04/15/2008, Hope Town, Abacos, Bahamas.
That was Chris Parker's opening statement this morning and he wasn't exaggerating. Last night the wind came up further than it had been, about 20 knots, and at 4 am it was blowing 40 knots with higher gusts. The photo is of crowded Hope Town Harbour. It was the roughest night we have ever spent on the boat, and not a lot of sleep was had. With the short pennant (rope) on the mooring, the boat did a lot of jerking, sending us rolling in our berths. I also began to wonder about the strength of the mooring, but all was safe. And this morning the temperature was still cold. But by noon the wind had begun to go down and the temperature began to rise, so that we were back out of long sleeved shirts and into more normal clothing. Last night we took the cool evening to make Spaghetti Bolognese and to hunker down below with the TV and some DVD's. We didn't have to run the heater, but we talked about it! Today we started ashore to do some shopping, but I had forgotten my wallet, so our shopping expedition turned into a walk instead. And as we were strolling down one street, we met a familiar looking couple, Frank and Eve Collins, from True Love. They are not cruising this year, but are down here on holiday. We spent quite a bit of time with them last year, so it was great to catch up on all the news! In the afternoon, I tackled the engine oil again. It wasn't time for the change, but if we have to do a lot of motoring as we head back to the US, I didn't want to be trying it in mid-ocean, so it is now done. I always give the whole engine a look over when I'm doing it, and today I noticed two bolts on the motor mounts that were loose... a great recipe for a disaster. Tightening them was a bit of a project, given the location, but they are all snug now, and I have some great bruises on the ribs for a momento! There also seems to be no end to the metal polishing that I can do. In this environment, stainless will show signs of corrosion within weeks if left salty. So I try to rinse the boat as much as possible, but the rust streaks come anyway. So yesterday I noticed that the rub strips were showing a lot of rust, so I tackled the port one, finishing it in about an hour. This afternoon I finished the starboard one. But there's always more to do. Some day soon... And the bottom could use another scrub to finish the job I started last week. So in spite of the weather, there's still lots to do! Tonight's dinner was BBQ'ed pork loin in a Thai marinade with cous-cous and sauteed brocolli. Dessert was coconut pie with whipped cream. And a Russian River Chardonnay, of course! Tomorrow we'll leave here heading for the north-western Abacos to await the southerly winds and also calmer seas (today they are 22' outside the reef!!!) We will probably head out on Saturday if the weather holds.
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04/15/2008, Hope Town, Abacos, Bahamas.
Cracked Conch in the cockpit! Linda got away on Saturday morning at 6:15 am. We had spent the night at Conch Inn & Marina for the night in Marsh Harbour. She really lucked out on the weather, and in the light winds, we went snorkeling at Foul Cay where it is usually too rough due to the prevailing winds. After re-stocking with groceries, we headed down to Tahiti Beach at the south end of Elbow Cay. We hoped to do some snorkeling, but by the time we got organized, the current in Tiloo Cut had picked up to be too strong for safe swimming, so we motored around a few other sites but saw nothing. On Sunday morning, we went ashore at a beach bar on Lubbers Cay, Cracker P's. We found a trail leading to one of the cay's few roads and wandered the cay until time for lunch. Back at Cracker P's, we ordered lunch and chatting to the bartender, learned that the owner had just bought a house in Charlottetown! The owner came out and pulled up a whole bunch of photos of the house, on Dorchester St. together with lots of other pics of downtown Charlottetown. Taken during the winter, it was really odd looking at pictures of snowy Charlottetown on the bar's wide screen TV. Back aboard, we hoisted the anchor and sailed up to Hope Town, 3 miles away, where we had reserved a mooring from Alley-Oop for 3 days. The weather forecast was for two cold fronts to come through, then a good spell of mild weather. And last night the second front came through with rain and winds of 25 knots and temperatures plunging to the low 70's. Today everyone (me included) is bundled up and complaining! Based on the forecast it'll be like this until Thursday when it'll warm up and the wind drop and move back to the east. It still looks good for a crossing to the US on the weekend, so later this week we'll be moving around to the more remote part of the Abacos to stage for our crossing on Saturday or Sunday.
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04/09/2008, Hope Town, Abacos, Bahamas.
