Wednesday, February 29, 2012 LEAP DAY! Black Point, Great Guana Cay

Happy Leap Day! It’s our extra day in February! So March is delayed by one day.

The winds picked up last night and our wind generator was consistently spinning quite fast. Listening to it, I figured we had 20 knot winds. When people came on the radio this morning, it was confirmed. It sounds like March is going to come in like a lion this year. Wave after wave of cold fronts seem to be forming and coming down from the states. I’m going to see if I can head over to Black Point today while Wayne works on the SSB. Maybe I can catch up on my email and find out some information on places in the Virgins. It sounds like Blue Pearl is going to hang out in the Spanish Virgins until the end of April. If that’s the case, I’m hoping we get to meet up with them again!

I hitched a ride a little before noon ashore with Azaya to post to the blog, catch up on email, check out a few places in the Virgin’s and download weather. Mary and Axel wanted to take a walk out to the white cliffs of Dotham Cut so we split up and I headed for Scorpio’s but it wasn’t open so went over to Lorraines. Her new hairdo was catchy with a streak of white/blond running around the back in a bob style cut. After sitting in the café awhile I asked her for some change so I could put $5 in her computer/electric fund can. She was pretty much out of everything while waiting for the supply boat to come it. I wanted ice tea but all she had was a couple of regular Cokes, a few Kalicks and a bunch of Bud Light. Oh well. As far as food, I didn’t really want conch and couldn’t stomach the thought of another sausage burger so other than the internet and conversation, I needed to donate to the cause.

A little after 3pm I headed towards the docks again and ran into Mary and Axel so we headed over to Scorpios and had sodas and a Kalick. Their walk was a long one and an icy cold soda/beer was a wonderful thing!

When we got back to the boats, Wayne had finished hooking up the SSB and couldn’t seem to get the power button to work. Once he hooked it to the batteries, it wouldn’t turn off. We couldn’t seem to pull anyone in and there was a consistent humming. I fiddled with it for quite a while before giving up. We were so hoping it would work!

Dinner consisted of potato salad and sausage (that made me think of Klaus since he loves sausage LOL) and I don’t think either of us realized how hungry we were until we started eating. It was gooooooood. Tomorrow we’re thinking of moving on down the line after listening to Chris Parker. There’s supposed to be a weather window (actually today would have worked) Sunday. We’ll see.

Tuesday February 28, 2012 Black Point Settlement, Great Guana Cay

We heard Blue Yonder this morning at 8am. It was good to hear her give the weather (channel 12 on the VHF). We were wondering when we’d be able to hear her and if she was still broadcasting. Question answered. We picked up Chris Parker this morning too and it looks like we still have a few days before any break in the winds and waves to go on the outside (off the banks) to get down to Georgetown. It’s regatta week there right now, so I don’t really mind waiting for that to be finished before we get there.

We worked on the SSB (the shortwave/single sideband radio from Blue Pearl) this morning and Axel came by to help us out too. Got the tuner put into the battery compartment of the boat, the wires run from the cabin to the back. Then Mary hailed me to see if I’d like to run into town. But of course! So she came by and picked me up in her dink and I left Wayne to continue working on the SSB, and Axel was working on their antenna and a cleat on the bow of their boat.

After tying up at the government dock, we headed over to Lorraine’s to pick up bread and get on the internet. Got the bread, but the internet was not working so we headed over to Scorpio’s. I’d never been in there before. It’s a nice place. Spacious, clean and it has a setup for a band in one section near the bar and 2 rooms with tables. It was a little dark in there, but there were plenty of power strips and the wifi was free. We ordered sodas, were able to log onto the internet with no problem, then ordered and split a turkey club (it was pretty good too). I was in heaven because when we got our sodas they came side by side with a glass of ice! Mmmmmm… grape soda with lots of ice!

I was able to check my email and post to Facebook but didn’t do much more than that. I’m flabbergasted at how much junkmail clogs up the email! It was good to hear from Steph and Mary and I was tickled pink to hear from Barb and Klaus! I have some wonderful pictures of Barb going up the mast and have to make sure when I get a good connection to send them to her! It may take a while but I’ll get them to them. It sounds like they’re having fun and exploring in Florida! mmmmm ice cream!!!! Hopefully I can get back and do some more stuff tomorrow. I’d love to answer some of my emails!

Once back at the boat, I helped Wayne lay the counterpoise (ground?) in the bilge/soul of the boat. It reflects the waves from the antenna of the SSB into the ionosphere. The boat is pretty well torn up, with things out of their storage places and all over the place, so we can access the belly of the boat for the wires and counterpoise. So I was pretty grateful to head over to Azaya for a chicken oriental salad for dinner. It was delicious!

We enjoyed a wonderful sunset with a red sky, towering cumulus clouds tinted blue, green, gray and white with a background of higher wisps of streaking stratus. I was wishing I had my camera and conch horn too when I heard people blowing theirs from the various boats. It’s time for all the anchor lights to come on.

We looked over charts after dinner and talked about various places to go and places to anchor. It looks like there are all kinds of neat anchorages between here and Galliot Cut/Musha Cay. I think Mary & Axel would like to head out and explore some of them tomorrow, but we’re just not ready with the SSB half-done and things all over the place. We definitely need tomorrow here…

Monday, February 27, 2012 Black point Settlement, Great Guana Cay

The winds were roaring last night. So much so that the wind generator started doing it’s ripping, winding sound of metal rattling on metal and vibrating through the boat causing me to grit my teeth again.
Off it went for the night....
Ahhhh blissful sleep...

This morning, I loaded up all the garbage, collected Wayne's computer (it’s smaller) and we got the dinghy over to the government dock. It was a bit choppy out and needless to say we got a little wet crossing the bay over to town. But it was worth it...


A view of Black Point Harbor

It always feels comfortable walking into Loraine’s Café. Her face lights up when she sees me and I love saying hello to her. Joshua is running all over the place now and we told her we were waiting for a couple of friends before ordering. I plugged the computer in and it was just starting up when Mary & Axel got there. So it was bill paying time and checking out the weather. We ordered hamburgers and actually got rather large sausage burgers – different… but I guess that puts the “ham” in hamburger… Afterwards, we went for a walk to Regatta Park.



Regatta Park

Mary tried to get a phone card at the store but it looked like it might not be compatible with her phone… oh oh… It started looking like rain so we all headed back to the boats. It still hasn’t rained but what a lovely sunset.


Black Point Police Station



annnnd the Jail right next to the Police Station

I found out that Eric Campell is leaving JHS before the school year finishes and that Barb has been looking for me to fill in until the end of the school year. Wow. I would so love to do that. It’s a little difficult though considering where I am. I wish it were in late April that she needed me… There’s no way I can be back there by next week. The joys of leaving a position you love to do something else that you've always wanted to do...


