.  We pulled anchor again and headed off to move several islands down to Shroud Cay.  This being part of the National Park has some rules that need to be followed, certain areas are off limits to motorized vehicles (dinghies), no going to certain shore areas, no fishing, taking conch or shelling, etc.  On Monday morning we took the dinghy out exploring the north part of the island along with Kim and Les on Willamia.  The river on the north end is open for motorized dinghy’s so we rode into the center of the island and then out a small opening onto the other side.  The center of the island is a mangrove swamp area with a variety of wildlife.  We saw a variety of fish, a ray and several turtles in the clear water.  We stopped for lunch on the other side and climbed the hill to Camp Driftwood where cruisers used to leave mementos but it is no longer allowed by the park management.  On the way back down the river it started to rain, which turned into a downpour with high winds and waves.  We made a fast run back to the boat with 20+ knot winds and 2 foot seas.  For the next hour we hunkered down while the storm moved on.  Once the front moved on the winds switched back to the east and everything calmed down.

On Tuesday we planned to move down to Wardwick Wells to check in at the park headquarters and get more information on the park.  We got a call from Bo and Allison on Selah and agreed to meet up with them at O’Briens Cay to check out the Sea Aquarium.  We got there before them, only going aground once while maneuvering around the islands.  We dropped anchor and launched the dinghy.  When they arrived we went over to pick them up to go snorkeling.  There is a spot called the Sea Aquarium where it is almost like swimming in an aquarium.  A large variety of beautiful fish swarming around us.  I shot some video of it so watch for that being posted to our YouTube channel.  On the way back to the boats we stopped at another marker to check out an airplane that crashed there.  The other attraction was Johnnie Depps house on the neighboring island.  No one is allowed ashore there and I doubt that he was home.  I didn’t mention the naked Canadian, but we did run into one.  As we passed an anchored boat there was a naked man on the swim platform.  We moved on.

In the morning we moved back out to the banks and proceeded down to Big Majors Cay.  Once out in the protection of the islands we turned into 20+ knot winds and 2 foot seas on the nose.  Once we arrived at Big Majors we anchored with all of the other boats out of the wind.  We took the dinghies to shore to see the swimming pigs.  This island has a herd of pigs that when you approach the shore they swim out to be the first to get fed.  Cori brought some lettuce to feed them so we were popular with about five of them.  At one point some small piglets came squealing out onto the beach to find their mother for a quick lunch then back into the brush.  After checking out the pigs we raised anchor again and moved to the other side of the island to anchor off of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  We dinghied over to what is called Thunderball Grotto for more snorkeling.  Thunderball grotto is famous for its use in the James Bond movie Thunderball.  There is an underwater cave that feed into a large grotto with some openings in the ceiling letting in some light.  There is again a large variety of colorful fish both outside and outside the grotto.  Again I shot some video so watch for that to be posted when I get it edited.  I have to say snorkeling the grotto is one of the coolest things I have ever done.  After going back to the boat and getting cleaned up we went to the marina to buy some gasoline for the outboards and generator.  Then it was into the yacht club for drinks soon to be joined by Bo and Allison.

We have made the decision to move past everything around us and go further down to Little Farmers Cay for the annual 5F festival.  It sounds fun and we figure we can move back up island to see what we passed later.  We also heard via email and VHF that our friends Vic and Gigi on Salty Turtle would be there.  We ended up motoring against the wind all the way to Little Farmers but it was not blowing as hard as the previous day.  Once we got close we tried working our way into the anchorage only to find we went about it the hard way.  It seems there is a discrepancy between the depths the chart shows and what we were seeing.  Approaching the anchorage we had a stretch with less than a foot under the keel eventually anchoring in 8-10 feet where the chart showed 3 feet.  Had we found a boat to follow in we would have had a better time arriving.  We dropped anchor next to Salty Turtle and when they came back from going ashore then stopped by for a drink and stories.  Later we went over to Loon for drinks with Ben and Craig and Debbie from River Rat.  Then it was time for happy hour at Ty’s, cheap beer and appetizers.   We were joined by Salty Turtle, Salah, and Nightingale Song.  After making plans for breakfast we headed back to the boat for the night.