Linda arrived as scheduled, after a slight change of plans courtesy of the airlines, on Sunday morning. Settled in, we went ashore to Harbour Island and tootled around in a rented golf cart. Lunch at Angela's Starfish Restaurant, a local place, was excellent and very modestly priced for Harbour Island. Then in mid-afternoon, we left the anchorage off Harbour Island and headed a few miles north to Mann Island. We did that for a couple of reasons; first, it would be a quieter anchorage with more protection form the waves, and second, it would give us an earlier start to head back across the Devil's Backbone on Monday morning, and it had a great beach for swimming. Safely anchored, I decided that the bottom needed to be scrubbed, so I donned my dive gear and spent an hour beneath the boat scrubbing off the accumulated weeds. And there were lots! I got about 80% off by the time my enthusiasm and air supply gave out. Then we took the dinghy ashore to a nearby beach where Jeannie and Linda went swimming. I had had enough swimming for the day, so I just strolled the beach. Back aboard, we celebrated Linda's arrival with cocktails in the cockpit and had Stone Crab that our pilot Woody had brought us earlier in the day. Our plan for Monday was to head to the Abacos. The weather forecast was for good following winds so we called Woody and arranged for a 6:30 am start. But at 6 am, Woody called to say that the forecast was not good, with severe thunder squalls heading our way. So we decided to head back to Spanish Wells and consider our options. With a clean bottom, our trip back was about half the time of the trip over. With no room to anchor, we went into the Spanish Wells Yacht Haven Marina where we were in company with six other boats also waiting to cross to the Abacos. In fact, they had been preparing to head out to cross as we had planned, when they heard Woody calling us on the VHF about the weather. So that stopped them too. Tied up at the marina, we considered our options for Tuesday. The wind was now forecast to be north-east, not favorable for crossing to the Abacos, a northerly route, so we dug out the charts of a group of cays called The Berrys. We have always wanted to see them and they were due west, so this seemed like a good plan for a north-east breeze. That settled (or so we thought) we spent the day sight-seeing in Spanish Wells. In the evening, Woody came by for a beer in the cockpit and kept us highly entertained with his stories. Tuesday he was scheduled to take Jack Nicholas over to Harbour Island. Dinner was broiled Lobster tails (again from Woody) with a nice Chardonnay. I think our wine supply might just about last until we get back to the USA later next week! Tuesday we were again up early to head out to the Berrys, but the wind was not north-east as forecast but out of the west... directly from the Berrys. So we joined the parade of boats heading out to the Abacos. And in spite of the forecast, we had a beautiful sail, running through Little Harbour Cut at 3 pm. Just as we reached the cut, the wind finally swung to the north, so we furled our sails and motored up the few remaining miles to Lubbers Cay where we anchored. Dinner was Pesto Cream Chicken with pennee pasta. Then this morning we headed up through an area we had never tried before due to the water depth. But we made it through just before high tide, and motored into Hope Town's tiny harbour just at noon. We picked up a mooring and called Alley-Oop, the owner and paid for two nights. We'll tour the island (Elbow Cay) have dinner ashore and generally amuse ourselves, then head over to Marsh Harbour for Friday, Linda's last night. She flies out Saturday from there to Nassau, then home. It's been a short week, and she settled in easily, with excellent sea legs on our boisterous crossing of the North-east Providence Channel (about 65 nautical miles). Then after Linda leaves, we'll start looking for a window to head back to the US east coast. Based on the long range forecast, it looks like it will be later next week at the earliest.
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04/04/2008, Harbour Island, Bahamas
Yesterday we left Alabaster Bay just before 8 am. The night before, I looked at the tides to try to calculate when slack water would be at Current Cut, about 30 miles away. And based on that and an estimate of our speed, 6 knots, I decided that we should leave about 9 am. Current Cut is so named for the strong currents in it, up to 6 knots at peak. And it is not straightforward, as most are, but requires us to approach the shore about 1/2 mile south of the actual cut and run along the rocky shore just 50' off, and at the last second when you are just about being swept over a shallow reef, you take a sharp 90 degree turn and shoot into deep water and through. So I tried to time our arrival for slack current, meaning departing at 9 am. But two things sped up up; first, the wind was quite light when we woke, so we wouldn't be doing 6 knots, but more like 5. And second, every other boat in the anchorage was already underway. So the herd mentality took over and we roared out.
A half hour later, we were doing 6.5 knots under main alone, and I was back calculating. But everyone else pressed on, so I thought maybe I was wrong. Hearing the first boat through report speeds of 12 knots, I began to realize I was right. But we carried on and were through about an hour before slack, with the curent still running at 4 knots. But we were safely through and heading for Spanish Wells. It is a tiny harbour with a marina and about 6 moorings and no room to anchor. Our objective was Harbour Island, but that was another day. So we diverted to a small place we had never been, The Bluff. In the cruising guide, the description was downright unflaterring but it had a good anchorage and was just 4 miles from Spanish Wells.
Anchor set, we took the dinght ashore, expecting to find a community that had never recovered from two recent hurricanes, and mostly empty. But that's not what we found. We found a tidy bustling community. Sure, there are some buildings that have not been repaired, but most have been and are neatly painted. And there is an agriculture community here growing bannanas, mangos, tomatos, etc. And we bought some excellent fish from some fishermen on the waterfront.
