Yet another cold front arrives
01/23/2011, Marsh Harbour

We had a wonderful visit with Shaun, who took advantage of the windy conditions to introduce me to the sport of Kite-surfing. This is a very challenging activity which involves launching and controlling an enormous kite which is capable of picking you up and throwing you into the air/water.
We sailed south to Little Harbour, explored the islands, and anchored off of Snake Cay.
The excitement occurred when we discovered the windlass had died, with the result that we needed to haul up the 200 ft. (600 lbs) of 3/8" chain c/w our 50lb. Danforth anchor.
We also discovered that all of our batteries (700 Amphours) were dead, so we were unable to start the engine or generator. Thankfully the sails could be raised and the compass still worked, so with the paper charts we sailed back to Marsh Harbour where we are attempting to figure out what is wrong with our electrical system, and locate a new solenoid for our windlass (which is not available in the Bahamas). Lot's of fun!

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Overcast at 15C, lights winds
01/15/2011, Marsh Harbour

Our first visitor arrives today from Nassau, so we've sailed to Marsh Harbour for the rendezvous.

It's been an eventful couple of weeks with a wonderful New Years in HopeTown with friends, more fishing for crayfish, a nice visit to Man-of-War Cay to explore more beaches, and relax in the sunshine.

Our new dinghy finally made it onto the freighter and arrived at Marsh Harbour with no major problems... I'll need to repair a couple of air valves, and then things should be perfect. I was lucky to be able to purchase a dinghy on Ebay sight unseen, ship it across Florida, then onto the Bahamas with all of the tracking, customs, agents, and handling which was involved.

I managed to repair the hotwater heater (Louise is happy) and we're now trying to sell the older dinghy here in the Abacos before venturing further south.

Unfortunately Louise forgot to lock her bicycle onshore before returning to the boat, so it's gone missing. We've placed an advertisement in the local newspaper offering a reward for it's return, but I fear her lovely Dahan folding bike is gone... too bad after all the money/work that spent on replacing the rear wheel last month.

Our new guest (Shaun) will be spending a week with us with the objective of teaching me how to kitesurf... should be lots of fun!

Anyone interested in a great deal on the slightly used dinghy?

All the best!

glen

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12/26/2010, Elbow cay

Christmas Day was beautiful with light winds and lots of sunshine. We joined our neighbours for a dinghy ride south on the west side of Elboy Cay to search for appetizers for Christmas dinner.

Success! we found lots of lobsters and a big crab which Louise steamed for a great (if messy) start to dinner. Magret de canard, tourtiere, baby spinach, and blueberry pie followed.

A lovely dinner shared with friends in a great place.

The Palm Beach Steamship Agency has received the new dinghy, so we should see it in Marsh Harbour on the next freighter (January 3rd, 2011).

Louise and I send our best wishes to all!

g & l

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