Oh woe is me -- trip is on indefinite hold

I'm still back at my marina in New Bern, NC. Engine trouble.

I thought I should better troubleshoot the mild antifreeze leak here rather than on the way and have to stop at another marina and pay 80 - 100 dollars a day while effecting repairs and/or awaiting repair parts.

Well I got back and was sure the leak was coming out of the fresh water circulation pump due to the antifreeze seen in the mat under the engine -- directly under the pump however, there was no sign of a leak on the pump.

Saturday morning I thought I would get started and remove the pump. In preparation to drain the antifreeze I removed the mat and I found it covered on the underside on the port side with antifreeze! The deepest puddle was under the area below that circulation pump so now I was not sure it was the pump. In describing the findings to some "dock loafers" I was reminded that the absorption mats do not absorb water -- only oil!! Aaaack that was it. The antifreeze dripped from somewhere right through the mat and collected at the lowest point which was directly under the cooling pump.

I decided more investigation was necessary. I cleaned the catch pan and lined it with plain white paper towels. I then ran the boat in the slip for an hour and no leak appeared. After lunch I went out on the river and ran the boat hard for another 2 hours and still no leak. I thought one other thing I could do was discharge the house batteries very low and then take the boat out and with a heavy load on the alternator belt -- which also turns the circulation pump -- maybe the leak would then appear.

Sunday morning I took the boat out on the river and ran it hard up to Union Point in New Bern and anchored for lunch then returned to the marina. Still no leak. Grrrr. Monday morning still no leak showed. I decided to order the new pump and just take it with me -- they promised me the pump on Tuesday. I checked the catch pan again Monday night and no leak.

Well Tuesday morning while waiting for the pump to be delivered I did some small cleaning tasks and just as an after thought checked for the leak --- damn some paper towels were wet with antifreeze!! They were on the port side near the rear of the engine. After looking very hard I found a drip hanging from a freeze plug at the rearmost position of the exhaust manifold. It was difficult to view since it was upside down and only 2 inches clearance under it. It was badly corroded and no way could it be replaced in position. The exhaust manifold would have to be removed.

Well I wasn't doing anything today and I have never undertook a major diesel repair before. However having rebuilt 6 car engines and 4 automatic transmissions over the last 30 years I thought I could tackle this project. It went surprising well for an old fat man. I forgot that when I had done those other projects I was much younger and probably 40 lbs lighter and much more flexible. Ohh well.

Once it was out I ordered all the parts I'll need to replace all 8 of the freeze plugs in the unit and associated hoses and gaskets, and I'll clean the heat exchanger since it is integrated into the the exhaust manifold housing. I'll do that from home since I have all the necessary tools in my garage. Karen will come get me tomorrow so I'll be working from home these next week to 2 weeks. At that time I'll decide if we continue the trip. I might just scrub the trip for this season.

This morning I was looking at the box with the new circulation pump and trying to decide where to store it when it occurred to me -- why stow it? The current unit is 24 years old and has 3000 hours on it. Probably not far from failure anyway so I decided to "stow" it on the engine... Yep I removed the old one today and will take it home so I can transfer two hose bibs to the new pump and then paint it to match the engine.. I like fresh paint.

No Progress today

Before leaving Cedar Creek this morning -- I was delayed by FOG anyway -- I checked over the engine and found antifreeze in the catch pan below the engine. The source is the shaft of the fresh water pump.

Well I could probably go on but it will only get worse and then I'll be at the mercy of the marina wherever I have to stop at or be towed to. I elected to return to my marina and order the parts and install.

Well Yanmar dealers are fat cats!! I called one national distributor and they were closed at 3:15pm on a Friday afternoon. I found a local dealer but he said he would have to get back to me on Monday.

Nothing else will happen quickly around here right now. This must be the height of the fall migration. The marine radio is full of calls for tows and slips at the various marinas around here. Lots of money being spent in this area right now.

The weather was still perfect so I had a nice ride back to the marina and an easy arrival with no dock lines still attached. I was thankful for that.

Tomorrow I'll remove the pump and make sure I have an accurate inventory of what else I'll need in addition to the pump assembly like hoses, gaskets, etc. I like that word etc.

1ST day of another cruise to the Bahamas

Yep we are a GO for another season in the Bahamas. I left North West Creek this morning and headed south -- actually I only went about 10 miles then pulled into Wayfarer's Cove Marina and Boatyard to have the boat hauled for about an hour. I messed up the adjustment on my adjustable prop this summer and need to change it for this trip. As it was I was only doing 6.0 - 6.2 kts at 2400 RPM but now I'm doing 6.6kts at 2300 with plenty of room to go faster if needed.

Once that was done I went to Cedar Creek to anchor. I called it a day about 1:30pm today.

I left at 7:45am for a 9:30am appointment at Wayfarers for the haulout. The water was really shallow getting in this morning. I used to draw 5'3" but with the boat fully provisioned and all tanks full of water, diesel, and gas I now draw about 5'7" -- I know because I bumped going into the marina when the depth reached 5'7".

I was whipped after dealing with the shallow water anxiety, the narrow marina, and racing to get the prop disassembled, adjusted, and back on in 30 minutes. The marina had them lined up for the travel lift today

Well not much else. Spent the afternoon stowing more stuff and checking equipment. Tomorrow should be either a short day to Spooners Creek or a long day to Mile Hammock bay -- just depends on what kind of current I have and when I reach Spooners Creek.

We were not planning to go this season but circumstances changed over the summer and we could either stay home and vegetate like typical retired seniors or go on another adventure to the Bahamas. Short decision there. The coldest day we saw in the Abacos last winter was 57 degrees an it warmed to 70 degrees. Not that I'm bragging.

Back Home Today

We made it back to our home port of Northwest Creek Marina early this afternoon. This ends our Bahamas Cruise of 2014/15 -- 7 months and 5 days.

We have had a great two day run these last 2 days. From Wrightsville to Mile Hammock and we had a favorable -- very favorable tide with us all the way. We did the trip in only 6 hours and were the first ones into Mile Hammock so we had total anchoring rights -- naturally I anchored right smack in the middle.. The bridges opened with little delay and we just moved along. The only rough spot was the New River Inlet. We were going to hit it about 1 hour before low tide. The charts were showing 1 foot below datu!! New moon affect. The Active captain said only 4 feet at low water. I thought we would have to anchor and wait for the tide change and a rise of 2 feet or about a 4 hour delay. There were 2 trawlers ahead of us -- both passed me earlier -- so I hailed one and asked that he mark the depths for me as he went through. He said the lowest he saw was 7 feet and we were about 20 minutes behind him. When we "crawled through" -- better to hit bottom at a slow speed -- I stayed about 60 feet away from the red marks -- favoring the green side -- and saw nothing less than 8.9 feet. We made it through. Spent a nice comfortable afternoon in Mile Hammock and only 4 other boats joined us.

Yesterday we left at 6:15 am to catch the camp Lejuene swing bridge and run Browns Inlet with its legendary "S-Curve through the marks". We made it okay but the current was tough and tried to sweep us into the shallows. After that it was another fast run to Morehead City where we decided to go to the Morehead City Yacht Basin and tie up for the day. The current was going to be against us up Adams Creek and we wanted to celebrate.

We enjoyed an Art Festival and boat show on the Morehead City Waterfront -- took luxuriating showers at the lounge, and had a fine dinner at Floyd's Restaurant.

Today we left about 6:30am to catch a favorable current up Adams Creek and boy did we. It was 6.8 - 7.2 kts all the way to the Neuse. Then we slowed down to 6.2kts because 15 kts of wind on the nose to the Ferry Crossing then 6.4 all the way to NWCM. Got in at NOON.. Nice run!

It has been a great cruise this year and I'm ready to go again.. Well after repairs are done to the boat. Nothing too major but it all takes time and I heard that neither my truck or tractor will start at home so work is cut out for me.

We will stay here at the Marina until Thursday when we can get a ride home via Matthew!! Time to start cleaning the boat and packing to leave.
NOTE -- winter clothes have been packed since DECEMBER -- eat your hearts out.

Cape Fear River -- How I Loathe Thee

The Cape Fear area has smitten me again..

I've made I think 5 trips along the Cape Fear River thus 10 legs. Of those 10 legs only 2 can be called enjoyable.

We had a great run on Wednesday from Osprey MArina to Pipeline Canal near Southport, NC. We had the current with us most of the day. A great feeling after that SLOW passage from Georgetown to OSprey the day before. We left Osprey early and had the hook down in Pipeline just 6 hours later. It was nice there in spite of the small boat traffic to the public launch ramp. The evening was fine and settled and we got off before 6:30am the following day to run the Cape FEar. Forecast was for wind 10 - 15NE and 2 hours of a favorable current. NOT! As we approached the Cape FEar near Southport we felt the wind gusts. We entered the Cape FEar and had 20-25 kts of wind on the nose and the current had already changed. We were doing about 4.2kts and taking spray over the bow. I put up with that for about 10 minutes then turned around and went back to Pipeline Canal to wait for the current to change and the wind to lie down. Low tide was about 11:15am so we waited to nearly 1pm to leave on the rising tide with about 2 feet of tide up. The Canal looked fine with 8 - 10 feet of water. I expected no problem leaving the shallow mouth when suddenly we hit hard on I suspect the submerged dam which should have had 2 feet of water over it. Man we were stuck. We tried to power forward and back to no avail. Seatow went by with grins on their face -- I suspect they were awaiting an assistance call. I put out some sail but could not move the rudder. Why was it stuck!! I horsed it and then set the autopilot and we both went to the bow of the boat to take pressured off the rudder. We had some passing boat wake and then after 10 m minutes we got off. However -- the autopilot would no longer lock down.. Damn.. Something must have stripped in it.

I checked the bilge and it was dry. I checked the bilge cycle counter than rechecked several times and it had not run. Fortunately we were not taking on water. We finally entered the Cape Fear River with the wind blowing 15 - 20kts and some robust waves but our speed over ground was 6.8 kts with the current. We sailed on and arrived tired and broken in Wrightsville around 5:30pm. Man it was packed but we found a nice anchor spot.

Friday we just stayed put and relaxed some. I checked over the steering gear and the Autopilot. The linear drive was definitely free wheeling now. It will have to be disassembled to determine the extend of the damage. Damn...

We enjoyed Wrightsville and walked the beach. It was crowded for a Friday afternoon with mostly 20 something students. A far cry for all the old folks we have been rubbing elbows with these last 7 months.

