Hi Friends! This last week was very relaxing. But we had a lot of fun.
A few days ago we went to the variety show that is part of the regatta week
at Chat and Chill. It was really quite good! There were comedy routines,
dancing, bands, solo singers, poetry, laughs and tears. It was about 3
hours long and we sat there with drinks and food having a wonderful time.
We have been to Chat and Chill beach where the party never ends two or three
times this week. It's a long ride and in the waves it's pretty wet.
Tomorrow is the big boat race around the island but we are not
participating this year.
We've been shopping several times here and the grocery store is stocked
as well as any small town America stores. Today I went with some new
friends to the building supply store about 3-4 miles up the island. We went
by dinghy and tied up by the beach and walked about 1/2 mile. It's also
very well stocked. Prices are about double the US but most everything
you need is there.
Today Sam and I worked on the intermittent alternator and also
de-rusted and painted the manual wrench that we use to pull up the
centerboard. It was terribly rusty. The alternator is not really the
problem as we found today. It's bad wiring. So I redid about 4 wires and
cleaned a lot of connections. It's better but not complete. I hate bad
crimp connectors and non marine wire. By the time we're done we will have
re-wired the entire boat.
I've also been spending a lot of time studying and practicing with
celestial navigation. We did everything that way 24 years ago but this is
not like riding a bike. It's not coming back easily. We have three
sextants on the boat. One plastic, one Celesitia, and one Tamaya. We
picked up the Tamaya here as a backup and incase someone asks me for one
again. We get asked periodically where someone can get one so I figured I'd
have one available if it happens again. I must say, if you're considering
this navigation task please don't give up early. It's not easy and it
requires practice. This is not something you can just decide to do in an
emergency. It's just like buying a ham radio thinking you're going to use
it in an emergency. That is just not going to work. You need to do this
regularly till it's second nature and it's NOT easy. So tighten your belt
down a can of spinach and get started! I have not yet successfully managed
to plot our position at anchor within 2 miles yet. It takes practice!
Mom's hand doesn't hurt anymore but we're not unwrapping it yet. The
wrapping should stay for another month at least. But at least it doesn't
hurt any more.
We are almost ready to head south to Long Island and then on to the
Dominican Republic. At this point we are pretty much waiting on the right
weather window.
Date:Wed, 21 Feb 2024 20:23:00 GMT
Web access over email
How to follow us with only an HF radio!
Hi Friends and Family! I just found something very cool! You can use
your HF radio and sailmail or winlink to read our blog and log while you are
underway!
What you do is send a request to "query@saildocs.com" for our web page.
The subject is not important and can be whatever you like. In the body of
the message you include the following:
or any of the links at the bottom of the home.htm page.
This is partly due to our designing the web site to be viewable on text only
browsers.
So cruiser friends, follow us even when you are underway!!
Date:Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:58:00 GMT
Georgetown
Arrived at Georgetown
This morning we woke up to a boat off our stern at about 20 feet who
was pulling up his anchor and moving. We were right over the top of his
anchor so we pulled the boat forward so he could retrieve his anchor.
Last night we cleaned up the boat put up covers and set up for staying
for a while. We anchored just off Regatta point close to town in about 8
feet of water. There are over 375 boats here, the most boats in the last 10
years. We debated on wheather to anchor with everyone else by chat and
chill and the beach or to come over near town. It's over a mile between
town and chat and chill beach so we opted to anchor close to town and
water/fuel. We anchored with about 20 meters of chain out and at about
midnight the wind shifted out of the west and kicked up to 25 for a brief
time and then fell back to 7-8. The anchor held great and we've painted a
1/2 moon on the chart plotter.
The approach into elizabeth harbor is not marked or controlled. So,
follow your charts and plan the entrance well in advance. The navionics
charts have a gps course displayed and we followed that with no incident. I
didn't see any depths at high tide below 9feet but with a 2-3 foot tide that
could be 6 feet in certain areas. There are many boats here of all sizes
and there is room here for all types and sizes of boats. It's good to have
a fast dinghy motor here as distances are long. It took us an hour to make our way
through the anchorage and find a place to drop the hook. That was one of the
reasons we chose a spot close to town. If you have a shoal draft boat with
3-5 feet there are really nice places to anchor in 6 feet or less.