Friday was the beginning of the Festival and we headed to Ty’s for breakfast, stewfish and kalik beer.  This was different then the stewfish we had at Green Turtle.  This was a whole fish in a bowl of brown sauce.  It was delicious but a bit unsightly.  I have a photo I will upload when I get a faster connection.  After breakfast we went back to the boat to trade out the 3.3 horse outboard for the 9.9.  We then made the trip around the top of the island to the town dock to look around.  This is a small island with about 60 permanent residents so the festival is a big deal.  There were booths being set up for the weekends festivities.  We walked around a bit stopping at JR’s woodcarving shop getting a tour of his garden and descriptions of his plants and trees then checked out his carvings.  He is a talented carver.  After the walk and no booths open we got back in the dinghy and finished riding around the island.  At one point I glanced back and saw a ray jump about four feet out of the water.  We turned around but did not see it again.  We went over to Salty Turtle for the boat race and rode out to the start line in their dinghy and followed the fleet around the course.  These are the C class traditional Bahamian boats and this is the first time we had seen them race.  They start out with the sail down and anchored in a line.  At the starting signal then pull up their anchors and as the anchor comes aboard they raise their sail.  There is only one sail and it is a big one, way overpowering the boat.  This is compensated by having boards extend out the sides that the crew sits on to balance the boat.  At the end of the race everyone met back at Ty’s for food and drink before the next race.  The second race is around and somewhat through the anchorage so we watched it from the upper deck on Salty Turtle.  For dinner we went back to Ty’s for ribs and chicken then tried to carry on a conversation over the music.  Finally giving up we headed back to the boat to be ready to leave in the morning. 

The festival is scheduled to run through the weekend but there is a strong front coming through sometime Saturday night and into Sunday and we need to move to someplace we are protected from the west.  We raised anchor and followed other boats out of the harbor keeping track of the route for future reference, raised the sails and had one of the most pleasant sails back up to Pipe Cay, a trip of about 20 miles.  Once we reached our waypoint we dropped the sails and motored around the islands to a cove that Vic had pointed out would be protected.  We maneuvered around until we found a nice patch of sand and dropped the anchor.  Once we were settled in Cori launched the kayak to go exploring.  Shortly Selah and Nightingale Song joined up maneuvering around for a spot to anchor.  Salah had stopped in Blackpoint to pick up a few items and we had them pick up some bread for us.  During the night the wind picked up and we heard a sound we had never heard before.  We were up immediately to check it out.  It turned out that the combination of tidal current and the wind had us pulling forward on our anchor instead of pulling back.  This had the chain going under the boat instead of off the bow.  As the boat would swing the chain had to move itself from one side of the keel to the other making a lot of noise.  This is the first time we have had the wind and current working to push the boat in a completely opposite direction then how she lays with just the wind.  Needless to say we slept a little lighter after that.  We are used to most of the noised we hear regularly so an unusual one really catches our attention and will wake us up.

Sunday, we had strong winds out of the west then turning northwest blowing all day.  It is real interesting to watch the current point the boat one way and the wind pushing it from another.  Normally the boat points into the wind when at anchor.  The winds were in the upper 20’s all day with gusts just over 30 knots.  Other areas around us reported even higher gusts.  This is the first time we have started the engine and let it run at idle in case the anchor didn’t hold.  At the end of the day everything worked as it is supposed to.

Monday Cori took the opportunity with the lower winds to take the kayak to shore and follow a path over to the other side of the island to look for shells, glass and sea beans.  As the front passed it changed the winds from the north and the temperatures dropped, time to pull out an extra blanket.  Tuesday the winds went back into the 15-20 knot range so we stayed aboard and did a few projects.  We re-bedded a leaking stanchion, resealed a leaking window and did some troubleshooting on a problem with the single sideband radio along with a couple of smaller projects.  I also did some editing of videos and got them ready to upload when we get a good internet connection.  Cori spent her time between helping me and with sewing projects.