I bought some fresh shrimp from Motts Sea Food and had a great snack.

This morning we left early like 6:20am to make the Wrightsville BEach Bascule bridge and catch the current to Figure Eight Island Bridge. Boy that worked nicely. The Wrightsville open on demand and we hit the Figure Eight with only 10 minutes to kill. We then had the current with us all day probably averaging 7kts over ground. We hit the Surf City bridge with 25 minutes to kill but a barge came along and they opened early. Then on to mile Hammock Bay but we were going to cross the NEw River Inlet near Low Tide -- not good. Especially since we were having a spring tide due to New Moon and the tide was going to be nearly a foot under the Mean Lower Low Water. We arrived about 1 hour before low tide. Two trawlers had gone through about 20 minutes before us and I called them to see what they had seen. They saw the shallowest was 7 feet. I thought about stopping at the Swan Point Marin but it looked really run down. We ran the Inlet. And to my surprise by staying about 60 - 80 feet to the green side of the red can buoys I saw nothing less that 8.9 feet.

We entered Mile Hammock Bay early like 12 noon but that was due to the favorable current and hitting the bridges just right.

We are the first boat in the anchorage today and will enjoy this. Tomorrow we leave about high tide and will run the troublesome Browns Inlet with nearly high tide water -- hope it is enough.

As a note -- I wanted to dive on the keel of the boat at Wrightsville but the water was too opaque to make it worth while. Since we are not taking on water it will hold to we haul the boat in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow we hope to make Cedar Creek Anchorage and Northwest Creek Marina -- home port -- Monday morning.

Wish us luck.

Torture and Jubilation

Yesterday was a "Tortuous" travel day. We left Georgetown about one and half hours before low tide thinking the incoming high tide would catch up to us. It didn't. I wanted to leave early because of the prospect of thunderstorms in the afternoon. The timing was our undoing.

We had current against us ALL DAY. Strong current too. Our speed ranged between 4.8 and 5.2 kts with no respite. It took us from about 9am to 2:30pm to travel about 30 miles through the Waccamaw River. A beautiful place but couldn't really be enjoyed at such a SLOW pace.

We stopped at the Osprey MArina for fuel and water and tied up for the night. It was HOT with a high of 94 degrees. Boy the AC felt great.

This morning we left early about 6:45am to catch a few hours of the rising tide. It was Great.. We had a favorable -- very favorable current all the way to about 4 miles before Little River Inlet or about 30 miles. Once across the inlet the current was against us till we crossed Shalotte Inlet then we had it with us, again against us just before Lockwood Folly Inlet then with us to about Southport then against us again. Overall it was very favorable and we did 64 miles -- our longest run this trip in the ICW in about 8 and half hours .. had the anchor down in Pipeline Canal by 3:30pm.

Tomorrow a short 28 mile up to Wrightsville beach but can't leave until after 10:30am to catch a favorable current up the Cape Fear River. You do not want to fight that current.

Today the high was low 80s and tonight it is supposed to be in the mid 50s -- great sleeping weather.

Was there a Tropical Storm Ana?

We made it to Charleston City Marina last Wednesday. Fortunately they had a slip for us so we didn't have to suffer "storm" conditions on the MegaDock. We had planned to stay 3 days which then turned into nearly 5 because of the forecast for Tropical Storm Ana.

In retrospect there was no tropical storm. We didn't have much of anything. A little rain Friday night then some on Saturday. No winds above 20kts, in spite of the forecast for gusts to 40 -- didn't happen.

Charleston is a nice city and we enjoy it. Didn't do much other than shopping in the markets and a dismal supper at the marina restaurant. I took long hot showers everyday to get some of my money's worth out of the slip rental -- 100 bucks a day!!

The forecast on Sunday was for likely storms and wind gusts to 40 kts. It sure didn't look that way Sunday morning so we left. We had a nice crossing of Charleston Harbour in winds less than 10kts and once in the ICW we had the current with us all the way. We hit all the trouble spots within 2 hours of high tide -- on the following side -- but no real issues -- just had to stay in the channel. We were helped by the fact that high tide in McClenanville was 1 hour later than Charleston so we cruised on through.

South Santee River is a very nice anchorage however the bugs are terrible. This morning when I looked into the cockpit there were so many mosquitos flying around I though I was in that commercial where the guy plunges his bare arm into a clear plastic bag full of mosquitos. I dressed in long pants and long shirt and sprayed OFF on all exposed skin. I told Karen to stay below behind the screens until we hit Winyah Bay. That worked but it was so annoying having all those bugs flying around me.

We had a nice short run in to Georgetown, SC where we anchored on the waterfront. Launched the dinghy and did a lightning trip to a Piggly Wiggly for fresh lettuce and Karen stayed and shopped. We had lunch at the Riverfront restaurant then back in the boat to watch some thunderstorms come through. Fortunately none too bad because the holding here is not good.

Tomorrow we will do a late departure to catch the tide through the Waccamaw River to Osprey Marina. We will top the fuel off and plug in. It is just too buggy to be anchoring in the Waccamaw right now.

A real Lady and ever so slowly

We are still sailing our plan and made Bull Creek easily. We had a favorable current most of the day. Bull Creek was a nice anchorage except it being a Sunday we had to endure a lot of small boat traffic and accompanying wakes -- there is a marina further up the river.

The next day we had a great run to Beaufort, SC. We had a favorable current all the way across both Calibogue Sound and Port Royal Sound. We made Beaufort around 10:30am. We thought about picking up a mooring at the City MArina but then would have to time the departure in the morning with the Lady Island Bridge schedule. We have heard folks rave about the LAdy Island Marina on the other side of the bridge and found they could accommodate us for one night. We took it.

TJ the Dockmaster met us at the dock and helped land us in a strong current. Once tied up and checked in which was a very pleasant process we had some lunch on board. Checking the literature they gave us we found that they had everything from drug stores, food stores, hardware stores, Laundromat, eateries all within 1 mile of the marina. No wonder folks rave about this place. We took a walk and took it all in. We stopped at the Publixs for some fresh veggies and lunch meat, checked both drug stores for the electronic fly swatter we had heard about from Madeline -- found one at Rite Aid and then back to the boat. We had dinner at the restaurant there called Dockside with John and Madeline from Chanceaux -- ohhh they beat us here because they went offshore for a while but found it uncomfortable and came into Port Royal the day before.

The shower and bathroom facilities are first rate -- very nice. Wish we could have stayed longer but because of the bad weather forecast for latter in the week they had reservations to honor and we had to leave -- we will be back.

Today we had a VERY SLOW run to Church Creek in SC. WE left on a rising tide and had a fast 7kt run to the Coosaw River then had to run for hours against the tide for all of the Coosaw, channel cutoffs, South Edisto River and North Edisto River. n the North Edisto our speed was in the low 4kt range!!

Church creek is a nice anchorage but we had some strong sea breeze against a strong current which has us forward on our anchor tonight. Not dangerous but annoying and noisy. The wind should lay down after dark and we will swing to the current all night which we are looking forward to.

Tomorrow it is only 18 miles to Charleston but the current is strong and will be against us near the end. Ohh well.

Not sure how long we will stay. There is an unusually early strong low pressure system building Wednesday which could be come a names storm and may impact South Carolina. We need more info to decide to either weather it at Charleston or move on to Georgetown, SC and weather it there.

Today all the models are mixed with some calling for 30kt winds and others for only 5kts. hat's a girl to do. Hopefully we can make that call tomorrow after checking the latest forecast in the morning. Obviously cruising is not as easy as sitting around and chewing the Lotus leaves.

Moving with a vengence!

We finally left Saint Augustine on Thursday. Finally... The NOAA forecaster and Chris Parker have cost me some dollars. They have both been painting horrible weather these last several days (that's why we stayed in the marina) and virtually none has happened here... I'm just going to move inspite of the forecasts.

Thursday we had a nice day planned to travel to Fort George to anchor for the night. Well it didn't work out. We arrived at Fort George about 45 minutes before low tide and I could not get in. I tried 4 times and ran aground four times -- gently though and got off by ourselves. Victoria Gaye caught up and we decided to continue to Fernandina. A long days travel of 63 miles vs the 43 planned for Fort George. We did well until we hit the South Amelia river at low tide. I ran aground in charted 13 feet of water, got off ran aground again and waited. Victoria Gaye tried to find the water and ran aground twice then found some deeper water. I tried to get there but I was stuck. I could see deeper water just a few feet in front but the keel was on the bottom. I put out some sail and backed it rocking the boat and with the engine SCREAMING finally got off. The boats that went around us were complaining of bouncing in places. We anchored for about 45 minutes till the tide came up about 2 feet then went on. It was dicey and slow but we made it to Fernandina -- a nearly 12 hour travel day.

We pow wow and thought that going out front to Charleston would not work in the short term. I decided to move on in the inside. We left early Friday morning and had a good ride to St Andrews sound -- it was a bit rough and we took a lot of spray to the windows and top sides. Once in Jeykel Creek we were 2 hours from low tide and tried to pass. It was tough in places and quite shallow but we made it with out running aground. We had planned to go to "Wally's Leg" to anchor but gave it up early and anchored in the Frederica River. That was nice for awhile but the current changed direction and the wind picked up and we were driven forward on the anchor with waves from the aft end. Very uncomfortable but even with the Rocna short scooped and us doing nearly 360s and going forward on the anchor it held. Around dark the wind died and we had a nice evening.

Today we left early to hit the troublesome places of Buttermilk Sound and Little Mud River. Passed with plenty of water. We pressed on and passed 5 sounds today. Buttermilk, Altamaha, Doboy, Sapello, and St Catherines. It was a great day for the sounds with 10 kt or less wind from the NW. It was frustrating because when you pass a sound you get a push from the current in one direct and adverse in the other. Thus at one point you do 7.4 kts then 4.9 kts. We ran during low tide today but it occurred at none of the troublesome spots -- you just had to pay attention to depth and chart plotter to stay in the center of the charted channel. However there were a few places where the chart was wrong so you had to use best judgment.

Hopefully the 60+ mile days are done and we can get back to a conservative 40+ to 50 mile days.

