Well this monster cold front came through on Sunday as predicted but fortunately the very strong winds were not that bad. It actually started blowing in the 20's Saturday afternoon and evening (not as forecast) then the front came across at 7:30am and rained and blew strong till 8:30am and then like a switch the wind died to 5 - 8kts for about 2 hours. Apparently there was a trough following the front that gave us the mild wind then it blew strong all day. Monday was still blowing strong but let up enough that we could re-launch the dinghy and go to Captain Jacks for BINGO night.
Monday night was uncomfortable because we were still swinging on the mooring and rocking a bit. Today is still windy but laying down to just under 20kts late this afternoon. Supposed to be light and variable by morning.
Tomorrow we are heading to Marsh Harbour and Mangoes Marina. I need to plug in and run a battery equalization on my batteries. They are charging but not deeply. We will do a major provisioning run and laundry while there for at least 2 days. Then back here to HopeTown for the next cold front passage.
Steve and Molly from YOLO joined us at Capn Jacks to play JACKS -- a modified BINGO game-- and played for the first time. Darn if Molly didn't win the first game. That was a surprise. Then I won the fourth game which was a surprise for me. Boy it feels good to win and get that pot of money. YOW!
Another lesson re-learned. The other morning some Cruiser got on the Cruiser's Net and complained about all the boats here in Hopetown running generators. He thought we should all have enough Solar Panels to avoid that. I thought what a wuss can't stand a little generator noise and exhaust. Well I've got my just desserts now. There is a large sailing vessel Cheng Tu in front of me -- about 30 yards away -- and with the wind direction I am directly behind him. Well for that last 2 days -- maybe longer -- he is running a built in generator 24 hours a day!! Ohh and that exhaust just frequently comes to our boat and on top of that the captain has a cigar in his mouth nearly all the time. So it is both diesel exhaust and cigar smoke. Sorry but I have to complain. The wind should change direction tonight and put him beside me and another boat will be astern him -- sorry for that boat.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Getting ready for a BIG ONE
WOW it is hard to believe that a whole week has passed already. The living is easy in HopeTown and one day just melts into another. The weather has been great this week once the wind laid down on Wednesday. That seven days of strong easterlies was really unusual for here. Now it has been light wind with the highs in the mid to upper 70s and lows in the upper 60s. I just sleep on a sheet at night -- no cover not even a sheet necessary.
We just wander the town, Karen hunts sea glass, and I fly my kites and try an ocean swim each day. It's nice but nothing much to report.
Monday night we went to Capn Jacks to play Bingo -- called Jacks there but didn't win. Karen won 4 times on our last trip here so we are hopeful.
I bought another Vernon Key Lime Pie the other day. Really have to stop making a habit of that.
We picked up our official SOT cards on Monday and I tried to use mine at the liqueur store for 10% off a case of beer but they said the discount did not apply to beer, just liqueur and wine. Ohhh Well.
Today I had to fetch water for the boat. Six trips carrying 18 gallons each trip. We are good for another week now. Mid week next week we hope to get to Marsh Harbour for more provisioning and cheaper water -- it's .38 cents a gallon here.
The big event this week starts tomorrow with a HUGE cold Front coming across tomorrow night. The forecast is for a a line of severe thunderstorms with winds to 60 kts then blow 30+ for more than 24 hours. It is not supposed to settle down till Tuesday night.
The folks are taking it seriously. All the moorings are occupied tonight and the marina is full. That forecast is not good for anyone on anchor.
So here we stay for the "blow". Fortunately I had Lucky Strike who rents the mooring to me find the other line to the mooring for me o I have two attachments to it. Normally the second line is available but someone ran over that float and it sunk. I feel better having two attachments to the mooring.
Hopefully I won't have any stories from this "BIG ONE" but we will see.
We just wander the town, Karen hunts sea glass, and I fly my kites and try an ocean swim each day. It's nice but nothing much to report.