Mary, Wayne, Axel walking around Black Point (me behind the camera of course)



Sunday, 2/26/12 From Shroud to Black Point Settlement

From Shroud Cay (24 32.048/76 47.895) 9am
To Black Point Settlement Great Guana Cay (24 06.194/76 24.32) 4:30pm

It was an on and off cloudy day with quite a bit of wind. We had white caps on the banks at times with streamers so our winds varied between 20-27knots with gusts of 30 knots at times all day long. It’s a good thing that they started up at night so our batteries were charged and we could start the boat to pull out of our anchorage. There were no envelops to leave our money in the drop box and Mary said there were a couple of keys there. We felt weird about putting money in an open box like that so both boats decided that we’d phone the park when we got phone service to pay for our 2 nights there (225-1791). We also need to renew our membership here too (expires end of March). This part of the park is based on the honor system. Some boats moor, some anchor. But if you pick up a mooring, it’s $15/night.

The sailing was beautiful today. 1-3 foot seas and a bit of chop at times, but it was good. We left our engine on to charge the batteries but sailed the entire day. At times we were doing better than 7 knots and still couldn’t keep up with Azaya! They can move! Gives me speed envy, but I didn’t crank up the engine - laughing… We were heeled over pretty good and I knew I had some picking up to do when we got in. We pulled into the harbor around 4pm and motored around to the far side behind Azaya. Just as we started setting the anchor, it started raining. It felt good on the skin and salt laced clothing and I knew it felt good on Kolibrie. She was starting to grow crystals on crystals of sea salt.

I knew Wayne was starting to feel better when I asked him what he’d like for dinner and he responded “something good”. So I made flat iron steak and German potato salad for him for dinner. The winds are still roaring, but our anchor is holding snug. They must be approaching 30 or greater because when they do, our wind generator puts on the breaks and you can feel the vibration and metal whining through the boat. I hate when it does that. Hopefully it won't continue all night or I'll have to turn the generator off so I can sleep. What a nice day out :)

Saturday February 25, 2012 Shroud Cay



Ignoring the Wind Generator - My attempt at capturing
one of the tropic birds that was flying overhead...



84 degrees and calm. Just a beautiful day out. I watched some tropic birds soaring overhead. They’d fly up, come together, circle and soar off with their beautiful long tails flaring out behind them. I just couldn’t seem to focus on them with my camera to get a decent picture of them. After trying to snap a picture of them for about an hour, I flicked on the radio at 9am. They didn’t have anything for us so we decided to stay here and at high tide (around 10am) we got into the dink and Azaya took theirs and their kayak and we went to the northern part of the island to a sandy creek that wound us through a tidal swamp forest of mangroves. We passed over a stingray, some conch, and a large grunt as we followed the current through the interior. We ended up on the south side of the island on a wonderful little beach. Where the beach and the creek met, an eddy pool was created by where the waves and current from the creek met. You could swirl around and around in it and be deposited back out on the ocean via your dinghy or by floating.

 

View from Camp Driftwood



From the beach we followed a path up to Camp Driftwood. A hermit named Ernest Scholtes lived on his sailboat just inside the creak and he had built a table and benches out of driftwood and had a little camp up here at one time. While there was no sign of his habitation now, a sign up there marked the spot and someone had left a toothbrush below. The view was spectacular from the top of the hill. It overlooked the surrounding islands, beaches and the mangrove swamps that we’d gotten there from. You could see a vast tidal lake that dries at low tide below us to one side and a view of the ocean on the other side. What a view! Climbing back down the trail, we were all pretty hot so jumped into the water to cool off a bit. There was a group of kids there from a mega yacht. Spring break is alive and well in the Bahamas!

After floating and chatting a bit on the sandbar, we headed back to the beach where Azaya had deposited their dinghy while Axel & Mary when exploring a bit down the beach. The tide was starting to go out and we wanted to be through the creek bed before the waters got too low for us to bring our dinghy back through. Back on the Bahama Sound side we shampooed and bathed. I discovered my soap doesn’t float! When I tossed Wayne the shampoo, he tossed me the soap, thinking it would land in front of me. Oops… soap gone…then I started floating in the most still and peaceful sea water I’ve ever encountered. I was floating in a world of complete peace! The only sound I could hear was my heart thumping. I felt weightless as I drifted down the beach. The air was still. The water was still. I could only imagine that that’s what it feels like in space. It was so still and lovely with no sensation of gravity or waves or air pushing at me. The sun shining on my face was really the only other sensation I could feel. When I came out of my reverie, Mary and Axel were approaching in their kayak around the point from where the creek begins on this side. I let them know I had some shampoo if they’d like to wash their hair and low and behold while I was telling them that we’d had soap, Mary spotted it in the water. We couldn’t see it sitting on the bottom but she did! Yay!



Some of the Red Mangrove that we dinghied through



A stingray that we passed over on our dinghy ride

 As we dinghied back to the boat, we passed over then next to a shark! Wow! We turned to see if we could get a picture but I guess it was camera shy. It took off and we lost it. This must be the year for sharks. But this time, this one didn’t want anything to do with me.

I made some pinwheel appetizers of pineapple cream cheese, mango salsa and tomatoes; and took some crab dip, crackers and potato salad over to Azaya to share with their conch. We had a nice evening and as the sun set, heard several boats trumpeting their conch horns. Mine? Back on our boat, laughing. Oh well. We got back to the boat and Wayne figured we needed to run the engine to charge up the batteries. The problem was – the engine wouldn’t start. We’ve had no wind since being here, nor have we run the engine. It’s dark, dark, dark, out. Time I think for bed. Tomorrow, weather depending, we’ll head for Black Point. That’s about 37 or so nautical miles from here.



Wayne, me and Axel with Mary behind the camera

Friday 2/24/12 From Norman's Cay to Shroud Cay

Oh what a night… I was awake most of the night sneezing, coughing and blowing my nose. Ugh. The winds are up and running about 10-15 as we bob up and down in the waves. I was able to hail Exuma Park and get put on the waiting list for tomorrow. Mary tried hailing them on channel 16 a little after 8 but got no response. They came on the air at 9am and monitor Channel 9 on the VHF. I called and put Azaya and us on the list for tomorrow. I hope they have room. I feel the need for a few days of rest and sleep and their north mooring field is just the place… Secure moorings in a sheltered little bay with wifi that you pay for so I can update my journal.



A different view of Azaya from our boat



We got our anchors up at 1pm and picked up moorings in Shroud Cay at 2:30pm (same mooring we were actually at the first time we were here at 24 32.067/76 47.883). As we were coming in to pick up our mooring Wayne looked at me as we pulled up to ours and said “okay, were not going to break another cable and run over the mooring okay?” Smart Alec! Laughing…we noticed that Azaya had bypassed theirs and were dropping anchor about 30 ft in front of their mooring. I spotted what looked like a white cable in the water behind the mooring ball. It turned out to be their pole trying to escape. Axel & Mary were getting the kayak ready for a man overboard to save the hook but it looked like it got away clean. Next they got the dinghy in the water and used our looky-bucket. Still no luck. I’m just glad we had an extra pole so they don’t have to do without one. After searching a bit more and not finding the pole, they finally got hooked up to their mooring then went exploring. Wayne and I decided that it was a good time to kick back and relax while the germs continue to have their way with us. I’d forgotten how very pretty it is here. Picture taking opportunity while I hang out on the boat.