We just finished listening to the crusier's net at 08:00. Much like
Marathon it's full of lots of good information, trading, and helping
eachother. Today there was a lot of information about the coming Regatta
and planning for the festivities. Today we need to get fuel and water and
clean up/shower so it's going to be a busy day. We're supposed to get rain
this afternoon and evening so perhaps we will fill up the dinghy with rain
water.
There is lots available to do here and plenty of services. I will give
you a better list after we explore more. For now it's time for breakfast and
putting the dinghy in the water.
Date:Sun, 18 Feb 2024 09:58:00 GMT
Rudder Cay
Racing to Georgetown.
We spent Valentines day until Saturday Morning at Black point. They
have free RO water and $5 trash by the government docks. If you tie up at
the government docks the water is up the road to the right about 30 yards.
It's on the left side of the road and is just a pipe out of the ground with
a push up valve on it. You can also pull your dinghy up on the beach to
both sides of the government dock but it's really shallow at low tide so
watch it. At low tide you can walk from the beach out over a hundred yards
in ankle deep water. We anchored in 8 feet of water at low tide about 300
yards off the government docks. The boats come in with supplies a couple
times a week so if you're in the path of the dock you'll get wakes every
morning from local fisherman and taxi's as well as the big boat when it
comes. In retrospect we should have anchored a little off to one side or
the other.
There are three different convience/grocery stores. Two right of the
docks and one left. There's a couple churches, several resturants, a
laundromat, free wifi at Lorainnes and the laundromat, a yachtclub and a
cansio and computer game archade. Everyone has heard of Lorainne's bread
and it is great. We had lunch at one of her Cafe's the High Tide. The food
was excellent and people are quite wonderful. Loraine seems to know
everyone and remembers everyone and everything. We went by to say hello
from Kokomo and Vick and she remembered both of them and asked about them.
She had wondered where they had been the last few years. Off to the left of
the docks we spent the afternoon Thursday talking with Prisilla just outside
here sister's store. We talked about history of the island and her family's
farm and everything from local fruit to plaiting baskets from palm fronds.
she has a Dilly fruit tree in her yard and we had Dilly fruit for the first
time. It's wonderful! The skin is very soft and similar to a kiwi. It's a
round fruit with a little spike on the end. If you can see the spike it's
not quite ripe yet. It's a teak colored fruit and round a little smaller
than a tennis ball. Inside it's a little darker colored and sectioned like
an orange with thinner sections. The fruit however is soft like a peach
with seeds between the layers. The skin is so soft you can just eat it all.
It's a very delicate fruit and bruises easily.
On Friday we went to visit Bonnie Lynn a 60+ foot schooner. It's a
beautiful traditional ship but constructed from steel with aluminum spars.
They do charters both in NY and around the carribean. Eric and Hannah were
kind enough to give us a tour. Their website is : BonnieLynn.com These folks are great
and their boat is a dream! If you're looking for an adventure or a pleasant
evening check them out!
On Saturday morning we checked the weather again (as we do every day)
and with the anchorage there at Black Point not being protected from the
West and North West I decided it was time to leave. We had discussed
leaving on Monday or Tuesday with the north winds but Those winds were now
coming with rain and gusts up to 35 so we got Grace ready to sail and headed
out about 10am. We headed out the cut just north of Black Point in a South
West wind at about 10 and close hauled we made 5-7 knots. Our plan was to
check out Farmers and if we didn't like it continue on towards Georgetown
till we found an anchorage for the night. If we had continued on the winds
were scheduled to die and we would arrive sometime in the early morning
before light.
At about 1400 we saw the cutter Tirelou coming up behind us on the
same course. She was making about a knot faster than us and we watched her
tall sails for a while as she slowly closed the gap on us.
I decided to trim the sails and the race was on! We raced for
a little over an hour and then when she finally caught us we took
pictures and exchanged email's. We followed her
into an anchorage at Rudder Cut Cay and tried to find the sculpture of the
mermaid and the piano that people dive to see. We saw it from the surface
but then lost it again. There's also a cool cave here and several dive
spots if you like to dive.
The Inlet here is fairly wide but the channel in is a winding path and requires
a good eye. The depths are good but watch your charts. There are shallow
areas and of course the tides and currents are fast. We could barely motor
against the falling tide in the dinghy at full power.
Oh! I almost forgot! There is open wifi here that we can pick up with
our Groove router. Well it's almost light now and we plan on getting an
early start so I'm going back to sleep for a couple hours. I woke up to the
wind change and the tide is coming in...