Tomorrow we need to run Hells Gate but from this anchorage we will hit it just before high tide. The worry is we will hit Fields Cut and Elbow cut about 2 hours before low tide. If we get through okay then we will anchor at Bull Creek which is in South Carolina and Georgia will just be a memory

Surprise Surprise

Well not really. We are still in Saint Augustine waiting for some really poor weather to pass. The worst is expected today and tonight through tomorrow morning. A strong low pressure system is expected over New Orleans at mid day today and then move to over Fernandina by mid day tomorrow. Rather than just sit in some anchorages holed up from the rain for a couple of days we elected to just stay here in St Augustine until it passes. Much better weather is expected to build in Thursday and for the next several days so we should be able to make some real progress north, possibly even an offshore passage to Charleston -- we will see.

St Augustine Old Town area is really different on a weekday vs the weekend. It was quite quiet here yesterday. It was a cloudy day and quite comfortable with a high of only 78 degrees. Sunday the temps got up to 94 degrees -- thanks for the air conditioning. It was pleasant here plugged into the marina.

Let's see - Saturday we visited the Lightner Museum. It was very nice and surprisingly after I had to check my back pack they told me I could take my camera and take all the pictures I wanted. Now when has a museum offered you that?

We hope to take advantage of the lay days today and tomorrow and get some chores done and a visit to a grocery so come Thursday we can travel for several days without stopping. Still hope to be in North Carolina by mid May.

Oh yes we had a big surprise on Sunday. I was below looking out a hatch when I noticed a large sail boat backing into the slip next to us. This was very surprising because with the strong current in this Marina any movement is difficult and backing is usually not considered. Well I watched until I saw the helmsman and exclaimed "that's John and Madeline on Chanceaux!". Old friends from New Bern and haven't seen since December in Vero Beach.

Note -- John is known to back his boat in all conditions and he does it very well. It's like ol home now.

Northern Florida is Great

We have had 2 absolutely perfect travel days. We went from Daytona Beach to Palm Coast Marina yesterday under absolutely perfect weather. We had a very favorable tide part of the way too. The Temps and wind were ideal.

We got into the marina around 11:30am and easily tied up. After a quick lunch I had to tackle a very despicable job -- that Y-valve I cleaned and lubricated the other day is leaking and needs to be replaced! I hate sanitation plumbing.

I used one of those "chucks" or inconstancy pad rather than sacrifice a towel. Worked Great!!

The job was just as daunting as I thought, since I had to remove 3 1 1/2" hoses from the valve that had been on for 7 years. A lot of wiggle, screwdriver plying, and the heat gun got the job done. The new valve is working great with no leaks.

Karen and Vickie went to the Publix here by taxi and bought a few groceries -- mainly a cart full each for both of them!! Oh man we are going to undo all our weight loss from the Bahamas in short order.

After my job I went to Victoria Gaye to help Buck with his leaking fitting on the water heater. Boy that barb fitting was shot and nearly broke off. We had to break it the rest of the way then extract it from the pipe. Since it was nylon we got it out easily -- just drove a knife into it and turned it out.

Buck was able to get a ride to the hardware store and get a replacement -- working fine now.

We had a nice evening and got to sleep in this morning. We needed to navigate the Mantanzas Inlet and need to do that near high tide. We left around 10am this morning and had a great ride to the Mantanzas with a favorable current pushing us along at nearly 7 knots. The inlet was not too bad with one area around 8.2 feet for a hundred yards then fine after that. We made St. Augustine at 1:30pm which was a good run.

We took a mooring ball for 2 days and then will go to a slip at the marina for 2 days to weather some really bad storms expected this Saturday and Sunday. Ohhh the mooring ball is number 69 and the second to the last in the mooring field. It is a L O N G dinghy ride to the marina to tie up.

St Augustine is a great place to spend a few days. So much to see and do in the downtown historic district for example a jewelry store called "Jewelry for the Filthy Rich"! Lots of places to eat drink, art stuff and just other cool stuff. Karen wants to tour the Lightner Museum too.

Looking forward to enjoying St Augustine since the weather is putting a crimp on our travel plans -- this is what it means to be a cruiser -- don't keep a schedule and stop to enjoy when the weather makes travel difficult.

Great Travel Day

Yesterday was a hot humid stormy day as predicted. It was a good choice to stay at the marina.

A cold front came across yesterday and today was just beautiful. We left the marina early and motored on up to Daytona Beach under friendly cumulus clouds and anchored in the Halifax River just north of red 44. Oh it was a very good day. We had a favorable current most of the way -- only one bridge opening and we waited only 3 minutes! We hit all the trouble shoaling areas at just after high tide and saw no skinny water. Just a great travel day.

Lots of boats left the marina this morning all headed north. I think we were in a pack of 12 - 15 boats -- a combination of trawlers and sailboats. Unfortunately one sail boat came to grief just short of the Haulover canal. He was exhausting steam instead of water from the engine exhaust and obviously was overheating. I hailed him with the PA system and told him the bad news -- better I told him before the alarms went off and the engine seize up

The anchorage here after Red 44 is not as shown on the chart. There is no 14' water and deep water areas have shoaled in. Several boats in storage on moorings here. I would not recommend this area in the future. Try the deep area on the East side of the channel just before R44. I see a fine Cabo Rico 38 sitting there all by their lonesome.

Tomorrow will be a short 3 - 4 hour hop to Palm Coast. St Augustine is just too far for a single day and you need to work the tides.

Should be in early enough to enjoy the marina with light work and then off to St Augustine the following day.

Today the temperature is great. Started at 65 and headed up to 78 degrees -- low humidity and should be fine sleeping tonight on the hook.

Tempus Fugit

WOW Time has been flying by.

We easily made Vero then just forgot about time. It really is that easy there. Multiple trips to the grocery - Publix, Karen forays in the clothing stores, mine at the dive shop, and just hanging out with the cruisers we have seen along the way.

It was quiet when we got to Vero. Only a couple of mooring balls had multiple boats on and at least 20 balls were empty. We just grabbed one and reported in.

Well it wasn't all fun and play. I had to rebuild the forward head flush pump, install a new toilet bowl gasket -- yes you had to remove it to do that, and clean and lubricate a sanitation y-valve. I also had to install a new damper plate in the fresh water pump and clean the shower pump filter and fresh water filter -- whew that was a lot of work!! no wonder I haven't written a blog in awhile.

Still time to meet a group of cruisers at a pot luck on Thursday night and have a big luncheon at the Riverside restaurant on Friday -- all that packed in 4 days and we did 3 loads of laundry.

Saturday We got underway to head north. We made it to Dragon Point near Melbourne and for the first time went behind the swing bridge there to anchor -- that is the place. We found lots of room in 10 - 12 feet of water and a no wake zone. Unfortunately it was HOT. They set a new record high of 92 degrees that day and it was windless. It was uncomfortable on the boat. We had to run fans all night to make sleeping bearable. The normal high for this area is 81 degrees so there is hope it will cool down soon.

Today we were up early and made the run to Titusville Marina. It's another very hot day with temps in the 90s. Strong thunderstorms expected tonight and tomorrow so a good place and excuse to duck in and run the Air Conditioner. It was already hot when we got here around 12:30pm and we stopped first on one dock for a pumpout which didn't happen -- pump is broke -- then moved onto another dock for fuel -- 45 gallons. I haven't bought any since Treasure Cay. Then into a slip on E-dock. I should have called earlier than today for a reservation. E dock is the only old floating dock with all the livaboards, deserted boats, and boats for sale -- not the best location but the Electricity is FINE. This will only be for 2 nights and then we will be on our way to Daytona. Today is the day for multiple showers in their facility, maybe a bucket of Kentucky fried chicken tonight, and tomorrow a quick bike ride to the NAPA store and drug store (for batteries and candy), and of course a minor trip to the grocery store -- need fresh limes and lettuce.

Time for a nap now and just enjoy the cool air conditioning on the boat.

Oh yes and enjoy the GREAT WiFi here. It is the best we have encountered on this whole trip so far!! AC - WiFi -- we may never leave the boat today except for SHOWERS. LONG ones.

On the MOVE again

We really enjoyed a "rest stop" at Old Port Cove marina but it was time to be moving on. Partly because it was about $100 a day there! We can stay at Vero for $17 a day..

We cleared customs this morning and what a NIGHTMARE that was... You would think this was their first day on the job.

There were ten folks there ahead of us at 9am. The office says ring bell for service and I asked the waiting folks if they had rung it or if we needed to sign in a sheet or what. They said they had rung it repeatedly since 8am and no one came to the window -- no sheet to recognize the order of arrivals.

Finally a Hispanic male comes and starts querying the people. About half he send to immigration in another office -- he was very rude. He takes our information but does not ask for a name and says he will get back to us -- HOW!! Then he helps the first person at the window. The crowd is overflowing from the office to the hall. Well after 30 minutes I just go and stand behind the next person in line. He takes 25 minutes to process that persons info at a site other than a window. Then another officer comes and asks for those of us who only need our passports stamped to come forward. He gathers our passports, looks at the pictures then disappears for 20 minutes. Then he returns and gives us back our passports and says we can leave. What a cluster. This is my third time here in 10 years and this has been the worst experience. Who you going to call? What a waste of taxpayers money... and our time..

Sorry but had to vent. Once back at the marina we checked out then were on our way to Hobe Sound to anchor. It is only 15 miles away but through 6 bridges of which 4 are on schedules. Fortunately after having to wait 20 minutes for the first one we hit the others within a couple of minutes thank you tide and wind.

Once passed Jupiter Inlet the incoming tide had us doing more than 7 kts towards Hobe sound with the engine running just above idle.

We anchored easily since no other boats were there yet and hey tonight at 7:15pm we are still all alone here. No problem -- beautiful location and great weather/wind protection.

We should make Vero Beach and moor on a ball for a few days there while we do some laundry and effect some minor repairs and Karen buys some clothes that fit -- she has lost so much weight due to diet and exercise on this trip. She should write a how to book!!

Back in the good Old USA

Ahhh we made it back to Florida this evening.

We left Old Bahama bay this morning around 6:30am. Looked great -- no wind and an easy exit.

Forecast was 5-10 lnots and flat seas -- a motoring day.

Once outside a little 8 kt wind from the SE just enough to fill a sail and settle the rolling from a SE swell.

Good for a mile then the wind piped up to 15 - 17 kts and put some uncomfortable waves on us and caused us to roll -- worst motion. Although we had a BIG flood current sweeping off the banks and we hit 9 kts for awhile. Unfortunately it was rough for about 15 miles then settled down and we had a great motor sail till about 1 miles off of Florida.