Monday night we went to Capn Jacks to play Bingo -- called Jacks there but didn't win. Karen won 4 times on our last trip here so we are hopeful.
I bought another Vernon Key Lime Pie the other day. Really have to stop making a habit of that.
We picked up our official SOT cards on Monday and I tried to use mine at the liqueur store for 10% off a case of beer but they said the discount did not apply to beer, just liqueur and wine. Ohhh Well.
Today I had to fetch water for the boat. Six trips carrying 18 gallons each trip. We are good for another week now. Mid week next week we hope to get to Marsh Harbour for more provisioning and cheaper water -- it's .38 cents a gallon here.
The big event this week starts tomorrow with a HUGE cold Front coming across tomorrow night. The forecast is for a a line of severe thunderstorms with winds to 60 kts then blow 30+ for more than 24 hours. It is not supposed to settle down till Tuesday night.
The folks are taking it seriously. All the moorings are occupied tonight and the marina is full. That forecast is not good for anyone on anchor.
So here we stay for the "blow". Fortunately I had Lucky Strike who rents the mooring to me find the other line to the mooring for me o I have two attachments to it. Normally the second line is available but someone ran over that float and it sunk. I feel better having two attachments to the mooring.
Hopefully I won't have any stories from this "BIG ONE" but we will see.
Saturday, January 14, 2017
In the rhythm
Not much going on here in Hope Town these days. We have a lot of wind this week which is really unusual for the duration. I've seen cold front blows that last 36 - 48 hours but never 7 days! It is finally laying down today at 10 - 12 most of the day.
Several boats left yesterday and we had 12 free moorings here last night. Five came in today so still several available moorings.
Yesterday we went to the "Wine down Sip Sip" for their weekly bacchanalian party for librarians, dirt dwellers, and cruisers and we had our pictures taken for our official SOT membership cards. Don't worry we only had a glass of wine each last night and some appetizers.
All this wind has set the stage for numerous isolated rain squalls. The wind is causing massive evaporation from the sea and it builds small isolated cloud clusters that come over and rains for a few minutes. It sets up a rhythm. The wind dies, then builds briefly, then rains, and then back to the incessant blowing.
We deal with it and just run to town to walk ( I mean dinghy) and forage for food at the two tiny grocery stores here. It's kind of fun actually to see who has what. We walk the beach a little but it is very windy out there and not much fun. Karen has found some sea glass and is on the hunt for more.
The wind should be down to less than 15 tomorrow so it is time to bring my kites out and have a little fun on the beach.
Several boats left yesterday and we had 12 free moorings here last night. Five came in today so still several available moorings.
Yesterday we went to the "Wine down Sip Sip" for their weekly bacchanalian party for librarians, dirt dwellers, and cruisers and we had our pictures taken for our official SOT membership cards. Don't worry we only had a glass of wine each last night and some appetizers.
All this wind has set the stage for numerous isolated rain squalls. The wind is causing massive evaporation from the sea and it builds small isolated cloud clusters that come over and rains for a few minutes. It sets up a rhythm. The wind dies, then builds briefly, then rains, and then back to the incessant blowing.
We deal with it and just run to town to walk ( I mean dinghy) and forage for food at the two tiny grocery stores here. It's kind of fun actually to see who has what. We walk the beach a little but it is very windy out there and not much fun. Karen has found some sea glass and is on the hunt for more.
The wind should be down to less than 15 tomorrow so it is time to bring my kites out and have a little fun on the beach.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Chicken but smart
It's windy here -- actually uncomfortably windy. It wears you down after 3 continuous days of 20+ kts winds. Now here in Hopetown we can still take the dinghy to town comfortably but still there is a lot of swinging motion when back on the boat.
Now the temps are very nice after the hot temps that greeted us a month ago. The nighttime lows are around 62 - 64 and the highs are 70 - 73 right now. This trend of temps and wind are to continue for another week so we need to just deal with it. However it is 1000% better than enduring the frigid temps and snow at home during this same period.