Thursday 2/23/12 West Bay, New Providence Anchorage to Norman’s Cay in the Exumas

What a beautiful starry night last night. I was wishing I could throw the hatch wide open but was content with the view I had, knowing that the hatch would fight me opening wide and then trying to close it again.

The original plan was to head to Highborne Cay from here, but since we’d already had an internet connection and Azaya didn’t need one yet, we decided to head for Norman’s Cay instead (home to the one time infamous drug lord Carlos Leder).

We left the West Bay Anchorage at 8am through the southern path between Goulding Cay and Clifton Point on a rising tide. High tide at Nassau is 8:35 this morning. We vacillated on whether to go this way or not because the path through the rocks is narrow. Since it was high tide, and Azaya saw no problem with it, we followed them out of the Bay with Wayne on bow watch as we went through the southern entrance. The Rocky patches stand out in the aqua and emerald color of water as a yellow brown patch with dark, dark brown spots where the rocks are located. We headed out to the deeper, darker water of the Tongue of the Ocean. By 9am we were bordering the Tongue of the Ocean and the Great Bahamas Bank. What a difference in color. In the Tongue where the depths plunge down to 1000 meters (3000 ft) deep right off the Bank the water is a deep sapphire blue color. Then 3 miles to the bank the depth decreases to 200 meters and the color changes to an aquamarine color. Within a quarter of a mile of the bank the color changes to a beautiful turquoise blue at 5 meters depth and under a light blue layer of sky the visual is breathtaking at times. We just don’t see this color of water at home.


The colors change in the water - here blue



Here it's an emerald green

By 10am we were back on the Great Bahama Bank motor sailing in 12-13 feet of emerald green water and by 11am we cut our engines and slowed from 5.5 knots to 4.5 knots as we continued down the bank under a close reach in tourmaline and emerald green waters. I’m not sure what time we kicked on the engine again, but if we wanted to make it in before dark, the engines had to come on. Once we arrived at Norman’s Stake, it was time to pull in the sails. We pulled into the anchorage at Norman’s Cay around 5:40pm. The sun was getting lower in the sky and as I made our approach from Taffia Point, the sun lit up the chart plotter from behind me so that I couldn’t read it. Wayne was on rock watch – there are some rocks and sand spits that you have to maneuver around to get into the anchorage here and as my depths changed from 10 to 7 to 9 to 8 feet I throttled the engine down and positioned myself between the sun and the chart plotter.


We dropped anchor in a sandy bottom at 8 feet. There are 6 boats here (including us). We traveled 51 nautical miles via the chart plotter or 58 miles via the log on the boat that measures our progress through the water. I feel so wiped out. I’m sneezing, coughing and just plain not feeling real well. Wayne’s germs have finally caught up to me and I feel that I’ve finally succumbed to them.

After shutting down the boat systems, I made some chicken noodle soup for dinner. Not the canned stuff but homemade with egg noodles, celery, onion, carrots, broth and chicken. Man it feels good on the throat. We sat in the dark, in the cockpit eating our soup. The wind gently blowing the wind generator lets me know that I have power to charge my computer if I want to use it (I don’t) and the stars look brilliant. I wish I was feeling better to thoroughly enjoy the evening but I’m thinking it’s time for bed. We’ve already explored the Drug Lord’s ruins, the sunken airplane and last time we were here, Duffy’s was pretty much closed down… Tomorrow – the plan is to head over to Shroud… Lat/Long for tonight: 24 36.217/076 49.327

Wednesday 2/22/12 Berry Island Club, The Berry Islands to West Bay, New Providence Island

I dozed off last night looking at Orion through the open hatch cover and wondering if we’d see Howard in the morning. He hailed us around 7:15 and said he’d be out. Okay (smiling). He finished up around 9am with me hovering over his shoulder and playing his assistant. I was amazed at what a good teacher he was. He didn’t mind me observing or helping at all and everytime he’d do something, he would verbalize what he was doing for me. Most guys usually just do the job and ignore you. I guess I should have told him I thought he’d make a good teacher. He would. He said he couldn’t accept pay for helping us out but heck…he put in some time with us and we thought he should be compensated. I asked him if he could receive a tip? Yes, I can do that. So we paid him via a tip.

We were going to stay around for another day to put everything back together. We’d emptied out the cockpit seat to access the engine area from the back of the boat and had the battery compartment open and emptied, the stairs and cabinet removed from the main salon to access the engine compartment and things were just in disarray.

Mary hailed us. She’d seen his skiff take off back from the dock and was wondering how we were doing? It’s done! Yay! She thought we could be out of here and at New Providence if we left by 11am. We decided that that sounded pretty good if we could get the boat back in order and if Wayne could get a shower first. They wanted showers too so we put things back in order and headed to shore for showers and to say goodbye to Howard.

I liked our stay here. I should have gotten off the boat more and explored, but between the boat problems, and Wayne being ill, it just didn’t feel right. The only thing I really missed was internet access and they could use a dinghy dock too for people with pets.

We pulled out around 11:20 under calm sunny skies and light one foot swells. Winds were light from the southeast and we traveled about 32 miles to the West Bay anchorage off New Providence Island. The closer we got to New Providence the more the swells had grown. When we’d left they were about one foot. By the time we got to New Providence they’d grown from that to 6-9 foot, with 1 ft waves on top of them. They weren’t bad though, because the interval between the swells were 12-15 seconds. What was a little scary was looking at the breaking waves that surrounded the entrance. It looked like the entrance was surrounded by rock and reef but it was just our perspective on approaching the opening of the bay. We were coming in at low tide so could see the surrounding rocks awash with the waves. Once we got closer we could see a straight shot in. It’s an interesting place. It looks fairly new and still under construction in places. As you enter there are totems and tikis like what you’d expect in the south Pacific. Everything looks upbeat and thriving, with new condos being built and well groomed water front places. We anchored close to shore in 8 feet of water. It’s a nice protected bay and definitely much better than going into Nassau. A bonus – wifi!



Entering the West Bay Anchorage at New Providence you're greeted with a Tahitian style point (Back view of it) I was busy coming in so didn't get a good shot of it.

We ran our antenna up the halyard and I was able to get a low and intermittent signal here. While I could access my email, I wasn’t able to respond. My signal kept coming and going. I decided I’d better make the most of it and tried to post more blog, let people know on Facebook where we were and what we were doing. I was saddened to learn about Teri’s husband passing away. He succumbed to prostate cancer after a valiant battle. Bill’s dad also passed away and Elaine had to head home early from Florida. Good news from home though! Mary’s husband is now closer to home so while he’s still healing, and not at home, he’s no longer close to an hour away. I’m sending hugs and loving thoughts to you all… Thank you for the email Mary

After updating myself on word from back home I decided I’d better get some weather reports before my computer battery gave out so downloaded the Bahamas weather and Passage Weather then used up the last of my battery uploading journal posts.

