No, no the image above is not some new trick to escape sticky harbors. We will get to the image, but first a bit of catch-up. After spending 24 hours on Man-O-War we returned to Marsh Harbor. After one night on the hook, we decided to tie up at Harbor View Marina. This would allow us to top off on fuel and fully charge the battery bank before we head south. Tying up also meant laundry facilities and longer fresh water showers - ahhhh. Anne tackled reprovisioning the food and doing laundry. My task was to find a chart that covered the Turks & Caicos and Hispaniola. I also had a list of repair and maintenance supplies Maxwell's supermarket is very well stocked and the closest thing I seen to a stateside grocery store. Island Boy Tackle stocked the chart we needed. Merlin Electronics had the cable we needed to improve our SSB reception. Marsh Harbor did a good job of meeting our needs, but at high prices.
MV Ennui Go was also tied up at the Harbor View. Anne and I enjoyed meeting Alan and his brother Scott. Alan has worked in boat yards for nearly 30 years. He proved very helpful in answering questions about our 50 to 30 amp converter and our SSB antenna. - THANKS!
On the 16th, we attended a pot luck dinner hosted by Captain Del aboard the wooden sailing vessel Pesure d'etoiles. Captain Del and his partner Marie run the Bahamas High Adventure Foundation ( bhafoundation.org ) aboard the vessel. Anne and I very much enjoyed meeting many of the other cruisers spending time in the area.
On the morning of the 17th, we installed a cable from the isolated section of our backstay to our cockpit. This required me to sit atop the boom to make up the connection (see image). The midsection of the wire that anchors the top of the mast with the stern of C'est la Vie, the backstay, is electronically isolated from the rest of the boat. This allows the backstay to serve as a giant antenna. If we can connect our tiny Sony SSB receiver to the backstay, then our ability to receive broadcasts will be greatly improved. We purchased the radio before leaving the states with the hope of monitoring the weather via numerous Ham and SSB radio broadcasts. Due to poor reception we have never received a single forecast via the SSB receiver. It is very important to our route planning that we are able to receive these forecasts. Hopefully this fix will improve our reception. Keep your fingers crossed!
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