Wednesday we finally launched the dinghy to get off the boat.  We started out making a run up to Compass Cay to check out the marina and follow a small river up into the mangroves.  We were then joined by Selah and Nightingale Song for a run up to Rocky Dundas Cay to snorkel into a couple of caves and check out the coral and fish.  From there we crossed back to the north end of Compass Cay to check out Rachel’s Bubble Bath.  This is a shallow pool that is filled at high tide and then as the water flows out waves break over the barrier rocks causing the water to bubble up, thus the name.  Cori took the opportunity to swim around in it.   When we got back to the boat it was time for showers and hot chocolate, unfortunately after sitting this long we no longer have hot water so it was a cold shower in the cockpit with a cold wind blowing.  Thus the need for hot chocolate.

Thursday has the wind out of the north going to northeast and we decided to leave.  We had not seen everything there was to offer here at Pipe Creek but expect to be back again.  We made the decision to move down to Staniel Cay to top off the fuel and then move down to Blackpoint Settlement where we can do laundry and get good internet.  Once out on the banks we turned south and put out the headsail and had a great sail to Staniel.  Once we got close we fired up the engine and proceeded in.  Once we were in range of the fuel dock we were told it would be about an hour before we could get fuel, there were a number of boats ahead of us.  We decided to anchor and wait.  When we dropped the anchor and started to backdown there was a metallic noise from the engine compartment.  We pulled the anchor and moved to a less crowded area and tried to re-anchor.  The transmission would not come out of gear, when put into reverse it made a very bad clunking sound and killed the engine.  The engine restarts but will not come out of forward gear.  We were wishing we had our friend Vic from Salty Turtle with us since he knows people that can fix things and more knowledgeable than we are.  Just as I was ready to dive overboard to check that the prop was not fouled we see Salty Turtle going by.  We hailed them and once they had anchored they came over to take a look.  He immediately knew who to call and it happened they were anchored around the corner.  We pulled anchor and moved over to the Big Major anchorage and re-anchored.  Soon Vic and Scott from Catalyst came over to check it out.  Scott went back to his boat, did a little research and made some calls.  I also did some Googling and found the same results Scott.  When this model transmission fails, it locks itself into forward gear so you can still get home.  Any attempt to go into reverse will kill the engine.   It looks like we will be making a trip to Nassau for some transmission work. 

Eleuthera Island

We are waiting out another storm in Rock Sound Harbor on the southern end of Eleuthera  Island.

We sat out the rain and winds near Spanish Wells and were rewarded with a near perfect day in the Islands.  Saturday was sunny and calm.  Cori got up and wanted to go ashore.  We were anchored on the east side of Meeks Patch, a narrow island that was protecting us from the winds the previous days.  The tide was low so we went in and joined several others walking the beach.  Plans were made to meet up later and spend the day ashore.  Once back at the boat we decided to make one last trip into town for supplies.  It was about a two mile dinghy ride but everything had calmed down so it was a good ride.  Once in town we dropped off our garbage and walked to the store.  I was about to run out of Diet Coke so that was high on my list.  I had previously stopped at a little bakery and wanted to go back and buy a pack of johnniecakes.  They are similar to English muffins.  On the walk back to the dinghy we also stopped and stocked up on more rum, we don’t want to run out.  We had a smooth ride back to the boat then joined everyone from Willimia, Sea Ya and Exit Stage Left on the beach for the rest of the afternoon.  It was a perfect day of sunshine and light winds keeping everyone happy and cool after being stuck on the boats while the rain and wind worked their way through.  Getting into the dinghy to go back to the boat I did something to my lower back, a very sharp pain.  It seems that I have a pinched nerve that is giving me a lot of trouble.

Sunday was forecast for gale force winds and they delivered.  The winds were out of the west and our little island did a great job of protecting us from the waves but did not do much at blocking the wind.  At one point I saw a reading of 38.8 knots (45 mph) and that may not have been the highest.  This continued into the night with the velocity dropping as the winds clocked around to the north.  Monday morning we had winds in the upper teens out of the north, time to get a move on.  We and our traveling partners pulled anchors and started off eventually joined by four others all going the same way.  We wanted to see more of Eleuthera and to get there we had to go down to a location called Current Cut and maneuver through a small break between islands.  It is called Current Cut because of the strong current.  We timed our passage for high tide when the current would be at its least.  We all formed up into a single file line and motored through.  Once clear we again hoisted the sails and had a near perfect day of sailing until we arrived at a spot called The Glass Window.