More tomorrow when we get to Georgetown!
Date:Thu, 15 Feb 2024 02:18:00 GMT
Black Point
Morning Sail and new friends.
This morning we bid farewell to Big Major's spot and sailed off the
anchor past our new friends on the super yacht and did a 2 hour sail to
Black point. The winds were 12-15 off the port beam and we anchored just
before noon. Then we cleaned up everything from the sail and went
exploring. We were told to tell Lorraine hello from Kokomo and from Vick.
So we went by her restaurant and did so. We found the water, the
Laundromat, the grocery store and free wifi. Then in the evening we met a
really nice couple. He sailed multiple times across the Atlantic, around
the world and had some amazing stories. We do not have any internet we
can steal at the boat at the moment and the phone only works a little bit.
Hannah is making beans and rice and tortillas. Oh... we did find
superglue, oranges, flour and yeast.
We also found chicken for lilah, but it's really expensive, almost double
her cat food in the states.
The anchorage is pleasant and the town seems focused around cruisers. But
it's not a tourist trap, it's just a really cool little town with a bunch
of cruisers hanging out. Oh, and there's free water. I'm not sure if
it's really good but we will filter it.
Date:Wed, 14 Feb 2024 00:07:00 GMT
Big Majors
Feeding the Pigs
Today we spent at Big Majors just north of Staniel Cay. We came over
yesterday afternoon and we will be leaving tomorrow morning for Black
Point. We spent a lot of time today cleaning up the boat and preparing to
sail. It's about a 3 hour sail, perhaps less.
Shortly after lunch we went to shore to feed the pigs. There are
pigs at Big Major's that will swim out to your boat begging for food.
They're really quite interesting. I'm not sure of the history of the
entire thing and how the pigs got here but they look like normal domestic
pigs to me. They're quite tame as people feed them multiple times a day.
They also swim quite well and their noses are turned slightly up to stay
out of the water. It seems to be a pretty huge attraction.
Also around here we have seen bees, wasps, nurse sharks, Manta ray's,
little silver and blue minnows and small birds of several types. The
nurse sharks swim around the boat frequently. I hear there are bull
sharks and hammerheads here as well.
We are sandwiched between two super yachts. I asked both of them to
come over for drinks but they declined. The largest one I helped with the
anchor. The crew was having a difficult time hooking the snubber onto the
anchor chain so I went out there and helped them get it hooked.
Hannah sat in her hammock reading, got a sunburn, did wash, made
beans and rice and tortillas for dinner and we're going to have fresh
shortbread for dessert after we finish cleaning up. Since it's a dark
night with only a sliver of a moon we are looking at stars to find
constellations. It's prep for celestial navigation. Before you can sight
the stars you have to know which one's they are.
At night the last couple nights there has been a lot of dew. In the
morning the entire boat is soaking wet so you can't leave clothing on the
line it just get's soaked.
Here's a shout out to the Intercon net. We chatted today and he ask
for more cat videos so we are going to include more footage of Lilah in
our videos!
Date:Sat, 10 Feb 2024 22:54:00 GMT
Grotto!
Snorkeling in Thunderball Grotto
Today we took the dingy over to Thunderball Grotto which is about 200
yards from our anchor spot at slack low tide and went snorkeling in the
cave. It was really quite fun. We have two sets of flippers and only one
mask and snorkle but we traded off. It is very shallow there and most
people use a dinghy anchor. We can't find ours. I'm not sure where it is
but it's not on the boat any more. We took apart nearly everything looking
for it and in the process found the missing flags! So since we were taking
turns anyway someone just stood by the dinghy in the shallow water waiting.
We need to find a dinghy anchor. Anyway, The grotto is beautiful and the
fish were amazing. We don't have a waterproof camera so we can't give you
pictures but if you look online and search you'll find tons of video and
pictures of the grotto.
In the afternoon/evening Juma came over to visit.
They made it in today. It was an easy day today just relaxing and cleaning
up stuff. Tonight we are having beans rice and home made tortillas
I think we're going to go to bed early tonight :)
Mom's finger is not hurting anymore but we are being very careful of it for a
few weeks.
Date:Fri, 09 Feb 2024 23:24:00 GMT
A day in town
A walk around Staniel Cay
Today I went in early and got water and fuel at the fuel dock. Water
is $.40 (40 cents) per gallon and diesle was $5.71/gal. So that's about $2.75/day
to the generator and about $1.60/day for water based upon our usage. All in
all I'm pleased. After I got back we all took baths in the ocean and put on
decent cloths. Hannah did wash and we went to shore to explore and shop.
