The Berry Islands
18 January 2019 | Soldier Cay
After clearing into customs/immigration at the picnic table at the marina we went and washed down the boat along with a much deserved anchor beer. Marina is very nice and the people are awesome here so we are really glad we stopped, but not sure of the future at this point since the forecast for the next week out is not the greatest, but the next couple of days look good. Our friends on Wayward Sun Cat (we are now Wayward Sun Ketch) got into Great Harbour Cay around 10am Tuesday morning. Great to see them and lots to catch up on, but lots to do before that. I got our laundry done in the morning, Capt'n and Capt'n Tim from WSC took the dinghy over to the fuel dock to fill up on diesel and drop me off for a closer hike to Batelco to get a sim card. We spotted Michele on our way back getting ready to go for a bike ride so we joined in with her and Allison, from the boat All In, and took a ride to the beach. Happy Hour (HH) on WSC later with everyone to decide where to go from here. Plans were to leave in the morning and anchor right outside the cut then head for Soldier Cay on Thursday. All went well leaving and getting anchored around noon on Wed - except our dinghy excursion later on when WSC dinghy motor crapped out on the way back - so we towed them back with the little, but mighty Selma T.
Winds were forecast to be light on Thursday, for our sail to Soldier Cay, but they were nothing near light, but a decent direction from the E. Had a good sail up to Great Stirrup, but had to motor across the top into some slightly rough seas. Sailing south on the other side we were seeing 20 knots of wind and with WS's new genny and main she was more than slightly heeled over, little rough but a good sail. Bilge pump came on, taking on water through the hawse pip that leads to the second anchor chain in the anchor locker. Normally I panic and start going nuts about it, but I'm finally used to it when we are healed so far over and the waves are breaking over the bow. Capt'n had to fix it as, of course, it got stuck on. So almost at Soldier Cay anchorage and Capt'n goes to start the motor and nothing. There is a toggle switch that sometimes gets switched off by mistake, but wasn't making a difference. Oh great another problem (as all our old and new cruising friends know - the definition of cruising: fixing your boat in exotic places). The only good thing is the entrance to the anchorage is not tricky and would be easy to anchor under sail if we had to. Went below and swear I could hear clicking, so we switched and Capt'n went below. I tried to start it, nothing but the toggle switch was turned - so moved it and started right up and has started every time after we tried. Asked him what he did and he said nothing, but it started right up that time. Had the problem last year, Capt'n changed the ignition switch when we got back and have never had a problem since, until now - of course, when we are anchoring off a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully, we can figure this out once and for all, Capt'n has been checking things out and swears I didn't hear clicking, hope not. Either way, we got anchored behind a beautiful beach, nice walk on the beach and then Happy Hour (HH) on WSC with them and Allison and Bob from All In. Awesome HH - great food, friends and drinks!
So Friday morning the ladies went kayaking and checked out some islands nearby while the WS Capt'ns went spearfishing to bring us back dinner. Kayaking was great - nice time and can't beat walking on the deserted beaches here in the Berries. However, we are having leftovers for dinner tonight...
Saturday (Jan 19) we will move to an anchorage a little north of us to get protection from this next front. It's forecast to be pretty bad so we need really good protection from the worst wind direction, which will be from the SW & W and WNW. Not sure what after that as the rest of the week winds are high and not in the best directions for us to travel further south.