Blew like stink last night but better dockage than the last time in Oriental.
25 February 2010
• Man-o-War Cay, Bahamas
by Mike
Did I complain about no wind in yesterday's blog? Well like the ol' saying says, "Be careful what you wish for!" 'Cause I got it. Last night shortly after midnight the cold front came through complete with lightning, storm surge and bangin' winds. Last time this happened to us was in Oriental when we sustained all the damage, but this time in Man-o-War's aptly named hurricane harbour although there was a small bound and the howling of the winds it was nothing like that experience, although it was exciting. The power catamaran on the other side of the dock in front of us had enough slack on her dock lines with the wind surge that she appeared to be trying to climb over the pier to join us on our side. She didn't. In fact she never even touched the dock, but in the dark it sure appeared that it would be happening at any moment. Nelleke started out the night slug alongside separated only by her fender board, but with the high tide, the surge and wind when I got up this morning there was a four foot gap to jump with Peri to start his walk. This will start to die down tonight and Friday and Saturday will be pretty placid, but then on Saturday evening through to Sunday it will whip up again only worst with 35 knot winds. I guess we had better find the extra dock lines.
As you watch the palm trees duckin' an' weavin' in the wind I can't help but be struck with what amazing plants they are. Tall things, with a fan at the top and a very shallow root ball system anchoring them in barely subsurface soil or sand, and they are able to withstand these winds and higher! The palm fronds fold flat in the wind which is really a fascinating evolution in itself, but still there is a large trunk and a very small root. Like I said, amazing!
When Barb and I took Peri for his poop-ambulation we discovered another stretch of the Atlantic Beach that we promised ourselves to try snorkelling in when the weather settles, perhaps on Friday or Saturday. Pristine smooth sandy beach and a short surface swim out to what appears to be a reef. In short we should be able to look at the reef fish and look for sand dollars all in the same swim.
Well now. That was interesting. Here is a lesson learned that I'll pass on to other folks thinking of coming here. I have just had my one and only unpleasant experience at Man-o-War Cay. I had gotten the one and only marine supply store at Edwin's Boat Yard No 1 to order in a small pump for the water maker tank which was $57 in the catalogue. The lady at the counter told me that it would be at least double so I should count on having to pay duty and shipping so we were budgeting for $150 or so to give it a little flex room. I mean, over 100% mark up from what I would be paying in the US was something that I wasn't overjoyed about but I would accept in order to get the job done. When it arrived I was floored that they held out their hand for $230 or almost 400% of the price in the catalogue and had the hide to try to tell me that it was duty and shipping. That is, the duty and shipping was $180 on an item that sold for $57! First off, I don't believe it, but when I tried to discuss it with the owner of the place, he called my integrity into question and told me that he was going to circulate the news that I wasn't a good person to do business with. He even tried to tell me that they never give out prices to people when they order stuff in for them because they don't know what the duty and shipping will be. What a load! Who would buy something without at least having a ballpark idea of the cost? Fortunately for me when I subsequently went into the other office of the business to pay his partner, Kevin, for a tube of lower gear case lube that I had bought from him earlier in the week, he didn't understand what this fellow was talking about either. He said that if they had ordered the part for me as SV Nelleke yacht in transit c/o the boatyard then the most that the duty would have been is 10%. That means the duty would have been $6! On the plus side both Edwin's Boat Yards No 1 and No 2 do great work on boats and the labour rate is very reasonable at about $40/hr so don't let my experience completely scare you off, just deal with Kevin at yard No 2 and stay clear of the fellow at No 1. Make sure too that if you do get them to order something get them to order it for yacht in transit. I'd like to tell you to not give them any money in advance unless you get a firm quote, but in fairness, this was one fellow and everything else that I had done with the people on the Cay had been very positive.
On a more constructive note I have been learning more and more about using Lulu.com the self publishing tool on the internet, the "how to" and wherefores for the utility. It's a slow process but I will be getting there shortly (I hope).
Tonight for dinner we are planning to have a combination cook in and take out. We will have some chicken for the first time in a couple of months and side it with peas and rice and fries from the Dock and Dine restaurant here at the marina.
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