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.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Friday, January 30, 2015
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
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.
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.
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