Finally underway again...

Finally cut the cord again!! We left Hope town this morning.

The wind forecast was lively at 15 –18kt but from the NE it would be fine at Great Guana Cay. We left a little after 8am to catch what was left of High Tie to get out. The trip was fairly flat motor sailing past Man-O-War cay but when we went from Man-o-war to Scotland cay the wind piped up to the mid 20s and really heeled us over. I tried to sail into it and shorten he jib but too much pressure. Was not pretty for awhile and all the loose stuff went flying.. Me bad-- I know better but several days in protected harbor makes you lazy.

I finally took all way off from the engine and just with a Genny out was doing 6.2 kts but flatter. Once in the lee of Scotland cay everything was back under control.

We had a little trouble rolling the genoa up but got it under control and the anchor stuck on the first try which is great for this area. There were just a couple of boats here and not crowded at all. Later about 5 more boats came in and anchored. One was Celtic Cross. Now they had trouble getting the hook to stick – a Danforth. The bottom here is grass and hard sand which is difficult. Once Ian had the hook down he came over and discussed the anchoring difficulty. I told him not t feel bad because this is a tough place to anchor. Once it took me 7 tries to get an anchor – a CQR – to stick.

While were talking the captain of Carolina Breeze – Larry – came over and invited us to cocktails. Can’t pass that up so we went over to their CSY which is immaculate and we visited with him and his wife Cathy, Rick from Sojourner, and Jerry and terry from Free Spirit.

A great evening and great conversation. It’s what cruising is all about.

Sorry for the late post but the cocktails needed work tonight.

Tomorrow we will walk the beach here and hang out at Nipper awhile and meet the visitors that are now aboard Celtic Cross with Ian and Sharon.

Still Groov'in in Hope Town

What a wuss!! Yep that’s me. It was very cool (I know better than to say cold to my audience), overcast, and windy this morning. To get out of here on the tide we needed to leave by 8am. Sooo another day spent in Hope Town.

We put it to good use. Karen baked a couple of loaves of bread and I got the fixings to make Bahamian Chicken Souse for dinner tonight.

After lunch we went to the Wyannie Malone Museum here. It was very cool. Unfortunately the 20 minute movie on DVD did not work so we couldn’t see it. The displays were very tasteful, neat, and informative. You get a real glimpse of life here in Hope Town in yesteryear.

Now on the flip side they had several pieces of space shuttle debris collected from the beach in 1995. They didn’t say which shuttle but I suspect it was the Challenger disaster in I think 1986. The Columbia was 2003 so I don’t know of another.. It was definitely spacecraft parts. Really kind of eerie seeing these in a historical museum.

If you get a chance I would recommend a visit to the museum.

Mmmmm I think my Chicken Souse is ready so time to eat.. enjoy the pics -- hey I want one of those sponger’s hats.

BRRRRRR!

Just a cold day in paradise. Brrrr the high today was only 59 but with the wind it is probably 49. Folks are dressed for winter here. I’m surprised there are so many warm clothes even available here.

The morning started on a sad note. The 37 foot Tayana Merrygold washed up on a beach in Trinidad this morning. The one person aboard was found deceased. They have been looking for this boat since January 19 when it was overdue in Barbados.

We didn’t do much today. With the blowing wind and cool temps we just stayed aboard most of the day. Just did some more cleaning and organizing a couple of large drawers and a couple of lockers.

Really didn’t do much reading today. Just kind of down because of the wind and overcast skies. Spent more time surfing the internet then I care to admit to. Nothing but bad economic news, and more stories about Nortel – none good.

Well hopefully we will get out of here tomorrow. Hope Town is nice but we are tired of it now. Depending on the winds we might go to Treasure Cay, Great Guana Cay, or Marsh Harbor in that order of preference --- and – maybe stay here another day.

You all keep warm. We will try to here.

NOTE:: all pictures were taken when temperature was at the high of 59 degrees today!!

WINDY!!

Ohhh yes it is windy this afternoon!!! It is blowing 20 – 25 with gusts to 30+. Some folks in Marsh Harbour have clocked gusts to 35. We heard the call go out to 2 boats that they were dragging over there!! Ohh that is unsettling. One of the 2 is the boat that ran aground at Great Sale Cay – Elsa. Now I know how. They are a 53 foot Pearson with a 7 foot draft.. They were complaining about the sand being stirred up under them -- At low tide many areas are 7 – 8 feet in there.

We are doing okay here in Hope Town. The harbour shields us from the worst of the wind but still we are moving around a lot. Even when on a mooring one worries about the integrity of the mooring and the lines connected to it.

We spent the day reading and dusting. Just amazing how much dust this boat has collected spending all it’s time on the water!!

Only made one trip to the Library today to return a book. Nothing interesting to check out. We thought about going back in this afternoon but it was going to be an issue to leave the dinghy at any of the public docks in this wind.

Oh the wind generator is loving it. When it gusts to near 25kts the amps output hit 25 unfortunately I can’t let it run too long or it overheats and the coils open up and she gets into a scary free run mode – very loud and very fast. I’ve been running it about 20 minutes on and 30 minutes off to keep from the free run mode. The batteries have finally reached a fully charged state today too.. That has been a long time in coming.