The Marina is wonderful and full service. There is a great
bar/resturant and bungelows. there is a dinghy dock but most people pull up
on the beach next to the Marina office. You can pay with Cash or card and
everyone is quite wonderful. Garbage is $6.00 per bag which we took
advantage of. There is a wonderful little gift shop that also sells wine
and liquer. The Marina office gave us a map and we went walking. It's a
pretty small town and everyone drives around in golf carts. There are a few
cars but very few. The houses are wonderful colors of pink and mauve and
blue and teal. Most are concrete structures with gardens and chickens. We
saw bananna plants and Papaia trees. There's a nice public beach with a
picnic area and the views are amazing. With the green of the gardens and
flowering trees against the wonderfully colored houses against the blue
skies and teal water filled with boats it's quiet the picture.
There are three stores with supplies and groceries. It's not cheap.
The produce is mostly the same. There is cabbage, carrots, onions,
potatoes, apples, oranges, banannas, cucumbers and some broccoli. There are
eggs, canned corn beef, canned milk and some shelf stable milk. Plenty of
softdrinks and chips are available. There are canned foods but things like
small cans of Campbells soup are 3.75 per can. Paper produts like paper
towels are $5.75/role.
There's a little church that is cute as can be and we plan on visiting this
Sunday.
In afternoon we came back to the boat and Hannah is making Corned beef
with eggs and fried potatoes. It's a quiet evening and Sam is uploading
today's video for youtube. We managed to get wifi to the boat from the
marina with our Groove wifi repeater.
Date:Fri, 09 Feb 2024 00:24:00 GMT
More Breakers!
A day trip to Staniel Cay
This morning we got the boat ready to go and headed out to Staniel
Cay.
The problem as that the wind was still blowing and now we were going out
the same cut we just came in yesterday. As you would expect the inlet was
more than a little exciting. This time the tide was going out while the winds were blowing the waves
in. So the breakers were Huge. I think calling this spicey would be a
serious understatement. As we we went through the top of the breakers the
bow would plunge down into the next wave. It was all we could do just to hold on. And at 2500
RPM we were only making 2 1/2 knots against the wind and waves. I'm not
sure now that it was a real good idea and perhaps we should have waited
another day or two till the winds mellowed out. It was only 5 miles to
Staniel Cay and we just motored all the way. The winds were 18-20 out of
the East and the swells from the north east made the ride a little
distasteful. More than a few times waves splashed over the sides of the
boat and got us all wet. And when the big swells would come the boat rocked
from gunnel to gunnel in about a 4 second interval.
Hannah reminded me that she does not like roller coasters! Luckily we
only had to put up with thes for about an hour.
The inlet to Staniel Cay is wider but with huge rocks and shallow
places. The mouth of the inlet is shoaled up and it has several sand bumps
at 6 feet. Which we hit, especially with the waves. But it quickly opens
up into a bay. You can go starboard/north to the Big Major's anchorage or
you can go left for the narrow inlet to Staniel Cay. But do be careful and
watch your charts carefully because it is shoaled up and complicated to wind
through to get into the anchorage and marina. Don't fear, however, because
big super yachts make it in here. Just watch your charts and watch the
water. I would NOT NOT NOT try this inlet at night. Bright sun so you can
see the shallow areas and rocks is very important. There is a pretty narrow
channel through to the back side and the current runs about 4 knots in
there. You can see it moving. After anchoring we watched several boats come
in just cookin along at 8-10 knots. Once inside there are mooring balls and
anchorage places in 6-10 feet of water at low tide. The bottom is sandy for
the most part. The anchorage is protected from an east and north wind but
not from west or south. So if you need protection from both sides use the
anchorage outside at Big Major's. That however is about a mile to the
marina for fuel and water. There is not a dingy dock, there is a dinghy
beach enclosed in a rock walled harbor. So bare feet and flip flops is the
rule.
It's really beautiful here and the people are nice. The marina is
the party haven and happy hour is 4-6pm. We watched the most beautiful sunset
and everyone blew their conch shells including us. For dinner Hannah made
split pea soup, home made crackers and fried potatoes with onions. The wind
is gentle, the temprature 76 deg and no waves. With full bellies and quiet
rocking we're going to bed early.
