An interesting day.
We are moored in a wonderful safe harbour, protected from winds in every direction. The only problem is that this harbour is only accessible at high tide due to a sand bar at the entrance. High tide is currently at 7am so the only time to enter or leave is 7am. One needs to plan ahead when scheduling travelling.

Today is a lovely sunday with all the local shops closed, so I have a perfect excuse to relax and do nothing.

Yesterday I reconfigured the wiring on the solar panels so that I can now see exactly how effective they are. Absolutely fascinating!

On the boat, the world revolves around 12V batteries which power everything from this computer, to refrigerator, freezer, water pumps, lighting, etc. Over the day the solar panels not only provide energy for current use, but also recharge the batteries for the times when the sun is down. The biggest energy pig is the freezer/refrigerator and lights.

At the current time (8:20am) the sun is low on the horizon, and the refrigerator is running (as is the computer) and I am watching the instruments tell me that the panels are almost keeping up with the current demand for energy. By 9am we'll be self-sufficient and by noon we'll be storing 10-15amps back into the batteries. By dusk, the batteries will be fully recharged and the cycle will begin again.

It's a pity we don't use this same technology in our homes. Burning fossil fuels seems almost criminal when we have an infinite amount of free clean solar energy available.

Gaston, my friend, we should talk about your cottage on the island. This is definitely the solution!

I'm going to enjoy playing with these solar panels for the next three months and discover ways to improve efficiencies.

The fresh red snapper available from the local boats is almost impossible to beat!

Until the next time!

glen

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After three busy days in Nassau it's nice to back onboard Graynorth in a quiet harbour, far from hustle and bustle of busy Nassau.

Upon reflection I realize that much of my disappointment with Nassau has to do with the changes that have occurred in the central city architecture.
The advent of large commercial shopping malls on the outskirts of the city has resulted in the terrible demise of the urban core. What used to be a beautiful vibrant community of small shops and pretty Victorian houses impeccably maintanined has become a boarded-up eyesore, with ugly metal roofing nailed up across the windows, garbage in the entranceways and paint peeling off the walls.
Grafitti and illegal haitian refugees, drugs and guns, and bingo.... a whole new reality start to unfold.

We flew back to GTC and I had the opportunity to sit beside the Minister of Agriculture (and local Abacos MP) who shared many of his hopes and aspirations for the Bahamas. He was on his way home to Marsh Harbour, so we'll get in touch again. Tourism is down 30-40% and when your economy is 80% tourism, it's a BIG problem. Unemployment is rising rapidly as hotels/marinas/restaurants/bars reduce staff. He's hoping to diversify the economy and restart many of the historical agricultural activities that have been abandoned over the years when the easy tourist dollar became available.

Louise is happy to be "home" and celebrated with 5 loads of laundry, and packed the 100kg of food stuffs we brought back from Nassau into her various cupboards/hiding spots which are all over the boat. Literally every nook and cranny has something in it.... it makes finding things interesting as we need to tear apart half the salon to locate the brown rice.

I spent the morning removing our 120V ac icemaker from the boat so as to create more space for our soon to be installed watermaker.
We've never used the icemaker, and don't expect to be tied to a dock plugged into shorepower, so I'll try to barter it away for something we might be able to use.

It's sad to see our son leaving us, but I know he had a great time!

glen

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The unusual availability of internet access has got me wanting to take advantage of the opportunity!
Another photo of Louise and her son playing in the sun!

glen

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