Wayne’s still hacking but I can tell he’s feeling better. He had some chicken salad for dinner tonight. Wish I could say I’m staying healthy but I’m really starting to feel worse. I think it’s time I joined Orion in the forward berth…He looks down on me from the heavens above. I look back up at him in the sky. It’s comforting to look up through the open hatch and watch him dancing about as we rock back in forth in the gentle swell that enters the bay from the west.

Lat/Long: 25 01.647/077 32.912

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 Berry Island Club Mooring field, The Berry Islands– Frazer’s Hog Cay

It was another sleepless night of coughing and hacking and the mooring ball dragging along the bottom of the boat. At times, it sounded like it was ripping the bottom apart as the fittings would drag against the hull. Then the mooring ball would explode to the surface with a big Woosh! Then it would resume beating on the side of the hull like it was a big drum…

Our control cable is supposed to be in this morning. … Mary Clare said something about Harry flying out today? I was sitting up top drinking coffee wondering if it was too early to call the Berry Island Club (it was 8:15am and I didn’t want to seem pushy) when Harry hailed us over the radio to tell us our part was in! Yay!

We dinghied over to settle up our bill – 4 nights moorings (including tonight); 20 gallons of diesel fuel; $25 taxi fare for the run to the airport to West Marine; Harry had tipped the guy and said if we wanted to go in on the tip with him that we could but he felt that he should tip the guy because he was helping out him. I said that Harry shouldn’t tip him and that we’d cover the tip too - $25. $288.00 total for the marina bill after showers/phone calls etc…

Harry is running over to the states today to pick up supplies, etc., and isn’t returning until Friday so we were glad to settle up. He told us that whatever we worked out with Howard was between us and Howard. Howard said he’d be back to our boat in a little while but that he needed our old parts so he could get the fittings off of them. We went back to the boat and grabbed the fittings to bring back to the club and I’d noticed a familiar name at the dock – Alcyone – from the boatyard. Chuck and Andre had checked in here last night after clearing in over at Chub Cay, paying $4.35/ft plus a $100 fee for the honor of clearing in over there. Wow. They’d asked if you could clear into customs here at the Berry Island Club and Chub Cay told them “no, mon. They are not a port of entry”. Weird because the day we got in, 3 other boats had come in here and Harry had run them over to the Customs/Immigration to clear in for $25. Hmmmm…



Mary Clare and Axel conching in the shallows



Back at the boat, I decided it seemed calm enough out to try my hand at the new outboard motor. I figured that with Wayne at the boat, someone would be here when Howard made it over and I could go do some much wanted exploring of the sand and marl flats for a while. Mary Clare & Axel were out on their kayak and I ran into them heading over there. It was approaching low tide and I couldn’t get the dinghy over some parts so anchored it in the sand and walked over to where they were conching. They’d picked up 12 conchs and were exchanging smaller ones for bigger ones whenever they found bigger ones. I heard Howard calling the boat while we were exploring various sand dollars, shells, and conch. He wanted us to come pick him up. Problem was – I had the dinghy, not Wayne. He said, no problem, I’ll bring the skiff over. I actually wanted to see how he was going to put it together, so headed back to the boat. By the time I got back there, he was zooming off. Duty calls…



I found a beautiful Star while we were conching (I let it go after snapping a picture)



A 134 ft boat had come into Chub Cay and wanted drinks. Unfortunately, Chub Cay had no drinks and sent them over to the Berry Island Club. Because Harry was gone, Howard was left defending the fort. Oops… I dinghied over to the Club to see if I could help out (hey I’m an ex-bartender) but Howard said no it was okay. He had help coming after 3pm. Okay.



Back side of the sea star

The boaters were enjoying the booze and I chatted with them briefly. The girls were from California and didn’t know exactly where they were right now (just that they were having fun). They wanted to know where I was from and I told them Michigan. Brrrr… glad we’re not from there…They were friendly and open but the one guy with them wasn’t so open or friendly. The guys outside sitting at the table were more amicable and also wanted to chat. They saw me leaving and wanted me to stay and have some drinks with them. No thanks guys, I have to get back to the boat.



Around 5pm I hailed the Berry Island Club to see if Howard was still playing bartender and if he was going to make it back out. I’ll be there sometime tonight. It will be done by sunrise. Oh oh… there’s no way he can get this done in the dark of night and possibly done right if he’s been up working all day.

I opened up a can of chicken noodle soup for Wayne (I’d make him some but he prefers Cambells so why bother). Buttered some bread for him and proceeded to wait. Truth be told I’m starting to feel a niggle in the back of my throat and I’m tired. 7pm. I think it’s time to hit the sack.

I think around 7:30pm I saw a light coming through the windows. First one then another. I assumed we were swinging around on the mooring then heard someone. It was Howard! Dang… We jumped outta bed but before I could get up the companionway, he was gone. I tried hailing him on the radio but he didn’t respond. Sigh…I yelled over to Hawke (the Gozzard 36 next to us) to see if he’d said anything to them. Howard had told them to tell us that he’d be back at 7am. Back to bed. I'm sure he'd much rather come back in the morning after having worked all day too :)



Monday, February 20, 2012 Berry Island Club Mooring field, The Berry Islands– Frazer’s Hog Cay

The winds kept up all night and our wind generator sounded like it wanted to go airborne at times. That’s good news for our battery bank and my journal. I can use my computer without having to worry about using up all our power. Man if we only had wifi it’d be perfect! How’s that song go by the Rolling Stones? You can’t always get what you want…but you get what you need…

Wayne was really coughing and hacking all night. He sounds terrible. I hope I don’t get it but don’t know how I can’t with our close proximity in the boat and even closer proximity in the berth. Each loud coughing fit is right at my ear… Keeping my fingers crossed that he gets better soon and that I don’t get it.

A 110 ft motor yacht was hailing Chub Cay Marina asking if they have any diesel?
No Mon but the Berry Island Club to the east has fuel… What’s your draft?
6 ft.
Oh oh… He’s coming in here… Impressive looking yacht! I have bow thruster envy watching him pull into the dock. We’ve been putting off getting fuel because we have to jerry can it until our control lever gets fixed but upon hearing that the 110 foot needed fuel, Wayne hopped out of bed and got the cans in the dinghy and went over to get 10 gallons. We need more, but at least if we can get 10 gallons before they run out, I’ll be ecstatic! The further south we go, the less fuel there always seems to be available.
More later…

Well after jerry canning our 2 containers over and filling them and returning back to the boat that was about all Wayne could handle. The motor yacht only took on 700 gallons. At $6/gallon, I guess he thought he could get a better price down Nassau way. That’s okay with us. That means he left diesel for the rest of the sailboats in the harbor. Wayne went back to bed for the day and I sat around the boat looking at charts and reading. Around 3:30 the tides started switching around and the mooring ball started going under the boat again. It sounds horrendous each time it goes under and drags along the underside. We were supposed to go over to Wind Quest for dinner but Wayne’s not up to it. He pretty much insisted I go without him, so I hailed Azaya to see if they’d pick me up on the way over there. I’m not ready to try the dinghy by myself to get over there and then back to the boat after dark in these currents and waves.