Today we are having the added inconvenience of small squalls passing through about every hour this morning thus why I'm writing the blog in the morning.
Now life is till not a continuous picnic here. There are chores to perform. like yesterday our main water tank was near empty so I decided to cart water from the marina in 3 - 6 gallon jerry cans in the dinghy. It was quite windy and I did not want to drop the mooring and take the big boat to the marina and dock to fill water and then have to go back and pickup the mooring again. The pickup can be difficult in strong winds. Well I made 6 trips for 108 gallons and it took better than 2 hours! Well what else was I going to do eh? to get dinner and then play.
Last night was Bingo night or as the locals call it JACKS because it's played at the restaurant called Jacks here in the harbour. It starts at 6pm and so we went at 5pm to get dinner and then play. Well didn't happen. At 5pm the place was packed and no tables were available. Darn -- next week we will go at 4:30pm. We still had a nice time though. We walked to 'Wine Down Sip Sip' and ordered one of their flat bread pizzas to go. It was delicious.
Yesterday I received a note from Hank Pomerantz of Carolina Yacht Care that gave the talk on all the trouble spots on the ICW between Beaufort, NC and Savannah Georgia when we stayed at Southport Marina. His information was great and he is trying to enhance the program for those coming down the ICW next fall.
I'm thinking I don't want to do that again. It was really tough this year -- maybe I should not bring the boat all the way home this year -- I know I know Blasphemy but still do I want to endure that again?
We have met several cruisers that all leave their boats in Florida and some actually leave their boats in the Bahamas just so they don't have to cross the Gulf Stream again. Most of those were Canadians on trawlers. They had all had very bad crossings of the Gulf Stream. One woman in fact told us that the conditions for her was so bad that she thought she was going to die. She decided to remove her life jacket so at least it would be quick! Now that is a very bad crossing.
I spoke to two trawler owners who leave their boats at Abaco Yacht Services in Black Sound on Green Turtle Cay and they said the storage fee for on the hard was less than $300 a month. They can leave the boats in the Bahamas for up to 3 years at no tax cost although after 3 years you have to import the boat and pay about one third the value of the boat, thus they take them out of the Bahamas then.
Something to consider to avoid the hassle of ICW and Gulf Stream crossings. Call me chicken.
Now the temps are very nice after the hot temps that greeted us a month ago. The nighttime lows are around 62 - 64 and the highs are 70 - 73 right now. This trend of temps and wind are to continue for another week so we need to just deal with it. However it is 1000% better than enduring the frigid temps and snow at home during this same period.
Today we are having the added inconvenience of small squalls passing through about every hour this morning thus why I'm writing the blog in the morning.
Now life is till not a continuous picnic here. There are chores to perform. like yesterday our main water tank was near empty so I decided to cart water from the marina in 3 - 6 gallon jerry cans in the dinghy. It was quite windy and I did not want to drop the mooring and take the big boat to the marina and dock to fill water and then have to go back and pickup the mooring again. The pickup can be difficult in strong winds. Well I made 6 trips for 108 gallons and it took better than 2 hours! Well what else was I going to do eh? to get dinner and then play.
Last night was Bingo night or as the locals call it JACKS because it's played at the restaurant called Jacks here in the harbour. It starts at 6pm and so we went at 5pm to get dinner and then play. Well didn't happen. At 5pm the place was packed and no tables were available. Darn -- next week we will go at 4:30pm. We still had a nice time though. We walked to 'Wine Down Sip Sip' and ordered one of their flat bread pizzas to go. It was delicious.
Yesterday I received a note from Hank Pomerantz of Carolina Yacht Care that gave the talk on all the trouble spots on the ICW between Beaufort, NC and Savannah Georgia when we stayed at Southport Marina. His information was great and he is trying to enhance the program for those coming down the ICW next fall.
I'm thinking I don't want to do that again. It was really tough this year -- maybe I should not bring the boat all the way home this year -- I know I know Blasphemy but still do I want to endure that again?