Well not much else to report – definitely plan to stay aboard tonight and expect somewhat lighter winds tomorrow. Unfortunately it will be Friday before it really dies down to a comfortable level for me. I guess it will be just a couple more evenings on a mooring here.

Not everyone is intimidated by these winds. Two Sunsail charters came in and one left. I was surprised that anyone in a small boat was moving around here today.

Society Life in HopeTown

Yes it was good to be on a secure mooring last night. Just as always at 2:45am I was jostled awake by heavy rain and strong gusty winds. Fortunately the worst passed in about 20 minutes then just sporadic showers until early morning.

Now today the wind settled down for awhile but has been increasing this afternoon as the second cold front passes in the next 4 – 6 hours. Hey – keep these things up north!!

I went to the Library to return the book I borrowed yesterday and mentioned to the volunteer librarian – apparently a different one every day – that there was a nice section in there with nice photos of HopeTown. She was not much interested. Then I pointed to the terrible shape the book was in and that I found some used copies online at very inexpensive prices. I asked for a mailing address of the library and offered to procure a copy of this book plus the 2 I was looking for and donating them to the library when I returned home. I was flabbergasted when she said “please do not send any books. We have too many as it is”. I was speechless. She was culling some books out and said she had found several from the 70s that she was going to throw away. Ohh boy this one was from 1949 and looks horrible – I guess I know it’s future – too bad.

Well anyway to get some exercise I wandered the town a bit and took today’s interesting pictures. I need to ask someone about this “Burial Society”?!!

The Sailing club is very active here. They have races every week weather permitting and a cruising boat race every couple of weeks. Entry is available to everyone. You do not need to be a club member to race and the entries are FREE.. Now that is an enthusiastic sailing club.

Well time to hunker down for the next cold front – due probably in the wee hours once again.

These fronts are called “cold front” but they really only depress the temps less than 10 degrees. It’s the strong wind that accompanies them that is problematical.

"Fish like bad mans..."

Let it not be said that I’m not “balanced” in my appreciation of Bahamian women. Today’s picture is from a picture circa 1949 of a couple of ladies from Hopetown Abaco.

I found it and several others in a book I took out from the Hopetown Library. It is probably the most tattered book in the place and thus must have been very well read.

Actually it is great. The title is “BAHAMA ISLANDS” by J. Linton Rigg Copyright 1949 – not sure if it is still in effect after so many years. It is a book of what he found in the late 40s while cruising the Bahama Islands. It is great and full of great quotes. Some of my favorite:

Under the section – Fitting out the boat—
“As Sherman Hoyt says ‘you have to stand the awful nights to get the lovely days’”.

Under reef fishing a quote from the guide Moxey “Fish like bad mans – stay in their home in daytime – but at night they walk all over and visit around”.

Under Bahama cooking: :When you live in a place where there are no theatres, movies, or television sets, no drug stores, soda fountains, newspapers, magazines, no automobiles, football, or baseball games, in fact no amusements of any sort except those you manufacture yourself, the act of eating becomes more than a necessity, it becomes one of the major pleasures of life.”

It’s a wonderful book and several great pictures of the Bahamas from circa 1940s and wonderful descriptions of the various islands especially interesting are Green Turtle Cay, Man-O-War, and Hopetown.

Other than exploring the small library here and reading this great book – we balanced it with doing laundry – again. Two loads worth. Never a fun but necessary job here.

OHHH the Super Bowl – who won. I don’t know. We went for half time and were greatly disappointed in the show. The few commercials we saw were terrible. The only really good thing was the play where an interception was retuned 100yds – that was cool but ohhh did he fall hard on his head…

Then again we haven’t really seen any TV since October 10th – the day before we left. Obviously we haven’t missed much but ohh the commercials are terrible – Aliens vs monsters!!! Absurd!!!

Well enjoy the pics today and I’ll see if I can find another “treasure” in the library tomorrow once the rain ends -- cold front – strong one – coming through during the wee hours tonight. Why is always the middle of the night???

Super Bowl in the Bahamas

Superbowl Sunday in Hopetown.. Yes we decided to stay a few more days here and weather this next series of cold fronts coming through Tomorrow and Wednesday.

Super Bowl fever has not quite gripped the area yet -- Only Captain Jack’s has added a couple of TV’s and they are the smallest saloon here. I suspect we will have just a quite dinner aboard and then maybe wander over to Captain Jack’s about half time to catch the show. Hey I don’t even know who is playing tonight??

Today was just a nice easy Sunday with just a few chores. I’m wearing out my Blue jeans and I only brought 2 pairs – I originally thought one would be enough!! Anyway we pulled the sewing machine out and Karen repaired those and 2 pairs of shorts – weak seams I guess. They get a great workout not from my GIRTH but from all the hyper extending one does climbing on and off boats and docks. I’ve actually lost weight but no idea how much.

So just a little sewing and Karen baked a couple of loaves of bread too – real killer.

I think since we expect to be here at least 3 more nights I’ll go the library tomorrow and get my card. They let transients check books out here. There are a couple of Bahamian books I want to read but to buy them would be $50. I’m cheap – what can I say.


Ohhh today is February 1st!! I’ll attach a picture from my Kalik 2009 calendar – enjoy.