Carol made a Caesar salad and spaghetti with clam sauce, Mary brought over cracked conch from the conch she and Axel had gotten and I’d made pineapple pudding for dessert. Carol gave me some cough syrup/suppressant for Wayne. He hasn’t felt like eating anything for a couple days now except fruit cups. It was such a nice dinner and I felt a little guilty enjoying it and knowing that Wayne was back at the boat feeling miserable.

Sunday, February 19, 1012 Berry Islands Club

Berry Island Club Mooring field, The Berry Islands– Frazer’s Hog Cay

We had high winds last night so our wind generator was spinning nicely all night long - generating lots of power for us. That means I can turn on my computer and write in my journal. Wayne was coughing all night again and feels poorly. We had a quiet morning in the boat and I was surprised to see Sunday’s Child come past us in the mooring field. I looked in the distance and could still see Daniel’s Orion at anchor in the distance. I wondered if they were parting ways or if Sunday’s Child was heading for a slip at Chub Cay… Chub Cay is a favorite power boat haven from what I’ve heard. People can check into customs there, fuel up, etc… We’ve never gone there because it seemed kind of pricy before and this place worked quite well at anchor or on the moorings.

Half an hour later we saw Arturus come past us. Azaya hailed them and they responded but Azaya never responded back. When Daniel was almost out of sight we could hear him talking on the radio to Sunday’s child. Sunday’s Child was telling him that a slip cost $4.25/foot. Wow! Unbelievable! They’re in bankruptcy and pricing themselves out of business! Both boats were heading back here to pick up moorings at $25/night or to anchor. At this point, I was wondering if we should call or go to shore to see what our options were with our cable when Harry hailed us on the radio. Good news! He knows another pilot that can pick up our part in Ft. Lauderdale and fly it over Tuesday morning! I’m not sure what this is costing us but I love how he’s being so helpful for us… I told him over the radio that he’d just made an old woman very happy and I blew him a big <<<>>> over the air waves! Wayne said I wish I’d have gotten that on tape (the old woman part)… I had to laugh! My age has never bothered me since I turned 18 and could take responsibility for myself. Well okay – there was once when I turned 34. But that was only because that was the age that I always associated with my mother… I had a problem rectifying that I could be the same age as she. But that problem passed as age 35 crept up on me.

We grabbed our shower stuff, catalog information on the cable and dinghied to shore. Harry was at the bar playing music and watching us come in while texting on his I-Phone. He told us that if we could get the part ordered his friend could bring it in Tuesday morning. The pilot would have to go out of his way to run over in a cab to pick it up from the airport but was willing to do it. We agreed that he should be compensated and then Harry told us that we might have to pay an 85% duty but was unsure at that point if they could bring it in or not duty-free since it was parts for our boat. Either way, unless I want to bounce up and down the stairs to take it out of forward and reverse while we’re anchoring all the time, I think we need it. I don’t know what kind of phone bill we’re racking up too from here to the states, but I sure am glad he has a phone that can call over there. They’ve still not got any internet capability on the island. According to Harry they were digging up some cables near Chub Cay and oops…destroyed some cables that still haven’t been repaired. BeTelCo had sold the phone rights here to another private company and things are at a standstill. Sigh… I’m so glad Harry has a phone we can use…

We sat and chatted with Harry for a while. He’s an interesting fellow. He started in law enforcement (his family have a tradition of being in law enforcement) and I believe Wayne had mentioned something about him being a US Marshall. From there he joined the military and was part of an elite group. Besides being SWAT, he worked for the military infiltrating people into other countries and getting them back out. After he’d broken 4 clavicle bones in his chest he was put into retirement and now periodically trains folks for the government as well as spending time here. The owners of the property hired him to help clean the place up. I guess there’d been an increase in drug trafficking here over the years. Looking at him, I’d say he’d be the guy to do it!

We called West Marine, got our part ordered and paid for and according to Harry his pilot friend will be coming in Tuesday morning around 8am. I think I can now relax a bit…

Next order of business – showers! Last time we were here the water for the showers didn’t work. This time they did. I was amazed at how soft the water was. It took half the shampoo I’ve had to use. Ahhhhhhh it was so very nice. The showers are out near the dock and the water runs through the floor boards and you can see the algae coated rocky bottom below. The two rooms are sparse but clean and I thoroughly enjoyed the shower. While I was standing on the dock combing out my hair and letting the wind blow through it, Harry came out of the Club building telling me that there were mirrors and electricity if I’d like to bring a small blower to dry my hair. It really made me smile. I hope that the Berry Island Club grows successful! This is a place cruisers could fall in love with and come back year after year…All he needs to do is get the wifi going again and fix the stove so he can properly open the restaurant and it’d be a place I could spend a winter!

After returning to the boat, Wayne rested and I read Bob Bitchin’s Emerald Bay. Axel & Mary were working on their SSB and radio all day. Once they thought they had it set up, they hailed me and I tuned in our small hand held SSB to see if I could hear them. I had Mary talking and singing Mary had a little lamb while I adjusted my frequency and was able to pull her in loud and clear on 4060. So they seem to be transmitting just fine. They came by around 4pm on their way to the shower and I asked them if they were up for some pulled pork sandwiches? Yep! I asked if they could see if Wind Quest would also like to join us on their way over to shore? Yep… so we had pulled pork sandwiches, pineapple, coleslaw (Wind Quest) and salad aboard Kolibrie. I had to grin when Carol talked about bringing her pineapple over. Laughing... Back at Lucaya, they had it in the hammock in their cockpit, and each time I passed by, I said I might do a midnight raid in their fruit hammock because that pineapple looked mighty fine! So she brought the remaining part over with her for dinner. It looks like from here they’ll be going to Nassau to provision before heading down to the Exumas. We’re hoping that we can bypass Nassau and anchor on the west end anchorage then head across the White Banks to Highborne Cay.

We’ll see what Tuesday brings…

Poor Wayne… He’s getting more and more congested… Instead of wine with dinner, he had orange juice. I’m just glad I had some to give him…

Saturday, February 18, 2012 The Berry Islands Club

Berry Island Club Mooring field, The Berry Islands– Frazer’s Hog Cay

It’s another sunny and beautiful day. I’d forgotten how pretty it is here. Sand flats, islands, turquoise water…

Howard, the mechanic showed up about 9:45am and towed us to a mooring ball then came aboard to look things over. He disconnected the cable from the engine, and the cable was broke about a foot into the housing, and then went up top to see if he could disconnect the cable from the control lever. Where Axel and I couldn’t get the screw off the middle section of the binnacle to remove the top, he with the help of a little WD40 was able to do it. We lost part of the cotter pin (clevis pin?) into the scupper but can see it down there so it didn’t go into the drink yet…we need a stick with some gum or something on it to fish it out before it falls through to the salty sea bed below us.