Unfortunately I didn't plan on the strongest current in the western third of the gulf stream and we were "swept" above our rumb line and had to fight the current back. NOAA had the western wall of the gulf stream at 7 miles off of Lake Worth, The NOAA RAdio WX had it at 4 miles off. We had it all the way to the inlet -- make that the BEACH. The last 9 miles took 2 and half hours!

We are whipped and hot and storms expected tonight so we followed Victoria Gaye -- our favorite buddy boat -- and Smiles into the Old Port Cove Marina. The AC is on HIGH tonight. Karen is non stop on the phone tonight. I hope she doesn't keep folks up too late tonight.

Tomorrow we check in with customs and do a little grocery shopping. Ohhh I'm looking forward to shopping at the Publixs here.

Heading back to USA

Ahhh it is with mixed feelings I write this.

It's time to begin heading home -- not too quickly but certainly back to the USA.

We went to Manjack for a last visit then anchored off NEw Plymouth in Green Turtle Cay yesterday and evening. I just wanted to see the lights of the settlement one last time and to make a minor grocery trip.

I really like the Bahamas but the cost is really a gut wencher. Ohh well there is always some kind of "snake" in paradise.

This morning we left the anchorage and began the trip back. Today we are making a long run to Great Sale Cay or about 65 miles. We are having a very nice run. Just 16 miles away as I write this. The seas are settled a nice 10 - 14 knot wind from behind and we are averaging 7.0 kts. Well I'm sure that bottom cleaning has something to do with that too.

Hope to be into the anchorage at Great SAle CAy before 4pm. We need an early start tomorrow to make West End. We will go into the expensive marina there but Karen has never seen it and its worth seeing and experiencing.

Victoria Gaye is with us and will cross with us. That is a comforting thought for both of us.

We are not alone though it seems that most the regulars that were at HopeTown all winter have elected this crossing window too. There must be at least 6 of them -- Antares, Solitare I, Jilli Q, Smiles, Summer Tilt, etc.

MAybe we can see a green flash at Great Sale Cay tonight -- that would be GREAT.

MANJACK!

Yep we are back in Manjack Cay today. Cut the cord at the Green Turtle Club Marina this morning and pushed on.

We first wanted to go to Allans-Pensacola Cay -- 24 miles away, then backed off to Powell Cay which is 11 miles away then decided since this was a nice sail north we would have to beat our way back here in a few days -- I turned tail and went into MANJACK which was only 4 miles away.

We had the hook down by 10:30am and relaxed with a leisurely lunch of leftovers then went into the Manjack beach.. Today we followed the signs to the Ocean Beach. Damn it must have been a 2 mile walk along exposed roots and rough rocks. It took 30 minutes to walk the path one-way.

The beach is very nice but very clean. Beach combing found little to nothing.

The anchorage only has a few boats here this afternoon so no crowding.

We are kicking around thoughts of possibly heading back to the USA this weekend in a short window but still haven't decided yet. We went a more leisurely crossing with only daytime movement and light seas. A tough combination but we will see.

We will relax here tonight then probably back to GTC tomorrow -- for some reason we are out of fresh vegetables -- poor planning on our part.

Ohh the boat felt like her ol self today for the brief period we motor sailed. Ol Phil did a GREAT job scrubbing the hull of this boat. He spent 2 hours working on it.

Hopefully we will be back soon before the growth comes back -- my bottom paint is SHOT!!

Happy Easter!!

Wow sure doesn't feel like Easter over here. They do celebrate but mostly Good Friday and Easter Monday.

We are here at the Green Turtle Club Marina for a few days. Enjoying the AC at night, long hot showers and all the other amenities of a nice Marina. I have Phil Roberts coming tomorrow to clean the bottom of my boat. He does a great job - He did Victoria Gaye this morning but said he couldn't do 2 in one day -- arthritis.. He said "yours looks bad". I guess it will cost me more but that's what I get for not doing a fresh bottom job before this trip.

I met Bob and Cheryl Ray on New Passages out of San Fransico today. They had trouble getting a new computer to control their SSB Winlink Icom 710 and SCS Pactor modem. I worked with them for a couple of hours and got some of it working but not all -- I had to direct them to Gary at Dockside Radio for further consultation. It's old equipment and there could be a hardware issue.

We have just been enjoying GTC since Wednesday. On the anchor until yesterday when we came to the marina for a few days for R and R. We hoped to leave Tuesday for a crossing back to the USA and that looks good for salty sailors but not us "pleasure Boaters". May be next week before we can cross. In the meantime we will enjoy GTC and maybe run up to Allens Pensacola for a few days and Powell Cay before the next blow next weekend.

Happy Easter everyone!!

Life is easy when you have a Green Turtle

We had a nice run up to Treasure Cay yesterday. We were in by 11:30am. As usual the wind was stronger than forecast and of course -- wrong direction than forecast -- on the nose as usual. Not too crowded but had to pick a spot between some boats. It was a good one because we had good internet from the Marina.

After a quick lunch of leftovers we went to the beach for one last swim on that amazing beach. It is just so beautiful. Picked up a few things at the grocery and fixed Bratwurst for dinner.

A very nice evening even with more boats coming in. There is a mass exodus a foot right now with folks scrambling to get back to the USA. The radio is just full of crossing chatter. Not sure why the rush because the window this Friday/Saturday is not great.

The area is looking like little Canada with so many Canadian flags flying. I would say there are about 2 Canadian boats for one American right now in the anchorages. Most have come up from the Exumas and are heading back to the states.

We were off early this morning for Green Turtle Cay and a trip around the infamous Whale Cay Passage. Naturally more wind than forecast and wrong direction. The passage around the whale was fine with little rocking and rolling. Apparently White Sound in Green Turtle cleared out from yesterday with many boats leaving today to stage for a Saturday crossing. We had the pick of the anchorage almost and found a nice spot with good internet coverage from the Green Turtle Club Marina. No worries -- we plan to go into the marina Saturday for 3 days and they will be well compensated.

I did some work this afternoon changing the main engine oil and the water/fuel separator on the dinghy. I had to change a fuel fitting on the dinghy fuel hose too. Naturally the oil change was messy and compounded by a bottle of CLR that I found and had leaked most of it contents -- what a mess to cleanup.

I took the dinghy out for a test run of the new filter and went to a little beach at the front of White Sound and saw a huge manta ray swimming gently in very shallow water -- real cool.

Well we are throwing financial caution to the wind to night and going for dinner at the Green Turtle Club -- Steak Nite -- and stay awhile to watch the local band the "Gully Roosters" perform.

I just LIKE Green Turtle Cay. So relaxed and friendly.

Marsh Harbour one last time

Well we cut the cord to HopeTown today and made it over to Marsh Harbour around 10am. Should have been here sooner but the boat is sluggish. The growth is bad. I hope to have it cleaned off soon in Green Turtle Cay.

Marsh was crowded. There were 62 boats here when we got here. Most have come up from the Exumas. You can tell because their lifelines are full of diesel and water jugs.

We launched the dinghy immediately and headed to the grocery. The public dock was too full of dinghies to tie to so we went to the Jimmies dock between Harborview and Mangoes. It was full too but we found one cleat to tie to.

After a long walk to Maxwells grocery we bought enough groceries to last 2 weeks. It was too much to carry back so I asked a taxi there to take us back -- they said $10. A little high because others have charged $6 but I give them $10.

Once at Mangoes I go to pay and I hand her a $20 and she says "Thank You". I said what about my change -- she says she has none. She could tell I was flustered so she got change from someone -- NO TIP here today. Damn she thought a $10 tip on a $10 ride was normal... What this ain't NY!

Well we hit Jimmies and the Wholesale grocer and are full up for the most part.

There has been a steady stream of boats leaving this afternoon. I guess some want to cross back this week but there is no big window. Well I guess they will make their own -- not us we are pleasure boaters.

Off to Treasure Cay tomorrow to fuel up and water up and spend a day or two there then off to Green Turtle Cay to watch for a very nice weather window.

So Long HopeTown

Ahhh it is getting to be that time to plan to head back to the USA.

Tomorrow we will leave HopeTown and go to Marsh Harbour for a few days to reprovision for a couple of weeks. Then it is on to Treasure Cay to await a weather window to cross the Whale Cay Passage to Green Turtle Cay where we will await a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream back to the USA.

Today is a little sad as we realize it is our last full day in HopeTown for this cruising season. It has been both fun and comforting in this nice snug harbour where we weathered many a cold front this winter. This weekend has been a very strong cold front but good sleeping weather. This has been the first time in weeks where the temps dropped below 70 degrees for the night. It was 66 degrees this morning and most folks where wearing there winter clothes until the sun warmed us up to about 77 degrees.

We went to the beach to fly a kite and go swimming and Karen went on one last sea glass hunt. It has been grand.

Unfortunately now they we said it -- "go back to USA" it is all we think of now. Time to prep the engines and filters and get everything ready. Clean or get cleaned the boat bottom before leaving -- we have a thousand miles to travel to get home. Expected ETA is mid May.

Hey we aren't going to rush home. There is plenty of cruising destinations left to visit.

Living is Easy in HopeTown

Gosh one day just runs into another here in HopeTown. We are taking it pretty easy with few boat chores. The toughest was today -- laundry and I hauled 48 gallons of water from the Marina. That little fresh water pump assembly I built last winter is working great. I can pump the water from the Jerry cans in the dinghy directly into the water tank. No lifting and pouring. Very important after I pulled that muscle in my back back in December hoisting these 50lb water jugs.

The best entertainment is watching all the boats coming through here each day looking for a mooring. There are only about 3 a day right now that turn over. Many are reserved and it is frustrating to see an open mooring then a reserve bottle on it. Tempers are a little short here right now.

The water has warmed to near 80 degrees now so I'm swimming every day right now. Boy that ocean water fills good. I've been flying the dragon kite too. Looks great with the wind going out to sea. I usually launch it from the top of the dune near the memorial Cholera Cemetery. It looks great in the sky with that 30 foot Dragon tail and smiling face and streaming earnings.

Oh did I say it is hitting 80 degrees each day right now with temps in the low to mid 70s at night. I haven't slept with a cover in a month now.

Well time to go for that afternoon swim now.

Ohhh Jack's Bingo was a bust for us. No winners here Monday night however a good time was had by all.

Lynyard Cay -- FINALLY!