We have met several cruisers that all leave their boats in Florida and some actually leave their boats in the Bahamas just so they don't have to cross the Gulf Stream again. Most of those were Canadians on trawlers. They had all had very bad crossings of the Gulf Stream. One woman in fact told us that the conditions for her was so bad that she thought she was going to die. She decided to remove her life jacket so at least it would be quick! Now that is a very bad crossing.
I spoke to two trawler owners who leave their boats at Abaco Yacht Services in Black Sound on Green Turtle Cay and they said the storage fee for on the hard was less than $300 a month. They can leave the boats in the Bahamas for up to 3 years at no tax cost although after 3 years you have to import the boat and pay about one third the value of the boat, thus they take them out of the Bahamas then.
Something to consider to avoid the hassle of ICW and Gulf Stream crossings. Call me chicken.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Blown Away
The title tonight is the theme for this 30 hour windstorm we are experiencing. This massive cold front that has brought so much misery to North Carolina arrived here last night around 5:15pm. We had a line of squalls come through with not too terrific winds then the wind just died. It was supposed to usher in high winds but it just died. We were windless until about 9:15pm and then it started to blow and slowly build. By midnight we were over 20kts with higher gusts. The wind clocked to the North and we had only about 100yds of fetch but still the boat was swivelling and rocking on this mooring. This is especially bad at night because you always worry that maybe something holding you to that mooring might let go --- eeeeck.
It's a restless night whether on anchor or on a mooring. Even at a dock in high winds you have to worry about hitting pilings as the tide changes the depth and effective length of lines around you.
Naturally at 3am -- witching hour -- all hell breaks loose. My restless sleep is suddenly jarred by a crashing grating sound at the stern of the boat. Has another boat come adrift and hit us? Have we come adrift and hit something?
I jump out of bed and up to the deck in my skimpy PJs to look.. Well it is ominous in the dim lights, boats moving around, wavelets striking the boat but nothing seems amiss. It is too windy to open a side curtain with out damage so I go out through the aft curtain and look. The dinghy is riding behind the boat but not like I left it -- atharwtship - via the bridle line and a line attached to the lifting yoke on the motor. Then I see where the lifting eye had pulled out of the motor yoke. That wasn't such a good idea! I deliberate pulling the dinghy-motor out of the water but that is a big job normally and difficult in the dark. I watch the dinghy moving behind the boat. In the wind shadow of the boat its motion is not violent. It seems to like it. So I secure the line that came loose and head back to bed. Sleep is even more elusive now.
The damage to the yoke proved minor -- sun weakened threads had parted. We can repair that with a little sewing. What looked like a big deal in the dark proved only minor in the light of day.
The wind is still blowing mid 20s to 30 all day. That is uncomfortable and makes you anxious but no worse. I'm not alone. As I look around the harbour most boats have folks sitting in the cockpits watching the boat motion. It really is too rough to take the dinghy to town so we remain the whole day on the boat reading and sampling pieces of Key lime Pie that I bought from Vernon's yesterday. That is the best Key lime Pie although expensive -- here it is $17 for a nine inch pie.
Well it cold here tonight at 68 degrees and may dip to 58 by morning so we are having Chili followed of course by a slice of Key lime pie.
It's a restless night whether on anchor or on a mooring. Even at a dock in high winds you have to worry about hitting pilings as the tide changes the depth and effective length of lines around you.
Naturally at 3am -- witching hour -- all hell breaks loose. My restless sleep is suddenly jarred by a crashing grating sound at the stern of the boat. Has another boat come adrift and hit us? Have we come adrift and hit something?