Howard tsk tsked and wished he could find someone with a longer cable here that he could use then mentioned that he might be able to weld it – a temporary fix until we could get a new one. All his tools etc… were on the other end of the island, about 7 miles away, so he took the cable with him and told us we could go ashore if we wanted to. It sounded like he was going to be a while.

Axel and Mary came by on their way into shore to see how we were doing… then a little while later, Jim and Carol (WindQuest) came by too… I finished reading a book called PotLuck by Jack Rudloe, then Axel & Mary came by again to say that Harry had mentioned someone was flying in on Monday from Orlando and that maybe they might be able to bring a part? I convinced Wayne to go ashore and chat with Harry to see if they could arrange something and find a cable… I’m aboard the boat and Wayne’s ashore. I hope he’s able to arrange something….


Wayne came back a few hours later and Azaya dinghied up at the same time Wayne was coming aboard. I wasn’t sure what our prognosis was. He said something about Harry’s female pilot friend might be able to help us out by bringing the part over but that she was out fishing for the day and Harry wouldn’t see her until later in the evening. He’d made contact with West Marine and they had the part in the Ft. Lauderdale office but not the Orlando office where Harry’s friend was flying out of and there was some problem about having it sent to a plane that was bound for the Bahamas…It had something to do with customs forms or something and having to contact someone in California before they could do that??? It totally sounded whack since this was a boat part for repair. Technically all they needed for customs was our documentation for our vessel and our cruising permit. Azaya had gone through this last season so it was pretty confusing as to what West Marine was talking about.

After looking at Mary & Axel’s bounty from the flats (one queen or flame helmet conch, one whelk or Florida Horse conch, similar to what we’d found by David Copperfield’s Island last year, and one pink conch) Axel, Mary and I went back to the Berry Island Club to see if we could figure out what was going on. Harry told us that we could probably get the part ordered but he had to talk with his friend first. So we wouldn’t know anything until tomorrow… Back to the boat again… It was kind of fortunate for this to happen here. We’d planned on staying here for 3 days or so while some weather passes us by and the new management is quite helpful, quite accommodating to us. I can’t think of another place that would try to be so helpful.

Howard had given Wayne some silicon putty, while he was ashore, trying to figure out how to order parts. Wayne had put some on the end of our fuel stick and stuck it down the scupper to sit for 10 minutes to dry. When we got back to the boat, I cracked open some beers for Azaya and Wayne and we discussed options and conch types. Then I pulled the stick up with the clevis pin attached to the stick by the silicone putty. Gotta love Howard and his putty!


So the wait is on to hear about whether we have somebody that’s going to bring a part for us or whether we’ll rig up some strings and pulleys to be able to work the controls until we can get somewhere to get it fixed…

I made some chicken salad earlier while Wayne was ashore so that’s what we had for dinner with crackers and orange slices. Wayne’s still feeling like crap. He’s either getting a chest cold or pneumonia… It sounds like there’s a lot of fluid in his lungs and he’s coughing a lot and running a temperature. He’s even starting to flute – going to give Azaya a run for their money on mast fluting (smiling).

Friday, February 17, 2012 Back to the Berry Island Club Has it really been 4 years.

Devils Hoffman Cays to the Berry Island Club, Frazer’s Hog Cay

We up-anchored at 9am under mostly sunny skies and headed out to Frazers Hog Cay. The Seabirds were fishing and diving at schools of small fish that were leaping out of the water. Their small bodies looked shiny silver and glistened as they leapt out of the water avoiding some predator from below. Areas in the surface portion of the water churned up little pools of dancing tiny fish that skimmed the surface and then would disappear. I watched one little dark colored fishing trawler going back and forth in the mouth of Little Harbor Cay and wondered if he was catching anything. The currents that run through there are swift with the changing tides but I never saw them bring anything up.

I sat on the bow of the boat for about an hour while Wayne had the helm. I watched Azaya tacking further away as they had their sails up, enjoying the nice day. For some reason our roller furling didn’t want to cooperate with us. The distance was such and the winds almost on the nose so we were content to motor up and into the anchorage of the Berry Island Club. We’d heard on an earlier radio transmission that the place was now under new management so I had to wonder if Hilda was still there. 4 years ago when we were first here – I had my first cracked conch and traditional type Bahamian meal here. It felt pretty good running up the channel. The currents were with us and even as I slowed further down, I noticed we were doing 6.3 knots. 

Berry Island Club fuel dock


We’d radioed to see if there were any specific things we needed to look out for and if there were moorings available. Just stay in the deeper water and pick up any of the large white balls with a blue stripe. The other smaller ones might not be too dependable. Roger that. We told them that there were 3 of us and didn’t know if all 3 were picking up moorings but thought that we were. No problem.

We circled a couple of the moorings and then set on the one closest to the dock and channel and started forward towards it. I nosed closer and set the throttle low and shifted into neutral, then backed up then back to neutral so Wayne could pick up the mooring. He signaled to stop so I went back into reverse. Something was wrong. The lever went into reverse way to easy. It usually gives me a pull from reverse, to neutral, to forward. I went back to neutral and reverse. It was like waving a spoon through the air. There was no resistance at all. The control levers weren’t answering my shifting motions. Wayne looked at me like “what are you doing”??? We ran over the mooring ball and it disappeared under us. I could hear and feel a clunk, clunk, then the engine stopped running and our alarm sounded (it always sounds when you turn the key to start the boat, or hit the kill switch to stop the engine). Oh my! I had the feeling that the mooring painter got tangled in our propeller and immediately felt sick… I yelled to Wayne at the bow of the boat what I thought happened and ran below to turn on the windlass so we could drop anchor. Then I hailed the guys at the dock (Harry is the guy now in charge) and told them what happened and Harry radioed back not to worry about it. They’d be out as soon as they finished gassing up the boat at the dock. Don’t worry about it? Our boat had lost forward and reverse control, we may have destroyed their new mooring balls and fouled our prop with their mooring lines. I was worried… no doubt about it.

I hailed Azaya as they came in, and Wind Quest brought up the rear, and told them what had happened. After they picked up a mooring ball they asked if we’d like assistance. Yes. Please. Wayne was zombie like (he’s been feeling kind of ill like he’s catching a cold) and running a fever. We were hoping that the aspirin substitute would kick in soon and it did, thank goodness. Mary & Axel did a once around in their dinghy to see if they could see the mooring ball under us or a rope around our rudder or propeller. They didn’t see anything. Then they used the lookie-bucket (a bucket with a glass bottom). Still nothing. Axel got his diving mask and fins out and dove into the water and said that there was nothing there. No mooring ball or line. A little wisp of seaweed was on our prop but that was all. Could we have drifted away from the mooring ball? We started looking at the mooring balls… there was one we’d passed by with no painter on it but I was pretty sure that wasn’t one that we’d gone to pick up. Ours was one without a lot of blue stripe on it.

