Well I like to keep these blogs light and upbeat but sometimes that is not possible.
This week we lost a very dear cruising friend (best friend) to a sudden illness which took Barbara Thompson in virtually a blink of an eye. It was a shocker to us and all our friends who knew her.
We first met Barbara and her husband Jim at Matthews Point marina in 1992. We had a Catalina 22 and they had a Compact 23 and were berthed in the slip next to us. It wasn't long before we started to cruise along the same gunk holes together. They took to Andy and Kourtney like an aunt and uncle. Andy was 12 and Kourtney was 10. We shared some adventures over those short weekends at Matthews Point.
Over the years we all moved on to other boats -- always bigger but still hung out in the same places. Several times we vacationed together taking a week or more to go to Wrightsville Beach or Ocracoke and back doing both inside routes and outside routes.
There was many a night when would gather together on one boat or the other to chat, play games like Barb's favorite FARKLE, and Mexican train. It was all fun.
We would go out to eat together and just hang out -- true friends.
Barb was very opinionated and she had a knack for addressing my bravado and succinctly putting me in my place. I didn't really mind, it was appropriate. One anecdote I rmember was a time when I actually shocked her. We were in the marina in adjoining slips and I was eating a fine Salami Sandwich. Barb would never eat a cured meat. Well her dog Missy was nosing around me so I gave her a piece of Salami -- Barb was just aghast and pretty much speech less. I couldn't believe it -- a dog no less! It was like I poisoned her dog.
After 25 years it is hard to think of all the great things she did with us. It all felt so natural. She will be greatly missed.
Friday, March 3, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Black cloud -- she chase me!
Ohhh what a day. We planned to leave HopeTown today to go to Marsh Harbour for a few days and check in with customs to up our time here. Our 90 days are just about up. We do not plan to go back to Hopetown again this season.
The weather forecast was for 5 - 10 kts out of the south going Light and variable -- perfect for going into a slip at a marina. Last Sunday I had called Mangoes Marina to make a reservation. No response so I left another Voice main. Again no response. On Tuesday I left another VM - no response.
Wow out on the sea of Abaco the wind was blowing 12 -17! what about 5 - 10? I didn't like this because I want real light wind when entering a marina slip.
As we approached Marsh Harbour this morning the wind really piped up from 12 to 20 kts!! What happened to 5-10? Then I noticed dark clouds over Marsh -- hmmm a squall line forming. I called mangoes and they had no recollection of my reservation -- grrrrr. They told me to anchor and wait to see if there was anything they could do later today. He said he had 4 slips and 6 boats with reservations coming.
Well there is a MONSTER cold front coming across early tomorrow morning so we need protection before that. I called the other marinas on the phone (to not piss anyone off) and they were all full!!! What the heck!! We were at high tide and I had to move if I was going today. I then checked with Man O War marina and they had a slip for us but more expensive. Ohh well we would try that because I could not wait all day to just be disappointed later and that slip gone. We pulled anchor and headed for Man O War. The wind was still pushing 20+ kts. Ohhhh man and Man o War is a small tight marina and this is more wind than I want. Then it got worse.. The sky got darker and rain came behind us. The wind constantly pushing us to Man O War. Once in their tiny channel at just 1 hour past high tide we made the marina. Wind wasn't bad. They had an easy entry slip for me with the wind behind -- just as we entered the wind peaked again and was pushing us in. The dock hand did not know how to set up a spring line!! Told me he couldn't hold me.. I said to tie it off!! ohhh it was not pretty. We scrambled and fortunately other cruisers came to our aid and grab the lines the dock hand should have handled and we got in. Black cloud still over us!
Fortunately no damage was done other than my pride and we had arrived.
Man O war has never impressed us in the past although we always anchored out and dinghy'd in for a few hours. Well hanging around this afternoon we have met some of the friendliest folks. I think we are going to like it here for awhile.
Oh yeah -- the marina and all the mooring balls are full tonight in lieu of the big winds expected tomorrow through Sunday.
Even though the slips are expensive here the laundry is the cheapest we found yet at only $3.75 a load and the machines work great. I'd have to recommend this place but beware the dock hand.