  This is where the ocean has carved an opening through a narrow part of the island and while standing on the bridge you can see the contrast between the dark blue of the ocean and the light colors of the sound.  Once we were anchored we took the dinghy to shore and walked up the road to the bridge first stopping at a Bahamian Heritage Site.  Not knowing what to expect we went to check it out.  It turned out we were at a site referred to as The Queens Bath.  It is on the ocean side and is an area where the shore has been eroded back and there is a series of hollowed out pools leading up to a cave with calm water filling the pools at low tide.  It is pretty impressive.  From there we went back to the road to walk to the bridge.  Just before the bridge we heard an odd sound and sight.  There was a blowhole next to the road.  This is a hole about six inches wide that is connected to a cave below.  As the waves force water into the cave air and water are shot out of the hole like a small geyser.  It was amazing to watch.  I tried to shoot some video of it; we will see how it turns out.

  We finally got to the bridge.  The view was just as described and the contrast of the colors is spectacular along with the waves crashing into the opening.

  Back on the boat Cori set to work on fixing dinner since she had invited the others over for dinner.  We all had a great day with the exception of Phil on Sea Ya.  While leaving Meeks Patch he reached up to wave at another boat going by and got his hand caught in the wind generator getting a serious cut on his hand.  The other boat, Cookie, has a nurse on board and she offered to check it out when we all got anchored.  Once at anchor Les and Kim on Willamia took them over to have it looked at.  Traveling with Cookie is the boat Good Morning Vietnam and it happens that she is a surgeon.  After 22 stitches and a helping of pain medication and antibiotics Phil was all patched up.  He is healing nicely but is having trouble trying to not use that hand.

We had thought of staying for another day before moving down-island but the weather forecasts were not looking good.  Another front was coming through in a few days so we had to move on if we were to be in a safe harbor for the storm.  Tuesday morning we pulled anchor and had another near perfect day of sailing.  Our destination this day was Governors Harbor.  This was the original capital of the Bahamas and the guide books had a lot of good to say about it.  Unfortunately they also have a lot of bad to say about the anchorage.  The harbor is exposed to all but east winds and has a hard bottom with poor holding.  We scouted out several options and finally decided on a spot just around Cupids Cay where there were some patches of sand that held the anchor solidly.

Wednesday morning we all took our dinghies to town.  High on the list was the bakery with fresh pastries for breakfast then checking out several other shops, especially the fishing supply shop.  From there it was a trip to the beach on the ocean side.  This is the former location of a Club Med and it is obvious to see why they located here.  It is one of the prettiest beaches I have seen with very fine grain sand with a light pink color.

  We walked the beach with intentions of going to Tippies restaurant.  We just didn’t realize how long of a walk that would be.  Once there it proved to be worth the walk, the fish tacos were excellent.  After lunch Cori found us rides back to town saving us from another long walk.  Once back in town some provisions were purchased and everyone went back to their boats to relax.

After a quiet night at anchor we were up and pulled the anchor by 7:30 am.  Our next stop was going to be Rock Sound Harbor to hunker down for the blow.   The winds were too light for sailing so we motored down there, about 25 miles.  Rock Sound Harbor is a large anchorage that is protected from all sides, a good spot to hole up.  We chose to anchor in the northwest part of the harbor leaving us with about a mile of open water to the east but close to the western shore.  The winds in the afternoon and evening were out of the northeast and it was a bit bumpy but the real winds were forecast to clock around to the west when the storm arrived.  By anchoring here we eliminated having to pull the anchor to relocate when the wind shifted.  In the evening we all got together on Exit Stage Left for pot luck dinner to celebrate Theresa on Sea Ya’s birthday.

Friday is windy and rainy again.  The wind has shifted around and has gone from east to southeast then south and now southwest, just as forecast.  We have about a dozen boats here waiting for the big show to arrive, west winds in the 30-40 knot range with higher gusts in the squalls.  Cori is staying busy with reorganizing the V-berth so that I can access the water-maker.  The generator is charging the batteries since the solar panels are not putting out in this weather and I have the water-maker running filling our tank.  In the evening the wind shifted to the west but the velocity dropped.  Later in the evening it started p as foretasted, overnight it blew in the 20’s but didn’t get as high as they had thought.  It seemed that north and south of up the wind was higher so we evidently got lucky.