So dinner was grilled Snapper with a Papaya/Mango Salsa, and for dessert, more fresh fruit!
Then this morning, we were up early, as we had agreed to meet a pilot, Little Woody, in the Spanish Wells harbour at 8 am. Woody arrived with fresh Johnny Cakes and a fresh Carrot cake for us, and jumped aboard. The route into Harbour Island runs from Spanish Wells through a region called The Devil's Backbone. It runs along the northern coast of Eleuthera and is strewn with reefs, and as usual in the Bahamas, without any navigation markers. I have never heard of anyone trying it without a pilot, but Woody said that some try, and few make it. In January, three tried and two struck reefs, one just towed off with a lost rudder, another a total loss. So he took over the wheel and with no apparent attention, towing his boat, through we went. I started to show him the Depth Sounder, but he said "I don't need that! If I need that, you need a new pilot!". One minute we were heading dead for the rocky shorline, next heading out to sea, weaving between the reefs with the ocean swells breaking over them, all the time Woody chatting away. But we came through without incident, and Woody set off to pick up his next boat. We are about the smallest that he has done. His next one was a 130' motor yacht. He typically does about three runs a day in his busy season.
Safely anchored, we went ashore to bustling Dunsmore Town, the only community on the Island. In fact, it takes up the entire Island, so the town name is rarely used. It is an odd combination of Bahamian out island town and upscale resort town. Its pink sand beach on the Atlantic shore is justifyably famous. For lunch, we went to a "fish fry", an area where shacks selling food set up on the beach, each with its own specialty. We went to Woody's recommendation and had excellent grouper fingers, cole slaw and "mac" (Maccaroni & Cheese, a Bahamian staple). And it was excellent. For dinner we went next door to the conch bar and got conch salad to take back to the boat. So with Woody's Johnnycakes and Carrot Cake for dessert, it was an excellent day on the meal front.
Tomorrow we hope to meet Linda Evans if the planes cooperate. Then early next week we'll look for a weather window to head across the North-east Providence Channel (about 55 miles) to the Abacos.
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04/02/2008, Alabaster Bay, Eleuthera, Bahamas.
Well, Ronnie's really gone this time, and I scared him away! This morning, we decided to head out after listing to Chris say that we would have winds of 15-20 knots on our aft quarter, a nice angle. So I hoisted the main at anchor and we prepared to head out. I began to raise the anchor, as usual, with the windlass pulling the chain up and into the chain locker As the anchor came off the bottom (I couldn't see it as the water in Rock Sound is, unusual for the Bahamas, very murky, but I could tell by the way the windlass and chain were moving), I gave Jeannie the OK to begin to bear off, heading out the bay. As the anchor came up to the bow roller, as usual again, I watched it settle into its usual position, only to see it suddenly part company from the chain and plunge to the bottom of the bay! I immediately ran to the GPS and hit the Man Overboard button. This gives you an instant readout on how to get back to the exact spot where you were when you pressed the button. So we fired up the engine, dropped the main and rounded up as close as possible to our lost anchor. According to the GPS we were within 50' of it, but we couldn't tell in which direction. Looking at the water, even though only 10' deep, I knew I wouldn't be able to find the anchor without dive gear. In almost any other anchorage in the Bahamas, you would be able to see the anchor just standing on deck, but not here. So I donned my gear, thankful I had had the tank refilled in Stella Maris a few weeks ago, and went overboard. Jeannie was on the foredeck and gave me a line that I took with me. First I headed out directly ahead of the bow about 100' Then I swung to the left and moved in an arc until about abeam of the boat. Nothing. I had hoped to see signs in the sand of the chain from where we had been anchored, but saw nothing. Then I moved to the right, swimming out at 45 degrees from the bow then turning left. Again I saw nothing, but the line became snagged, so I surfaced and asked Jeannie to pull it in. She couldn't, due to the snag, so I followed it out, and found the line snagged on the lost anchor!!! Long story shore, we were underway by 0930 hrs with the anchor aboard, and a very frank conversation with West Marine about their anchor chain swivels in my near future! But I think that all the commotion scared Ronnie the Ramoera away. In the murky water, if he was more than 10' away from the boat, it would become invisible, and here in Alabaster Bay there is no sign of him. And he would have enjoyed our dinner scraps... starting with Guacamole, then brazed lamb shanks, followed by coconut pie with fresh mango and whipped cream. Tomorrow we'll sail the rest of the way to Spanish Wells, weather permitting.
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04/01/2008, Rock Sound, Eleuthera, Bahamas.
