A new cruise planned!
19 February 2007 | Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas
Jim Lea
Well, the weather relented, and when I woke up at midnight, it was flat calm, and remained so for the night. So instead of the forecast 20-25 knots, we had a peaceful night. This morning I listened to the forecast on the SSB, and things look pretty settled for the week, so we will do a re-stocking today and be off again. Not sure where yet, but we'll head out of here tomorrow and go whichever way the wind looks best. But it is cold today, below 20C, and the wind has sprung back up to 15-18 knots, so we have a wind chill factor!!! In fact, I dug out a sweat shirt, and (ssshh! keep it a secret!) I put on the Espar heater for a half hour. It was mainly that we haven't run it since November in South Carolina, and it's good to run stuff every once and a while, so I ran it for a short while, and it worked fine... and felt good too! So the morning (a calm day) was spent in going ashore for a few supplies, assuming a departure, for somewhere, tomorrow. The picture is of one of the two grocery (and hardware) storea in Salt Pond.
In the afternoon, I did an oil change on the engine. I do one every 100 hours, and the last was Dec 30th. The oil change part is not tough, but the location of the oil filter is awful! it means emptying out the starboard cockpit locker and removing a couple of panels, climbing into the locker, lying flat on my stomach and reaching in across the engine and unscrewing the filter, and trying to catch all the oil that streams out. I managed it with no spills, but I have a very sore back muscle to show for it! Then the fuel filters are changed (all 3 of them), again being careful not to spill any fuel, which can really stink up the boat. All in all, it is about a two hour job that requires tearing major parts of the boat apart and then re-assembling them afterwards. I am not at my social best during these jobs, so Jeannie went for a long walk on the beach with someone from New Berne, and by the time she was back, all was back in order. By then it was time for dinner, and planning tomorrow's trip. We can't decide between returning to the Jumentos or heading back to Conception Island and then on to Rum Cay and San Salvador, areas we have not seen. Decision time will be at breakfast tomorrow once we listen to the weather forecast.