Today, Saturday, it is partly cloudy but the winds are still blowing in the 20’s but we are protected from higher waves by the west shore.  So far everyone’s anchors have held so we just need to be patient and let it blow itself out.  Cori had gotten the sewing machine out and is making some bags from old sails and I have been lounging with a book and babying my hip hoping it gets better.

Spanish Wells

Our week on the mooring ball in Hopetown was up on Saturday but we chose to stay another night to let some weather pass before we moved on.  Saturday was laundry day and a trip to the fuel dock to fill up on diesel and gasoline.  We used a bit more than a half tank of diesel on the trip over and burned about 8 gallons of gas running the generator and running around with the dinghy.  We are not sure when or where we will be topping off again, so get it while you can.

Sunday we were ready to leave on the early high tide but then we watched as a cloud wall move in.

 It was interesting to watch, a straight line of clouds moving in with another line of dark clouds behind it.  Needless to say it rained, hard, but not for very long.  Once the rain passed we headed out followed by Willamia, Exit Stage Left and a few others that waited a little longer.  We took the short cut between Elbow Cay and Lubbers Quarter since we were at high tide but still saw some spots with about two feet under the keel.  From there we followed the waypoints around the shallows to Lynyard Cay, the jumping off point for the trip to Eleuthera.  On the way we got caught with another downpour but again it didn’t last long.  Since the forecast for the night was for west winds then shifting to northwest we chose to anchor off of and a little north of Bridges Cay for protection.  In all there were a dozen boats anchored here.

Monday morning we were up before sunrise to be ready to pull the anchor and motor down to Little Harbor Cut.  We joined the others and headed out the cut.  We had an incoming tide but not a lot of wind so the trip through the cut was uneventful.  Once clear of the opening we set course for Egg Island, about 50 miles away.  Cori had her fishing gear out as we went through the cut and as soon as we were clear she got a strike.  Whatever it was took everything, the lure and the leader.  She re-rigged and we were off.  The wind was out of the northwest with following seas about 4-6 feet.  Unfortunately when we tried to fly the headsail it kept collapsing and then filling with a sharp snap only to collapse as we rode over the next wave.  This is very bad for a sail and the rigging so we chose to motor.  As the day progressed the wind slowly shifted from NW to N to NE just as forecast.  We had about 10-15 knots of wind but going downwind about half to a third of that was canceled out so it wasn’t a good day to sail.  Along the way Cori started to get lucky, one of her handlines brought in a nice fish that we cannot identify but it was a keeper.

  Later in the afternoon the seas calmed a bit so we tried sailing again.  We were able keep the sail full but it dropped our speed to around 5 knots.  Just at that point a fish started stripping line off of her reel.  With the sail out I wasn’t able to slow the boat down while she fought her fish.  Once it was close to the boat we could see it was a nice Mahi Mahi.  It took a bit to get it alongside while I tried to get it into the net.  With the boat moving almost 5 knots there was too much drag on the net and I couldn’t get it under the fish.  Finally the handle bent and I grabbed the gaff hook.  Of all of the Mahi we have caught this is the first one we were able to get onboard using the advice from our friend Lee from last year.

  It measured 40” from tip to tip.  It was quickly dispatched and bagged and dropped into the refrigerator to be filleted later.  We thought that that would be the excitement for the day but the fishing gods were with her.  When we got close to Egg Island there are two choices, go through the narrow cut or go around the island.  We were going to go through the cut.  Once we were lined up on our waypoint the bell on the handline started ringing, another nice fish.  Cori got that one in but didn’t have here bottle of rum she used to kill them near her.  The technique is to squirt alcohol of some sort into their gills and they die quickly.  I was jumping from one side of the boat to the other looking for her squeeze bottle and knife.