We thought Ronnie the Ramora had stayed behind in Cambridge Cay, but on Sunday when I threw some stuff overboard, he scooted out for an inspection! He's a lot more shy than over in Cambridge Cay, just barely showing his nose out from under the boat. I think its because the water here is quite cloudy and he can't see like he's used to. But we've been feeding him and he's gradually becoming more adventurous. Our problem is that we don't have a lot to feed him. We got some conch (for excellent cracked conch) and he seems very fond of it. He'll eat meat scraps too and bread. So he is mostly getting bread from an old loaf we have. But I think he's starving. Hopefully he'll leave when we get into deeper water later this week. We're here in Rock Sound with about 30 other boats, waiting for the wind to go down. It's supposed to subside later in the week, so we'll head up towards Spanish Wells and Harbour Island, where we're scheduled to meet Linda Evans on Saturday. In the meantime, we've been busy shopping, and looking around. On Sunday, we took the bikes ashore and headed over to the east side of the island and had lunch at The Nor't Side, a quaint restaurant that is very basic in its surroundings, but with excellent food. Rose Gibson, who is owner, cook, waitress and dishwasher, has quite a story. Since we were the only customers for lunch (I had Jerk Chicken, Jeannie had Grouper sandwich, both excellent), Rose had time to chat. SHe has run the place, together with a few cottages for rent, for 8 years. Her husband, whose dream the idea was, died the year after they bought the land, and she carries on alone. But she has six children, all with university educations, most Canadian universities. They range from doctors to CA's and teachers, and are all over the world. After lunch we were taken back into the kitchen to see photos of her children and her 8 grand-children. An amazing woman! Then yesterday we rented a car to explore a bit. As you travel from south to north in Eleuthera, it becomes more prosperous. In the south, it is pretty much a basic existence. But half way up is Windemere Island, an exclusive gated community. Lord Mountbatten had a home there, and many of the Royal Family vacationed there. We went for a look, but were (no surprise) turned back at the gate. Then as you work your way up towards Governor's Harbour, you begin to see elegant homes and resorts lining the shores. At the top of Eleuthera are two communities, Spanish Wells, and Harbour Island. Spanish Wells, a no-nonsense (dry) town, is home to a very prosperous fishing fleet and Harbour Island is one of the Bahamas most upscale areas. We'll be visiting those areas later this week with Linda. But for now, we will wait for the wind to drop, and start to work our way up. Hopefully tomorrow!
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03/29/2008, Rock Sound, Eleuthera, Bahamas.
Where has the time gone! We left Cambridge Cay yesterday after 4 nights. The wind howled Monday and Tuesday, going down on Wednesday to around 15 knots, but the seas were still up, so we delayed our departure until yesterday. During our stay we acquired a friend, a 3' Ramoera. I'm not sure that I'm spelling it right, but its the kind of fish that attaches itself to sharks and then feeds on the scraps the sharks leave after feeding. At first we had no idea what it was. It attaches to the shark by a sort of suction cup on the back of its head. We thought it had had the top of its head was sliced off, but a kayaker who we gave some fresh water to identified it. It became oddly friendly, and lived under our boat the whole time we were there. It was sort of like a pet on board. Whenever we got into the dinghy it came out as if to say "Where are you going? Can I go too?" and when we returned, out it would come as if asking "Where have you been? Why were you so long???" We fed it scraps and it was quite picky and choosy. We changed moorings on Tuesday to get out of the current, and Ronnie came with us. We wondered if he might attach himself to us and cross over here with us, but he seems to be gone. He was ugly, but friendly! But, big news, I fixed the watermaker! I got a replacement pump shipped to Vancouver and brought it back with us. I stalled putting it in as long as possible, but tackled it and after 4 hours it was up and running! I also did a few other jobs that had piled up. But beyond that we passed the days hiking, exploring around the protected cays and snorkeling. My next job is to clean the bottom of the boat. I can see from the rudder that we have acquired a nice garden that we are towing. So I'll look for an opportunity to put on my SCUBA gear and tackle it. Yesterday we headed out the cut between Cambridge and O'Brien's Cay and into the now calmed Exuma Sound. With a 10-14 knot breeze just ahead of our beam, we headed up on out course of 028M (magnetic) up to Eleuthera. By early afternoon the wind began to die, so we motor-sailed up to Powell Point when it died altogether. Down came the sails and we motored the last few miles. With the fishing lure out all across, we were blanked! Not a nibble except for some seaweed. In Rock Sound, we found a spot to anchor in between the 20 other oats, and were just settled for 2 minutes when a big rain squall blew in and covered us in driving rain. But we were well anchored and just sat in the cockpit snugged in. With another major front coming in tomorrow night, it looks like we're here for a few days. But we can use the time to re-stock.
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