2nd December

24 42 N
76 49 W

Weather: sunny, wind 15knots slightly S of W, waves light chop where we are anchored.

23 MORE SLEEPS!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KAY AND MARTIN, CELEBRATE IN STYLE!

After anchoring yesterday behind Oyster Cay we spent the evening sitting in the cockpit, watching and waiting to see if we were going to drag anchor once the wind increased as predicted. I was a little concerned as there are shallows on either side of us and a current ripping through the cut we had come through to get this side of the Cay. Gerry was reasonably confident that we wouldn't move but it's better to be safe than sorry so we didn't put the bridle on the anchor and had our headsets and windlass remote at the ready just in case we needed to act in a hurry and re anchor.
I sat and typed yesterday's blog but when it came time to send it via the satellite phone there was a hiccough, the computer wouldn't connect to the red port optimizer which is necessary to connect to the phone. Thinking that it was something I was doing wrong I asked Gerry to have a look, much fiddling around, cursing and head scratching later he gave up with the thought that the optimizer had crapped out on us and we were going to have to replace it somehow, somewhere and in the meantime we wouldn't be able to post the blog, get weather data nor send any emails through the satellite phone, bummer!
We eventually went to bed as we hadn't moved from our anchoring spot but we were still a bit worried as the wind hadn't gotten up nor had it changed direction as yet, it was a case of sleeping with one eye open! We did briefly consider doing anchor watches but as we were the only boat here decided against it, we both knew that we would be outside checking for any movement every time we were awake during the night. It was a cool night, plenty of stars but very little moonlight making it hard to get a fix on our position in relation to the land. The wind blew up and changed direction during the night and at one time Gerry went out on deck and dropped more anchor chain plus put out the bridle as we had moved slightly but were mostly swinging in an arch around the anchor. It didn't make for the best night's sleep but we both managed to get enough rest to be up and about before 7am. Gerry much earlier than me of course, nothing unusual there! He had obviously been fretting about the optimizer overnight as he had the nav. station torn apart, looking for reasons that it wasn't working. The next time I checked (when I went for my shower) he had the earphones on and was listening to Chris Parker giving the weather report, it wasn't good news but was just what we had expected from the data we had previously, it was a day to sit and wait in the lee of the Cay.
Priss was up and about at various times during the night and very thoughtfully left a vomit present for Gerry in the cockpit, she obviously didn't think much of the wet food he gave her last night!
As there was nothing urgent to do we had a leisurely breakfast in the cockpit, then after clearing away the dishes it was time to find something to do.
I know, lets commission the water maker!
We have had the new membranes sitting waiting to be installed when we were somewhere that the water didn't seem too polluted to begin with, not that you can ever really tell!
We thought that behind this cay looked as good a place as any to do the commissioning, particularly as we were the only boat here so there was no chance of pollution from any other boat. Out came the box with the membranes, the tools and the manual (what, is this going to be something so difficult that we are going to have to refer to instructions?). I sat quietly in the corner waiting for the explosion of temper to happen whilst Gerry read as much of the instructions as he thought he needed. Then it was on for young and old, the lazaret where the water maker is located was opened and tweaker climbed inside and removed the hardware. He then climbed out and commenced inserting the new membrane. For some reason once it was all back together there was a small piece of funnel shaped plastic left over, after much reviewing of the manual Gerry decided that it was "the spare bit that's always left over" and proceeded to replace the hardware back inside the lazaret. Time for testing, tweaker went below and gazed into the engine compartment giving off a few choice words as there was water coming out from somewhere and he couldn't see the source - was it leaking in the lazaret? Negative ghost rider. Back and forwards between the cockpit and the engine compartment and eventually the source was identified and dealt with. I then had to watch for water coming out of the through hull on the side of the boat, suddenly a steady trickle began, hooray we were making reverse osmosis water! Gerry had the testing kit out and very shortly declared that the water was at 110 Total Dissolved Solids PPM (parts per million) which was brilliant, the accepted level for drinking water is less than 600 so we are now able to keep our water tanks topped off with water that is safe to drink. The water maker makes 5 gallons per hour so as long as we are frugal with the water we shouldn't have the problem of running out. There was still a small leak around one of the hoses which was easily fixed with a tightening of the hose clamp but other than that all was good, a successful commissioning!
Around lunch time we were somewhat dismayed to see a catamaran heading our way, for what ever reason they have anchored right next to us, when there was the whole damn Cay to choose from! I just hope that we don't drag tonight as I think they are too close for comfort. I did suggest to Gerry that we put some very loud music and the generator on but he wasn't for that idea!
A short while ago Gerry came out into the cockpit and handed me the computer and suggested that I try to send yesterday's blog again as he had just managed to connect to the satellite phone through the optimizer. Why and how? Nobody knows, but I was able to connect as well which is how you can read yesterday's installment and hopefully will be able to read todays when I try in a short while. We think the optimizer must somehow be connected the water maker, just kidding but it's the best explanation we could come up with!
The sea on the other side of this Cay is looking a bit rough at the moment so it's good to be tucked and away from it. The wind has come up and is gusting up to 20 knots We think that we are going to take the leeward side tomorrow down to our next stop which will be at Warderick Wells Cay, where we are hoping to pick up a mooring ball at the sea and land park for a couple of days.
Tweaker has been examining the backs of his eyelids whilst I type but has suddenly burst back into life and has his drill out complete with circular hole maker bits, I've enquired what he is doing but only got told "drilling holes, as you do!" he's really making a vent hole for the generator lazaret as we thought it might be overheating.
I'm now going back to trying to figure out more of the family skeletons in Gerry's tree once I've up loaded this.