Mike
03/16/2010, George Town, Great Exuma

Sunday March 7th...2010

We are sincerely sorry for those of you who occasionally stop here to keep track of us. Our lack of blog entries is unexcusable. In truth most of the entries were actually written but never made it to posting before their untimely demise.

I believe that we left you in Thompson's Bay Long Island. From there we motored north to Hog Cay which is just south of Cape Santa Maria and the tip of Long Island. We spent an afternoon hunting but had little luck. In the morning, with forecasts of 15 knots from the NW, we set out for the 25 mile run out to Rum Cay. As we rounded the cape and headed east it was obvious that that we had way too much sail out for the conditions.
The autopilot couldn't keep up with 30 knot winds and 12 foot seas and on three occasions rounded us through the wind and back the way we had come. In each case we nearly broached.

I tuned off the autopilot and hand steered which kept us going the right direction....flying along at 11 knots. I knew that we should douse the main, but didn't relish the thought of going out on deck to get it done. At about this point both of our fishing rods started screaming. There was no way we could land a fish at 10 knots ... so Kathy got me the harness and we rounded back into the wind. It took about 2 minutes to lower the sail but it seemed like much longer.

Sailing now on mizzen and staysail, we were in full control of the boat for the first time today. Amazingly, both fish were still on. I grabbed the small salmon rod that was almost spooled and began slowly putting some line on the reel. After 40 minutes, we had a nice Mahi next to the boat but in ten foot seas couldn't employ our normal gaffing technique which called for Kathy going on deck with the rod and backing up to a point where I could gaff the fish into the cockpit.

At this point the big reel which had been slowly clicking as we dragged another fish through the water, screamed for about three seconds and was quiet.

With a fish at the side of the boat I couldn't be bothered by the second rod. I had no choice but to but the rod down and grab the line to get the fish close enough to gaff. When it was about 4 feet away, it shook it's head and was gone.

Fish number two was also gone .... we assume it was shark lunch. Anytime you drag a fish for more that 15 minutes the odds are that a shark will find it.

By this time we were only about an hour out of Rum Cay. We still had large seas and 30 knots of wind but with the main gone were balanced much better and made our way to the lee of the island and anchored.

Rum Cay offers no protection from the south and so we only had about three days until the next front to explore the area. We walked the town...there are about 50 residents but found a nice restaurant and made friends with Dolores the owner.

The next morning as we had our coffee in the cockpit, the boat behind us weighed and headed around the reef to our south to open water. We were reading and didn't pay much attention. A little later the same boat sailed back behind us and continued on toward shore. I wondered what he was doing but went back to reading. A few minutes later he sailed past us again heading south.

A few minutes later, someone came on the radio saying that they were aground and gave their lat. and lon., which sounded very much like our own. I stood up and sure enough about a mile to our south the boat that we'd been watching was hard aground on the reef.

Barry was along side "Sapphire" when the guy called one of the other boats in the anchorage for assistance....meanwhile Steve dinghied over to a fishing boat with a couple of large outboards to see if they would try to pull the boat in distress off the reef.

Barry and I were holding back because there was nothing we could do with just our dinghies... but when the guy came back on the radio saying that he was taking on water, we had no choice and made our way through the 2 foot chop out to "Second Wind."

We arrived about the same time as the fishing boat to find that there was little to be done. The rudder was torn off and the pumps were not keeping up. There was no way that the fishermen were going to be able to move the boat and if they were able to get it off the reef it would just sink. Barry finally, told the guy (who's name was Mario) that his boat was gone and he need to get his possessions loaded into our dinghies.

With tears in his eyes he began the process of off loading. When we were full, we headed to the marina and deposited his stuff on a dock. He made two or three trips back out to his boat during the day and removed solar panels, radios and anything else of much value. He had no insurance and when he was finished, walked away telling the Bahamians that they were welcome to anything they could salvage.

Mario's story was that his engine was overheating and he had raised the jib to check things out. He found that the belt driving the water pump had broken and had tacked back to shore. When he got too close he tacked back out and went below to replace the belt ... paying no attention to the reef that runs for about 3 miles on the south side of the island.

We spent the remainder of that day and the next hunting and swimming off the reef to the south east of the island. It was impressive but we didn't shoot many fish.

The next day we hiked around the island and ended up at Kaye's bar around lunch time. We promised to return that afternoon after we did some more hunting. Dolores is an older lady who spent her early years on Rum but ran away to teach in Nassau. Later in life she returned to open Kaye's.



The next day we headed back to Long Island. We caught a nice Mahi and had a couple of other hits. "Night Hawk" and "Fine Lion" elected to stop at Calabash Bay at the north end of Long Island while we continued on to Thompson's Bay.

We arrived to find "Solitaire", "Savage Son," and "First Edition" all at anchor and were immediately invited to dinner on "Solitaire."

We spent a few days in Thompson's Bay before heading to Georgetown to meet Sam and Nic who were flying in for a week.

After spending a day on Volleyball Beach with them we sailed back to Long Island to attempt to get them in the water for some snorkeling. We spent a couple days at Thompson's Bay attending a hot dog roast at the Island Breeze and hanging out with other curisers.

Then we sailed up the island to Calabash Bay for some snorkeling before fishing our way back to Georgetown. Nic caught a tuna but after looking it up found that it was a Skip Jack and not all that edible.

After another day in Georgetown it was time for them to take their sun tans back to Michigan. It wasn't the best week weather-wise but compared to snow in Michigan it didn't feel that bad.

With yet another front heading our way we hunkered down in Georgetown at Sand Dollar Beach and worked on projects and read for a couple of days.

