Lounge Lobster
05 August 2010 | Marsh Harbor, Abacos, Bahamas
Captain Chris
Linda stands at the point where Treasure Cay stretches towards Whale Cay and the Atlantic.
OK, so we're not exactly Lounge Lizards. Perhaps it's more like Lounge or go for Lobsters. We went for walks on the beach and did a few projects while visiting Treasure Cay. The water is a light blue/green for as far as the eye can see, as I'm sure you've seen from the pictures in the album. The reason for this is a huge sand bar that makes it impossible to transit the Sea of Abaco from Green Turtle Cay to Great Guana Cay without going outside into the Atlantic. The sand bar makes it very picturesque and great for frolicking in the water, or just strolling along the shore. It also seems that that part of the island had more rain showers than we were used to, so it was easy to say "we don't want to leave in the rain" and wait another day. We did wind up leaving in the rain anyway. We got the awnings down while things were dry, but it started to drizzle as we pulled up to the fuel dock. I got the diesel fuel going while Linda started filling the water tanks. We hadn't bought fuel or water since mid-June, before we left Lake Worth, so we had a few tanks to fill.
I put 70 gallons in the diesel tank through a "Baja" filter, which separates out water and sediment. People with horror stories about bad fuel often recommend using one. I think the power boat behind me took on about 400 gallons as I squirted some fuel into the funnel, waited for the level to go down, then squirted another half a gallon into the funnel. I did see a drop or two of water left in the funnel when I was done, it was probably from the rain. The diesel was yellow, not pink and it was heavier smelling than diesel fuel in the states. The odor reminded me of refueling on Navy ships, taking on DFM (that would be Diesel Fuel, Marine). We'll see how it burns.
The water smelled and tasted good, despite being "well" water instead of reverse osmosis (RO) water. We filter the water onboard, so we weren't too worried. This was one of the reasons to fuel at Treasure Cay, they charge a flat rate for water instead of by the gallon. We filled the tanks for about $0.04 per gallon. For comparison, Orchid Bay marina charges $0.40 per gallon for RO water. Oh, and Treasure Cay doesn't have a surcharge for credit cards, saving 5%.
With Troubadour's tanks full, we took off for Baker's Bay, on the north end of Great Guana Cay. We found a good spot to anchor, along with some mega-yachts and their toys, and relaxed for the afternoon. The next morning we took off in the dinghy and found one of the dive balls on the reef. Our first excursion since lobster season opened, we were anxious to try our hand. Linda spotted one lobster mostly hidden in a hole, which I promptly missed. Oh well, no beginners luck. I'm sure we'll have more opportunities, although the reefs here seem to be pretty picked over as far as lobster and decent size edible fish.
With no lobster, it was hot dogs for lunch and then a sail back to Marsh Harbor, directly upwind. We got in a few good tacks and were within two miles when the wind died totally, forcing us to start the "diesel wind" and furl the sails. We motored right into our preferred spot in the anchorage, in a ten foot deep "hole" where we don't have to worry about scraping bottom at low tide. We'll do some grocery shopping today, then head ashore tonight to wait for my sister Lindy to arrive via plane, then do it all over again!