When Harry got here, he said he’d have his master mechanic come by when he arrived at the Berry Island Club, but that wouldn’t be until right after dark. Then they went back to the Berry Island Club after telling me to relax, it’d be okay, don’t worry, you’re in the Bahamas ma’am… He has a wonderfully calming smile. Unfortunately I couldn’t calm down. We tried to figure out if the cable had broken or come undone. We couldn’t see that it was broken at either end, and had to surmise that it had broken somewhere in the housing. Axel tried helping us get the top of the binnacle off so we could remove the wire but the middle bolt wouldn’t budge. I could get the cotter pin out from inside the housing where the control lever was but we couldn’t get the fittings through the opening without getting the top section off. All we could do was wait for the mechanic. We dinghied over to shore and tied up to the dock.

Mary & Axel were chatting with a familiar looking young man. The no-see-ums were feasting on me and he said that they were all over the place. It was just too calm. He and his buddy were on the dock fishing. He mentioned that he had a Pacific Seacraft – an Orion named Arturus… It rang a bell in my memory. He looked so familiar. He said we did too and that he thought he knew our boat – Kolibrie…He was from North Carolina. He knew Deatons. He had to go home in a month to work. Last year he’d been in Ft. Lauderdale. It all clicked into place for me. We’d met in Ft. Lauderdale around Christmas. He’d been traveling with friends and we’d met them on the docks. We were going to invite them to have Christmas dinner with the 4 of us since one of them was going home for Christmas. They were going to head to the Keys until their friend got back. It all came back. I had to laugh all while slapping the gnats that were drawing blood from all over my body.

We walked up to the main house and chatted briefly with Harry (the new management). He’s youngish, good looking with short military cropped, blond hair and blue eyes. He looks like he could be a Navy Seal – quite muscular. He’s a very nice and personable fellow and said his mechanic was very good. I’d found the codes on the wire and also matched up diagrams with what we were looking for in our Yanmar book. We were trying to figure out what cable we needed when the mechanic pulled up. He asked if the cable came apart at the connections. No. We didn’t think so. Was it broke near the ends. No. We didn’t think so. He shook his head and said oh no… very bad… We shook our heads and said.. Oh oh… verrrry bad…This didn’t look well at all.

He wanted to know if we wanted a tow to one of the mooring balls but we decided we could wait until morning at this point. He’d come take a look at our situation in the morning too… Sigh… We need to figure out how to get the cable out and where to get one ordered from…

Seems like last year, Azaya was jinxed…this year it’s looking like Kolibrie may be the problem boat…

Oh, while I remembered that we could get wifi here 4 years ago? There’s no wifi. It appears to be down all over the island and has been since Thanksgiving… Gotta love BeTelCo…

Thursday February 16, 2012 Sand, Sharks and Blue Holes

Anchorage at Devils and Hoffman Cays


Another little Beach Walker



 At 7:30am we re-anchored to 25 36.812 x 77 44.005 in 7.5-6.5 ft at pretty close to low tide. We bounced off the bottom a couple times and got stuck a couple times. Forward, reverse, neutral, pivot, forward, reverse, leave it in forward and plow a little through the sand. We did get free though and reanchored with an hour to spare before the low, low tide. Mary Clare radioed to see if we’d drug through the night and we filled her in about bouncing off the bottom (she’d been there and done that before too). After setting the hook, we finished our coffee to the sound of a sea bird chattering as it skimmed the water for its breakfast. It was actually pleasant to sit and listen to our wind generator humming along while having our coffee. The isolator that Wayne put on it makes all the difference in the world. I can hear it, just barely, in the back ground. It’s no longer a foreground noise that makes me grit my teeth.

Looking at my dodger window with the sun on it was blinding at times. Our boat is covered in salt crystals (we could use a fresh water rinse) and as the light refracts off the little crystals it’s like watching a twinkling display of dancing lights. I wiped some off on my finger to examine them more closely, then to taste them. Imagine that, salt crystals that taste like salt, captured from the water that we travel through… The taste reminded me that I was hungry so I went below to make a lazy omelet for breakfast.

For me a lazy omelet is basically chopping up onion, peppers and throwing them in a pan with sausage bits, then cracking open the eggs into the pan after the previous stuff has browned up and whisking them all together. Throw some cheese on top and wella! A lazy omelet…served up with some orange slices.

After breakfast it was time to get the dinghy down and see if we could get it running for a trip over to the blue hole. After several tries, it finally started up… hmmmm…then we (Azaya and us) dinghied over to WindQuest and Mad Dash to see if they’d like to join us for dinner over at Azaya to share in the lovely, but unknown, fish that we’d caught before we continued on to the beach and to the blue hole. We’re pretty sure it’s a Jack – that’s the closest we could come to matching it up.


The first Shark that came by us - not the one that headed right at me.

We found several conch shells, and lobster shells but none alive on our beach walk. There were a couple of beautiful red star fish and some lovely coral and sponges. We were about knee to groin deep wading in the water and Axel spotted a dark shadow swimming by him. Shark… It kept going though out around the tip of the island before I could get a picture. About 10 minutes later another one approached us. It was a dark bluish black and as it approached me and did a pass I could see its beady little eye. It decided to investigate me further and started heading right for me, speeding up, as I pointed my camera at it. It occurred to me that it was coming at me to fast, so I kicked out and yelled at it, ready to pound it on its snout. I guess my noisy attack mode toward it made it decide that I wasn’t an easy meal, definitely not prey, maybe a predator, so it took off at a fast clip. So much for a great picture, but at least I wasn’t its lunch… 

Axel, Mary, Me and Wayne on Little Canada AKA New Alaska

It was kinda neat to return and watch the little sand bar we’d dubbed little Canada last year sink back under the water as the tide rose. We dubbed it Alaska this year and exclaimed how global warming was claiming it as it disappeared below the waves (laughing). We hiked over to the blue hole and the cave then returned back to the beach to wander before heading back to the boats and getting ready for dinner aboard Azaya. Today actually felt like a decompression day for me and it feels like I’m back into cruising mode again in the Bahamas. It’s good to be able to shake off all the stress and leave it elsewhere. 