NOTE to cruisers --- only enter near high tide... Another sailboat came in about an hour behind us just as we were checking in at the office. They called the marina and said they had run aground and asked to be towed off. The marina said they did not have a boat that could and suggested they call Edwin's Boat Yard. Well they were at lunch and when they got back that boat was hard around and leaning over. We were still 4 hours from low tide -- it was not pretty. They will have to wait till 9:30pm before they can get off with the tide tonight. Ouch!!
I wasn't the only one with a black cloud chasing me today.
The weather forecast was for 5 - 10 kts out of the south going Light and variable -- perfect for going into a slip at a marina. Last Sunday I had called Mangoes Marina to make a reservation. No response so I left another Voice main. Again no response. On Tuesday I left another VM - no response.
Wow out on the sea of Abaco the wind was blowing 12 -17! what about 5 - 10? I didn't like this because I want real light wind when entering a marina slip.
As we approached Marsh Harbour this morning the wind really piped up from 12 to 20 kts!! What happened to 5-10? Then I noticed dark clouds over Marsh -- hmmm a squall line forming. I called mangoes and they had no recollection of my reservation -- grrrrr. They told me to anchor and wait to see if there was anything they could do later today. He said he had 4 slips and 6 boats with reservations coming.
Well there is a MONSTER cold front coming across early tomorrow morning so we need protection before that. I called the other marinas on the phone (to not piss anyone off) and they were all full!!! What the heck!! We were at high tide and I had to move if I was going today. I then checked with Man O War marina and they had a slip for us but more expensive. Ohh well we would try that because I could not wait all day to just be disappointed later and that slip gone. We pulled anchor and headed for Man O War. The wind was still pushing 20+ kts. Ohhhh man and Man o War is a small tight marina and this is more wind than I want. Then it got worse.. The sky got darker and rain came behind us. The wind constantly pushing us to Man O War. Once in their tiny channel at just 1 hour past high tide we made the marina. Wind wasn't bad. They had an easy entry slip for me with the wind behind -- just as we entered the wind peaked again and was pushing us in. The dock hand did not know how to set up a spring line!! Told me he couldn't hold me.. I said to tie it off!! ohhh it was not pretty. We scrambled and fortunately other cruisers came to our aid and grab the lines the dock hand should have handled and we got in. Black cloud still over us!
Fortunately no damage was done other than my pride and we had arrived.
Man O war has never impressed us in the past although we always anchored out and dinghy'd in for a few hours. Well hanging around this afternoon we have met some of the friendliest folks. I think we are going to like it here for awhile.
Oh yeah -- the marina and all the mooring balls are full tonight in lieu of the big winds expected tomorrow through Sunday.
Even though the slips are expensive here the laundry is the cheapest we found yet at only $3.75 a load and the machines work great. I'd have to recommend this place but beware the dock hand.
NOTE to cruisers --- only enter near high tide... Another sailboat came in about an hour behind us just as we were checking in at the office. They called the marina and said they had run aground and asked to be towed off. The marina said they did not have a boat that could and suggested they call Edwin's Boat Yard. Well they were at lunch and when they got back that boat was hard around and leaning over. We were still 4 hours from low tide -- it was not pretty. They will have to wait till 9:30pm before they can get off with the tide tonight. Ouch!!
I wasn't the only one with a black cloud chasing me today.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
BeAliv Nippers
We had to make an unplanned trip to Marsh Harbour to get my BeAliv phone squared away. The problem was not with BeAliv but with Alcatel Tech Support. They pushed an upgrade on my phone that broke the HotSpot, WiFi, and Bluetooth. They spent a week ignoring our complaints then just sat on their duffs for the next week. Finally they came out with another "upgrade" but it had to be applied by BeAliv and their closest full service office is in Marsh Harbour. If it wasn't for this hassle I would love the phone and service. It is by far a better value than what BTC is offering.
Well I arrived at their office Friday morning but they said it would take an hour to do the upgrade. I had to come back in the afternoon which as I indicated in other posts is just Pandemonium in the streets on Friday Afternoon. Everyone has to honk their horns and burn rubber for a short distance. Pedestrians are definitely endangered on Friday afternoons.