The weather forecast finally had some nice mild days for a visit to Lynyard Cay. Unfortunately from up in Treasure Cay that is a long run of about 30+ miles. We left early from Treasure in no wind. Had a nice motor ride to Point Set Rock then turned towards Boat Harbour and had a night wind to sail by. Once we turned south the wind was on the nose and piping up. About 7 miles out from Lynyard a rain squall appeared overhead -- just built there -- and covered us all the way to Lynyard -- I had to anchor in a driving rain. In fact we had to navigate the trickiest parts of the trip around the North Bar Channel and Sandy Cay in limited visibility -- Ol GPS did not let me down.

At Lynyard the wind was strong out of the SW which was not forecast. It wasn't too bad but bouncy for putting the engine on the dinghy so we didn't. We had a nice late afternoon and watched all the boats coming up from Elutheria coming to the Abacos. We counted some 14 boats... That is a lot and they did not have an easy passage judging by how many had poorly wrapped Genoas and one with having a reverse wrap on part of the sail.

Nice evening and the next day Victoria Gaye joined us. Hi Flite with Dale and Cory were there too and we all took our dinghies to Pete's Pub for lunch. It is a 2 mile run from the anchorage and best done in the company of other dinghies because if your engine quits you could be swept out the cut into the ocean. Lunch was fine. I had the Lemon Pepper Trigger fish -- great. After lunch we retuned to the boats and then we had a nice day beach combing and sea glass hunting. Karen got quite a cache of Sea Glass.

Early the next morning we left to catch the high tide into HopeTown and possibly pickup a mooring. They have been tough to come by with so many boats passing through right now. We were lucky. We saw two shortly after entering and took one near Jack's. It was actually a Jack's Mooring - nicely maintained. I checked in today and found that his weekly rate of $105 was far better than the others at $120. With the current forecast of squalls through Thursday and a possible Cold Front Saturday I took a week. This is a real nice safe harbour.

After lunch it was to the beach for me to swim. Ahh the water was very cool but nice. I picked a clear bottom area to be alert for sharks.

Back on the boat to rest and watch the parade of boats coming through looking for moorings. Very frustrating since there are about 5 that look free but are reserved. Most boats had to leave but a few got lucky.

Nice evening and a great spaghetti dinner. Got to watch them light the lighthouse -- yellow kerosene flame. I never get tired of that.

Today just some mild chores on the boat, took a bunch of books back to the temporary HopeTown library. Had a great lunch of BLTs.. Boy they taste great on the boat. After lunch back to the beach to fly my 30 foot Dragon Kite. Boy it looks good in the sky.

Well we are here in HopeTown on a Monday night so what to do ?? Let me think?? Why JAck's BINGO of course.

Wish us luck.

Barefootman, GTC, Manjack, Treasure

WOW The incessant easterly trade winds have subsided and we are making tracks finally.

We made it to the Barefoot man Concert on Guana Cay Saturday for the cover evening show. It was not free but definitely a great concert and a lot of fun. The crowd was not overflowing but plenty of hooping and hollering. The buffet dinner was Prime Rib and very good with a Key Lime desert. I had a couple of Nippers -- their signature frozen rum drink and really enjoyed the show.

We took a mooring in the harbour. Skat and Bubbles were already there and they reserved one of the balls for us. It was tough to pickup with 20 knots of wind and a short painter. We missed twice and then Craig came over in his dink and assisted us. Thank You Craig. Buck and Vickie on Victoria Gaye came in and stoped at the MArina. They went to the concert with us but Skat and Bubbles sat this show out -- they went to the free Friday show.

Even though on a ball the harbour was not comfortable. There is a surge that bounces the boat up and down. Not bad but annoying.

Skat and Bubbles decided to leave Sunday for Green Turtle Cay (GTC) to await a weather window to return to the US. We are not going back yet but we missed GTC and went with them to enjoy GTC for a few days. The trip around the Whale Cay was uneventful but a bit rolly. We hit the entry to White Sound which is narrow and shallow near low tide. We headed in YEP here comes another sailboat out and we have to pass in the narrow channel. Then I look and there are three more coming. Now they could have waited but no they just had to come through now and wouldn't you know -- they would not yield the center of the channel and we had to hug the red -- what BOZOS! We stopped at the Green Turtle Club marina to fill up on water and diesel -- I was down to 25 gallons of water. We took on 40 gallons of diesel and 160 gallons of water. We are good for awhile.

Went swimming in the ocean the first day and it was nice. The water has warmed nicely. We played Farkle that night with Skat and Bubbles and had a great time. I only won one of the 4 games though.

The next day we went swimming in the sea of Abaco -- Bluff House side. That night we went to dinner at the Green Turtle Club and had a great dinner. Karen had her favorite coconut ice cream dessert. I had Grouper but no dessert.

The next day we all left for Manjack CAy. It was beautiful as usual but the wind direction was adverse and not as forecast. It was light so not bad but "what else is wrong with the forecast?". Karen and I took the dinghy to the ocean beach and she had a great day glass hunting. Two baggies full!.

The night was okay but bouncy because of the wind direction -- not as forecast!

The next day I Scuba dove on the boat bottom and it was still a mess. I cleaned for an hour and it was better but not great. My 3 season bottom paint was a MISTAKE -- I should have painted the bottom before this cruise!! Me BAD.

There are storms up north that are driving a large swell towards us. Today the Whale Cay passage was mild but tomorrow they expected 7 foot waves and it would be bad through Sunday. We left and got back across the Whale Cay to Treasure Cay. It was smooth as a baby butt. HArd to believe it was going to be rough the next day.

Treasure Cay was nice with just a moderate number of boats on anchor and mooring. We anchored smoothly.

We thought about leaving today but I wanted to do a little grocery shopping -- Karen wanted to hit the gift shop, and I wanted to swim on this most beautiful beach here. We did it all today and this afternoon the harbour has filled with boats. Should be big goings on tonight.

Tomorrow we might leave and head further south. Weather should be good till Sunday when we need more protection.

Tonight there is a pizza party at the MArina Tipsy seagull bar so we might hit that.

Time to "Top Up"

Top Up is the Bahamian term for adding more minutes to your phone and/or data plan. We do this mildly but today it was time to "Top Up" our immigration period. When we arrived in the Bahamas we checked into Green Turtle Cay customs to announce our arrival and get a cruising permit to stay. Because at Green Turtle they only have customs officer we can only get 90 days. If you have an immigration officer there you can ask for more. Well our 90 days are up on the 16th and today the 12th was the earliest that we could ask for more. That's why we are here in Marsh harbour again. Here you have to go to the government office which is a $20 dollar cab ride round trip. At Treasure Cay where we were at earlier this week you have to go to the airport which was a $60 taxi ride. Thus we came back to Marsh to "Top Up" and do a little shopping.

Fortunately our friends Vickie and Buck on Virginia Gaye have friends at the ECC school who offered to take us. That was more than great. After checking into immigration which took about 30 minutes the ECC van driven by Ron from Prospector at Mangoes marina also took us to the very upscale (for the Abacos) hardware store called Abaco hardware and also the Maxwells Grocery and then delivered us directly to our dinghies at the government dock. WOW what a morning.

This weekend is the Barefoot Man concert and we wanted to go to Great Guyana Cay but the forecast is for very moderate winds tonight and tomorrow. The anchorage at Guyana is not good -- mostly sand and turtle grass and difficult to get an anchor to hold. With so many expected boats there it could be a problem. That and around noon when we returned to temptation there were a lot of clouds building for a possible thunderstorm. We stayed put for today and may go to Guyana tomorrow if the winds are not too strong or maybe Saturday. Cold front coming Sunday into Monday so it will be back to Treasure for the North Winds. Can't get back into HopeTown anymore with so much southern traffic coming through.

Let's see if me make Barefoot man tomorrow or Saturday. The concert is okay but the CROWD IS A SPECTACLE -- that is really what I want to see.

No room at the Inn and "Why is my boat so slow?"

Yesterday we tried to get back into HopeTown but no joy -- all moorings full. Karen wanted to play another game of Jack's Bingo. We anchored off instead just out of the harbour. The wind direction was fine and the Island protected us BUT the boat wakes were large and incessant. I had no idea so many boats went into and out of HopeTown.. It was rough on the hook.

Apparently scores of boats are making the migration from the Exumas to parts north. The radio is full of folks planning to cross back to the USA. It has been a tough winter here in the Bahamas and a lot of folks want to get back to civilization. I think they feel it is "owed to them" now because they are so RUDE. In HopeTown there are 54 moorings. All but about 12 are rented for the season by folks that just like it there. Unfortunately when they leave they put a reserve marker on their mooring and leave for a few days. Folks come in and can't pick those up and they are upset. What can you do? MAkes for a lot of hot tempered folks.

We went to Marsh Harbour to escape the boat wakes at Hopetown and to be ready to extend our 90 day immigration limit this Thursday here in Marsh Harbour. At 2pm today there were 54 boats on anchor here and more have arrived. It is crowded but at least minimum boat wakes. We didn't go to the dinghy dock today but I expect it is pandemonium there right now -- room for only about 12 dinghies at a time.

This morning -- early like before 9am -- I dove on the boat to scrub the bottom. WOW I couldn't believe all the growth on it. I'll try and post a picture later of the bottom condition. The stuff comes off with light brushing but there is a lot of bottom surface and I'm doing this while scuba diving. Very difficult. I got it about 980% cleaned when my tank ran out of air. I'm a heavy breather here and was at it for just over an hour. It looks pretty good and definitely ran better -- faster -- on the way to Marsh Harbour today.

Tomorrow is a large chore day with a BIG Laundry load -- probably 4 machines worth -- and some light grocery shopping. Got to get the air tank filled too. We will grab a taxi with all the laundry and go to a commercial Laundromat here in Marsh Harbour. The machines are bigger and faster than what you find at a marina, slightly cheaper but offset by the round trip $12 taxi ride.

Ohh it's warm here now. Hitting 80 degrees in the day and lows of only 75 at night. I might have to turn a fan on soon.

The Good Life in Treasure Cay

We finally cut the cord (released the mooring) in Hopetown yesterday and had a very nice sail to Treasure Cay. Even though the wind was from the wrong direction and velocity as forecast by both Chris and Weather Underground -- we had a nice ride. There were about 20 boats here but we found a spot near the main channel to anchor in. We are closest to the marina and expect a good WiFi signal from there.