I jump out of bed and up to the deck in my skimpy PJs to look.. Well it is ominous in the dim lights, boats moving around, wavelets striking the boat but nothing seems amiss. It is too windy to open a side curtain with out damage so I go out through the aft curtain and look. The dinghy is riding behind the boat but not like I left it -- atharwtship - via the bridle line and a line attached to the lifting yoke on the motor. Then I see where the lifting eye had pulled out of the motor yoke. That wasn't such a good idea! I deliberate pulling the dinghy-motor out of the water but that is a big job normally and difficult in the dark. I watch the dinghy moving behind the boat. In the wind shadow of the boat its motion is not violent. It seems to like it. So I secure the line that came loose and head back to bed. Sleep is even more elusive now.
The damage to the yoke proved minor -- sun weakened threads had parted. We can repair that with a little sewing. What looked like a big deal in the dark proved only minor in the light of day.
The wind is still blowing mid 20s to 30 all day. That is uncomfortable and makes you anxious but no worse. I'm not alone. As I look around the harbour most boats have folks sitting in the cockpits watching the boat motion. It really is too rough to take the dinghy to town so we remain the whole day on the boat reading and sampling pieces of Key lime Pie that I bought from Vernon's yesterday. That is the best Key lime Pie although expensive -- here it is $17 for a nine inch pie.
Well it cold here tonight at 68 degrees and may dip to 58 by morning so we are having Chili followed of course by a slice of Key lime pie.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Marsh Harbour Trip
We left Green Turtle cay this morning. We had a couple of days left on our month long retainer but the weather really deteriorates Saturday and for most of next week so we thought we would take this opportunity to move on. That and we need to do a major provisioning run since we have been living off stores for the last month,.
The weather was perfect for leaving the crowded GTC dock this morning -- no wind no excuses. We made an easy exit fully under control. There was very little wind on the Sea of Abaco and only a 2 foot swell around the Whale cay passage -- we fought the current going out but had a great ride back in. It took only 3.5 hours to get to Marsh harbour and put the anchor down.
After a brief rest we went to the Tupps Liqueur store for beer and stuff and soda cans. Then onto the Abaco wholesale place that actually had very little for us but did buy some Goombay Punch, block of Cheddar cheese and a couple of BOUNTY candy bars -- can't find those at home anymore.
Back on the boat to just enjoy the harbour this afternoon. Unfortunately an occasional thoughtless boat wake but otherwise not bad. Currently there are only 25 boats here which is a small crowd.
Tomorrow morning we plan to hit the major supermarket here -- Maxwell's -- then get a taxi to bring it all back to the dinghy dock. If we get it done early enough we an catch the near high tide to get into Hope Town for hopefully the next several weeks.
The strongest cold front of the season is forecast for Saturday night into Sunday so we need to be in a protected harbour. IF Hope town is full then we will consider either Man O War mooring or worst case -- over to Treasure cay ( a 15 mile run) for a mooring or slip.. The forecast is for up to 30 kts wind with gusts to 40 or 45 -- that is major. Although we have heard that before and it never happened you can't count on that being wrong.
The weather was perfect for leaving the crowded GTC dock this morning -- no wind no excuses. We made an easy exit fully under control. There was very little wind on the Sea of Abaco and only a 2 foot swell around the Whale cay passage -- we fought the current going out but had a great ride back in. It took only 3.5 hours to get to Marsh harbour and put the anchor down.
After a brief rest we went to the Tupps Liqueur store for beer and stuff and soda cans. Then onto the Abaco wholesale place that actually had very little for us but did buy some Goombay Punch, block of Cheddar cheese and a couple of BOUNTY candy bars -- can't find those at home anymore.
Back on the boat to just enjoy the harbour this afternoon. Unfortunately an occasional thoughtless boat wake but otherwise not bad. Currently there are only 25 boats here which is a small crowd.
Tomorrow morning we plan to hit the major supermarket here -- Maxwell's -- then get a taxi to bring it all back to the dinghy dock. If we get it done early enough we an catch the near high tide to get into Hope Town for hopefully the next several weeks.