  Once found the fish was quickly dispatched and gutted.  I moved back behind the wheel to discover that we were through the cut and ready to change course for Spanish Wells.  Autopilot is a wonderful thing, if there is nothing in front of you.  We continued on and finally dropped anchor with the others in the lee of Russell Island, close to the entrance to Spanish Wells about an hour before sunset, a trip of 62 miles.

Tuesday dawned with heavy overcast and it rained off and on all morning.  In the afternoon it lightened up and looked ok for a trip to town.  We launched the dinghy and headed in stopping to talk to Phil and Theresa on See Ya.  Once in town we headed straight to the telephone office to get some information on my phone and data plan.  I was worried about running out of data and couldn’t remember how to check it.  While there we made the decision to get a sim card and purchase some data for Cori’s phone so she could use it more than just when she could find a WiFi signal.  After a stop at a couple of shops it started to rain again.  We headed back to the dinghy but chose to stop at Budda’s for a couple of beers until the rain let up.  Soon we were back on the dinghy heading back to the boat for some delicious Mahi for dinner.

Wednesday started with some light rain but then got better.  It was still overcast but it didn’t rain anymore.  We all headed into town, one to get propane, another to check on more fishing gear and all to stop at the grocery store and other shops.  It turned out the fishing shop was closed but since it was next to the beach we wandered down there.  Cori was in shell heaven with the number of sea urchins washed on the beach.  We walked the beach working our way back into town only to get to the grocery store at 12:00 as it closed.  Oh well.  From there we all wondered around town until meeting up again at the Anchor Cafe for lunch.  After lunch the others went back to their boats and we wondered around until we stopped at the Shipwreck to watch the water and have a beer.  There we met a gentleman originally from Wisconsin that had been living there for the last 14 years.  Stories and jokes soon started.  From there we took the dinghy for a tour of the harbor.  Spanish Wells is the fishing capital of the Bahamas and the harbor is filled with a variety of fishing boats of all sizes.

Thursday and Friday the forecast is for the winds to pick up and start to clock around from the NE to the SW in the 30’s and higher.  We need to move from our convenient spot to somewhere more protected.  After looking at all of the options we chose to move about 2 miles to Meeks Patch, a small island that will give us protection from anything east and then it is a short trip around the top of the island to the east side for protection from the SW and W.  We are now sitting at anchor waiting for the weather to do its thing as a pot of fish stew bubbles on the stove.

Hopetown

We are in Hopetown while the weather front went through, but first:

On New Years Day Cori had a successful day of deep drop fishing with Donny and a few others.

After the fishing trip it was into town for the annual Junkanoo.  This year I did not shoot photos but am in the process of editing the video I shot.  Watch for that coming on our YouTube channel.

On Saturday we caught the high tide and left Black Sound and moved down to Hopetown.  We had fairly calm seas and therefore a smooth ride through the Whale Cay passage.  To get from the northern Abaco to the southern part we have to go out into the Atlantic by going around Whale Cay.  It can be a smooth ride or it can be kicking up so much that there is no way to safely make the trip.  Cori used the opportunity to try her luck at fishing again.  She caught one fish, a good sized barracuda.

Unfortunately barracuda are not safe to eat so it was thrown back.  Once in Hopetown we picked up a mooring ball and settled in the week.  The weather forecast had a cold front coming through mid week and we needed a safe harbor for the duration. Once settled in we joined friends on their boat for a social hour.  We heard that Papa Nasty's BBQ was scheduled to close at the end of the week so on Sunday we joined Bo and Allison from Sehla(sp) for a walk there for lunch.  The women walked and jogged faster then Bo and I but we were able to catch them at Da Beach Bar when a nice lady offered us a ride on her golf cart.  The food at Papa Nasty's was as good as ever and we had a nice visit with Papa talking about his plans to move to Florida.  On the walk back we got caught in one of the showers that were passing through.

Monday Cori was able to join the yoga class she went to last year and I joined a group of cruisers in helping to launch one of the traditional abaco dinghy's.  These are small wooden boats that are either propelled by a sculling oar or with sails.

There is a movement here to maintain a small fleet of the boats.  In the afternoon we made the trip into town to buy some bread and pie at Vern's grocery.  We bought his last key lime pie but the bread wouldn't be available until Wednesday.  In the evening we went to Captain Jack's for burgers and bingo.  It was a very successful night since the burgers were good and I won one of the bingo games with a pot of $354. It was a pretty good day overall.