We took the time to buy more groceries and goodies and my favorite Conch Salad from Hollywood George. It's the best.
Got the phone later and everything is working now. We spent the night on the hook in MArsh then Saturday we went to Great Guana CAy to have lunch at Nippers Beach Bar.
I thought I would splurge and grab a mooring in the settlement. They are owned and serviced by Dive Guana. We thought we were in great luck because only one was in use and that left 7 others. We tried to pick one up but their attachment is POOR. They have a float and under the float is the bridle and the attachment to the mooring block. I tried 3 times but kept catching the mooring line and not the bridle. I can't hang on very long and can't pull the boat over with the boat hook so after 3 attempts we gave up and ran over the Fishers Bay next door and anchored. Only one boat was already there. The wind was light but from the west which made it kind of lumpy there and the boat wakes to Bakers Bay were annoying.
We went to Nippers around 12:30 pm and there were only a handful of old folks there. Later a large group of very old folks showed up and they were quite animated and noisy.
Lunch was so so. Karen had a blue cheese cheeseburger with bacon and fries and 2 tablespoons of cole slaw for $20. I had the conch finger, fries, and 2 tablespoonfuls of cole slaw for $19. Then add 2 beers and a radler for a total of $60 before tip!! Ouch but it was Nippers. After lunch we headed back to the dinghy which was anchored in front of Grabbers BEach Bar but we decide not to stop. Back on the boat to relax and watch a few more boats come in. It was bouncy on the hook there and high tide was late in the day so we packed it in and headed back to HopeTown and our comfortable mooring.
Man we are some old fuddy duds now!
The weather today has been perfect with lots of sun and light winds. The temps hit 80 degrees. I went swimming in the ocean then later took my revitalized phone over to the Hopetown Inn and Marina to use their WiFi to update the phone and install AVG virus protection.
Not a bad day today. A cold front is supposed to come across tonight and make things very windy here for a few days. Time for some chores.
Well I arrived at their office Friday morning but they said it would take an hour to do the upgrade. I had to come back in the afternoon which as I indicated in other posts is just Pandemonium in the streets on Friday Afternoon. Everyone has to honk their horns and burn rubber for a short distance. Pedestrians are definitely endangered on Friday afternoons.
We took the time to buy more groceries and goodies and my favorite Conch Salad from Hollywood George. It's the best.
Got the phone later and everything is working now. We spent the night on the hook in MArsh then Saturday we went to Great Guana CAy to have lunch at Nippers Beach Bar.
I thought I would splurge and grab a mooring in the settlement. They are owned and serviced by Dive Guana. We thought we were in great luck because only one was in use and that left 7 others. We tried to pick one up but their attachment is POOR. They have a float and under the float is the bridle and the attachment to the mooring block. I tried 3 times but kept catching the mooring line and not the bridle. I can't hang on very long and can't pull the boat over with the boat hook so after 3 attempts we gave up and ran over the Fishers Bay next door and anchored. Only one boat was already there. The wind was light but from the west which made it kind of lumpy there and the boat wakes to Bakers Bay were annoying.
We went to Nippers around 12:30 pm and there were only a handful of old folks there. Later a large group of very old folks showed up and they were quite animated and noisy.
Lunch was so so. Karen had a blue cheese cheeseburger with bacon and fries and 2 tablespoons of cole slaw for $20. I had the conch finger, fries, and 2 tablespoonfuls of cole slaw for $19. Then add 2 beers and a radler for a total of $60 before tip!! Ouch but it was Nippers. After lunch we headed back to the dinghy which was anchored in front of Grabbers BEach Bar but we decide not to stop. Back on the boat to relax and watch a few more boats come in. It was bouncy on the hook there and high tide was late in the day so we packed it in and headed back to HopeTown and our comfortable mooring.
Man we are some old fuddy duds now!
The weather today has been perfect with lots of sun and light winds. The temps hit 80 degrees. I went swimming in the ocean then later took my revitalized phone over to the Hopetown Inn and Marina to use their WiFi to update the phone and install AVG virus protection.
Not a bad day today. A cold front is supposed to come across tonight and make things very windy here for a few days. Time for some chores.
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