Dean's Blue Hole

I brought some spinach dip (sour cream, mayo, spinach, onion powder, water chestnuts) and dipping vegis along with a mango salsa (Sam’s Club – not as good as mine) over to Azaya’s and Axel and Mary had grilled the fish and made a salad. Carol & Jim brought a cheesy, vegi rice dish that was marvelous and Kathleen and Eric (Mad Dash) brought homemade chocolate chip/pecan cookies. We still don’t know what the fish was (I’m still thinking it’s a jack of some sort) but it was a delicious white meat that was sweet and firm… grilled and seasoned with lime – Mary and Axel did great justice to it. It was a wonderful meal and the company delightful. We matched up the constellations with Axel’s I-Phone and just enjoyed the evening and fellowship of the other sailors. Kathleen had taken some pictures of our anchorage from the top of her mast (Mad Dash) and had put together a slide show that she shared with us on her I-Pad. It was wonderfully set to the music of a group of talented singers – I wish I could remember the group’s name, unfortunately I can’t. It was so lovely to see the anchorage and our boats from the mast view of Mad Dash! They told us all to stop by in the morning for coffee and a tour of their boat but I believe we’re leaving in the morning for Frazer’s Hog Cay. I do hope we meet up with them again though!


Kolibrie, Mad Dash, Wind Quest and Azaya for Sundowners



Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Great Harbor – Stirrup/Goat Cay

It was a rolly night last night. We’re getting a later start today for Devils/Hoffman Cays. It’s not as far down the chain of islands about 19 miles. But as we hoisted the anchors (9:45am), I was ready to be under way. I was really glad when the engine started right up after not wanting to stop last night.

The cruise ships use Stirrup Cay as their playground. When we came in last night there were 2 cruise ships here, but they were leaving when we pulled in. This morning more replaced the two that left and there were about 20 – 25 jet skis or wave runners (whatever you want to call them) invading our anchorage. Buzzzzz buzzzz, rinnnnn dinnnn dinnnn dinnnn…

Wind Quest hailed Azaya and they’re on their way. I guess they left at midnight, and will rendezvous with us at the Devils/Hoffman anchorage.

Winds and seas are almost on the nose this morning but are supposed to change a little this afternoon. Azaya caught the first fish, and then we caught one. We both caught mackerels, but ours decided that it didn’t want to stay and at the last minute got out of Wayne’s grip and back into the ocean.

 One Mackeral and one Jack of some kind

Azaya caught another fish and thought it was a tuna, then it was our turn. It turned out that we both caught the same kind of fish but we couldn’t identify it with our books. Boy I could use my Sis – Diana’s fish knowledge about now! So we got 3 fish coming into Devils & Hoffman Cays.

Our Jack :)

All three boats pulled in about the same time (Azaya, Wind Quest and us). We dropped anchor in 20 ft at 1:30pm in an area that was kind of “surgy” and I gave a great sigh of relief when the engine turned off at the push of a button! An hour later, we started the engine back up and re-anchored in an area that was calmer in about 6.5 feet. We thought it was about low tide so 6.5 ft should be sufficient. The chart showed it being 8 ft at low tide. Perfect! So after resetting our anchor, we put the dinghy in the water and got the little Colman outboard mounted.

 Oops Long pants instead of shorts

 Me and Wayne

Wayne, Mary and Axel

We visited a couple beaches, collected a few shells, disturbed a sea snake, and watched the sunset over the water – looking for that elusive green flash. We didn’t get one, but enjoyed the beach walk and the sunset.

Our outboard wouldn’t start, so Azaya gave us a tow back from the beach and as we got to the boat, Wayne got our outboard started… Laughing… Oh no! Here we go again…

Once back aboard Kolibrie, I felt a bump, bump, bump… Oh oh… I turned on the instruments. We were bottoming out…6:30pm isn’t it low tide? I checked my notes again… Low tide wasn’t until 7:35pm… I don’t know where I got 4:30 from… I think Mary… Wayne said 6:30pm… Oops that was yesterday’s tides. I think tonight’s then is around 7:40pm… We sat wondering how much further the tides were going to drop and which way we’d heal over… at 7pm it was time for bed for me… Nothing we can do but sit and listen to the sound of scraping in the sand and bumping… We’ll have to re-anchor again in the morning.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 To Great Harbor (where the cruise ships play)

Sunrise!

Happy Valentine’s Day! I don’t get candy or flowers today, but I do get sea birds to travel along with us for a bit, flying fish, and beautiful sunrises and sunsets! A wonderful trade-off (smiling).

We let go of the dock lines at 6am and I was surprised to see that Wind Quest was still at the dock. [We later found out that they’d had engine problems so were hanging back to have things checked out.] Leaving the channel, we were close to low tide (but it was rising) and the lowest we saw was 7’3” in the channel. The winds and currents kept trying to push me out of the safety markers as we left so I had to keep crabbing back in but once out – no problem. It was choppy out but we had a beautiful sunrise.

At 7:00am I discovered the microphone up top doesn’t work. I guess Wind Quest had been trying to hail us and I never heard them. Azaya told them we were having radio problems (thank you Azaya) and it might take us a while to call them or respond back.

We had choppy and confused seas during the morning and around 10:00am our flag halyard came down into the water with our radar reflector. Dang… Luckily it was still connected to the boat so I was able to retrieve the Bahamas flag and our radar reflector.

The white caps were pretty sitting atop sapphire colored waters and we motor sailed under aqua skies filled with mare’s tails and puffy cumulus clouds.

At 1:00pm our new wireless antenna came undone from its mounting in the spreaders and landed on deck and at 3:00pm I noticed that the remaining mount was swinging madly and beating itself on the shroud lines. So Wayne had to go rescue that. I hope our wireless setup still works. It was working pretty good up until now…

The day just seems a jinx for Kolibrie. We pulled into Great Harbor and dropped anchor at 6pm (65.2 miles total) in 8.5 ft of water. No problem there. We were looking forward to cutting the engine and getting some peace and quiet with some dinner. Problem was, the engine didn’t want to shut off. So with the waning light, I held a flashlight and Wayne undid the control panel and tried to short out the cutoff switch. Nope. The little engine just wouldn’t shut off. So Wayne opened the engine compartment, removed the air filter and tried to smother the engine with a wadded up towel. Nope. Didn’t work… After fiddling with it for 45 minutes and with sweat dripping off of Wayne (hot engine) we hailed Azaya… Did you try using a heavy plastic bag? A towel won’t work. You have to cut the air flow completely off… Okay… that didn’t work. Wayne got the plunger out. It got stuck to the air intake and wouldn’t come off without a terrific fight. The engine was still on. Azaya – there should be a kill switch… Can’t find it.

Finally Axel & Mary got their dinghy down and Axel came over to help us out.

After examining the situation Axel found where the lever (kill switch to me) was. Strange place to put the kill switch (on the side of the engine hidden behind another part – so out of sight). We also discovered what the string that lies on top of the engine is for… pulling the kill switch… So I learned a couple new things about our engine today and the engine was finally off at 7:30pm – an hour and a half after anchoring. I radioed Mary Clare to tell her that we love her husband! Peace and quiet has now descended on the anchorage. She probably also loves that Axel could help us so she could get some peace and quiet (laughing) – sending mental hugs their way.