Date:Thu, 08 Feb 2024 00:47:00 GMT
Breakers!
A blustery day and I lost my hat again!
This morning we got up and checked in on various Ham and SSB nets. But
by about 10:30 the swells around the whales tale were miserable and we might
as well have been at sea, so we decided to leave and head toward Staniel
key. We knew we might not have enough time to make it so we planned a
couple possible anchorages earlier just in case. At about noon we headed
out. The wind was 20g25 from the NE and the waves were initially only about
6 feet on a 8 sec period. We made good time between 6.5 and 8 knots Jib and
Jigger. The sun was out and it was a good sailing day although it was too
much for the autopilot so we hand steered all day. Sam and I took turns.
By 1600 the winds were dying and we knew that we were not going to make it.
But by that time the waves had picked up to 10 foot with whitecaps off the
port stern on an 8 second period. We decided to turn into Compass Cay. As
we approached the inlet to the backside of compass Cay we saw the huge
breakers and the narrow channel and decided against it. The waves were
slamming against the rocks. It was beautiful but all I could see was Grace
dashed against the rocks so we decided to continue on to Thomas Cay which
had a slightly larger inlet with better depths. As we approached around
16:50 the waves were pounding and the surf was 10-12 feet with huge
breakers. We surfed the waves uncontrolled into the inlet. It was
terrifying! It was approaching high tide and the current was with us and the
wind at our back but the huge rollers were amazing. Sam did manage to get
some footage but it does not do it justice. The inlet is only a few hundred
feet wide and the depths are only about 15-20 feet so with breakers that
size we were at one moment in 25 feet and the next in 7-8. when surfing a
wave in you have very little helm control and you just have to hope it
doesn't dash you against the rocks. But we made it and looking at the map
later I was really glad I didn't try the inlet at Compas Cay because that
would have been both narrower and shallower. I don't think we would have
made it. I looked at our track and we turned away just in time. We were
only about 250 feet from a huge rocky shoal. When we hit the calm water on
the other side of the inlet at Thomas Cay and saw all the anchored boats we
were soo soo releaved. We motored into the anchorage and dropped the mizzen
and the hook and I got out my hat and my pipe and decided to relax... just
after sunset we felt a hard bump! Yes we had dragged onto an area the Fish
and Chips (B&G) said was 9 feet but the noaa charts said were 3-5 feet.
Evidently it was 3-5 pluss a 1.7 foot tide and we bumped hard on the rocky
bottom. So in the 25 knot winds we decided to re-anchor and there went my
hat just as we were pulling/setting the anchor. I thought about jumpping
overboard for it but thought better and ran for the boat hook. When I got
back with the boat hook it was just inches out of reach. I thought again
about jumping in for it in the dark but I wasn't sure the boat was set and
the motor was still running (in neutral) so I opted to watch it go away into
the night. Sam and I got the dinghy but in the dark and high winds Hannah
told us to let it go and we could buy a new one. Better to give Neptune a
hat than something worse.
On a good side I'm sitting here now with a dark and stormy and fresh
split pea soup and homade crackers that Hannah has made for us. Mom's hand
is a little better today but we will probably have to keep it splinted and
wrapped for 4-6 weeks. We need to find a doctor hopefully in Staniel Cay to
look at it. We called an orthepedic surgeon in Florida and she gave us some
tips on how to splint it till we could get medical attention.
We gave Lila some bonine before we left today and she was much more
calm and didn't throw up. We were much relived and I'm sure she was too.
All is well tonight and we are secure in 18 feet of water with 200 feet of
chain out. We're all tired and ready for a good rest. Tomorrow will bring new
adventures!
Date:Wed, 07 Feb 2024 00:12:00 GMT
Dark and Stormy
Winds bring change...
The Barometer is going up from 2950 to 2960 but the winds are up to
28g39 from 300. The boat is holding on the big Bruce anchor and is drawing
a perfect circle on the sand but it is jerking agains the bridle and leaning
away from the wind. It is good there's no fetch in this anchorage. The
sound of the wind howling through the rigging is not drowned out by our voices
or the generator as Hannah is making dinner. It's really dark outside under
the dark clouds. There are no stars and no moon under over the dark water
with only the lights of the other boat's anchor lights to give any light at
all. They look like individual stars floating in a sea of blackness and
howling wind. It's not raining right now but it has been raining on and off
all day. The winds are strong enough that even with only 1/8th of a mile to
the shore we're getting 1-2 foot chop. Lila is crying for food and we're not
giving her very much. The frypan frying potatoes is mixed with the rain
hitting the cabin which just started. It's a high pitched rain at high
velocity. For a moment we wern't sure if it was the pan browning the potatoes
or the rain till the wind picked up to 40 knots. I'm suprised that the cell
phone signal is holding to send this message.