"Savage Son" and "Far Niente" were anchored close by so we got together with them a few times. We also touched base with "Discovery" and "Tilt" who are from Pentwater and Grand Rapids respectively.

"Fine Lion" returned to pick up Kim and was anchored on the other side of the harbor at Kidd Cove. They picked up a load of laundry that we had sent to the cleaners. So we moved over to join them outside Kidd Cove. It was good to see Kim again after her 3 week visit to Colorado.

We had "Night Hawk" over for soup on Sunday. They are looking for a window to begin their trip back north toward Florida where they leave their boat. Steve 's son Scott and his finance Amy are flying in on Thursday and I think that we'll spend a few days fishing with them before following Barry and Susan.


Thanks for all the condolences for Mike's computer-yes, the brand new one.

Comments [1]

Kathy
03/01/2010, George Town, Great Exuma

Well, we may have posted earlier, but Mike's computer with all the posts went swimming and does not want to work any more. We have been in Long Island and out to Rum Cay. That was a terrible trip, by the way. Rum Cay was interesting and we had a good time.
We returned to Long Island to hang out with friends and had a great time. We rented a car and took a tour to the salt ponds, Goat Pond Bar, and the beach at the end of the island.
We are now in George Town and it happens to be Regatta time. Sam is coming with her friend Nic on Wednesday-looking forward to that.

Comments [4]

02/11/2010, Thompson Bay, Long Island

February 10th, 2010 Thompson's Bay Long Island
The wind picked up to around 20 knots from the SW (where we have no protection) at about 4 a.m. and woke us up. I got up and slept a little in the cockpit as we hobby-horsed in 2-foot waves. The wind picked up a little after daylight and by noon when the front passed with a couple of minor squalls, it was blowing about 25. As the wind shifted to the north (where we have good protection), the waves diminished and we rode much more comfortably in the wind.
Our day was spent reading and cooking. I made a spinach/ham/feta Quiche for lunch and later worked on a mushroom marinara, which we had over some penne.
We put our books down after dinner and watched some video before going to bed.

February 9th, 2010 Thompson's Bay Long Island
After coffee we removed the sole areas that cover our tanks and I began cutting in a new access port with our jigsaw. The stainless steel proved to be a little tougher than our blades and I used up all three of our metal blades before I was half done with the cut out. I jumped in the dinghy and headed to the tool store where I found a package of 5 blades. Back on board I finished the cutout with two blades to spare and began cleaning and sanding the seam in question. After heating and drying the inside of the tank with a heat gun I applied the epoxy.
We had some left over beef stew for lunch and then headed into the Island Breeze for some internet. I also needed to hitchhike down to the bank 10 miles south to use the ATM. Kathy took a load of laundry as well.
The first vehicle that came along, a Batelco truck, picked me up and dropped me at the bank. After collecting a little cash, I walked back to the road and once again, the first car that went by picked me up and returned me to Salt Pond.
When we returned, I mixed up a batch of West Systems and applied a thin coat of epoxy over the exposed seams of each end of our water tank, going over the area that I had patched earlier. The leak was very slow and I am reasonably confident that we have solved the problem.
Another front was expected to clock through tonight.

February 8th, 2010 Thompson's Bay, Long Island
Our plans were to leave today and head up the north end of the island for some fishing and then over to Conception... but after listening to the weather with not one but two fronts expected this week we decided to remain in Thompson's Bay where there is some protection and excellent holding.
I removed a section of the sole to gain access to the water tank and found a spot where there appeared to be a potential leak. After a consultation with "Fine Lion" I decided to cut in a new access port, clean and sand the questionable area and then apply some underwater epoxy. The remainder of the day was spent running around making sure that I had everything for the job.
February 7th, 2010 Thompson's Bay, Long Island
After breakfast, Kathy went for a walk with Kim and Susan while I read my book. In the afternoon we listened to some Big 10 games. There was a super bowl party at Long Island Breeze and we had volunteered to head ashore early to help set up. Kathy took a shower on her return and I followed shortly after ... only to run out of water as I was attempting to get the shampoo out of my hair. Although our tank monitor is not working, we have been making water on a regular basis and should have been plenty. I was able to find a couple of water bottles in the refrigerator to rinse my hair and then we were off to the beach.
Mike had promised a shuttle service from the Resort back to the anchoring area in Thompson Bay so we beached the dinghies and walked out the Queen's highway where he picked us up.
At the Breeze we moved some tables around but the most important issue was getting a huge tv from Mike's apartment up stairs down to the dining area. With four of us it was moved without injury.
As 5 o:clock approached Mike asked to run the shuttle... which meant driving his truck back and forth to Thompson's Bay while he ran the bar. It was about a 3 mile run one way and in the next hour I made 5 trips.
There was a nice crowd. Steve put together two betting boards to keep things interesting. We've rarely watched a Super Bowl game from start to finish but this time we stuck with it to the bitter end.... I did make a shuttle run at half time to return those who had seen enough.
After the game Mike ran us back to the dinghies....


February 6th, 2010 Thompson's Bay, Long Island
I've talked about fronts before so let it suffice to say that one was coming through today. The forecast is for the wind to clock today from the south to the NW at 20-25 knots. The front itself should hit us in the afternoon with squalls to 30knots.
Our anchorage in Thompson's Bay offers good holding and protection the WNW to SSE. Unfortunately there is about 40 degrees where we are unprotected. We knew that we were in for a few hours of rocking and rolling but since it was going to happen in daylight we could at least see what was happening.
The front passed without any serious problems... and by nightfall things were back to normal.

Comments [0]