The strongest cold front of the season is forecast for Saturday night into Sunday so we need to be in a protected harbour. IF Hope town is full then we will consider either Man O War mooring or worst case -- over to Treasure cay ( a 15 mile run) for a mooring or slip.. The forecast is for up to 30 kts wind with gusts to 40 or 45 -- that is major. Although we have heard that before and it never happened you can't count on that being wrong.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Happy New Years -- Happy Junkanoo
Happy New Years -- a little belated though. That is a problem when you are on Island time.
Nothing much happened over here in White Sound. There were the high dollar holiday dinners at the Green Turtle Club Restaurant at $60 a head and at the Bluff House for $75 a head. Not for us -- we cooked steak and ham on the barbecue grill.
Some went to Sundowner's to celebrate but that is a 2 mile dinghy ride for us and I didn't want to do that after midnight. So it was my usual New YEars Eve -- in bed by 9:30pm. Karen stayed up though.
Now my friends Art and Jean on SAMANA had the right idea. They celebrated New YEars on UTC Time -- Greenwich mean time or 5 hours before EST. Thus New Years was at 7pm EST.
I celebrated NEW Years day with a swim in the ocean. It was a bit rough and the waves pushed me around -- a lot but I did it.
January 2 was Junkanoo at 2ish pm in the New Plymouth Settlement. It was fine. Karen will post some pics on her Facebook page. It was smaller and with a smaller crowd then others we enjoyed but still a lot of fun.
After the Junkanoo they had a fireworks display in the Settlement at 8pm. Again I wasn't going to do the 2 mile dinghy ride out and back in the dark so we took the dinghy over to the Bluff House and walked over the hill to the beach to watch. Now that was way cool. The beach bar was closed and it was completely dark on the beach. We had to find our way in the dark and were the only ones over there. Several folks said they were going too but only we showed. I like the dark but Karen was a bit apprehensive.
For such a small community (and budget) they put on a VERY Professional show. I really liked it.
Well we are in need of more provisions and we are finally tired of GTC so we will move on tomorrow or Thursday down to Marsh Harbor to provision there. Prices will be about 1/3 cheaper there than here or about twice what we pay at home.
Big fat cold front coming in Sunday so we need to be in protected harbor by Saturday night so we will move on to either Hope Town or Treasure cay or a marina in Marsh Harbour.
Nothing much happened over here in White Sound. There were the high dollar holiday dinners at the Green Turtle Club Restaurant at $60 a head and at the Bluff House for $75 a head. Not for us -- we cooked steak and ham on the barbecue grill.
Some went to Sundowner's to celebrate but that is a 2 mile dinghy ride for us and I didn't want to do that after midnight. So it was my usual New YEars Eve -- in bed by 9:30pm. Karen stayed up though.
Now my friends Art and Jean on SAMANA had the right idea. They celebrated New YEars on UTC Time -- Greenwich mean time or 5 hours before EST. Thus New Years was at 7pm EST.
I celebrated NEW Years day with a swim in the ocean. It was a bit rough and the waves pushed me around -- a lot but I did it.
January 2 was Junkanoo at 2ish pm in the New Plymouth Settlement. It was fine. Karen will post some pics on her Facebook page. It was smaller and with a smaller crowd then others we enjoyed but still a lot of fun.
After the Junkanoo they had a fireworks display in the Settlement at 8pm. Again I wasn't going to do the 2 mile dinghy ride out and back in the dark so we took the dinghy over to the Bluff House and walked over the hill to the beach to watch. Now that was way cool. The beach bar was closed and it was completely dark on the beach. We had to find our way in the dark and were the only ones over there. Several folks said they were going too but only we showed. I like the dark but Karen was a bit apprehensive.
For such a small community (and budget) they put on a VERY Professional show. I really liked it.
Well we are in need of more provisions and we are finally tired of GTC so we will move on tomorrow or Thursday down to Marsh Harbor to provision there. Prices will be about 1/3 cheaper there than here or about twice what we pay at home.
Big fat cold front coming in Sunday so we need to be in protected harbor by Saturday night so we will move on to either Hope Town or Treasure cay or a marina in Marsh Harbour.
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