Tuesday the front arrived and it rained all day.  Cori made a trip off the boat to meet with the manager of the marina gift shop to sell some of her jewelry made with shells and seaglass found here in the Abacos.  Wednesday it continued to rain with winds in the 20's and 30's.  This being a very protected harbor we had no problems other then cabin fever.  Cori did make one trip off the boat to pick up milk and fresh baked bread at Vern's.

Thursday dawned clear and calm, another beautiful day in paradise. We started our day with a trip to check out the new gift shop at the lighthouse where Cori donated some of her bags made from old sails.  From there we went exploring in the dinghy traveling down to Tahiti Beach and the Tilloo Cut area.  We stopped off at Lubbers Landing on Lubbers Quarter Cay for lunch.  We highly recommend the tuna burger, it was just as good as we remembered.  After lunch and a few drinks we started back to Hopetown.  The wind had kicked up a bit and it was a bit bumpy on the ride back.  Evidently something got stirred up in the fuel tank and the engine stalled.  It would restart but would die as soon as I gave it any gas.  We started motoring back at idle speed until I found that it would run about half speed if I pulled out the choke.  When we made it back to the harbor we stopped immediately Arteries to see if Will could check it out.  In no time the carburetor was pulled, dismantled, cleaned and adjusted.  Once it was reinstalled everything ran perfectly,  Thanks You Will!  Once back on the boat I had to run the generator to bring the batteries back up since we had several days without the solar panels doing any charging

It is Friday, Cori is at yoga and I am at the marina using their WiFi.  We need to get more weather information for next week to make a decision to stay or to move on.  We will see what happens..

Message in a bottle

First and foremost we want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

We spent Christmas Day with a group of other cruisers for the annual cruisers pot luck.  The location had to be moved but we had a great view of the water while meeting new friends and getting reacquainted with old.  We had also been invited up to Donny's for dinner with his family and friends.  All in all it was an enjoyable Christmas.  We weren't able to spend it with our families but were with our new extended families.  We had plans to leave the dock and go out to one of the Cays to anchor on Saturday but held off and spent another day at the dock.

On Sunday at high tide we slipped the lines and had a great sail up to Munjack Cay.  This is the first anchorage we went to last year and we had enjoyed a great deal.  After the anchor was set we joined a couple of other boats that had been at the dock and dinghied around to the north end of the island to a beach we had not been to yet.  Cori did not find many shells and I had no luck finding any conch large enough to keep.  Maybe get them next year.  Monday we went to the southern point of the island and while Cori walked the beach I snorkeled out by the rocks looking for lobster.  No luck.  This is one of the beaches we videoed and uploaded to our YouTube channel, check it out.  Later Cori took her kayak to the ocean side of Crab Cay where she knew of a location to find seaglass, making a pretty good haul.  Seaglass is pieces of glass from broken bottles that get abraded by the sand and rocks to take the shine off of it and it makes nice jewelry which is what Cori is doing with it.

Tuesday we joined the others and went back to the south point again and once more I snorkeled for lobster and they walked the beach.  I went out further to a different group of rocks but again no lobsters.  There was a good variety of coral and small fish.  I tried to shoot some video but didn't get anything good.  After that we made a run to another beach on the Sea Of Abaco side.  There is a dock there and trails that will take us to a nice beach on the Atlantic side (see another video from last year).  To our surprise as soon as we got out of the dinghy we were greeted by a ray, possibly a stingray but all rays look alike to me.  It turned out to be friendly and had gotten used to people coming to feed it.  I didn't have anything for it to eat but I held the video camera under the water to shoot some video of it.  It even bumped the camera with its nose to see if it was something to eat.  I have posted the video on YouTube.  There is a link to them in the upper right hand side of this blog.  Check it out.

After walking that beach we headed across to the beach on the Atlantic side.  While walking and looking for shells and seabeans Cori spotted a wine bottle that looked like there was something in it.  Sure enough we had found a message in a bottle.  We brought it back to the boat to open it.

