Bud and I went over to Ladyhawke for coffee at nine. We had a great time and exchanged more information and ideas seeing each other’s boats. They had their deck redone with new non-skid and awl-grip (paint). It looks great. They talked about their plans for the day; they were taking the car north. Joe, their friend from Onward also stopped by. They asked me if I wanted to go again, I did. Then Joe reminded them that they were going to stop for dinner at Chez Pierre’s (really, a French chef on Long Island). In the end it was decided that I would go for the day and we would come back and pick up Bud at the beach to go the five miles or so back up to Chez Pierre’s. Another group was joining us, so there would be 10, total.

So the four of us started north. Bud was stopping at the grocery store and then going back to the boat. We’d already taken Fuzzy ashore and he was sleeping when we left.

I had another nice day. We found the Adderly Plantation ruins this trip. Bud and I and the folks from Passages and Maja and I had made two trips down the road with the sign for the ruins and not seen them. Today, we drove to where the small side road ends at the beach. We could see ruins north of there with no path going directly towards them. We started north up the beach and before long came to the beginning of a well worn path lined on either side for the first 20 or 30 feet with conch shells. Soon we came to signs for the plantation ruins, as well as signs giving the names of the various trees along the way. Up on a ridge were the ruins themselves. The plantation operated as such for about 40 years, then the former manager took over and things were run more like free-holdings. But the family stayed and the land and buildings were in use until the hurricane of 1927 wiped them out. (The sign also explained that Deadmen’s Cay got it’s name at the same time because many people in the area came out during the eye of the hurricane to pick up the fish stranded by the receding water, when the other wall of the hurricane hit they were drowned.) When we got back to the beach I started building a cairn of rocks to indicate that the trail went to the north on the beach. The others joined in and soon we had about five little piles of rocks leading in the direction of the trail. We think others are much more likely to find the ruins, now.

As a reward, we went to Stella Maris Resort and had drinks and lunch at the beach bar. After a pretty long lunch we continued north to the end of the road on the north end of the island. By the way, I have no pictures because I couldn’t get my poor camera to come on at all today. I thought I’d finally killed it, but Joe suggested the moisture might have discharged the battery. I put the spare in a little while ago and it works. But I missed a great day for pictures.

By the time we got to the north end it was time to start back for Chez Pierre’s. We had talked earlier to the folks on French Kiss, and they had decided not to sail up near the restaurant as they had planned because they thought it had silted in and would be too shallow too far out. So they were going to drive from Salt Pond and they could take Bud. We tried to reach Bud with the plans. We have a Bahamas cell phone now, but I didn’t have it with me and didn’t know the number. Bud was supposed to call Joe with the number when he got back to the boat but he hadn’t. Joe called Mike on French Kiss several times and finally reached him. He tried to call Bud on the VHF radio but he didn’t answer. Mike was going to keep trying. Meanwhile, we were early enough that we decided to drive back to Thompson Bay and get Bud. We’d call him on the hand-held VHF when we got close enough. As we approached Thompson Bay Mike called Joe on his cell phone. He gotten Bud and Bud had flipped the dinghy! He was cut but okay, but wouldn’t be going to dinner. By the time I got off the phone with Mike, we were close enough to hail Bud on the radio. He needed me to come and help him with the dinghy outboard, and Bruce from Aquarelle would pick me up on the beach at Thompson Bay.

So Jeri and Ingo and Joe dropped me off at the head of the beach path. We said good-bye, as we’re not sure when or where we’ll see each other again. I walked down to the beach and saw Bruce approaching. He took me back to the boat and offered to help us get Fuzzy ashore in the morning. He’s anchored just inshore from us here.

As Bud and I worked I got the full story. Bud had just taken Fuzzy ashore in preparation for leaving for the evening. He’d gotten new dinghy gas today, and on the way back from the beach the outboard quit again. He got it started again but it wouldn’t idle, so when he got to the boat he put the choke on. He left the engine on while he struggled in the chop to lift Fuzzy aboard. Once Fuzzy was on deck, Bud reached down with one hand (holding the side of the boat with the other) and went to turn the engine off. I think he was reaching for the choke, but must have hit the shift lever because he knocked it into gear. The dinghy took off and Bud fell out. It started in a circle. Bud was afraid it would run amok and hit another boat in the anchorage so when it circled back towards him he attempted to jump in over the bow. Not a good choice with the engine running. He didn’t make it; the engine and propeller went right by him. He had bruises and cuts on his hand and a cut on his leg, none are serious but he’s lucky. After that he figured he’d just have to let the dinghy go. It ran up into the side of Earendil, the bow lifted, the stern probably went under water and the dinghy flipped. At least that stopped the engine!

At least six people in other dinghies showed up at about that time to help. We didn’t loose anything out of the dinghy. We recovered the life jackets, the paddles, the anchor (which was on the bow line because Bud had just used it at the beach) and even the old green towel we put on the floor of the dinghy for Fuzzy to stand on. And Fuzzy was still up on the deck of the boat watching all this. Anyway, by the time I got back Fuzzy was below, Bud had righted the dinghy using the staysail sheet as the dinghy lines were all wrapped around it, he’d showered (again) and gotten into dry clothes. He and I then pulled the engine off the dinghy, drained the oil (well, oil-water mixture) and put some fresh oil in. He took out the spark plug and got the water out of the cylinder, and sprayed the wires with WD40. He emptied one jerry jug of diesel into the fuel tank so we could transfer the bad dinghy gas to the jerry jug, and refill the dinghy gas tank from our gas jerry jug adding gas treatment. We pumped gas through the carburetor with its drain plug out until the water was out and gas was running out. Then Bud put the plug back in the carburetor, the spark plug back in the cylinder and the wires back on. He pulled the starting cord a few times, and miraculously, the engine started. Because it was up on its mount on the stern rail and not in the water where it could pump in cooing water, he could only run it for a minute. He wanted to leave the engine cover off to let it dry out, but it might rain tonight, so he put the cover back on. That was enough for tonight.

We came inside and ate beans and rice instead of the food at Chez Pierre’s (which we heard may be the best restaurant in the Bahamas).

Tomorrow we get to put the engine back on the dinghy so we can run it until it’s hot, then pull it off again and change the oil again. We probably get to do that whole thing at least one more time after that. Bud is tired tonight; he’ll be exhausted tomorrow!