Some days are better than others

Some days you wake up and you just know it is not going to be a good day. Well today is one of those days…

It started when I drew water for coffee this morning. The water ran then stopped. The pump would not come on. A quick investigation showed a fuse had blown… I replaced the fuse and it worked okay then. Wonder what happened??

It was a restless sleep last night. After dark the wind increased and it got kind of bouncy in the anchorage -- more a surge than waves. Not terrible just irritating. The wind finally seemed to lay down after midnight and it wasn’t too bad. Just glad we didn’t try one of our alternative anchorages down south – it would have been bad.

Once I got moving this morning and did the BASRA weather net I realized there is going to be more wind than previously forecast – thus plans needed to be changed. We decided to head back to Marsh Harbour where it would be protected and we could do some provisioning in case we go north of Whale Cay this weekend.

I had trouble getting the anchor up. First the chain wrapped on the stub of the CQR that I had hanging and I had to clear that. Then I pulled the Delta in using the windlass until I reached the chain and then had to go hand over hand with the help from the helm. It did not go well and at one point I pulled the chain from the bow roller into the space between the 2 bow rollers and the chain jammed. I couldn’t free it so I just bypassed and pulled the chain up without the bow roller. Once underway I still couldn’t clear the jammed chain and had to resort to a hammer!!

AS we passed by Matt Lowe Cay the water was calm but once facing South MOW cut we saw 20 – 22 kts of wind and 2 –3 foot seas nearly on the bow. We were splashing a lot of water on the enclosure – this was unexpected.

We continued on and it was rough to Point Set Rock then we turned for Marsh and had it all on the stern and it was just a bit rolly. Once in the harbour it was relatively calm.

The anchorage was not crowded because several boats had already left for Great Guana Cay to anchor for the Barefootman concert on Friday – good luck it would have been rough today and more wind is expected tonight and tomorrow now.

We anchored with no difficulty and the big ol CQR stuck the first time here in Marsh. Good thing because I did not want that headache.

I tried to get my conch salad but the conch man had taken the day off. For some reason he doesn’t like working when it blows hard or is cold.

We relaxed and had a leisurely lunch. Then Karen noticed the water flow in the aft head sink was no go. Hmmm worked everywhere else – I’ll investigate later. Also the fresh water pump was not pumping like it used to and the foot pump was acting strange.


We went to the grocery and picked up a few things. On the way Karen stepped in a depression along the road and hurt her foot!! Not terrible and she walked it off.

Back on the boat I troubleshot the water system – made no sense. Would not pump now at all, even the foot pump would not pump, and the aft head sink faucet was clogged with fine sediment… I disconnected hoses and blew into them and verified a clear path and put it all back together and it works fine.. What’s going on??? Time will tell.

Now that Karen relaxed her foot hurts – what’s wrong with that?? I told you it is just not a good day.. That and on the radio we here the alert going up at Great Guana Cay for a boat already dragging anchor up there and it is not crowded yet!!

I suspect our plans are changing again now.