We listened to the Do Little SSB/HF net tonight and talked a lot about
batteries and the weather. Boats all up and down the Bahamas are tucked into
the best anchorages they can find for the day. I guess everyone is board
and talking on the radio.
Mom hurt her hand today. We have it wrapped to hold the tendon in
place. It slipped off her knuckle. I'm not sure if she is going to need
surgery. At present it is stable and she can make a light fist but I'm not
sure she can hang on to get on and off the boat without hurting it more. We
are considering whether to continue on or go back to Florida for surgery.
In any case we have to go to Staniel Cay for supplies, fuel, and water
before we either go onward our backward. It will be a carefully decided
choice.
There, the wind just abated a little as it shifts more and more
northerly. It is now at 345deg. Even though it was late coming the winds
are generally following the GFS predictions. The low is north of us and
moving North east. So first we had southerly winds and then they slowly
clocked around to west and eventually notherly as the low moves away from
us. With the rising barometer we know things are looking up. The worst is
passing us now.
We will sleep well with our belly's full saranaded by the winds and the
wires tattletale song. Good night everyone.
Date:Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:33:00 GMT
test
test of the posting system
Just to see if this posts. It's sunny, partly cloudy and windy. We
are filtering the rainwater we got last night and trying to get organized
for the next couple days. I'm still not sure if we're going south
tomorrow or Thursday
Date:Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:29:00 GMT
test
test of the posting system
Just to see if this posts. It's sunny, partly cloudy and windy. We
are filtering the rainwater we got last night and trying to get organized
for the next couple days. I'm still not sure if we're going south
tomorrow or Thursday
Date:Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:18:00 GMT
test
test of the posting system
Just to see if this posts. It's sunny, partly cloudy and windy. We
are filtering the rainwater we got last night and trying to get organized
for the next couple days. I'm still not sure if we're going south
tomorrow or Thursday
Date:Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:03:00 GMT
test
test of the posting system
Just to see if this posts. It's sunny, partly cloudy and windy. We
are filtering the rainwater we got last night and trying to get organized
for the next couple days. I'm still not sure if we're going south
tomorrow or Thursday
Date:Tue, 06 Feb 2024 14:48:00 GMT
Blustery
Riding out the winds in style.
Last night we had 38 knots and rain. Then again this morning it was
raining and blustery. We got about 10 gallons of water.
While the anchor was holding perfectly and the chart plotter was making a
perfect 100 foot circle, we were eating cabbage, carrots, sausage, baked
pototoes, and chocolate chip cookies.
The Grib files were just wrong. It took forever for the winds to
change and meanwhile we were in an anchorage open to south east winds and
swells. It was quite miserable all day till the winds shifted in the
evening a full 12 hours after the forcasts. We were talking on the SSB radio
to other boaters who were complaining that they had set up for a NW
protection and there were SE swells. The barometer is holding at 2950 so I don't
think it's getting much worse.
I'm having a permission's problem on the server so when I post
sometimes it does not show up for you right away. I'm sorry and I'm working
on it. But with very limited internet I don't have much time to fix it.
Please be patient.
Date:Mon, 05 Feb 2024 16:39:00 GMT
Norman's Cay
Hiding from the winds
We decided to motor 8 miles from Allan's Cay to Norman's Cay because
there is a little cove that is protected from the west and north and north
east. We weighted anchor at about 09:00 and motored the entire way as the
winds were 3 knots off our nose. Last night the winds were 14 from the NW
at Allan's Cay and the rocking was really bad. The problem is that the
current from the incoming tide or outgoing tide counters the winds and so
you are either sidewise to the wind or sidewise to the swells or both at
the same time. At about 3am I looked at the latest GRIB files and found
that the high winds were going to be from the NW to the N so imagining 38-=
40 from the NW as compared to 14 I decided that I didn't want to stay
there through the storm. We did get 36 knots during the thunderstorm a
couple days ago but it was solid out of the west. Our friends on JUMA
came here a couple days ago and recommended it to us so this morning we
decided to take their advice and off we went.