  The cork was almost gone and came out easily.  The message was rolled up in a ziplock bag but had gotten wet.  When we opened it up and read it we were in for a surprise.  It turned out to be a message thrown overboard by a group on a boat run by Sea Education Association on a trip from the Virgin Islands to Nova Scotia in May of 2005.

Sea Education Associations web site tells of their mission to offer college semesters at sea and this was part of one of their "drift bottle experiments".  This bottle had been thrown overboard at a spot about 350 miles East of Nantucket Island in the Gulf Stream.  Where it had traveled during the past ten and a half years is anyone's guess.  It is possible that it made a complete circle of the Atlantic ocean following the currents until it washed up on a beach in the Bahamas.  We have notified SEA that it has been found and will be following up with more information for them.  That evening we decided that this was "the best day ever" with visiting several beaches, finding seabeans, snorkeling, finding a message in a bottle and spending it with friends that we popped a bottle of champagne to toast the sundown.

Wednesday morning we pulled anchor and moved to No Name Cay just on the other side of Green Turtle Cay.  The attraction here is the good shelling for Cori and the wild pigs that live on the island, not to mention the seclusion.  There are a lot of boats that come over to see the pigs but very few stay for the night so we almost always have the anchorage to ourselves.

Cori took her kayak to shore to walk the beach and I stayed on the boat to read and relax.  Later I took the dinghy ashore to join her and stopped to check out the pigs before dinghing around for a while.  I dropped her off at her kayak and I headed back to the boat where she joined me later.

We had a quiet night at anchor and in the morning (New Years Eve) we motored back to Black Sound to tie up for Donny's dock again.  We made a quick run into town for a couple of last minute purchases and then hung out on the dock.  In the evening we joined the other couples we had spent time at Munjack Cay for snacks and stories until everyone called it a night.  Back on the boat we managed to stay up until midnight to wish each other a Happy New Year then off to bed to be ready for the next day.

It is New Years day and Cori was up early to go fishing with Donny and a couple of others and when they get back it will be time to head into town for their annual Junkanoo.  I posted a lot of pictures from last years Junkanoo and we enjoyed it so much that we made plans to be here for it this year.  Watch for upcoming photos and video of the event.

Here is a photo of some of the jewelry Cori has been making:

Our plans are to leave soon and move further down the Abaco, possibly with a stop in Hopetown and then continue moving south into the Exumas, the central part of the Bahamas.

Once again, we wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve

First off we want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We have been taking it easy here in paradise, what else would you expect, but we have also been busy.  The weekend was windy so not much happened.  Sunday we made a trip into town and visited Vertram at his model ship shop.  We visited him last year and wanted to catch up on his latest work.  He builds wooden models of ships that were used, built or have a history here in the Bahamas. Here is some of his work:

Monday morning and again this morning we joined in with some of the locals and cruisers for a tradition here on Green Turtle Cay.  For two weeks leading up to Christmas they have a tradition of "welcoming the Christmas spirit'.  What they do, and we joined in, is they meet at 5:00 am and march through the town several times beating drums and singing Christmas carols.  There was one problem that I picked up on right away.  They hand out song booklets so everyone has the words but unless you are passing under a street light you cannot read them.  It is still dark.  It is a small town so several passes are made going up and down all of the streets.

After marching for about an hour they serve breakfast.  On Monday it was fish stew and grits and sausage and grits.  Christmas Eve there was a larger group and they served scrambled eggs, sausage and grits.

After that I took a nap and since it was low tide Cori headed out to Gilliam Beach to look for shells.

This is one of her favorite beaches since it is so easy to find the sand dollars if you know the technique.  Last year she didn't learn it until we came back on our way home.  So far she has spent several days collecting Here is an example of just a few she has collected:

It also would not be Christmas without a batch of caramels.  She brought the fixing with since there is no guarantee she could buy them here or if we could afford them.  So far she has only handed out a few, we still need to cut and wrap them.

All in all it doesn't feel like Christmas with everything so green and the temperatures in the high 70's but we are doing our best to get into the Christmas spirit.  We will be staying here at the dock through Christmas then we will go out to one of the islands to anchor and get away for a couple of days then come back for Junkanoo.

Again, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!