Spent the afternoon wandering the village and going to the grocery store (foraging for food). Fixed burgers on the grill and had a nice evening although very warm. Not a breath of air was moving all night. The boat temp was between 79 and 76 degrees.

This morning we had a light rain as a cold front passed and then the wind picked up to the teens. It has been cloudy and windy all day. We went to the village this morning for the annual book fair at the Library and found that there was a full blown farmers market going on too. Pandemonium but lots of fun.

The book fair was great. This Library serves a very wealthy community and they have lots of great books and mostly hard backs. We bought about 15 books. One was a gilded hardback of all of Edgar Allen Poe's works. I've read most years ago but the book was just beautiful -- not one for the cruisers book exchange later.

At the MArket I found Kirk the Conch Man -- His banner says the "Da best Conch Man". He made up a big batch right in front of us. I got to watch his assistant pull the fresh conchs from the shells and clean them -- there was more to that than I thought.

They were going to serve barbecued chicken later. We decided to come back later and buy some for dinner -- well that didn't work out. We were back at 12:15pm and the chicken barbecue was sold out!! Got to remember in the Bahamas if you see something you want buy it now because later it will most likely be gone.

We bought some fresh chicken at the grocery and some of Sweet Baby Rays sauce to fix on the boat tonight but it is now too windy for the grill -- hopefully tomorrow.

It's quite blustery here today and forecast for tonight but the holding is good and the fetch is short so a good place to weather a blow -- and dream of barbecue chicken.

The Dragon Returns

We are back in Hopetown. Had a great time at Mangoes in Marsh Harbour, made a couple of Conch Horns while there and finally learned how to blow one. I gave the extra shell to Vickie on Victoria Gaye. We both had a great time blowing horns with the rest of the cruisers on the dock there in the evenings.

The weather has really improved. Still plenty of wind which makes the outside anchorages bouncy but nice and calm here in Hopetown. When we arrived Monday there was only a double blue float mooring available. We took it and waited for someone to collect -- didn't know who had the blue ones. Well today the Hopetown Inn and Marina shuttle (pontoon boat) stops by and I'm wondering why he is so close -- well the mooring belongs to the marina and he was here to collect. Mystery solved.

Yesterday was a great kite flying day so I took the 30 foot Dragon out and the Tristar and went to the beach. This time I kept the kites from sailing over the sand dunes and they were both quite behaved. The Dragon looked great up against the clear Blue sky yesterday. Today I'll take the rotating kite over there.

Tomorrow we expect to take the big boat to Tahiti Beach and anchor off. Got to fly kites there and tomorrow night we should be able to take the dinghy over to Lubbers Quarter and Cracker P's for the full moon party. Never been to one before so looking forward to that.

Should be a great day at Tahiti beach with low tide at 2:21pm tomorrow and maybe we can find some sand dollars.

Mangoes Marina -- the Cat's Meow!

Wow -- we haven't been into a marina since December 26 so it was with great pleasure that we tied up in Mangoes Marina in Marsh Harbour the other day. Gosh they all run together now but I think it was Tuesday this week.

Mangoes is the least expensive marina here at 90 cents a foot till the end of February and is just full of nice cruisers and Ray the manager who is the best -- friendly and accommodating.

Ohh man no worries about a dragging an anchor or a poor mooring line. Just tied up with 5 lines to pilings. On the flip side there are all kinds of shopping and restaurants available. Well we did them all. The first day was like a vacation and we did nothing,then we worked hard and cleaned the boat from stem to stern the next day, then it was provisioning time, then we went to Snappas Bar and Grill for lunch and a GREAT Cheeseburger....

Then back to reality today -- it is the Bahamas. We did laundry. Well first off you can't start early enough because some one always starts earlier than you do. We ended up waiting till noon for a washer to become available -- they have 2 washers and dryers here at Mangoes. we started the wash and it ran fine then Karen started the drying. Around 2:30pm she awakes me from a nap to says that the dryers are not drying -- no heat. I investigate and sure enough no heat. I inspect the dryers and they are gas. I tell Ray the marina manager and he checks and sure enough they have run out of propane -- no more till Monday at the earliest.

Well there is a taxi stand right next door at the Ferry dock so I get a cab to take us to the commercial laundry in town. Only 7 dollars but a long walk with wet laundry. Once there it only takes us 20 minutes in the big commercial dryers to dry everything. Then a call to the taxi to go back -- too far to walk with all that laundry. Thus the cost was an additional $14 dollars for the taxi but worth it.

The dock and tenants are great. Each night near sundown many gather on the dock to blow their conch horns at the setting sun -- should be done just as the curve of the sun drops below the horizon. I got caught up in this and bought 2 nice conch shells from Hollywood George who does the conch salad just outside the marina here -- only $5 a apiece. I had to cut the tip off and clean out the end so you could blow in it. I had to repair the hole they make to get the conch meat out with some epoxy putty then clean and test. They both sounded fine so I gave one to Vickie on Victoria Gaye. We joined the crowd and enjoyed blowing our horns with them.. We were not great but acceptable to the crowd. Practice will make us both better.

Tomorrow we hope to leave in better weather and enjoy more of the Abacos -- maybe Great Guyana Cay and Nippers tomorrow and Man O War on Monday and Tuesday and then back to Treasure Cay for the weekend -- yippee.

It's back on the anchor for us.

Sorry -- interrupting cruise for a vacation

That's right -- enough of this cruising thing we went on vacation today!

We were going to the Harbour View Fuel dock for water and fuel and I was thinking the water alone was going to be $35. Our mooring lease in Hopetown expires today and I didn't really want to go back there just yet. Orchid BAy Marina has a 50 cent per foot till end of February -- through this Sunday so why not go there and pay that and get free water there and stay through Sunday. Well all they have on Great Guana Cay is the beach bar Nippers and a great beach to walk -- not much for 5 days. Victoria Gaye -- Buck and Vickie went to Mangoes Marina yesterday for a few days and they just raved about it and it was just 90 cents a foot.

So we decided to go into Mangoes till Sunday and enjoy Marsh Harbour and work like dogs to clean the boat.

Well after getting in and tied up this morning around 10:30am we checked in at the office back then back on the boat tried to decide where to begin the long overdue chores -- we haven't been tied to a marina since December 26!!

Sitting there I couldn't decide where to start and it felt so good to just sit and not worry about battery management with Solar, and wind, and the gen set.. no worry about anchor dragging, no worry about too close boats picking up moorings it felt like it did when we would go on a weeks summer vacation back home. Thus we decided today we are on VACATION -- and did absolutely nothing but enjoy a beautiful sunny 79 degree day in the Abacos. I hope to keep this up for few days..

My Rocna anchor got put to a test yesterday. It bit in as usual and w set it normally. Today when I picked it up it came right up! Usually we need the engine to force it out. After bringing it up I found a large rag wrapped around the tip of the anchor. WOW that could have been bad but the ol Rocna handled it well.

Well to continue the vacation theme tonight it is a lobster dinner prepared on the boat of course -- what you think I'm made of money!

Bubbles Bubbles Boil and Trouble

We finally have a nice stretch of days for moving about.

Yesterday we left Hopetown and just went out about a mile and half to the Parrot Cays and dropped the hook. I had to dive on the boat and check the bottom. Wow what a hassle getting all the gear ready for the dive and it was a bit bouncier more than I liked -- tough in the dinghy.

Karen helped me get my gear on in the water -- BC and Tank. Unfortunately the tank regulator leaked horrible. I had to beak it down and founds the o-ring in rough condition. I flipped it around and got it to seal -- then back on with the gear and into the water. We had anchored over a stretch of white sand and when I went under oh boy the bottom was a MESS!! It had slime and round red patches and growths like rough moss growing on it -- no wonder it was sluggish. I checked the prop and zincs and they were fine. I started to brush the bottom and the stuff came off but it took a lot of scrubbing. I worked nearly 45 minutes and used a good half tank of air and I was getting pretty tired so I quit. While waiting for Karen to help me out of the BC/Tank my weight belt suddenly released. and fell to the bottom in about 12 feet of water. I tried to dive down to it but I was too buoyant. I had Karen get a lighter weight belt that I use when only wearing the lycra suit and I was able to swim down with great effort. While grabbing my belt I noticed my metal scraper was down there too!! Now who kicked that in? It took a couple more attempts and I retrieved it.

I was whipped now. rested awhile then decided instead of going over to Nippers this afternoon we would just go to MArsh HArbour and I would clean all the dive gear there. It was a beautiful day..

Skat and Bubbles came into the harbour later in the afternoon and they planned to head south to Lynyard Cay tomorrow then onto Elutheria on Tuesday.

We decided to have a get together on Temptation that night. It was fun but I didn't win at Farkle. In fact I did not get one conversion to work for me and I had the most Farkles. Bummer for me.

Today we did grocery shopping and other provisioning. Got a tub of Conch Salad from Hollywood George. Spent the afternoon relaxing and plan to fuel up and water up in the morning then head back to Hopetown for the next cold front to come through.

The weather is breaking and I expect to only hang at Hopetown for another week and then give our mooring up and explore more of the Abacos.

Trapped in Paradise

Not really but it feels like it.

The weather forecast for this week is poor for traveling. If you want some time to just sit and contemplate then it will be good for that. Nothing horrendous but wind forecast is for too much for pleasure boaters and squalls and thunderstorms for Tuesday night and Wednesday. We need to make plans for what to do this week here in "Paradise". I won't bore you with the lows and highs of temperature because you would kill for these temps this time of year.

The big event yesterday was going to the Hopetown Lodge for dinner last night -- a belated valentine celebration. It was Prime Rib night and it was delicious. This was our first time in the lodge and it was very nice. Very tastefully decorated and a very pleasant staff. They have a wall of photos from Hopetown through the early years -- mostly 30s, 40s, and 50s. Very nice and note -- none of the men had "beer guts". That is a modern day affliction even if men don't drink beer.

Even though we might feel trapped here this week at least we can get off the boat anytime we choose and walk the town and explore different places we haven't visited yet. Might do some more kite flying if I can get some winds going out to see -- I don't like the winds going over the dunes -- kite is too squirrelly.

The big event tonight is -- Monday JAcks BINGO night. Wish us luck!

Hubris? Bahamas?Friday the 13th?