We had the second anchor down in preparation for the storm and of
course we had to pull it up manually. We did better this time because we
put the chain through the roller. Two chains at once is not ideal, but it
is better than rubbing it through the fairlead or over the toe rail. The
Chain is definitely too large for the Gypsy. We had the opportunity to
try it at least. The Fortress held really well in the sand and was buried
all the way under the sand. Last night I had to switch sides to prevent
it from wrapping around the other chain. For this trip after we got it up
we tied it to the starboard side of the bow rails. It's at least in
position to be able to toss it off if we start to drag in the storm. We
have about 30 meters out in 8 feet of water so we should be fine.
There were a lot of Charter Catamarans that showed up last night at
Allan's Cay and this morning early they were playing on the beach then
they cleared out after an hour. I suspect they were heading for home and
this was just their last stop.
We didn't see any more sharks... lol Hannah just jumped out of the
water because Sam saw a really big fish and upon further inspection it was
a shark!!! I guess that trolling for sharks thing is not a joke. We're
going to keep a lookout from now on when we're in the water. Oh My. He's
still circling the boat investigating us. It was a small one only about 3-=
4 feet. It might not be a shark but it has the same eyes and nose... I'll
have to look at pictures later to find out what it is.
Well we don't have internet here so no pictures yet but we can update
those later.
For now we're going to clean up the boat and get ready for the storm this
afternoon. The clouds are coming in and the barometer has been dropping
for 3 days. Today it is 2950 and 78deg with winds out of the south west.
We are on the leading bottom right side of the storm.
Date:Sat, 03 Feb 2024 22:45:00 GMT
BEACH!
Exploring the Cay and Rock Iguanas
Hi all! It was a beautiful day today. We had clear skies and 78
degrees. The water was about 75 and there is a beautiful clear sunset as I
write this post. We finally put the dinghy in the water and went to shore.
There are several beautiful sand beaches here that you can pull the dinghy
up on. One of them (Leaf Cay) is covered in Rock Iguanas and people come by
and feed them. Like the birds that eat out of your had the Iguana's do as
well. They are protected and aparantly the specific breed is native to this
island and not found anywhere else. The wildlife here is not afraid of
humans and birds will routinely come and sit on your hand and eat. Hannah
saw several species of small fish that look like they belong in a tropical
fish tank. The islands are volcanic rock so under the fine layer of sand is
sharp volcanic rock.
There are always about 10 boats around the islands on all sides.
Usually inbetween the islands there are 4 or 5. People come for a day and
leave. We've been here longer than anyone. We are waiting for the storm to
pass on Tuesday then we will head farther south down the chain.
Hannah has been swimming every day and we all took a walk around the
island to the little concrete ruins with graffiti on them. The earliest
scratches were from 1984. So it's been ruined for a while. We walked along
to the other side of the island to the beach on the ocean side, and sat on
the beach while Sam made a sand castle and watched the tide eat it away. It
was a lazy day of feet in the sand and floating on the placid clear blue
water. Its a true desert island. If you were marooned here you would die
of thirst. There's even a beach here with one single palm tree on it. It
looks like a cartoon! I'm so glad the throttle is fixed as now I can relax.
No worries!!
We're burning about 8 gallons a day of water for 4 people including
wash. So we can stay like this for about 25 days. There is spotty cell
service here and so I can post this blog.
This is an amazing place! It's worth hanging out here and relaxing for a
while off the beaten path.
Date:Fri, 02 Feb 2024 21:36:00 GMT
We're Here!
Top of the Exumas
Well, we've made it to the Exumas! We are at Allan's and Leaf Cay and
the weather is Marvelous!
Sam swam to the beach twice to take pictures of the Iguana's and Hannah
swam to the beach just because it's a beach.
We all took bath's in the salt water and Hannah did wash. I got the drone
out to take a video of the area and the amazing water.
There is a little ruin of a concrete house on Leaf Cay with lots of
graffiti on it. The Iguana are like dogs waiting for food. They come
around everyone who shows up in a boat. I'm sure they get lots of old
food from people here. The first afternoon we were here (yesterday) a
little yellow breasted bird with a long curved beak showed up to the boat
and we fed it an apple. It sat on our hands and ate. Very Cool! We
haven't seen any fish in the water but we have seen quite a few boats
including Mickey Finn! He seems to keep following us! Ha Ha. Anyway our
friends from JuMa are here as well and have been over to visit last night
and help me with the Binicle.