Which was it yesterday? We went to Marsh Harbour on Thursday to do some provisioning and get water. I took on 130 gallons! AT 25 cents a gallon it was worth the trip vs 38 cents a gallon in Hopetown. After taking on the water we anchored, had lunch, then went to Maxwells for a big purchase. When we headed over there I stopped at the Corner Value store to inquire about propane -- one of our tanks ran out last week. They said it works just like clock work -- their words. You have the tank there by 9am and it is returned at noon. If you have it there between 9am and 1pm it will be back by 4pm and it was only $25 vs $37 in Hopetown. In Hopetown you have to leave it for several days on a dock before someone comes -- no schedule. I didn't want to leave a $300 aluminum tank laying around for a few days.

Well Friday morning I had a QSO with Bubbles and Skat and Victoria Gaye and I was bragging what a good deal the propane process was in Marsh HArbour. Wow cheaper and no worries about your t ank being stolen.

Friday morning (that's Friday the 13th) I had the tank there by 8:30am. I came back at just before 12pm and it was no where to be seen. I asked.. Ohhh there was a problem with the pump it might be back at 4pm today or tomorrow sometime. Ohh Pooh we wanted to leave that afternoon!!

Ohh well had a nice lunch and then while killing time I took my dinghy motor prop that had spun some weeks ago over to Abaco Props. They said they could re-hub it and they did it while I waited and even let me watch the process. Coool, well at least something was accomplished today.

Back on the boat I cleaned the knot log sender, the seawater strainer on the main engine and tightened the packing log -- it was leaking pretty profusely yesterday.

Well at 3:40pm I went to get my tank. It wasn't ready but they said it would be here shortly. I killed 30 minutes and then it showed up. GREAT..

We were too tired to head out this afternoon so we stayed in Marsh another night planning to go to Man O War for the fair tomorrow.

Good thing we stayed. The wind piped up over night from the West and it would have made anchoring off Man O War real uncomfortable where it was not an issue in Marsh Harbour.

Got Fleas

Today we sailed over to Man O War this morning for the annual Fair and Flea Market there.

Beautiful weather although the wind was building as we got there. It was blowing 12 - 15 kts out of the West which put us on a lee shore but the Ol Rocna really bit in so I didn't worry about it.

The wave action was quite rambunctious and made it difficult to mount the engine. Once that was done and we ran 75 yards to the protected South harbour the ride was easy.

The harbour was packed. Lots of small motor boats running around and many had no idea how to handle the crowded conditions. Just eyes straight ahead and the hell with everyone else and -- hey -- why not make a substantial wake!

I tried to find the public dock but it was difficult to discern. We went to the marina but the dinghy dock there was overflowing. Back to the public dock and we tied up but couldn't get off the dock. Someone had set up a flea market booth on the dock and we would have had to climb under a wind break and a table to get off!! HOW RUDE!!

We went next dock over to the Aubrey's Grocery dock and tied up there. We planned to buy something when we left.

The fair was crowded but did not have a large number of vendors. The biggest thing going was the food tent, but at $18 a dinner we passed. We watched the hermit crab races which were a lot of fun and checked out the used book vendors. Karen found 4 books she wanted.

BAck on Temptation for lunch and kill some time before heading to Hopetown. Got to work that tide and can't come in till half tide on the rising tide.

We are back on our mooring just as the wind has really picked up -- it wasn't supposed to do that till late tonight. Anyway this is a good spot as we wait the next weather event tonight and tomorrow, then a nice mild day Monday, then back into really foul weather Tuesday and Wednesday. Ohh well the pattern will change soon.

Hopefully Monday will be mild so I can take the boat out to a real nice sandy patch and dive on it. It has quite a bit of growth on the bottom that needs to be scrubbed off.

Ahh the joys of boat ownership.

But before you feel sorry for us -- the low today was 65 degrees and the high was 74...

Go fly a kite!

The weather has been poor for the Abacos these last few weeks. Cold fronts are coming through like clockwork -- every 48 hours. This gives us only one nice day every 2 days. The weather is not terrible but it keeps us from traveling to the many cool Islands we would like to visit. It should change in another week or so. Assessment from Chris Parker.

The temps are fine with the lows in the mid 60s and the highs in low 70s and mostly partly cloudy. Just too much wind to comfortably travel and anchor out. Hopetown is great for these cold front passages. No matter how strong the winds are we can still leave the boats and walk around town and site see or buy provisions or walk the beaches -- and of course -- climb the Lighthouse and go out in the balcony and really feel the strong winds. The view of both Ocean and Sea of Abaco is just spectacular.

Now the weather has been great for kite flying. I have 4 very nice cellular kits and one 30 foot dragon kite. I've been going to the beach to launch and it has been interesting. They fly very stable until they pass over the tree lined dune tops and then it gets scary. I had my Dragon kite up about 150 feet and it was flying fine then suddenly it plunged straight down past the tree tops before it reversed and climbed back. I'm sure it gave some a scare who might have been walking below those trees. I brought it in after that.

The TriStar was the most stable. It just went up and stayed up -- little pull on the line. The rotating Spinbox -- the FLASH is always a great fly and spectacle. It did well but took a few dives toward the ground to scare me. Apparently the wind coming from the sea rides up over the dunes then as I pass the apex there is an occasional strong downdraft

I flew these kites over a three day period and had Jim and Barb from Skat fly with me. It was great fun and a away to turn some lemons into lemonade -- the too strong winds for pleasure boating.

I've been bike riding too. Took a LONG ride Sunday to Sea Spray Marina in Whitesound and passed the Abaco Inn and resort. Wow that is a beautiful place and seemed to be hosting an artist retreat. Seemed like everyone was under a shade tree with easel and brushes and mostly white canvas -- hmm I wonder if it was mostly for show.

HopeTown Ruminations

The living in Hopetown is easy on a mooring ball. We are not doing much. Just reading books from the library, cleaning the boat as needed, playing with the electronics -- but not much since we are on a tight energy budget, and just roaming the town and Elbow Cay by bicycle. I don't write more or post more pictures because of the limited energy available on a boat on the mooring. We are not plugged in and all our power comes from a 500 AMP Hour battery bank which is charged by solar panels and a wind generator and if they can't keep up -- then an 8KW genset but it burns a 1/2 gallon of diesel an hour. Gosh it has been a month since we were tied up at a marina and plugged in.

Living is simple here and that was emphasized the other night when we watched part of the Super Bowl. WOW the excesses we saw on the Super Bowl and commercials really hit home after living 6 weeks here in the Bahamas with the limited shopping choices available too us and what we did buy was 3 times what we pay at home.

We watched part of the game at the Hopetown Inn and lodge at their beach bar. It was a bright moon and quite windy which made it COLD for us but the temp was really only 66 degrees. Cold after what we have been experiencing here. What a contrast to the my most memorable Super Bowl -- Super Bowl 3 back in 1967 and watched in Akron Ohio at a friends house -- Bob Hunt -- it was 17 degrees that day and lots of snow and ice on the ground.

Back to Hopetown ruminations. I was just thinking what is was like here say just 50 years ago. No doctor, no hospital -- still no hospital or doctor here but a clinic one day a week. Think of all the babies that born without access to doctor or hospital?! Hell 100 years ago that is the way most babies were born except in the largest of cities. WOW -- hard to imagine today.

Well the whole Carolina contingent is here in Hopetown tonight. Victoria Gaye is here, Bubbles, and Skat came in today and we are all moored on adjacent moorings. I invited all over tonight so we can share stories and commiserate over the weather. These multiple cold fronts a week are now keeping all of us here in the Abacos. Not conducive to heading further south but from our perspective that is okay since we do enjoy the Abacos and there is lot to look forward to over the next several weeks.

Got to o to prepare for visitors tonight and I've got some Goombay Smash to prepare.

Garbage Detail

This is scary now. Last night while enjoying the re lighting of the Hopetown Lighthouse (which is currently under a weeks worth of repairs) I felt as if I was home now!! I guess it's because it is familiar and we feel safe on the moorings here.

Chris Parker forecast is forecasting higher winds than we are experiencing here. The timing is right but the wind speeds are really higher than we experience. Kind of disappointing when you use these forecasts to plan our outings. We stay put when we could have rather gone somewhere.

That's important right now because the weather cycle we are in is keeping us close to safe harbor when we would rather be out and about. However I know if I second guess him -- we will get hammered someplace.

Today was an easy day here in the harbour. Karen went glass hunting on the beach at low tide and found a couple of pieces. I walked about town and tried to buy some coconut bread from Vernon's store but it wasn't ready yet. Said around 2 - 2:30pm. I was back at 3pm and it still wasn't ready. I killed another 20 minutes looking about town and over the beach then the bread was ready. Ummm it is good -- for everything. Especially French toast but I use it for toast and hamburgers and ham sandwiches, etc. It's not cheap at $4.84 a loaf.

While hanging out with Vernon I asked how they disposed of the garbage here in Hopetown. They used to burn it but all the non-Bahamians that now live and rent here were against that and made them stop. Now they put it all on a barge and send it to MArsh Harbour for disposal there. It's very expensive now. Vernon says its $2000 a year to throw all the cardboard boxes away that his groceries come in.

With the cold fronts forecast to come in last night and Monday and Wednesday there are a surprising number of moorings available here right now. Gosh in times past this place was always full and difficult to find an available mooring.

Things must be quiet here this year. I heard Orchid Bay marina on Great Guana Cay announce a docking special for February of only .50 cents a foot!! That is low!! Then again the last time we were there we only saw 3 boats in the Marina.

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. We will go somewhere but not sure where yet. I don't care for the game as much as the party and all the cool commercials.

Provisioning and a BIG WHOOPS

We had been in Hopetown for more than a week and the groceries were getting a bit thin. There are groceries available here in Hopetown but they are about 1/3 higher then they are in Marsh Harbour. Water in Hopetown is 38 cents a gallon and only 20 cents in Marsh Harbour. We needed 150 gallons.

The weather had finally abated so we went to Marsh on Wednesday afternoon late and anchored. The forecast had medium winds forecast but they were much higher than forecast overnight -- so what else is new! Fortunately the ol ROCNA anchor did us proud on short scope. There were 40 boats Wednesday night and 50 Thursday night -- getting a bit crowded.

Thursday we hit the MAx wells grocery around 10 am. Surprisingly there were empty areas on the shelves -- mostly dairy, bread , and produce. They were stocking so we worked around that. We spent $182.00 and still were able to carry it all with us back to the dinghy dock.

We did some other shopping but didn't buy much. Now Thursday night we had a dead calm so it was a comfortable anchorage then.. Big wind is expected tomorrow night or Friday so we wanted to get back to our mooring before the wind built. Unfortunately High tide wouldn't be till 5:01pm so we had to kill time. We called HArbour View MArina a little after 9am to come in for fuel and water - the water tanks were near empty. They had space at the fuel dock but a large trawler came in immediately and occupied the space so again we had to kill time before we could go in. Once in we took on 130 gallons of water and 15 gallons of diesel. It took more than 30 minutes to load the water -- pressure was LOW.

Now we had time to kill so we went to Man O War Cay to walk the ocean beach at low tide. As we approached the beach the chart showed plenty of water but there was a light green patch -- usually shallow water. I approached slowly and the depth went from 12.0 to 11.0 to 9.0 to 6.7 and 6.2ft. I could see the rocky bottom plainly. I hit reverse then backed and headed for deeper water. We didn't bump but we were close to running aground on a falling tide with wave action --- not good.

We decided to skip the beach and cruised slowly by the 2.5 miles of Man O War. We then ducked behind Sandy Cay and anchored for lunch and kill time to 1pm before going in to Hope Town. I needed the mid tide to get in.

We were near Point Set rock and had lots of cruising boats go by. At 1 pm we pulled the anchor and headed to . It was dicey but we got in and just as we approached the Hopetown Light Marina the freight boat Carib III left the dock immediately in front of us. Now I had the right of way but he is a 70 foot steel hauled boats so I backed down and stopped and station kept till he went on.

We found our reserved mooring okay and picked it up but another boat was on Victoria Gaye's reserved mooring. I shouted at a passing dinghy that I didn't recognize and sure enough they were on that boat. They apologized and moved on just before Victoria Gaye arrived. Ohh boy that was close.

The Lighthouse which has been under repair for several days and has been dark is running tonight. Even though we have only been here about 2 weeks now this places feels like home. We will be here longer now. The forecast is for high winds -- 20 - 30 kts with higher gusts for the next 3 days. That's a lot but here we can still get off and walk the town and beaches.

Ohh will we ever leave again?? Sure when we need cheaper groceries and beer.

Winter has found us in the Bahamas!

Brrr that blizzard that is hitting the NorthEast today has sent a vicious cold front to us here in the Bahamas.

The wind howled all night long in the 20kt range with higher gusts. Today it has been 15 - 20 kts all day. Folks are moving around in ski clothing. Wearing jackets, long pants. knit caps, gloves, scarves, etc. I never knew there were so much cold weather clothing here. Ohh it is a cold winters morn here today. Ohh the low was 62 degrees and the high was only 66. I suspect with all that wind the wind chill MUST be in the low 60s. Ohh man it's tough here today. Please think of us in your prayers tonight -- and for some of you -- your condemnation.

We fought the high winds last night and went to Jack's for dinner and some Jack's bingo. It's only a 50 yard long dinghy ride from our mooring here. I had the Wahoo and Karen a Taco salad. The bingo was nice. Karen won the second game and unfortunately with another person and had to split the nearly $300 pot. Ohh it's great fun when you win. I unfortunately did not experience that but still had a good time.

We decided with the long range forecast to take a month here in Hopetown on a mooring and use this as a base of operation. When the weather is fine we go out and play and when it's bad we have our mooring here. Not as nice as a marina but only $350 for the month.

Unfortunately we still need to head to Marsh Harbour for provisions and water because it is twice as expensive here in Hopetown. Water is .38 cents a gallon here vs .20 cents in Marsh HArbour. Eggs are $5 a dozen here and $2.50 in Marsh Harbour. Boy food is expensive here.

Real Bahamian Chicken Souse

Today we had our first classic Cold Front come through this season. The wind clocked all the way around. It started this morning from the SE to S to SW were the strongest winds were from, then finally W and NW. The change from SW to NW was very dramatic. We had some dark clouds come over around 4:30pm with a distinct line of white clouds just behind them. The wind picked up, had some rain shower and BAM wind switched to W and NW and dropped down to less than 15kts. Most of the wind today was around 20 or less with a few higher gusts. Not too bad really. Tomorrow is forecast to have light winds during the day then strong tomorrow night as a reinforcing cold front comes through. I guess we will be "stuck" here again Monday so might as well make the most of it and play JACKS Bingo Monday night.

Around noon I got a hankering for some Chicken Souse. There were some youth football games planned in the park and food vendors would be there -- their moms. So I wandered over there to check it out. Sure enough along with soda drinks and sweet rolls and hamburgers and cheese burgers they had a BIG pot of chicken Souse. I ordered a bowl. Not what I expected. As the lady was laddeling it out I saw whole chicken wings, thighs, and drumsticks deposited in my bowl along with the broth and veggies. WOW I mean whole wings with the skin still on. Karen couldn't watch me eat it but it was good and the meat just fell off the bones. I even got some limes with real Bird Peppers skewered to them. They were good. Not hot like jalepeno but very spicy.

They also included a big chunk of Johnny Cake -- a very dense kind of white bread. All washed down with real Bahamian Sands beer

Ummmm Good.

A new Farkle Queen is Crowned

Last night Buck and Vickie came over to play some Farkle. Vickie is a newbie and Buck has never played (very newbie). We played 3 games. Karen easily won the first game then Vickie made some great moves and won the other 2 games. Clearly she is the new Farkle Queen. Barb and Dovie now have a challenger. Hopefully we can get together soon and see who really is the Farkle Queen -- sort of like a Super Bowl or Super Farkle playoff.

This weekend is forecast to have some inclement weather and maybe we can have a PLAYOFF!!

Today I went to the skippers meeting of the Hopetown sailing club to see what was going on for their big race today. Not much happening at the skippers meeting but lots of boats turned out for the race and they had a great party afterwards. Their pride and joy the ABACO RAGE sailed into the harbour and around this afternoon and it looked great.. We didn't go to the party but we could here the wild goings on from the Harbour.

This afternoon we went up into the lighthouse and got some great pictures of the area. It is always a treat to climb the lighthouse here. You just go in and climb. No imposing guards or folks telling what you can or cannot do you just go and enjoy. Something you could never do in the USA!

Afterwards Karen said she needed a beach fix -- short for "I need to hunt sea glass". I took here in but didn't want to walk the beach today. So back on the boat for me to hard boil some eggs and read -- tough afternoon. She came back over an hour later and she had quite the haul of sea glass. She said she found more to day than all the other days this trip combined. She was a happy happy person.

Tonight just a simple crab cake dinner aboard and time to enjoy a lovely night. Ohh, did I say the high today was 76 degrees and the low tonight will be 70?? That's why we are here.

It's all about eating today

Today was the first annual Heritage day/Farmer's Market here in Treasure Cay.

We had a load of laundry to do so we were over at the main green plaza at 9:30 and dropped our laundry off at the "self Service" laundry. The lady that runs it is more than happy to load your clothes in the washer and dryer when available so essentially you drop it off and come back a few hours later. Great service and just $4 a load.

We went to the Heritage day celebration but it hadn't officially started yet. It was running from 10am till 3:00 pm.

Bought a few groceries and back on the boat till 11:30pm. Then we went back and cruised the Heritage day celebration and it was nice. Not huge with only about 20 vendors but the pig picking was the big draw. We didn't have any since our friends Buck and Vickie raved about ribs at the Bakery/luncheon shop. We did buy some limes at only 3 for a dollar.

We picked the laundry up and bought some tomatoes then back on the boat we fixed BLTs ummmmm good.

I had read that Kurt Conch Salad was going to be there but we didn't see him early on. So around 2pm I went back and found him and he made up a batch right in front of me. I suggested that I would compare his to Hollywood George's in Marsh Harbour. He told me there would be no comparison -- his was the BEST. He even gave me a sample before filling a container for me. He is right -- he is the BEST. He built the salad out of all natural ingredients. He sliced up oranges and limes, and onions, and tomatoes and mixed it all together. Added some salt and special seasoning and it was GREAT... I'm hooked now. Unfortunately he only does this routinely on Green Turtle Cay on Fridays.. Will have to go back.

Hollywood George uses fresh limes and onions but uses orange juice out of a can or box -- not fresh.

There is probably more differences but I didn't catch it but to my taste -- Kurt now has he crown for the Conch Salad King!!

Back to the bakery luncheonette at 3:45 for our ribs we ordered earlier and much to our chagrin they only had one order left -- kind of over sold it they said. However she did offer me a lamb meal for the same price. I took it... It was great. I did get one of Karen's ribs and it was great too.

Lesson learned here is -- go early mon it's the Bahamas.

Winter has caught up with us!!

Ohhh it is a miserable winters day in the Abacos. It started with an occasional shower this morning. The wind is howling from the North (15 - 20 kts) and the temp is down to 69 degrees tonight. Ohhh I've got my long sleeve shirt and slippers on tonight. Still holding out on wearing the long pants.

Karen says I'm a fashion faux pas with swim suit and a fleece Columbia jacket on. My feet are cold so I'm wearing the venerable fleece slippers too tonight.

We have spent the day reading books and going to the grocery store here for some ham cold cuts and a few other things. You don't need to buy much to blow $42.00.

Several boats have moved on and there are only 10 here in the anchorage tonight. I guess Treasure Cay just doesn't get the fanfare of other places in the Abacos. Tomorrow is the first Abaco Heritage day here and they promise a farmers market with lots of crafts. Good thing because they don't grow much here other than coconuts. We will pickup a few tomorrow -- literally since they just litter the ground -- and whack them open with my freshly sharpened machete. I hope I wont have to be medi vac'd out after that tomorrow -- hee hee.

Treasure Cay is a great place to wait out weather. Even in winds to 25 kts it is easy to get off the boat and into town. The grocery is just a 4 minute walk away as well as the Laundromat.

Now the Laundromat is typical Bahamain. We too enough for 2 loads there yesterday and the laundress said sorry no water. They shut it off with no ETA. We went back at noon and she expected it on in 20 minutes. We left the bags and checked back at 2:30 pm and one load had just finished washing and the second was going in. At 4pm -- closing time -- one had finished drying and the other was still going. We got out around 4:30pm and all for $16 for 2 loads. I tipped her $4 since it wasn't her fault the water was off and she stayed open past 4pm.

Hey Mon it's the Bahamas and I did have fresh jamies last night.