If you hadn't heard, on the way here my throttle cable came loose so
we had no engine control. Sam went down below the floor with a wrench to
control the throttle when we came into anchor. We basically set it to
1000 rpm and then I used forward, neutral, and reverse like on an old spad
to control the boat in the anchorage. Well last night we spent with our
friends talking about fixing boats and how to fix our throttle. He had
the same problem a while back so knew exactly what was entailed to fix it.
Last night and this morning, Sam and I fixed the throttle. We had to
take the binnacle completely apart, took out the wheel, the shift levers,
the chart plotter the two upper levels of the Compass base and then had to
pull up the broken piece with a grabber. This morning I welded the
plastic and then epoxied the heck out of it. I built it up a lot stronger
than before. I hope it lasts till I can get a new part. Which part I
will also fill in and epoxy larger as well. Putting it back in was a real
trick. I had to put a string through the piece we repaired, weasel it
under the chain drive, (the string was so I wouldn't loose it in the
bilge) Then press the two shift/throttle cables into the repaired clamp.
After that I had to lower it to the base of the binnacle and put a bolt
into the piece. When I did that of course I dropped the bolt into the
bilge and the pile of chain below the wheel. So I had to take it all
apart again. Then I put a nut in the repaired piece and used a screw from
the outside instead. In any case it's all back together again and
working.
All last night I could barely sleep because I was at anchorage in a
new place with very thin sand and no wheel, no motor, and boats downwind
of me. I feel much better now!
JuMa is coming over this evening for snacks/drinks. Hannah has
bread rising (sourdough) we have fresh baked cookies and Sam is working on
drone footage I took today of the area. It will be a wonderful evening
with clear skies, clear water, new friends, and good food! what more could
any one ask for?
Date:Thu, 01 Feb 2024 00:49:00 GMT
Rose Island
Exumas or Bust!
We checked weather and there are two days of good winds to get south,
after that the winds die till Tuesday and then on Wednesday there are high
winds perhaps even 40kts. So we opted to take the oportunity to travel with
JuMa to Allan's Key at the top of the Exumas where we will wait out the high
winds and take some time on the beach etc. We motored out at about 8am
(late start) to head around Little Stirrup Cay which is where the Carnaval
cruise line has a private island playground. The winds were 20 knots off
the port bow and so we motored till we got on the north end of the island
where we put up the sails for a broad reach that we held till Rose island.
It was a pretty day and we ran jib and jigger in 18-25 knots and made 7-8
sog. It was warm but a little nip in the breeze. The water was clear and
choppy. As we rounded the end of the Berry Islands we picked up the swells
from the deep water and seas picked up to 6-10 feet. So we put down the
centerboard and continued to run. The water in the channel there is 9-13
thousand feet!
Juma left about 2 hours before us and so we never saw them but we
talked to them on the radio several times.
For lunch we had crackers, Humas, Almonds and cookies and some left
over rice and beans from yesterday. It was a good day. Lila didn't get
sick today but then we didn't feed her much either. Hannah is reading Storm and Fury by Jennifer L Armentrout and
kintting a hat for Belle. I spent a lot of time trying to adjust the auto
pilot.
As we approached New Providence island and Rose Island the sun set at
17:50 and then the engine would not start again. I have confirmed it is
something weird with the relay's. I can hot start it no problem which I
have done for the second time. I'm going to put in a switch for a manual
start as I hate hotwiring it in rolling conditions. Darn electronic
gremlins!!! Anyway, we furrled the Genoa and dropped the mizzen and motored the last 2
miles into the anchorage in the dark with Hannah on the spotlight. There
were about 10 boats in the anchorage so we kept our distance. Tonight
Hannah is heating up leftover tortilla's with beans, rice and toco meat.
Anchoring was uneventful except that the chain always get's stuck in the
tube and Sam has to feed it out manually for the first little bit. I think
the chain mountian piles up and falls over covering it so it's not in there
smoothly. As we were coming into the anchorage there were blue bio
lumenecent fish!! they were really cool! I looked them up and though people
say they see them no one has identified the exact species. Everyone want's to
say it is not the fish but what they are swimming through. This was the
fish. It was about 10 inches long slender and had a light blue color. They
eyes glowed the brightest. It was a moonless night near shore and we did
have the spotlight so it could be a bio florescence but I also saw a couple
without the light last night as well.